Mrs Gandhi, Nixon, and the 1971 war: Did PM ‘grovel' before US president as BJP claims?

Indian Express

6 days ago

Atal Bihari Vajpayee hailed Indira Gandhi as 'Durga' after the 1971 war, praising her role in the liberation of Bangladesh and dealing Pakistan a crushing military defeat. However, during the recent debate in Parliament on Operation Sindoor, BJP leaders questioned Mrs Gandhi's role during the war, claiming she 'grovelled' before US President Richard Nixon to try and get him to make Pakistan back off.
The comments after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday targeted the government over US President Donald Trump's claims that he brokered the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Rahul said if Trump was 'lying' about the ceasefire, PM Narendra Modi should call him out, if 'he has even 50% of the courage of Indira Gandhi', his grandmother.
Gandhi said the Modi government did not have the 'political will' to wage a war with Pakistan. 'If you want to use the Indian forces, then you should have 100% political will … (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh compared the 1971 (war with Pakistan) and Operation Sindoor. There was political will in 1971 … The then Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) said, 'We will do whatever we want to do in Bangladesh' … political will without any confusion,' he said.
In response, the BJP's Godda MP, Nishikant Dubey, said that on December 5, 1971, Mrs Gandhi wrote to Nixon and 'literally begged him to use his influence to stop the war with Pakistan'. Former Union Minister Anurag Thakur told the House, 'Indira Gandhi wrote to Nixon in a way that it seemed that she was grovelling before Nixon. Let the nation decide whether that government was iron or irony.'
How it all unfolded
Historian Srinath Raghavan, in his book Indira Gandhi and the Years that Transformed India, writes that by March 19, 1971, preparations for a military crackdown were underway in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh).
Mrs Gandhi was aware of the considerable 'parliamentary and public pressure on the government to do something' and met Opposition leaders on the evening of March 26 to explain her thinking. 'She also requested that the government's policy on the matter should not become a subject matter of public debate,' Raghavan writes.
Parliament was tense in the following days. Minister of External Affairs Swaran Singh informed Parliament about the situation in East Pakistan, telling both the Houses that the government.was 'gravely concerned' about the situation and 'our hearts go out in sympathy to the people who are undergoing suffering', Raghavan writes.
But he came under sharp criticism, with several MPs, many from Bengal and with roots in Bangladesh, expressing concern about the situation. The PM had to intervene and assure Parliament that 'we are fully alive to the situation'.
Raghavan writes that there was huge pressure to recognise Bangladesh. 'Several political parties passed resolutions demanding immediate recognition of Bangladesh. Legislative Assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Nagaland, and Tripura adopted resolutions urging the Central government to formally recognise Bangladesh … More uncomfortable was the demand for recognition from the Congress's principal ally, the Communist Party of India. These calls were echoed in the press and lent credence by Pundits.'
Veteran leader Jayaprakash Narayan, who would later take on Mrs Gandhi during the Emergency, also pushed the government for action.
According to Raghavan, the PM felt that since the international community believed East Pakistan was Pakistan's internal matter, India could face pushback. Her strategy was to support the guerrilla movement in the neighbouring country.
This was the stance till May 7, when she held another meeting with the Opposition. While supporting the guerrilla campaign, she said that 'we cannot contemplate armed intervention at all'.
But the refugee crisis soon arrived, with almost 1 lakh refugees landing up in India, according to some estimates. Raghavan writes that Mrs Gandhi reached out to Atal Behari Vajpayee, then a leader of the BJP's precursor Jana Sangh, to 'request him to not politicise' the issue as it would 'help Pakistan portray the refugee problem as a Hindu-Muslim and India-Pakistan problem'.
Mrs Gandhi changes her mind
Within days, there was a shift in the PM's stance. On May 24, she spoke in Parliament about the extent of the refugee crisis.
'…So massive a migration, in so short a time, is unprecedented in recorded history. About three and a half million people have come into India from Bangla Desh during the last eight weeks. They belong to every religious persuasion – Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian… They are not refugees in the sense we have understood this since Partition. They are victims of war who have sought refuge from the military terror across our frontier,' she said.
She added that India had not tried to 'interfere with the internal affairs of Pakistan, even though they have not exercised similar restraint'.
'And even now, we do not seek to interfere in any way. But what has actually happened? What was claimed to be an internal problem of Pakistan, has also become an internal problem for India. We are, therefore, entitled to ask Pakistan to desist immediately from all actions which it is taking in the name of domestic jurisdiction, and which vitally affect the peace and well-being of millions of our own citizens. Pakistan cannot be allowed to seek a solution of its political or other problems at the expense of India and on Indian soil.'
By mid-October 1971, there was a growing sense within the government that it had to fully support the rebels. To shore up international support, the PM travelled to Moscow in September to persuade the leadership. She also visited key Western capitals, which only 'elicited only a modicum of sympathy and support'. Her meeting with US President Richard Nixon was 'frosty', writes Raghavan.
'The consequences of military action, Nixon warned, were 'incalculably dangerous'. Nixon's Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger held a meeting to take stock of the situation. It was here that Nixon remarked that Mrs Gandhi was being a 'bitch' and Kissinger replied that 'Indians are bastards anyway'. Mrs Gandhi held a meeting with the President that same afternoon. 'She did not bring up the South Asian crisis at all. Instead, she probed Nixon about US foreign policy across the globe. Her attitude, Kissinger would later write 'brought out all of Nixon's latent insecurities',' Raghavan writes.
On December 3, after Pakistan launched an airstrike, India declared war. Two days later, Mrs Gandhi wrote to Nixon to apprise him of the situation. 'I am writing to you at a moment of grave peril and danger to my country and my people. The success of the freedom movement in Bangla Desh has now become a war on India due to the adventurism of the Pakistan military machine,' she wrote.
'In this hour of danger the Government and the people of India seek your understanding and urge you to persuade Pakistan to desist forthwith from the policy of wanton aggression and military adventurism which it has unfortunately embarked upon. May I request Your Excellency to exercise your undoubted influence with the Government of Pakistan to stop their aggressive activities against India and to deal immediately with the genesis of the problem of East Bengal which has caused so much trial and tribulations to the people not only of Pakistan but of the entire sub-continent,' she told the US president.
After an almost two-week campaign, the Pakistan Army surrendered on December 16. Mrs Gandhi immediately rushed to Parliament after Dhaka fell, declaring it was now a 'free capital' of a 'free country'. 'The parliament erupted in acclamation and every line of hers was cheered to the echo. In the days ahead, Indira Gandhi would be praised in Parliament with awe bordering on veneration… She was compared to Durga…,' Raghavan writes.