Indo-Pakistan War 1971: The Reason Why Imran Khan Hides His Last Name ‘Niazi’ 

In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at the inauguration of Kartarpur corridor on Saturday (9 November), he thanked Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addressing him as 'Imran Khan Niazi'.

Modi had said, "I would like to thank the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan Niazi for respecting the sentiments of India,” with a special emphasis on the name ‘Niazi’ which was the name of Pakistani army Lieutenant General Ameer Abdullah Khan Niazi who surrendered along with 93,000 soldiers in erstwhile East Pakistan which is now Bangladesh, reports India TV .

War Crimes committed by Pakistan army and East Pakistani collaborators known as Razakars are brilliantly documented by former American diplomat Archer Kent Blood who was the last American Consul General to Dhaka, Bangladesh (East Pakistan at the time).

There is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist book ‘The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide by author Gary J. Bass.

Before the dismemberment of East Pakistan, the predominantly Sunni Punjabi Pakistan army wilfully carried out the murder of over 30 lakh Bengali Muslims and Hindus and is responsible for the industrial scale rape of over 2 lakh women in their infamous rape camps.

This tactic of forceful kidnapping of women and putting them in rape camps are allegedly still being carried out by Pakistani security forces in Baluchistan.

Although Niazi was not tried for war crime, what is humiliating for many Pakistanis is the meek surrender of nearly 1 Lakh soldiers to the Indian army who were led by Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora on December 16, 1971.

AAK Niazi’s surrender in 1971 ended the 13-day war which was also known as the Bangladesh Liberation War.

This is the reason why Imran Khan hides his last name ‘Niazi’ which reminds the country of the humiliating defeat it faced in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war.