Dated 06th December 1971 , Monday

Rupees 0.25 Paise

Russia uses Veto twice against  UN Ceasefire resolutions

Dec 05, New York: The Soviet Union today vetoed a US resolution that would have the UN Security Council cal upon Indian and Pakistan for a ceasefire and a Military withdrawal. The American proposal included a proposal for the despatch of UN Observers to the sub-continent. Eleven members voted for the resolution. Britain and France abstained. The Soviet Union and Poland cast negative votes. Another resolution , this time floated by China was again vetoed by the Soviet Union, which exercised its Veto for the second time in 24 Hours. The resolution was floated in th Security Council calling upon withdrawal of forces of both sides. India rejected the proposal as "unacceptable" 

DEC 6 : NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister, Smt Indira Gandhi told Parliament today that she was glad to inform the house that in the light of the existing situation and in resposnse to the repeated requests of the government of Bangladesh, the Government of India, after most careful consideration, had decided to grant recognition to the People's republic of Bangladesh.

She expressed her confidence that in future, the Governments and People of India and Bangladesh , will forge a relationship based on the principles of mutual respect for each others sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affaris, equality and mutual benefit.

She expressed her good wishes to the people of Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh government in exile has proclaimed the nation as the Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh. Bangladesh, when it comes into existance will be the eight populous nation in the world. Currently the Government in Exile is under the leadership of the Acting President Mr. Nazrul Islam.

Pakistan cuts diplomatic ties:

By evening it became clear that a diplomatic riposte from Pakistan would be coming. It was announced that Pakistan had broke off diplomatic ties with India in retallaiton to the India's recognition of People's Republic of Bangladesh.

The Pakistan Government's decision was announced by an official spokesman in Islamabad.

It said that India's action in recognizing the 'so-called Bangladesh' has 'exposed' its hatred towards Pakistan and its desire to destroy it.

This is the first time that either country had taken such an extreme step in 25 years since thier emergence into freedom. Not even during the last war in 1965, when troops from both sides pitted against each other in a bloody battle, did severance of ties take place.

The announcement , which came after five hours after the Prime Minister,.[Read Full Story]

Senior Officer wounded

Dec 06, Shillong: The GOC 101 Com  Zone, Maj Gen Gurbux Singh Gill was wounded in the in the Mymensingh - Tangail area bordering the Indian state of Meghalaya, The Post of Kamalpur was taken by forward troops of 95 Brigade under Brig Harry Kler.  Maj Gen Gill was travelling in a jeep with the  Brig Kler when the jeep struck a mine and he suffered injuries. Maj Gen Gandharv Nagra has been deputed from 2 Mtn Division to take over the command of this area.

Previous Issues

Army takes Dera Baba Nanak...
Key enclave taken after fierce fighting.

Dec 06, Punjab: The Indian Army's 86 Infantry Brigade located near the Dera Baba Nanak Enclave had today occupied the crucial enclave evicting the enemy troops from the area. Otherwise known as the Jassar enclave, this piece of land provided a bridgehead to the enemy across the river Ravi, as the road thru this enclave would lead to important towns and cities in Punjab like Amritsar, Ambala etc. There .... [Read Full Story]

...but loses other areas..
"Chamb  Hussainwala  and Suliemanke areas lost ".

Dec 06, Western Sector: The fighting on the ground in the Western Sector has not entirely gone the Army's way in the past three days. Even though the Army had made significant gains and had repulsed attacks in many sectors, the Pakistani plans to launch an offensive on the evening of December 3rd bought limited sucesses.  Army spokesman has admitted that the army had to undertake certain "tactical withdrawals" to strenghten its defences, but dismissed suggestions that these were major reversals.

Chamb Sector: The town of Chamb in Jammu and Kashmir today was abandoned after Indian troops have evacuated the positions today night. Earlier in the day the enemy had put in repeated attacks   on Chamb. The positions of Ghogi, Barsala and Mandiala South were lost during the day's fighting. Since this put the troops at Chamb at a great risk, the Indian Commander ordered .. [Read Full Story]

PAF attacks its own ship!

Dec 05, Karachi: An incident in which the Pakistani Air Force had attacked one of its own ships mistaking it as an Indian Ship had come to light today. Radio intercepts have revealed that following the Indian navy's attack on Karachi on the night of Dec 4th, F-86 Sabres of the Pakistan Air Force were scrambled from the nearby base at Masroor on a search and destroy mission
against  the Indian Missile boats. However one of the fighters mistook a
fast speeding patrol craft of the Pakistani Navy for an indian ship and
proceeded to strafe it. Sources reveal that the patrol craft PNS Zulfikar sustained 900 Hits of .50 Calibre ammunition and had suffered "several"  casualities in killed.

Dec 06, Rajasthan Sector: The botched Pakistani attack on the Longewala and its subsequent decimation by the Army and the Air Force has been one of the highpoints for India in this war.

Some tension did exist in the previous night regarding the possiblity of the remnants of the Tank force attempting an attack on Jaisalmer airfield. The airfield got ready for any sort of an attack , according to the base commander, Wg Cdr Bawa.

An attack by a large unidentified transport aircraft in the early hours of today did not have any effect as most of the bombs fell outside the perimeter.

The first sortie carried out by Jaisalmer was by Fg Off Gosain. His task was to check all routes leading to Jaisalmer for any enemy intrusion, specially the routes leading from Shagarh Bulge, as...[Read Full Story]