Dhaka: Vetran of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, Lt Gen JFR Jacob, today said the then Pakistan Army commander AAK Niazi only wanted to sign a ceasefire deal instead of an "unconditional surrender" as demanded by India.

Jacob, who drafted the Instrument of Surrender for the December 16 surrendering ceremony, said the Pakistani Commander did not want to sign a document suggesting the "unconditional surrender" to India-Bangladesh joint forces.

He also said Niazi, later during his stay in Calcutta as a prisoner of war, accused Jacob of "blackmailing" him in signing the document instilling in him the fears of reprisals by the liberation forces.

"But I never blackmailed him," said the Indian general, who is leading an 11-member delegation of 1971 war veterans from India to Bangladesh, participating in the emergency-ruled country's independence day celebrations. He said Lt Gen Niazi was made to surrender in public against his insistence that the ceremony be organised at his Dhaka Cantonment office.

"No you must surrender before the people of Dhaka. We wanted the Pakistani troops to surrender in public as they had carried out so much atrocities on the people of this country," Jacob recalling that the ceremony was oraginsed at the Race course Maiden.

The Indian General, however, said it was a risky to organise the ceremony in public at that turbulent time when "we did not have enough Indian troops at the scene to ensure the security. But there are always risks in wars."

Source : PTI