In March, when both Pakistan and Bangladesh were in turmoil, the West Pakistani leaders reached out to their ally, the United States. Foreign Minister Kissinger, who had a close relationship with the Pakistani military ruler Yahya, assured him that the followers of the Indian agent Sheikh Mujib would never be allowed to form Bangladesh.
Yahya visited Bangladesh in mid-March and gave the green signal for Operation Search Light, which was carried out just before his departure on March 25th. The genocide commenced, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was arrested.
The subsequent history is well known: in December, as the Pakistanis were being defeated everywhere in the battlegrounds, President Nixon ordered the US Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal on the advice of Kissinger.
The Pakistanis got the audacity to carry out genocide in Bangladesh only with Kissinger’s support. American intelligence’s recommendation was to garner support from the civilian population, leading to the formation of Razakar Bahini, with Jamaat-e-Islam supplying Razakars and Al-Badars.
Today, the US human rights report on Jamaat-e-Islam echoes their role in the 1971 war. The relationship between Pakistan, America, and Jamaat-e-Islam is reminiscent of a century-old bond.