BBC News
"What happened in 1971 was no less."
December 16, 1971 Fall of Dhaka, the end of East Pakistan.
But the memories of what happened there before are still fresh in the minds of former Pakistan cricket team captain and current manager Intikhab Alam.
Intikhab Alam was the captain of the Pakistan XI which was playing an unofficial Test match against the International XI in the worst case scenario of Dhaka.
The captain of the International XI was Mickey Stewart, captain of the English County Surrey, with whom Intikhab Alam also played.
Intikhab Alam rekindled these memories with the BBC Urdu service and started his conversation in such a way that he has seen Pakistan being formed and falling apart.
I arrived in Pakistan with my parents in 1947 after seeing mutilated and bloodied bodies. It was the last train we took in Pakistan. I can't describe my condition at that time. Little did I know that I would be in another situation.
Electoralists call the situation at the time of the formation of Pakistan more doomsday than the fall of East Pakistan, but also say that what happened in 1971 was no less.
On the last day of the unofficial Test match, I heard gunshots and then people stormed the stadium. The players were sent to their hotel but our team could not go to their hotel because Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was holding a press conference there and we were not allowed to come there.
Intikhab Alam says that the players of International XI were lucky that a PIA flight was going from Dhaka and they were sent away.
At the time of the 1971 war, Bangladesh was part of what was called East Pakistan
The guest cricketers managed to get out of Dhaka immediately but we could not see any way out. I found out that a flight was about to take place which was being controlled by a Brigadier Haider Sahib and I asked him to help our team and the umpires depart.
Meanwhile, we could clearly see from our hotel rooms that Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was taking oath in front of an enthusiastic crowd in a large field. Although the hotel manager assured us that you are safe and the hotel has plenty of food and drink, we wanted to get out as soon as possible.
Intikhab Alam describes his departure from Dhaka as a miracle.
"Our team was put in a truck with a military jeep in front of it. The Deputy Commissioner seated me in the jeep and told me that if need be I would fire the machine gun mounted on it. Had to be dropped off again and again as the police called for our protection had fled.
"Thousands of people at the airport were eager to board the flight which turned out to be the last flight from Dhaka. I searched for Brigadier Haider with great difficulty but as soon as I ran up to him, the soldiers aimed their rifles at me, the seriousness of which I could feel stuck in my body. Brigadier Haider helped us get on board and so we were able to reach Pakistan via Sri Lanka.
