It will be a privilege to publish letters from readers
about articles written in previous issues or giving
suggestions. No letter will be printed which indulges
in personalized attacks or is meaningless in the context of DJ

Ikramul Majid Sehgal
Managing Editor DJ

Dear Major Ikramul Majid Sehgal

Quite a few books have been written, about 1971 War, but most of the important battles have not been covered. Some minor skirmishes have been magnified, whereas a major battle like the battle of -Dhullai- has been ignored.

There are units, who suffered less than a dozen casualties, in the war, but either they had good relations with the higher ups, or the higher ups failed to verify the facts, with the result that these units got half a dozen awards.

Gen. Tajammal in his book, narrates a story, where when he was told that such an officer was killed in action, recommended him for immediate award of SJ. Later on it transpired that the story was incorrect and the officer was hale and hearty. The award could not be retrieved. I am writing this letter to you, about a very fine -battalion- 30 FF, which I had the honour to command in 1971 War. It took part in about half a dozen major battles, like battle of -chattak- north of Sylhet and in June -71, the capture of -Mantala- salient. The COAS, Comd Eastern Comd and GOC Major General Rahim Khan especially visited this area and I briefed them about this operations. It is believed the GOC got HJ for this operations.

30 FF suffered the maximum number of casualties, which with one or two exceptions, no other -battalion- suffered in 1971 War on both fronts. 30 FF casualties were:

Yours Sincerely

Col (Retd) Ahmad Mukhtar