The 38th anniversary of fall of Dhaka is being observed today with a note of melancholy and an urge to self accountability to weed out the causes of disintegration and dissension which had led to that debacle. Various political, social, cultural and educational institutions will organize public meetings, seminars and symposium to observe the day. On December 16, 1971, Indian Army in collaboration with Mukti Bahini, an armed wing of the Bengali separatists occupied Dhaka after a long resistance. The surrender of Pakistani military led to the disintegration of East and West Pakistan and the establishment of Bangladesh. After 25 years, the East Pakistanis declared themselves independent and renamed their Province as Bangladesh. Pakistan finally recognized Bangladesh at the Islamic Conference in Lahore on February 22, 1974. Of course, the distance between the two wings of Pakistan separated by over a thousand miles, and training of Mukti Bahini guerrillas in Indian army camps who later moved along with Indian army units in the then East Pakistan were other factors responsible for the break-up of the country. Therefore, it could not be described a military defeat by any stretch of imagination.There seemed to be a consensus that flawed policies including foreign policy and wrong decisions made over a period of two decades had resulted in conflicts between the people of the federating units. The Pakistani nation will also reiterate pledge to safeguard the national unity and integrity and at the same time to remain beware of Indian designs who played an instrument in the separation of East Pakistan through an aggression. A lot many books, theses and reviews have been written on the causes of the fall of Dhaka and disintegration of Pakistan. Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission report also tried to identify the causes for this tragedy.
