Jagjit "Lutera" Singh Aurora shared Bangladesh loot, confirms Gen. Jacob, 2nd-in-Command in 71
VognoDuut672
Gen. Jacob, 2nd-in-Command in 71
General Aurora and the looting by Indian Soldiers
Monday May 23 2005 12:15:12 PM BDT
Tuhin Reza from UK
Lt. General Jagjit Singh Aurora, the commander of the Indo-Bangla Joint
Forces in 1971 has recently passed away. In this article I am going to share
some comments with the readers regarding the late General's financial
impropriety following the Bangladesh war of independence that I learnt in
the Indian Capital.
In 1990 I went to Delhi to attend the wedding of a Sikh friend. This friend
is a relative of Aurora. The wedding reception took place at the famous
Gymkhana Club and was attended by many dignitaries. If I am not mistaken,
the Lt. Governor of Delhi and the then Union Home Minister Mufti Mohammed
Saeed (it was the time of V P Singh) also attended briefly.
General Aurora, however, missed the reception, as he was taken ill. His
daughter attended and my friend introduced me to her. She invited me to meet
her famous father and said that 'daddy' would be home the next morning to
receive and talk to me. Unfortunately, I could not take this invitation as
the next day was my last full day in India and I was faced with two options,
either to stay in Delhi and meet the General for breakfast and talk about
1971, or to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I opted for the latter.
At the wedding reception, my friend also introduced me to General Jacob.
Gen. Jacob was Aurora's second-in-command in the Eastern Command in 1971 and
as many people say, was probably the chief architect of the 1971 Indian
invasion and war plan in the eastern theatre. Although the General knew a
few more people at the reception than I did, he to some extent like me felt
stranger in that gathering. For some unknown reasons, the General liked me a
lot and spent the next couple of hours in my company. He also introduced me
to few people that he knew at the party. Drinks were served. While I opted
for a coke, the general settled for a small beer.
We kept on talking. It was mainly about 1971. The General was very
passionate about the whole thing. He spoke about his role and experience
during the entire conflict. He did not like General Osmani that much. He
found it difficult to work with him. On the other hand, the General was full
of praises for Zia and Khondhker (the deputy commander in chief of
Bangladesh forces during the 1971 campaign and the first Air Force Chief).
The General said that these two were professionals and brilliant officers
and that he had really enjoyed working with them.
I asked General Jacob, did he not want to visit Bangladesh, the country that
he helped to liberate? The General sounded very disappointed and hurt. In an
emotionally choked voice, the General said. "How I can I go to Bangladesh
when no one has ever invited me?
I was never invited to Bangladesh." The General continued, "I have never
taken anything from Bangladesh. There are many who took a lot. Someone
brought me some bananas. I even paid for them. I have never taken a thing,
even General Aurora ." The General stopped and did not complete his
sentence. As it was a sensitive topic, I did not want to press the General
what did he mean by 'even General Aurora." However, one does not need to be
a genius to appreciate the meaning of General Jacob's comments.
Later, the day I was leaving India I was talking to my friend's father, a
relative of General Aurora. He wanted to know why did the Indo-Bangla
relationship turn sour? I apprised him of what I thought the main reasons,
including Tin Bigha Corridor, Farakkha, Chakhma problems and even the
lootings by the Indian forces following the occupation of Bangladesh by
them.
My friend's father said that even in India there were talks about lootings
and appropriation of Bangladeshi properties and assets by the Indian forces
and that the Indian government had also commissioned an investigation. He
then said that there was wide perception that even General Aurora had
received a lot from Bangladesh.
Although these comments by two close associates do not establish
conclusively that General Aurora had actually received any shares of the
booty personally, but it may lead at least one to question the propriety and
integrity of the General. Sadly, the General is now dead and will not be
able to answer these allegations and clear his name.
General Aurora might not have ordered his troops to go for high scale
looting, and one may argue that this might have happened because of lack of
discipline and supervision among individual members of Indian armed forces.
However, there is no evidence as to what the General did to stop his
soldiers from looting. History will probably remember General Aurora not
only as the military commander who successfully negotiated the surrender of
the Pakistani forces in Bangladesh without much bloodshed and thus paved the
way for an independent Bangladesh, but also as a failed commander who
miserably failed to impose discipline and supervision in the conduct of his
troops when they resorted to stealing the assets of the country they
allegedly came to liberate. The failure to prevent this full scale looting
actually planted the first seed of discontent in the hearts of the
Bangladeshis.
Tuhin Reza
London
Torpedo
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/05/28/d5052801096.htm
Extortion Attempt in Rajshahi
100 injured as BNP men, traders clash
Staff Correspondent, Rajshahi
More than 100 people were injured, 25 of them critically, in clashes between
ruling BNP cadres and local traders, and police action on the clashing
groups in Puthia yesterday.
During the clashes that erupted when the traders kept their shutters down to
protest the BNP men's demand for toll in the name of a BNP lawmaker, about
30 shops and a Dhaka coach were also damaged.
On Thursday night, BNP cadre Ashraf's son Dollar demanded a toll of Tk
10,000 from confectionery owner Abdul Quaiyum on the plea that he sold
'rotten ice-cream'.
As Quaiyum protested, Dollar's men attacked the confectionery and injured
six people including Quaiyum, Bellal, Millat and Sohel on the very night.
The attackers told them to pay the money within an hour and threatened to
stop Quaiyum's business otherwise.
Local traders, infuriated at the incident, called a strike from yesterday
morning.
Local police refused a team of traders' leaders when they went to the police
station to file a case on the incident.
BNP cadres forced some traders to open shops during their strike.
Fierce clashes began as armed BNP men attacked a procession of several
hundred traders and local people.
They exchanged brickbats and used lethal weapons including iron rods while
BNP cadres also used firearms.
Local police, reinforced by riot police from Rajshahi, failed to prevent the
groups from clashing despite widespread baton charges.
At around 4:00pm, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) forces reached the scene and
brought the situation under control.
They arrested four people including BNP cadre Murad (Ashraf's brother) and
Jhalmalia Bazar Traders' Association General Secretary Selim.
The Rab was conducting house to house raid even late in the evening.
Traders blamed Ashraf-led BNP cadres patronised by the MP for the incident.
Huge police forces have been deployed in the tension-gripped areas.
The injured that include traders, locals and pedestrians were taken to
Puthia and Natore hospitals and private clinics.
"VognoDuut672" <VognoD...@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:Iq2dnQHsAKY...@comcast.com...
kasm...@yahoo.com
pedophile, he would have emulated Mo and then would have commanded as
much B'deshi respect as 'proffitt' Mo.
hahahahahahahaahahahaha!