Battle of Sylhet

Part of the Bangladesh Liberation War

This article is about the modern battle of Sylhet. For medieval conquest of Sylhet, see Conquest of Sylhet.

Siege of Sylhet

Part of Bangladesh Liberation War and Indo-Pakistani War of 1971
| Date| December 7–16, 1971

|

Location|

Sylhet, Bangladesh

Result|

Bangladeshi-Indian victory

* Surrender of Pakistani forces at Sylhet
* Sylhet captured by Indian forces[1][2]

Belligerents

* India
* Bangladesh

|  Pakistan
Commanders and leaders
Maj. Gen. Krishna Rao
Brig. Gen. C. A. Bunty Quinn
Brig. Gen. Raja C. V. Apte
Brig. Gen. M. B. Wadke
Brig. Gen. Kulwant Singh
Gp Capt Chandan Singh
Lt. Col. Ziaur Rahman
Maj. Chitta Ranjan Dutta|  Maj. Gen. Abdul Majid Qauzi
Brig. Gen. M. Salimullah Chohan
Brig. Gen. Iftikhar Rana
Brig. Gen. Saadullah Amin
Strength
India
20,000 troops and 10 howitzers
6 transport crafts and 14 helicopters
Bangladesh
7,000 troops and 5 howitzers
8,000 partisans (including repatriated East Pakistan Rifles and Ansar troops)|  14,000 troops and 15 howitzers
5,000 armed Razakars

* v
* t
* e

Bangladesh Liberation War

CPB-NAP-BSU resistance

Mukti Bahini resistance

* Searchlight
* Jackpot
* Barisal
* 1st Kamalpur
* 2nd Kamalpur
* Daruin
* Nakshi Border Outpost
* Rangamati-Mahalchari waterway
* Goalhati
* Dhalai Border Outpost
* Garibpur§
* Gazipur§

Sylhet§
* Kushtia
* Ghasipur
* Belonia Bulge

Shiromoni
* Bogra§

Indian intervention

* Cactus-Lilly
* Chengiz Khan
* Jackpot‡
* PNS Ghazi
* Trident
* Python
* Kamalpur
* Basantar
* Boyra

Chamb
* Dhalai
* Hilli‡
* Longewala
* Sylhet‡
* Meghna Heli Bridge
* Tangail
* Shiromoni
* Air War‡
* Naval War

* * *

Bangladesh genocide

* Dhaka University
* Shankharipara
* Jinjira
* Akhira
* Jathibhanga
* Demra
* Chuknagar
* Madhyapara
* Bakhrabad
* Burunga

Systematic events

* Agartala Conspiracy Case
* Killing of intellectuals
* Rape
* Provisional Government
* Refugees in India
* Pakistani Instrument of Surrender

* * *

§ indicates events in the internal resistance movement linked to the Indo-Pakistani War.
‡ indicates events in the Indo-Pakistani War linked to the internal resistance movement in Bangladesh.

The Battle of Sylhet[a][b][3][4][5][6][7] was a major battle fought between the advancing Indian Army, Bangladesh Forces and the defencing Pakistan Army at Sylhet during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The battle took place from 7 December to 15 December.[1] It was a succession of the Battle of Gazipur in Kulaura.[8][9]

## Background

[edit]

During Operation Searchlight, Sylhet was captured by the Pakistan army without resistance on 26 March 1971. However, the military failed to neutralize the rebel Bangladeshis around Moulvibazar, Sunamganj and Shamshernagar due to deficiency of just one battalion the 31st Punjab Regiment and the revolt of East Pakistan Rifles and Ansar troops around Sylhet District. During the monsoon offensive the Bangladeshi troops under command of major Chitta Ranjan Dutta able to re-capture Sylhet town on August 1971 nevertheless the achievement was truncated as the upcoming Pakistani troops of the 313rd infantry brigade under brigadier general Iftikhar Rana countered the Bangladeshis and took over Sylhet at beginning of September 1971. Major Dutta retreated to East Jaintia Hills district of India. By October that year, the Adhoc 202nd infantry brigade was orchestrated in Jalalabad camp in command of brigadier general Salimullah Chohan under the 14th infantry division in Brahmanbaria. By November the battles between the Bangladeshis and Pakistanis remain inconclusive as the Z Force of Bangladesh forces under lieutenant colonel Ziaur Rahman remain formidable at outskirts of the city especially at Moulvibazar, Sunamganj and Habiganj.

In India the Third Indira Gandhi ministry insisted their military to intervene the affairs at East Pakistan. Then chief of army staff general Sam Manekshaw took autonomy from the Indian government and cited the army will engage when it is prepared. Manekshaw suggested that the army is incapable of intervening during the monsoon as the terrain of East India is mostly unsustainable. Notwithstanding, the military provided ordnance, medical aid and training to Bangladeshi forces from July 1971. On 3 December 1971, Manekshaw's compatriot and commander of Indian Eastern Command lieutenant general Jagjit Singh Aurora commenced operations at East Pakistan in response of Indo-Pakistani war of 1971. Aurora designated major general K. V. Krishna Rao, the general officer commanding of 8th Mountain division as officer in charge of eastern theatre spanning Sylhet and Tripura. On 7 December Rao orchestrated an operation aiding commander of Bangladeshi Z forces lieutenant colonel Ziaur Rahman and invade Sylhet from Pakistan.

On 21 November 1971, 4th and 5th Gorkha Rifles crossed the Surma River and charged the Pakistan positions in Sunamganj District. After heavy fighting, they captured Atgram along with a large amount of arms and ammunition.[10] Pakistani troops had set up defences at the bank of the Kushiyara River in Zakiganj. Indian troops consisted of 9 guards and two companies of 87th Border Security Force. After a fierce battle, Zakiganj was captured by Indian military. The activities and actions of Bangladeshi force and the Gorkha rifles made Pakistanis believe that the attack would come from the north and east. Rao came up with a different plan to attack from the south. He assembled two regular brigades for the advance from the south and stationed the 4th and 5th Gorkha battalion on Sunamganj with the Z forces of Bangladesh.

On 4 December 1971, the 6th Rajput regiment along with 4th and 5th Gorkha Rifles of the Indian 59th Infantry brigade commenced to capture Kulaura Upazila held by Pakistanis. Kulaura eventually fell to 4th, 5th Gorkha Rifles after a long confrontation. Following this, 6th Rajput battalion of apprehended the 22nd Baloch Regiment of the Pakistan army in Tenchu ganj. The 81st Mountain Brigade started operations on the same day. They commenced to capture the airfield and Chhatarpur tea factory. The 10 Mahars battalion took over Chattarpur tea factory by after a stiff fight.[11] The 4th Kumaon, assisted by two companies of 3rd Punjab, captured the airfield on 6 December, after a two-day battle. The airfield was heavily mined and cratered. The 81st Mountain Brigade was now tasked to capture Moulvi Bazar, which was subjected to heavy artillery shelling by Bangladeshi force's 2nd field artillery battery and air attacks of the Indian Air Force. The Pakistani troops had to withdraw from Moulvibazar on 8 and 9 December and Bangladeshi-Indian forces successfully captured Moulvibazar on 9 December 1971 and secured the bridge crossing on the Manu River a transboundary stream the following day.

## Deployments

[edit]

### Bangladesh

[edit]

The Z Force was responsible for emancipating Sylhet. This included

* 1st East Bengal Regiment \- Jaintiapur
* 8th East Bengal Regiment - Sunamganj
* 2nd Field Artillery Battery - Sreemangal

Sector IV was responsible for emancipating Sylhet comprising East Pakistan Rifles, Ansar and civilian troops. The sector headquarters was at Habiganj.

### India

[edit]

The 8th Mountain Division was responsible for the operations in Sylhet. This included:-

* 5th Gorkha Rifles \- Sunamganj (Adhoc)[10]
* 4th Gorkha Rifles \- Sumanganj (Adhoc)
* 59th Mountain Brigade - Dharmanagar
* 81st Mountain Brigade - Kailashahar

### Pakistan

[edit]

The 14th Infantry Division was responsible for the defence of Sylhet. This included

* 202nd Infantry Brigade - Sylhet, Karimnagar, Kulaura
* 313rd Infantry Brigade - Comilla, Moulvibazar
* 27th Infantry Brigade - Akhaura

## Objectives

[edit]

### Pakistan

[edit]

Pakistan adopted a fortress strategy. They converted the towns and cantonments into fortresses with the help of mines and pillboxes. Re-enforcement of additional troops securing their defences.

In accordance with this strategy, ten cities: Jessore, Jhenaidah, Bogra, Rangpur, Jamalpur, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Bhairab Bazar, Comilla, and Chittagong were converted into fortress.[12]

According to this plan, if Indian troops attacked the cities they would suffer heavy casualties and if they tried to bypass them they would be surrounded.

In both the cases the it would ease the defence of Sylhet and buy time to build international pressure on India.

### India

[edit]

India adopted a Maneuver style of warfare throughout the war. Consequently, in this strategy, an all out effort is made to threaten, capture, destroy the critical vulnerability of enemy. Critical vulnerability include specific selected areas which are attacked to create gaps for specific logistics corridors. of Once critical vulnerability is threatened the forces regardless of their strength rendered ineffective.[13] The India objective was to get absolute victory. Indian forces exploited the gaps and abandoned the Highways and used the byways to attack enemy strongholds.[14]

Initially in November, the Karimganj Bulge was viewed as a stronghold for Pakistani sabotage groups, thus clearing them would clear the area to the right. Hence, to achieve this Indian forces were tasked to capture Atgram and Zakiganj the area east of road connecting the spaces.[7]

The advance towards Sylhet was started along three axis:-

* 5th Gorkha Rifles with Bangladeshi forces to advance through Atgram – Jaintiapur – Sylhet axis
* 59th Mountain Brigade to advance through Gazipur – Kulaura – Tenchu ganj – Sylhet axis
* 81 Mountain Brigade to advance through Shamshernagar – Moulvibazar – Sylhet axis.

After Indian troops captured Gazipur and Kalaura. A heliborne Operation was planned to capture Sylhet. 4 / 5 Gurkha Rifles were airlifted to Sylhet on the night of 7 December

## Battle

[edit]

Following the Indian intervention of East Pakistan, 202nd infantry Brigade of Pakistan army was the sole defence of Sylhet. Unknown to the Indian and Bangladeshi forces, Iftikhar Rana transported his brigade and retreat to Sylhet in order to support Salimulah Chohan the commander of 202nd brigade at Jalalabad Cantonment. On Indian formation, both of Gorkha Battalions divided their operations through four companies. On 7 December after aerial surveillance, 14 Mil Mi-4 helicopters took off with 4th and 5th Gorkha Rifles landing at pre-selected spots. Around 648 Gorkha troops were airlifted to Sylhet.

Around 3 p.m that day, the Charlie company and Bravo company was airlifted followed by small portion of Bravo company 40–45 minutes later. The Charlie company men, along with commanding officers somehow managed to hold the enemy attack as they were engaged in small arms fire soon after the landing.

Pakistani troops mounted heavy medium machine gun (MMG) fire upon them throughout the operation. On 8 December at 4 p.m, the Alpha and Delta company landed at Sylhet. In the twilight hours, a wave of helicopters came with two mounted guns and bringing 9 Guards and the rest of Bravo company as reinforcements. The company was consisted of 60 to 75 troops and was deployed in the depth along the banks of Surma River the troops were aided with 300 rebel Bangladeshis. The mounted guns lacked a suitable deployment area at a closer range as Alpha and Delta companies were present on the forward areas. After the last light of that day, Pakistani troops launched a counterattack supported by artillery and heavy MMG fire. The Gorkha troops quickly repulsed this counter-attack. On 9 December, the Gorkha battalions deployed Alpha and Delta companies through Companiganj. That day, the Charlie company was tasked to conduct a combined patrol with 8th East Bengal Regiment in the morning and lay an ambush through Khadim Nagar. They ambushed a Pakistani convoy. Then the Alpha Company sent a patrol towards rail-road bridge leading from Sylhet and attacked Pakistani troops who were deployed alongside of the bridge.

On 10 December, Gorkhas at Sylhet received air support from the Indian Air Force and received a news that a transport aircraft would be dropping supplies and ammunition. At 12 p.m, Indian Air Force dropped supplies and ammunition which was scattered across the dropping zone. The Pakistani troops immediately opened fire, which caused the battalion, party under Ian Cardozo, delays in collecting supplies and artillery ammunition. Nevertheless, replenishment of small arms and ammunition was retrieved.[15] As the day comes by, in the morning Hawker Hunter jets of the Indian Air Force engaged the Pakistani battalions at Sylhet. At dusk, the Pakistan army again countered with heavy artillery and MMG fire, The contact between Alpha and Delta broke down and only way remained to establish contact was through their commanding officer. The Gorkhas retaliated with full charge anyhow with few casualties. A day later, the firefight continued, and two helicopters arrived with some ammunition and evacuated some of the dead. The battalion was able to survive for a week without any link up and countering major attacks. While broadcasting the war theatre around Sylhet, journalists from the British Broadcasting Corporation cited that a whole Indian brigade was dropped on Sylhet. The following day, 6th Rajput battalion linked up with the companies of 4th and 5th Gorkha, while approaching from Tenchu ganj in the south, followed by a column of 8th Mountain brigade linking up on 15 December. Major Malik, the commander of Charlie company with the 4th Gorkha rifles was the first to be informed about the surrender of Pakistani troops. As the Bangladesh troops and Indian officers encircled city, a temporary cease-fire was declared by Rao later at night of that day.

On 16 December Pakistani army troops consisting of 107 officers, 219 Junior commissioned officers, and presumably 6,190 soldiers surrendered to the Bangladeshi-Indian troops as a part of Pakistani Instrument of Surrender. The Indian troops remained at Sylhet till 25 December of 1971 while apprehending Pakistani military personnel.[16][17]

## See also

[edit]

* Battle of Basantar
* Battle of Longewala
* Battle Of Hilli

## References

[edit]

Footnotes

1. ^ Bengali: সিলেটের যুদ্ধ
2. ^ Hindi: सिलहट का युद्ध

Citations

1. ^ a b Battle Of Sylhet. Defence India Archived August 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ Cardozo, Ian (21 June 2021). 1971: Stories of Grit and Glory from the Indo-Pak War. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. ISBN 978-93-5492-028-8.
3. ^ Sarkar, Col Bhaskar (8 December 2020). "Battle of Sylhet 1971 War". Indian Defence Review. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
4. ^ Pradhan, S. D. "Deception during 1971 War: Case of a brigade that was not there". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
5. ^ "Army Day 2022: Brigadier Rattan Kaul recounts his time during the Battle of Sylhet". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
6. ^ "When BBC error helped India in 1971 war". Hindustan Times. 26 July 2016. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
7. ^ a b "Battle of Sylhet - Bharat Rakshak - Indian Army & Land Forces". Retrieved 24 November 2023.
8. ^ Team, The Kootneeti (8 October 2021). "Air operations: 1971 — The war which shaped the subcontinent [Event]". Retrieved 1 December 2023.
9. ^ Archives, The National. "The National Archives - Homepage". The National Archives. Retrieved 2 December 2023.
10. ^ a b Praval, K. C. (1987). Indian army after independence. New Delhi: Lancer International. p. 464\. ISBN 81-7062-014-7.
11. ^ "Army Day 2022: Brigadier Rattan Kaul recounts his time during the Battle of Sylhet". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
12. ^ Sālik, Ṣiddīq (1977). Witness to Surrender. Oxford University Press. p. 125\. ISBN 0-19-577257-1.
13. ^ Panag (retd), Lt Gen H. S. (14 December 2018). "Dhaka & Pakistan's psychological defeat: How Indian military commanders won 1971". ThePrint. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
14. ^ "How India-Pakistan War of 1971 started, how we won & significance of Vijay Diwas". The Times of India. 16 December 2022. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
15. ^ Alexander, Deepa (15 July 2021). "Ian Cardozo, who amputated his own leg on the battlefield, writes about the 1971 Indo-Pak War -IN". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
16. ^ "Battle of Sylhet - Bharat Rakshak - Indian Army & Land Forces". Retrieved 27 November 2023.
17. ^ Zorawar (13 November 2020). "Mention-in-Despatches III: Battle honour Sylhet". Medium. Retrieved 27 November 2023.

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