1971 in India

← 1970 1969 1968 1971 in India → 1972 1973 1974
Centuries:
Decades:
See also:	List of years in India Timeline of Indian history

Events in the year 1971 in the Republic of India.

Incumbents

• President of India – V. V. Giri
• Prime Minister of India – Indira Gandhi
• Chief Justice of India – Jayantilal Chhotalal Shah (until 21 January), Sarv Mittra Sikri (starting 22 January)

Governors

• Assam –
• Bihar –
• Gujarat –
• Haryana –
• Himachal Pradesh –
• Jammu and Kashmir –
• Karnataka –
• Kerala –
• Madhya Pradesh –
• Maharashtra –
• Nagaland –
• Odisha –
• Punjab –
• Rajasthan –
• Tamil Nadu –
• Uttar Pradesh –
• West Bengal –

Events

Richard Nixon and Indira Gandhi, 4 November 1971

• 25 January – Himachal Pradesh becomes the 18th Indian state and East Punjab is reduced to its current form as Doaba.
• 19 April – The provisional government of Bangladesh exiled flees to West Bengal.
• 25 August – The former East Pakistan and eastern Bengal are flooded; thousands flee the area.
• 29 September – A cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, in Orissa State in India, kills 10,000.
• 3 December – 17 December: India and Pakistan fight their second major war, over East Pakistan, which ends after 90,000 Pakistani troops surrender. The new nation of Bangladesh is created out of East Pakistan.
• 3 December – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 begins as Pakistan attacks 9 Indian airbases. The next day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.
• 3 December – 4 December night: The Indian navy destroyer INS Rajput sinks Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi (former USS Diablo).
• 16 December – Victory Day of Bangladesh: The Pakistan Army surrenders to the Joint Force i.e. Mukti Bahini (Freedom Force) and the Indian Armed Forces, officially ending the Pakistani Civil War and creating the new nation state of Bangladesh .

Sport

• Leslie Claudius (field hockey player) is awarded the Padma Shri.
• 24 August - India defeat England in the third and the final Test at the Oval. This happens to be India's first victory ever on the English soil.

Births

• 4 February - Kothapalli Geetha, politician Member of Parliament from Araku
• 1 May – Ajith Kumar, Actor and motor racing driver.
• 21 June - Butta Renuka, politician and member of parliament from Kurnool.
• 4 July – Sivakumar Veerasamy, Scientist.
• 17 July – Soundarya, Actress (d.2004).
• 5 August – Jude Menezes, Field hockey player.
• 8 August – Ramandeep Singh, Field hockey player.

• 

  Pawan Kalyan

  2 September – Pawan Kalyan, Actor and film director.
• 19 November
  • Sundeep Malani, film director
  • Kiren Rijiju, politician, member of parliament from Arunachal West, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs.

• 

  Barkha Dutt

  18 December – Barkha Dutt, Television journalist.
• 25 December – Santhosh George Kulangara, Businessman.

Deaths

• Debaki Bose, film director, writer and actor (b. 1898).
• Keshavrao Date, actor (b. 1889).

See also

• List of Bollywood films of 1971