The Bangladesh Liberation War,also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence,or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh,was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan,which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971,initiating the Bangladesh genocide.
Abu Taher was a Bengali military serviceman,who served in the Pakistan Army,and later in BDF. He crossed into India around early August and reported to the Indian authorities. After a week screening at Dehradun,India,Taher reported to Kolkata,Bangladesh Provincial government at 8 Theatre Rd. He was ordered to report to Sector 11 of Mukti Bahini under command of Major Ziaur Rahman,he became the sector commander after him. He served in BDF from end of August to 2 November 1971. He was awarded the medal Bir Uttom for his gallantry in the liberation war. He was released from military service by Indian military medical board in Pune,India after his leg was amputated. After independence,he was inducted into the Bangladesh Army for administrative retirement with legacy rank of lieutenant colonel. After settling in with family,the government of Bangladesh appointed him with employment at Kumilla. Later Taher turned into a political activist and leader of the left-wing Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal.
The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities to deliver the Bangladeshi government's security and defence strategies and defending the nation's territorial integrity against external attack. Control of personnel and operations is administered by the Army Headquarters,Dhaka. The Bangladesh Army is also constitutionally obligated to assist the government and it's civilian agencies during times of domestic national emergency. This additional role is commonly referred to as "aid to civil administration".
Muhammad Ataul Gani Osmani,was a Bengali military leader. Osmani's career spanned five decades,beginning with service in the British Indian Army in 1939. He fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II. After the partition of India in 1947,he joined the Pakistan Army and served in the East Bengal Regiment,retiring as a colonel in 1967. Osmani joined the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in 1971 as the commander-in-chief of the nascent Bangladesh Forces. Regarded as the founder of the Bangladesh Armed Forces,Osmani retired as the first full general from the Bangladesh Army in 1972.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) is a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the 4,427 kilometres (2,751 mi) border of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. It was formerly known as the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR).
The Bangladesh genocide was the ethnic cleansing of Bengalis,especially Bengali Hindus,residing in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War,perpetrated by the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Razakars. It began on 25 March 1971,as Operation Searchlight was launched by West Pakistan to militarily subdue the Bengali population of East Pakistan;the Bengalis comprised the demographic majority and had been calling for independence from the Pakistani state. Seeking to curtail the Bengali self-determination movement,erstwhile Pakistani president Yahya Khan approved a large-scale military deployment,and in the nine-month-long conflict that ensued,Pakistani soldiers and local pro-Pakistan militias killed between 300,000 and 3,000,000 Bengalis and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women in a systematic campaign of mass murder and genocidal sexual violence. In their investigation of the genocide,the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists concluded that Pakistan's campaign involved the attempt to exterminate or forcibly remove a significant portion of the country's Hindu populace.
The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March 1971 and ended on 16 December 1971. Some of the major events of the war are listed in the timeline below.
Shafaat Jamil,Bir Bikrom was a Bangladesh Army colonel. He was the commanding officer of the 3rd East Bengal Regiment of Z Force Brigade in Sector 11 of Bangladesh Forces during the War of Bangladesh Independence in 1971. He was among the first Bengali officers who rebelled against the Pakistani Army in the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh and later fought in 11 sector and in Sylhet sector.
Mohammed Shafiullah Bir Uttam,also known as K. M. Shafiullah,is a retired Bangladeshi general,former Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army,and former member of parliament.
Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora,was an Indian Army General Officer who was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Eastern Command during the Bangladesh Liberation War and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He organised and led the ground forces campaign in the Eastern Front of the war,which led to an overwhelming defeat of the combined Pakistan Armed Forces in East-Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Mahbub Ali Khan was a Bangladesh Navy rear admiral and the chief of naval staff from 1979 until his death in 1984. He is known for his heroic actions for his country. Under him,the South Talpatti sandbar and other emerging islands in the Bay of Bengal,over which both India and Bangladesh claimed sovereignty,remained under the authority of Bangladesh. He is also known for reducing piracy in the Bay of Bengal and was responsible for maintaining the security of the Bay and the Sundarbans.
The Mukti Bahini,also known as the Bangladesh Forces,was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military,paramilitary and civilians during the Bangladesh Liberation War that transformed East Pakistan into Bangladesh in 1971. They were initially called the Mukti Fauj.
Chitta Ranjan Dutta Bir Uttom,also known as C R Dutta,was a Bangladeshi war hero who served as major-general of the Bangladesh Army. He was a key sector commander of the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War. After independence,he served as the armed forces commander in Rangpur and later went on to become the first director-general of the Bangladesh Rifles in 1973.
Faizur Rahman Ahmed was a police officer and a freedom fighter of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. He was killed by Pakistani military personnel during the war. He was given the Independence Day Award posthumously by the government of Bangladesh in 2017.
The 1947 Sylhet referendum was held in the Sylhet District of the Assam Province of British India to decide whether the district would remain in Undivided Assam and therefore within the post-independence Dominion of India,or leave Assam for East Bengal and consequently join the newly created Dominion of Pakistan. The referendum's turnout was in favour of joining the Pakistani union;however,the district's Karimganj subdivision remained within the Indian state of Assam.
Khwaja Nizamuddin Bhuiyan was a Bangladeshi officer in the Gonobahini,who was killed fighting in the Bangladesh Liberation war. He was awarded Bir Uttam,the second highest military award in Bangladesh. He won the Independence Award in 2023 for his contribution to the field of Independence and Liberation War.
Wakar Hasan,Bir Protik was a Bangladesh Army major and a member of the Mukti Bahini in the Bangladesh Liberation War. For his courage in the war of liberation,the Government of Bangladesh gave him the title of Bir Protik.
Quazi Sazzad Ali Zahir is a veteran of the Bangladesh Liberation War. The Bangladesh government awarded him the Bir Protik gallantary award for his bravery in the war. He was conferred with the Independence Award,Bangladesh's highest civilian in 2013 and India's fourth highest civilian award the Padma Shri on November 9,2021.
Dewan Mahbubur Rob Sadi Chaudhuri was a 1971 Liberation War veteran and war hero who valiantly led the Jalalpur sub-sector as Sub-Sector Commander of the Bangladesh Liberation Army under Sector Commander Maj Gen C. R. Datta. Sadi was awarded Bir Protik on 15 December 1973 for demonstration of personal acts of valor during the War. He was elected Member of the Parliament in 1979. Besides being a freedom fighter and politician,Sadi was also a singer,poet,columnist and songwriter. He was an active columnist for the Daily Manab Zamin and his articles and letters appeared in various national and international newspapers and magazines like The Economist,The Daily Star,The Daily Ittefaq and Prothom Alo. Sadi served as the Executive Director of Delta Life Insurance Company Ltd,and later founded a socio-political organization named Centre for Democratic Practice,dedicated towards fostering democracy and national consciousness and consensus in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh 
Pakistan (Before 1971)
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