Deadlock snapped

The Pakistanis looked at one another. They appeared confused now. Nearly 25 minutes of high tension had elapsed, and something just had to give way. Major Tara then played the emotional card. “Your children and your family are waiting in Pakistan for you. If you surrender now, you’ll get to see them again. Otherwise, even if you kill me, the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini will move in any minute and finish all of you. Your family will never again see your bodies again, and you’ll not see your children again…”

Meanwhile, from inside the house Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s family members began to shout out to Major Tara in a mix of English and Hindi. “Don’t believe what these men are saying. They are criminals, capable of killing anyone.” He moved his fingers slightly to acknowledge what they said, without taking his eyes away from the leader. He knew that his own life and that of the family members inside was in grave danger.

Major Tara continued the negotiations. He said that all telephone cables at the house had been cut off and other communication lines in Dhaka had been destroyed during the war. There was no way their seniors were going to be able to connect with them since they had surrendered. “I had to make them panic and emotional at the same time,” says Col. Tara. “I told them that if they surrendered, he would personally ensure that they had a safe passage back to Pakistan, and they would reunite with their children and parents. I ordered them to drop their weapons and come out.”

Thirty minutes of negotiations had emotionally worn down the Pakistanis. They sensed that the Indian Army had moved in. Even if they did not believe Major Tara, the Indian helicopter flying overhead was a clear signal that the Pakistanis were no longer in control. Quite possibly, nine months of the protracted Liberation War had taken its toll and they were desperate to get back home and see their children. Whatever it was, Major Tara had won the crucial battle of the minds. The Pakistani shoulders began to droop. Their cocky expressions gave way to one of dejection and defeat. One by one they trooped out, after having dropped their weapons. Some even wept.

Major Tara was now inside the compound. Banga Mata, as Sheikh Hasina’s mother Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib was popularly called, was the first one to embrace him. “Khuda has sent you to rescue us,” she said ecstatically, her words wrapped in gratitude. “You are just like my son,” she said. Standing next to her beloved mother, Sheikh Hasina called out “Dada” to Major Tara. In no time, the entire family gathered around him, hugely beholden to the young major for having daringly saved their lives, staking his own in the process. After all, it could all have gone so horribly wrong.