In his book The Shade of Swords M.J.Akbar has entitled the second chapter ‘THE JOYS OF DEATH: A BARGAIN WITH ALLAH, and begins it with quotation of two verses of Quran:

‘Ye are the best of peoples evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah.'                                                                                      [Verse 110, Surah Ali Imran.]

‘Allah hath purchased of the Believers their persons and their goods; for theirs [in return] is the Garden of Paradise. They fight in His Cause and slay and are slain: a promise binding on Him in Truth, through the Law, the Gospel, and the Quran. And who is more faithful to his Covenant than Allah? Then rejoice in the bargain which ye have concluded: that is the achievement supreme.'         [Verse 111, Surah 9, Al Tawbah}

What follows is an extract of an account of invasion of Pakistan by Indian Army in 1971.

By November, nearly nine million refugees from East Pakistan were on Indian soil, a majority of them Hindus. For good reason. Lieutenant Colonel Aziz Ahmad Khan, then commanding officer of 8 Baluchi in his disposition to the Hamoodur Rahman Commission stated, ‘General Niazi (who had taken over Pakistan's Eastern Command) asked as to how many Hindus we had killed. In May, there was an order in writing to kill Hindus.

The 4th December morning saw Indian forces ready for battle with the Pakistanis, who were by now well dug in and waiting for the Indian assault. The Indian forces easily outnumbered the Pakistanis by a ratio of about 2:1. However, according to conventional infantry wisdom, an attacking Army requires a three-is-to-one superiority in numbers to attack. India did not have that. Besides General A.A.K.Niazi, was determined merely to delay the Indian advance. For, in this war, the real battle was against time. The longer it took the Indian to secure their limited objectives, the greater the probability of the United Nations intervening to stop the war and affect a stalemate. Pakistan was confident that a stalemate was all that the Indians could get. Towards this strategy, General Niazi, had fortified the towns and approaches to the East Pakistani heartland and had boasted before the war began that should hostilities begin, he would take the battle inside India.

Last update : 12-12-2009 15:34

Keywords : Termination of a Bargain with Allah, Mahendra Mathur

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