Charbatia school days experience

Indo-Pak War of 1971 during my Class – V at Charbatia OMP school (1971-72):

My experience Military base

It is worth recounting my experience of staying inside an army camp location, when war broke out between India and Pakistan, during December 1971. I was a kid, studying in class-V at Chabatia OMP school (as a child of defence personnel). Some of my friends were from ARC, which was then an important wing of Indian intelligence wing RAW. I remember, PM Indira Gandhi visited Charbatia, sometime during August-September 1971, by army aircraft. The then ARC head proposed that some school kids should welcome Madam Gandhi from air base. I was lucky to be among the select few school kids, who were taken to the airstrip, to welcome her with flowers.

Charbatia ARC:

Charbatia Air Base is located approximately 12 km north of Cuttack. It is intelligence agency's aviation unit, the Aviation Research Centre (ARC). The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), operates intelligence collection aircraft through the ARC. The aircraft are fitted with electronic surveillance equipment and long-range cameras capable of taking pictures of targets from high altitudes. The base, built with the assistance of CIA in the early 1960s and developed through till 1990s, was used for aerial surveillance and intelligence gathering of Pakistan and China's strategic forces. US trainer Mr. Williamson, along with other experienced personnel were deployed to to train Indian officers. Later additions to the surveillance equipment include specially outfitted Boeing 727 and Gulfstream III jets. The air base is spread over 2,000 acres. In 2011, the Government of India announced that it would be converted into a full-fledged Indian Air Force station with. But the plans for setting up such a station was subsequently cancelled and the unit was shifted to Panagarh in West Bengal.

Ms. Anu Kumar, a writer who spent her childhood there at Charbatia during late 1970s, writes in The Hindu, on how this place gradually lost its importance. [I liked her writings and it touched me so much that I wanted to learn more about the forgotten past. I could successfully contact her through social media; and she is now connected with me on FB.]

https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/planes-war-spying/article5179461.ece

Indo-Pak War

There was unrest and mass uprising in East-Bengal (now Bangladesh) against West Pakistan. India supported their cause (and helped Mukti Bahini and Awami League). That had created huge tension, and there was regular confrontations. By November 1971, India-Pakistan war seemed inevitable. On 23 November, PAK President Yahya Khan declared emergency and told his country to prepare for war.

On the evening of 3 December, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched surprise pre-emptive strikes on eleven airfields in north-western India, including Agra. This air action marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. At the time of the attack, the Taj Mahal had been camouflaged with a forest of twigs and leaves. The then Prime Minister Gandhi Smt. Gandhi ordered Indian Army to launch a full-scale invasion of Pakistan.  The main Indian objective on the Eastern front was to capture Dacca, and on the Western front was to prevent Pakistan from entering Indian soil. The IAF flew over 4,000 sorties, in one week. One of the most successful air raids by India into West Pakistan happened on 8 December 1971, when Indian Hunter aircraft from the Pathankot-based 20 Squadron, attacked the Pakistani base in Murid and destroyed 5 F-86 aircraft on the ground.

Pakistan's PNS Ghazi sank near Visakhapatnam near the eastern coast of India, making it the first submarine casualty in the waters around the Indian subcontinent. In retaliation, the Pakistan Navy submarines Hangor (on 9 December 1971) sank INS Khukri. Indian attack on Karachi port on the night of 8/9 December 1971 resulted in massive destruction of reserve fuel tanks and the sinking of three Pakistani merchant ships, as well as foreign ships docked in Karachi. PAF did retaliate by bombing Okha harbour, destroying the fuel tanks used by Indian boats. Indian Army was successful in penetrating into Pakistani soil. It captured around 15,010 sq.km of Pakistani territory. This land gained by India was later ceded in the Shimla Agreement of 1972, as a gesture of goodwill.

In the east, PAK Squadron Leader PQ Mehdi, was taken POW, putting Pakistan's air command in Dhaka out of commission. Finally, the Indian Army encircled Dacca and issued an ultimatum to surrender in "30-minutes" time window on 16 December 1971. Upon hearing the ultimatum, the East-Pakistan government collapsed when the Lt-Gen. A.A.K. Niazi and his deputy, V-Adm. M.S. Khan, surrendered without offering any resistance. On 16 December 1971, Pakistan ultimately called for unilateral ceasefire and surrendered, ending the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. Instrument of Surrender was signed between the Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora (India) and Lt-General AAK Niazi, (Pakistan). Following the surrender, the Indian Army took approximately 90,000 Pakistani servicemen and their Bengali supporters as POWs.

[Above section is adapted from Wiki and other internet sources.]

My experience at Charbatia:

All those days, during war, we were not allowed to carry or light any lamp outside, at night, at Charbatia. All lamps/ lanterns were compulsorily painted black (upto 60-70% from top of glass). I remember, if there was any urgency for us to move out at night (like, for discussing with classmates, on exam related school assignments), then some one (police personnel) was escorting us, for sure. There was constant fear of bombardment on that army camp, by enemy country.

Pic (below): 1. Charbatia OMP quarters, where I stayed during 1971-72. Now abandoned (as OMP battalion shifted/ dismantled). 2. Railway station (passenger halt)