Dacca University Action: Operation Search Light

Abstract

Education plays a very significant role in national integration and helps in building a strong edifice that can overcome any political, economic and social challenges faced by the nations. It provides people with knowledge that is very essential for national integration and communal harmony. This study tries to uncover the narrative disseminated by Indian and Bengali authors in exaggerating the facts regarding military action in Dacca University by Pakistan army in 1971 in East Pakistan and investigated the role of propaganda in shaping the nature of conflict. The qualitative research method was used in the study. Document analysis tool was used to analyze the data in understanding the nature of the conflict. The study concluded that India manipulated and exploited the internal situation of East Pakistan and kindled the spirit of Bengali Nationalism in youth to create such a situation that they got deceitfully convinced to demand separation from Pakistan. India devised comprehensive and deliberate plan to kindle sense of deprivation in people generally and students particularly in such a way that the Dacca University became the center of stern opposition against the administration. The main argument of this paper is that Indian propaganda played deceitful role in brain washing of youth by constructing fabricated narrative against West Pakistan that ultimately prompted military action against University.