পাতা:বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র (সপ্তম খণ্ড).pdf/৩৯

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বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র : সপ্তম খণ্ড শিরোনাম সূত্র তারিখ ২। বাংলাদেশের বিরুদ্ধে পাকিস্তানের সামরিক উইটনেস টু সারেন্ডার ২৬ মার্চ-২ মে, অভিযানের ওপর একটি প্রতিবেদন -সিদিক সালিক Տի, Գ Տ OPERATION SEARCHLIGHT-I Major-General Khadim Hussain was brooding over the possible outcome of political talks on 25 March when his green telephone rang at about 11 a. m. Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan was on the line. He said, 'Khadim, it is tonight.' It created no excitement for Khadim. He was already waiting for the fall of the hammer. The President's decision coincided with the second anniversary of his assumption of power. General Khadim passed the word to his staff for implementation. The lower the news traveled the greater the sensation it created. I saw some junior officers hustling about mustering some extra recoilless rifles, getting additional ammunition issued, a defective mortal sight replaced. The tank crew, brought from Rangpur (29 Cavalry) a few days earlier, hurried with their task to oil six rusty M-24s for use at night. They were enough to make a noise on the Dacca StreetS. The general staff of Headquarters 14 Division rang up all the out station garrisons to inform them of H-hour. They devised a private code for passing the message. All garrisons were to act simultaneously. The fateful hour was set at 260100 hours-1 a.m. 26 March. It was calculated that by then the President would have landed safely in Karachi. The plan for operation SEARCHLIGHT visualized the setting up of two headquarters. Major-General Farman, with 57 Brigade under Brigadier Arbab, was responsible for operations in Dacca city and its suburbs while Major-General Khadim was to look after the rest of the province. In addition, Lieutenant-General Tikka Khan and his staff were to spend the night at the Martial Law Headquarters in the Second Capital to watch the progress of action in and outside Dacca. A few days earlier, General Yahya had sent Major-General Iftikhar Janjua and Major-General A.O. Mitha to Dacca as possible replacements for Khadim and Farman in case they refused to 'crack down'. After all, they had formed General Yakub's team until very recently and might still share his ideas. General Hamid had even gone to the extent of questioning Khadim's and Farman's wives to assess their husbands' views on the subject. Both the generals, however, assured Hamid that they would faithfully carry out the orders. Junior officers like me started collecting at Headquarters, Martial Law Administrator, Zone 'B' (Second Capital) at about 10 p.m. They laid out sofas and easy chairs on the lawn and made arrangements for tea and coffee to last the night. I had no specific job to perform except to be available'. A jeep fitted with a wireless set was parked next to this