CALCUTTA, India, Dec. 7—The Indian Army reported a victory in Jessore tonight that virtually insured it of control of about half of East Pakistan, and the army chief immediately issued a call to the Pakistani forces there to surrender to save their lives.

With Indian troops pushing in from all sides toward the region's center, slowly tightening a noose around the retreating Pakistanis, the army's Eastern Command reported tonight that Jessore, a division headquarters and the military linchpin of the western half of East Pakistan, had been taken hi a fierce 24‐hour battle. Its defenders — estimated before the battle at about 5,000 men —were said to be fleeing in disarray to the south.

Message to Pakistanis

At about 6:30 P.M., just after Jessore had fallen, the Indian Army chief of staff, Gen. S.H.F.J. Manekshaw, issued a message to be broadcast to the 70,000 Pakistani troops in East [Pakistan: “Officers and jawans [soldiers] of the Pakistan Army, lay down your arms before it is too late. Time is running out. Indian forces have encircled you. Your fate is sealed.”

The message, which was to be broadcast to the Pakistanis every half‐hour by All India Radio, told them that their escape routes by sea and air had been blocked, that they, had no hope of getting more supplies or reinforcements and that their air force in East Pakistan had been virtually, wiped out.

Hatred of the Bengalis

General Manekshaw then reminded the Pakistanis of a worse threat to their lives than the Indian troops — the deep hatred they had created among the East Bengalis by their military repression in East Pakistan, launched last March 25 in an attempt to crush the Mukti Bahini, the Liberation Force seeking autonomy for the region.
Continue reading the main story

“The Mukti Bahini and the people fighting for liberation are all prepared to revenge for the atrocities and cruelties you have committed,” the statement said.

“There is only one way left for you now: To lay down your arms to the Indian forces, who are advancing.”

“Why lose lives?” the statement continued. “Do you want to go home and be with your children? Do not lose time. There is no disgrace in laying down arms to a soldier. We will treat you as soldiers.”

Indian military officials have been stressing their intent to observe all the rules of the Geneva Convention regarding prisoners of war.

The message was being read over the radio in Urdu and Pushtu, the principal languages of West Pakistan, where the troops are from. Indian military officials said that leaflets bearing the message would be airdropped starting tomorrow.

The battle of Jessore began last night after an apparent feint to the north by an Indian brigade.

An even larger force opened the assault on the heavily fortified city from the north. First the airfield was taken while artillery pounded the bunkers and pillboxes that protected the military cantonment.

Mines and Barbed Wire

Then Indian infantrymen worked their way across fields laid with mines and barbed wire and broke through to the cantonment as the Pakistanis fell back to the city itself, which is four miles away.

At 5:30 P.M. an Indian spokesman reported that the cantonment had been taken and “the fight is on for the city.” Less than two hours later he got the report that the city had fallen.

Another military source said that the Pakistani troops had retreated in all directions but that most had headed to the southeast toward Khulna, a city about 35 miles away that is linked to the seaport of Chalna by river. He said the Indian troops were now advancing toward Khulna.

The account of the Jessore battle was pieced together from Indian briefings and other sources. No newsmen were allowed near the scene, but the army has scheduled a trip for some newsmen tomorrow.

The Pakistani force at Jessore, according to the Indians, was a brigade of about 3,000 infantrymen, plus about 2,000 irregulars, supported by artillery.

No information is available on casualties, but the Indians' reluctance to talk about their own casualties and the bitterness of the battle suggest that they were high on both sides.

Eight Months Since Defeat

The capture of Jessore came just eight months after the Pakistanis drove the then‐ravaged Bengali insurgents out of the city.

From there and elsewhere the insurgents retreated into India, where, starting in April, they began to receive arms and training.

Bengali refugees—now estimated at nearly 10 million—also began fleeing into India to escape the military crackdown. The resulting social and economic pressures became severe for India, which increased the assistance to the insurgents, hoping their success might bring the Pakistani military occupation to a quick end and stop the refugee flow.

The insurgents could not produce results fast enough to take the mounting pressure off India, so the Government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi moved toward a direct combat role, sending troops into East Pakistan “in self‐defense.”

That escalation, starting late in October, came to a climax four days ago with the surprise Pakistani air attack on Indian airfields.

Although the Indian offensive in East Pakistan could not be called a lightning operation, the advances—considering the difficult, riverine terrain have been significant and have made it impossible for the Pakistanis to pull back in orderly fashion.

“Now that the outer crust of their forces has been crushed —and it was fairly heavy—our progress will be rapid,” said Maj. Gen. J. F. R. Jacob, chief of staff of the Eastern Command, at a briefing.

Declining to predict an early conquest of Dacca, he said: “they're fighting with determination. They feel they have no escape. They are desperate, so they're fighting hard.

40 Miles From Dacca

General Jacob said that the major centers were strongly held. He added that the Pakistanis were blowing up bridges to slow the Indian advance, “so when we come to an obstacle, we have to, like Caesar, throw a bridge across.”

He said his troops had captured Jhenida, an important center about 25 miles north of Jessore that had been a potential withdrawal route to Dacca for the Pakistanis.

The general said that in encircling Comilla and cutting it off from Dacca, Indian troops had cut the road to Dacca at a place only about 40 miles from the capital. That 40 miles could be slow going because the wide and difficult Meghna River lies in between.

Asked about the role of the Bengali insurgents in the offensive, General Jacob said: “The Mukti Bahini are collaborating with our troops in all sectors wherever they are.”

Speculation was growing that once the Indians finish off the outnumbered and outgunned Pakistani forces in East Pakistan, they will move a large part of their eastern force of six to seven divisions to the western front.