Hamood ur Rehman Commission

While browsing through the HR Commission Report on the net, I was surprised to note the task given to the commission, which was specific to the conduct of the armed forces only. The Introduction says:

This commission of Inquiry was appointed by the President of Pakistan in December, 1971 to inquire into and find out "the circumstances in which the Commander, Eastern command, surrendered and the members of the Armed Forces of Pakistan under his command laid down their arms and a cease-fire was ordered along the borders of West Pakistan and India and along the cease-fire line in the State of Jammu and Kashmir."  After having examined 213 witnesses the Commission submitted its report in July 1972.

 It certainly confined  the Commission and limited its scope of inquiry to look into the causes of surrender of the armed forces in East Pakistan and also for ordering ceasefire in the Western wing including Jammu and Kashmir -which to my mind had nothing to do with the circumstances for the fall of Dacca. How could a commission entrusted with such a specific task of finding faults with the army only come out with anything else other than vilifying and blaming the army for the debacle?

Would it not have been more appropriate to inquire into the circumstances that led to the Fall of Dacca and Cessation of East Pakistan? The findings of the Commission could have been more revealing.

 But that’s how history is written – at least ours.

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)