Pakistani civil war emergency relief
- Duration
- 12 July 1971 - 20 July 1971
- Military personnel
- 4
- Fatalities
- none
- Decorations
- none
When British India was decolonised in 1947, the Indian Muslims were granted their own state, Pakistan, split into West Pakistan (the seat of government) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), 1,500 kilometres away.
Army deployment following elections
Over the years, the inhabitants of East Pakistan, the Bengalis, felt increasingly that they were not being regarded as full Pakistani citizens. In the 1971 elections, the Bengali Awami League, a political party calling for autonomy, pulled in 99% of the votes to win an absolute majority in the East Pakistani House of Representatives. In response, the Pakistani government deployed its national army at the end of March 1971.
Bloodbath
The war that ensued escalated into a bloodbath among the Bengali population. Between April and December 1971, more than a million Bengalis were killed. Many fled the country, some 10 million people seeking refuge in the neighbouring country of India, which was barely able to cope with the massive influx of refugees.
Help needed
Refugee camps overflowed and the outbreak of epidemic diseases meant that there was a real danger of a major humanitarian disaster. International aid quickly swung into action. At the request of the aid organisation Terre des Hommes, the Royal Netherlands Air Force took almost 3 tons of medical supplies from the State Medical Depot in Amsterdam to Calcutta in India to alleviate the most acute suffering.