Lt Gen JFR Jacob (retd), who played a key role in the 1971 war which broke up Pakistan and created Bangladesh, died in New Delhi. The 93-year-old passed away due to pneumonia. He had been admitted on 1 January. Born in the Bengal Presidency under British India, Jacob joined the army at the age of 19 and also fought in World War II and the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965 before he retired in 1978. Jacob was the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command during the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to Pakistan’s eastern wing seceding and becoming an independent Bangladesh.

Jacob also served as the governor of Goa and Punjab. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences at the veteran’s passing.

 More about Lt Gen Jacob 

• Jacob, motivated by reports of the Holocaust of European Jews during World War II, enlisted in the British Indian Army in 1942. His father objected to his enlisting.
• He said in 2012, “I am proud to be a Jew, but am Indian through and through.”
• Jacob gained prominence when as Major General he served as the Chief of Staff of the Indian Army’s Eastern Command that defeated the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
• Jacob was awarded a commendation of merit for his role.
• Jacob was the author Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation and An Odyssey in War and Peace: An Autobiography Lt Gen. J.F.R. Jacob