Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War

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Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War were decorations bestowed by the major warring parties for actions during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan all issued awards and decorations related to the conflict.

Contents

A listing of the medals bestowed are as follows:

Bangladesh

Gallantry awards

A total of 677 participants of the Bangladesh War of Independence received gallantry awards for their service and bravery. Four categories of gallantry awards were created after the war in Bangladesh. These were:

The Bir Sreshtho (Bengali : বীরশ্রেষ্ঠ) (Valiant of Courage), is the highest military award of Bangladesh. It was awarded to seven freedom fighters who showed utmost bravery and died in action for their nation. They are considered martyrs. [1]

Recipients All the recipients of this award were killed in action during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. The award was published by the Bangladesh Gazette on 15 December 1973. It is the highest military award of Bangladesh, similar to the U.S. Medal of Honor or the UK's Victoria Cross. It has only been given in 1973 to seven people. Listed below are the people who have received the Bir Srestho medal. They are all considered 'Shaheed' (Martyrs).

  1. Roundel of Bangladesh - Army Aviation.svg Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir  
  2. Roundel of Bangladesh - Army Aviation.svg Sepoy Hamidur Rahman  
  3. Roundel of Bangladesh - Army Aviation.svg Sepoy Mostafa Kamal  
  4. baaNlaadesh naubaahiniir mnograam.svg Engine room artificer Ruhul Amin  
  5. Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman  
  6. brddaar gaardd baaNlaadesher mnograam.svg Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf  
  7. brddaar gaardd baaNlaadesher mnograam.svg Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh  

Recipients

No.NAMESECTORRANK
01 Khaja Nazimuddin Bhuiyan, (posthumous)Sector-04Leader Public Force/Gano Bahini
02 K M Shafiullah Commander, S ForceMajor
03 Ziaur Rahman Commander, Z ForceMajor
04 Chittoronjon Datta Sector Commander-04Major
05 Kazi Nuruzzaman Sector Commander-07Major
06 Mir Showkat Ali Sector Commander-05Major
07 Khaled Mosharraf Commander, K ForceMajor
08 Abdul Manzur Sector Commander-08Major
09 Abu Taher Interim Sector Commander-11Major
10 A N M Nuruzzaman Sector Commander-03Captain
11 Rafiqul Islam Sector Commander-01Captain
12 Abdus Salek Choudhury Sector Commander-02Captain
13 Aminul Haque Commander, 8 East BengalMajor
14 Mohammad Abdur Rab Army chief, AHQLieutenant Colonel
15 A K Khandker Deputy Chief of Staff ArmyGroup Captain
16 Shahjahan Omar
17 Kader Siddique
18 Liakat Ali Khan
19 Shahabuddin Ahmed
20 Anwar Hossain Pahari
21 Aftab Ali (Sector-11)3rd East Bengalsubeder
22Motiur Rahman Lieutenant Colonel

A total of 175 fighters have been awarded on 15 December 1973 for their heroic actions at the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. The government of Bangladesh declared the name of the awardees in Bangladesh Gazette on 15 December 1973. In recent 1 Bir Bikrom title award postponed. So total Bir Bikram awarded person is 174.

This award was officially declared on 15 December 1973 through the Bangladesh Gazette. According to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, a total of 426 people have received the award. [2]

Liberation War medals

War Medal.JPG Samor Pawdok (War Medal)
Victory Medal.JPG Joy Pawdok (Victory Medal)
Rono Taroka.JPG Rono Taroka (Campaign Star)
Campaign Star.JPG Mukti Taroka (Liberation Star)

Civilian awards

Independence Day Medallion Swadhinata Padak (Medal).jpg
Independence Day Medallion

The Independence Day Award (Bengali : স্বাধীনতা পদক), [3] also termed Independence Award (Bengali : স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh. Introduced in 1977, this award is bestowed upon Bangladeshi citizens or organisations in recognition of substantial contribution to one of many fields, including the War of Liberation, the language movement, education, literature, journalism, public service, science and technology, medical science, social science, song, games and sports, fine arts, rural development, and other areas.

  1. Flag of Bhutan.svg King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck [5]
  2. Flag of Cuba.svg President Fidel Castro [6]
  3. Flag of India.svg President Pranab Mukherjee [7]
  4. Flag of India.svg Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral. [8]
  5. Flag of India.svg Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee [9]
  6. Flag of Nepal.svg President Ram Baran Yadav
  7. Flag of Nepal.svg Prime Minister/ Acting Head of state Girija Prasad Koirala [10]
  8. Flag of Nepal.svg Prime Minister Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala [11]
  9. Flag of the Soviet Union.svg General Secretary Leonid IIyich Brezhnev
  10. Flag of the Soviet Union.svg President Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny
  11. Flag of the Soviet Union.svg Prime Minister Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin
  12. Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Prime Minister Sir Edward Richard George Heath
  13. Flag of Yugoslavia (1946-1992).svg President Marshal Josip Broz Tito [11]

India

Recipients of the Param Vir Chakra: [14] [15]

S. No.RankName
01 Lance Naik Albert Ekka
02 Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon (Posthumously)
03Major Hoshiar Singh
04 Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal (Posthumously)

Recipients

S. no.RankNameOperation/WarDate of Award
01L/Nt Ram Ugram Pandey 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 24 November 1971
02Sep Ansuya Prasad 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 30 November 1971
03Rfn Pati Ram Gurung 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
04Maj Gen Shamsher Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 1 December 1971
05Vice Adm Swaraj Parkash 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
06Maj Anup Singh Gahlaut 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 3 December 1971
07Brig Basdev Singh Mankotia 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
08Maj Gen Anant Vishwanath Natu 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
09Maj Gen Kashmiri Lal Rattan 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
10Maj Gen Prem Kumar Khanna 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
11Lt Col Jaivir Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
12AVM Vidya Bhushan Vasisht 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
13Gp Capt Allan Albert D'Costa 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 4 December 1971
14Sub Maj (Hony Capt) Bir Bahadur Pun 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
15Cmde Kasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
16Gen Arun Shridhar Vaidya 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 5 December 1971
17Cmde Babru Bhan Yadav 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
18Capt Devinder Singh Ahlawat 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
19Lt Gen Krishnaswamy Gowri Shankar 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
20Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
21Brig Narinder Singh Sandhu 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
22Wg Cdr Padmanabha Gautam 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
23Air Mrshl Ravinder Nath Bhardwaj 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
24Lt Col Sawai Bhawani Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
25Lt Gen Joginder Singh Gharaya 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 6 December 1971
26Brig Kailash Prasad Pande 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
27Brig Mohindar Lal Whig 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
28SepPandurang Salunkhe1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
29AVM Chandan Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 7 December 1971
30Maj Gen Chittoor Venugopal 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
31Lt Gen Joginder Singh Bakshi 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
32Sub Maj Mohinder Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
33Maj Chewang Rinchen 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 8 December 1971
34P/O Chiman Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
35Cdr Joseph Pius Alfred Noronha 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
36Brig Udai Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
37Capt Mahendra Nath Mulla 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 9 December 1971
38Nt Sugan Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
39Brig Rattan Nath Sharma 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 10 December 1971
40Maj Gen Harish Chandra Pathak 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 11 December 1971
41Maj Gen Kulwant Singh Pannu 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
42BrigSukhjit Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
43Maj Vijay Rattan Choudhry 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
44L/Nt Drig Pal Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 13 December 1971
45Capt Pradip Kumar Gour 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 14 December 1971
46Brig Amarjit Singh Bal 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 15 December 1971
47Sub Maj (Hony Capt) Thomas Philipose 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
48Lt Col Ved Prakash Ghai 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
49Lt Gen Hanut Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 16 December 1971
50Lt Gen Raj Mohan Vohra 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
51Capt Shankar Rao Shankhapan Walkar 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
52AVM Cecil Vivian Parker 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily 17 December 1971
53Air Cmde Harcharan Singh Manget 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
54AVM Madhavendra Banerji 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
55Maj Malkiat Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
56Gp Capt Man Mohan Bir Singh Talwar 1971 Operation Cactus-Lily
57Air Cmde Ramesh Sakharam Benegal 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly
582nd Lt. Shamsher Singh Samra 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly
59L/Nt Shangara Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly
60L/Hav Dil Bahadur Chettri 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 21 December 1971
61Rear Adm Santosh Kumar Gupta 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly
62Brig Vijay Kumar Berry 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 28 December 1971
63Air Chief Marshal Swaroop Krishna Kaul 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 30 December 1971
64Sub Nar Bahadur Chhetri 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 31 December 1971
65Col Dharam Vir Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 1 January 1972
66Brig Sant Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 2 January 1972
67Maj Daljit Singh Narang 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 20 January 1972

Recipients [16]

S. no.RankNameBranchAward DateAwarded for
01Adm Laxminarayan Ramdass Indian Navy 1 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
02SubedarGurdev Singh Hans Indian Army 4 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
03Maj Nanjappa K P Indian Army 5 December 1971 Battle of Daudkandi
04Lt ColRaj Singh Indian Army 15 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily [17]
05Major PK Sharma Indian Army 6 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
06Captain Jatinder Kumar Indian Army Operation Cactus Lily
07ColGopal Krishna Trivedi Indian Army 11 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
08Lt Col Satish Nambiar Indian Army Operation Cactus Lily
09Air Cmde Jasjit Singh Indian Air Force 17 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
10GrenadierRafiq Khan Indian Army 19 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
11Vice Adm Arun Prakash Indian Navy 21 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
12Squadron Leader M A Ganapathy Indian Air force 1972 Boyra Encounter (1971)

|- | 13 | 2/LT | David A Devadasan | Indian Army - 1 MAHAR | Battle of Harar Kalan | 10/11 December 1971

Pakistan

Recipients of the Nishan-E-Haider: [18] [19]

  1. Major Muhammad Akram (posthumously)
  2. Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas (posthumously)
  3. Major Shabbir Sharif (posthumously)
  4. Sarwar Muhammad Hussain (posthumously)
  5. Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz (posthumously)

See also

References

  1. The Bir Sreshthoবীরশ্রেষ্ঠ [The Most Valiant Hero], birsreshtho.com, archived from the original on 31 December 2020, retrieved 22 December 2015
  2. "Bir Protik (literally, Symbol of Bravery or Idol of Courage)" (docx). Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  3. Independence Day Award, Cabinet Division, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Haroon Habib (25 July 2011). "Bangladesh honours Indira Gandhi with highest award". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  5. Third druk gyalpo honored by Bangladesh Archived 24 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine thebhutanese.bt.
  6. "Bangladesh will remember Castro with reverence: PM". The Daily Star . Dhaka. 27 November 2016. Archived from the original on 27 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  7. Pranab Mukherjee receives Bangladesh's second highest award Archived 31 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine . NDTV.com (5 March 2013). Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  8. Grateful to you all: PM tells 61 friends of Liberation War from abroad Archived 2 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Daily Star.
  9. Former Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee honoured for his 1971 role: On his behalf Modi receives Bangladesh Liberation War award from Hamid, 8 June 2015, archived from the original on 29 September 2015, retrieved 29 September 2015
  10. "Bangladesh confers 'Liberation War Honour' to late NC president". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  11. 1 2 Friends of freedom honoured Archived 29 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine , Wednesday, 28 March 2012, The Daily Star
  12. "Nation honours foreign friends", The Financial Express , 21 October 2012, archived from the original on 21 January 2016, retrieved 16 December 2015
  13. "Martyrs". National Defense Academy, Pune. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011.
  14. "Param Vir Chakra". Government of India. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  15. "Vir Chakra Awardee List". Bharat Rakshak. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  16. Vir Chakra (VrC) Awardee: Lt Col Raj Singh, VrC, SM, The War Decorated, India, archived from the original on 6 November 2014, retrieved 30 September 2015
  17. "Nishan-e-Haider holders of Pakistan Army". Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  18. "Nishan-e-Haider". Shaheed Foundation Pakistan. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014.