🇵🇰 India's "Hidden War" in East-Pakistan - 1971 (1 Viewer)

[Old School]

Phantoms of Chitagong - The Indian "Fifth Army" in Bangladesh​

Major General Sujan Singh Uban is credited with establishing India's 'fifth army', the Special Frontier Force (SFF). This army primarily consists of Tibetan refugees or Tibetan resistance fighters in India and is tasked with defending against the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Ground Force, as well as conducting covert intelligence gathering and commando operations along the Chinese border. The SFF is also called 'Establishment 22' or simply '22' due to its first Inspector General, Maj. During World War II, Gen. Sujan Singh Uban commanded the 22nd Mountain Regiment, Royal Indian Artillery, and the SFF played a significant role in the primary combat operations of the Indian side in the war. The SFF was ordered to attack the Chittagong hills due to increased cross-border attacks. The Inspector General suggested that the SFF capture the second-largest city, Chittagong. However, New Delhi military planners did not favor this idea, as the unit lacked the artillery or airlift support capabilities required to carry out a mission of such magnitude. On the military exploits of the Indian Special Frontier Force known as the Phantoms of Chittagong and the Fifth Army, led by the author in 1971 . General Uban narrated the military exploits of the Special Frontier Force during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. General Uban was deputed to carry out a hazardous operation in Chittagong Hill Tracts. His force was airlifted to the northeast corner of India and had reached the border of Mizoram State and had proceeded on foot to accomplish its mission. The force had operated independently in the most difficult terrain of Chittagong Hill Tracts . Phantoms of Chitagong - The Fifth Army in Bangladesh by Sujan Singh Uban | Goodreads

India trained militia versus indigenous guerillas
Frictions between the India-trained Bangladeshi exiles of Mukti Fauj and Mujib Bahini on the one hand and the indigenous guerrillas of the non-Awami League political parties who remained in Bangladesh to fight the Pak forces on the other marred the course of the liberation war all through 1971. While the Awami League leaders sought refuge in India and conducted the war under Indian patronage, other political parties and organizations of Bangladesh like the National Awami Party (NAP), East Pakistan Communist Party - Marxist-Leninist (EPCP-ML), East Pakistan Students Union, East Pakistan Workers Federation, and the Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries of East Pakistan, conducted the war independently by forming their own guerrilla squads through the recruitment of local villagers and youth. Between April and October, 1971, these various groups succeeded in driving back the Pak forces from large areas of Jessore, Khulna and Noakhali. However, the arrival of the Indian government-sponsored Mukti Fauj and Mujib Bahini in October and November changed the scenario. There began a turf war between the indigenous freedom fighters and the newly arrived armed exiles from India, over the occupation of territory. A report by the EPCP(M-L) described the dilemma faced by its guerrillas now, who had to fight both “the Pakistani army, Razakars (the local pro-Pakistan Bangladeshi armed squads) and the ‘militia’ on the one front and the ’Mukti Bahini’ (sic.) hirelings on the other front”. The party’s “temporary base areas in Jessore and Khulna fell before the vicious and treacherous attacks of the ’Mukti Bahini’ hirelings in October and November. In Noakhali the people suffered a setback after 16 December.” (Re: Liberation. July 1971 — January 1972). Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 - and a hidden episode of the (...) - Mainstream Weekly

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[Old School]

Major General Sujan Singh Uban, with top Bengali separatist leaders, is seen in Dehradun, India, in 1971. Founder of the leftist extremist party, JSD leader Sirajul Alam Khan, is seen on the very left and was recruited by Gen. Uban in the late 1960s from Dhaka University. Indian intelligence was working well long before 1971 with Bengali separatists. Roadways were already being constructed under the supervision of the Indian army along the border with East Pakistan long before Operation SearchLight was launched.