Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday claimed that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi mishandled the situation after India’s victory in the 1971 war against Pakistan, which led to the formation of Bangladesh.

“Had Mrs. Indira Gandhi been alive today, the nation would have questioned her for mishandling the decisive victory won by our armed forces,” he said in a post on X. “The creation of Bangladesh was not a bargain – it was a historic opportunity lost.”

Sarma made the statement after several Congress leaders praised Gandhi’s stance during the 1971 war in the backdrop of the current tensions between India and Pakistan and the “understanding” between the two countries to put an end to four days of military tensions.

Sarma alleged that “India's military triumph in 1971 was not matched by strategic foresight”, claiming that the possibility of creating “a new regional order was reduced to a one-sided act of generosity”.

His post on X pointed to long-standing issues in India-Bangladesh relations over the past five decades. Sarma noted that while India had backed a secular Bangladesh during its liberation, Islam was declared the country’s state religion in 1988.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader also criticised the absence of a land corridor through northern Bangladesh to connect India’s northeast with the rest of the country, leaving the narrow Siliguri Corridor, or “Chicken’s Neck”, strategically exposed.

The 1971 India-Pakistan War, also known as the Bangladesh Liberation War, was sparked by the rebellion in the erstwhile East Pakistan against the government in Islamabad. Since March of that year, Bengali nationalists had been fighting a brutal crackdown by Pakistani forces on the civil and political rights of the Bengali population.

Then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had provided support to the Bangladesh cause for months but the Indian military formally engaged in a full-scale war with Pakistan on December 3, 1971.

On December 16, 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with his troops, surrendered to the allied forces consisting of the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini in Dhaka. The day is observed in Bangladesh as ‘Bijoy Dibosh’ and marks the country’s formal independence from Pakistan.

Since May 10, when India and Pakistan decided to put an end to four days of military tensions, Congress leaders have been referencing Indira Gandhi standing up to the United States’ pressure during the 1971 war to highlight the contrast with the US last week mediating an agreement between India and Pakistan.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed on social media that New Delhi and Islamabad had agreed to “start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site”.

Following this, the Congress’ official X handle posted a photo of the former prime minister, captioning it: “Indira Gandhi – COURAGE | CONVICTION | STRENGTH”.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh Jairam Ramesh shared Indira Gandhi’s 1971 letter to US President Richard Nixon, four days after which Pakistan surrendered, he claimed.

“She ensured that there was no neutral site which has now been agreed to,” Ramesh added.

On Sunday, Supriya Shrinate, head of the Congress party’s social media cell, shared a video of Indira Gandhi saying: “The future of India is for us to decide, and we will fight it out in India. I don’t think it is anybody else’s business.”

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