Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War

Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War were decorations which were bestowed by the major warring parties during the years of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan all issued awards and decorations during the conflict.

A listing of the medals bestowed after the Bangladesh War of Independence 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. Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir  † (Army)
  2. Sepoy Hamidur Rahman  † (Army)
  3. Sepoy Mostafa Kamal † (Army)
  4. Engineroom Artificer Ruhul Amin  † (Navy)
  5. Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman  † (Air Force)
  6. Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf  † (Bangladesh Rifles)
  7. Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh † (Bangladesh Rifles)

Recipients

No. NAME SECTOR RANK
01 Khaja Nazimuddin bhuiyan, (posthumous) Sector-04 Leader Public Force/Gano Bahini
02 K M Shafiullah Commander, S Force Major
03 Ziaur Rahman Commander, Z Force Major
04 Chittoronjon Datta Sector Commander-04 Major
05 Kazi Nuruzzaman Sector Commander-07 Major
06 Mir Showkat Ali Sector Commander-05 Major
07 Khaled Mosharraf Commander, K Force Major
08 Abdul Manzur Sector Commander-08 Major
09 Abu Taher Interim Sector Commander-11 Major
10 A N M Nuruzzaman Sector Commander-03 Captain
11 Rafiqul Islam Sector Commander-01 Captain
12 Abdus Salek Choudhury Sector Commander-02 Captain
13 Aminul Haque Commander, 8 East Bengal Major
14 Abdur Rob Army chief, AHQ Lieutenant Colonel
15 A K Khandker Deputy Chief of Staff Army Group 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 Bengal subeder
22 Motiur 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.

This award was officially declared on 15 December 1973 through Bangladesh Gazette. A total of 426 people have received the award so far, all for their actions during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971.

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

Civilian awards
Independence Day Medallion

The Independence Day Award (Bengali: স্বাধীনতা পদক),[2] 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.

  • Bangladesh Freedom Honour -(Bengali: বাংলাদেশ স্বাধীনতা সম্মাননা Bānglādēśa sbādhīnatā sam'mānanā); posthumously conferred on former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.[3]
  • Bangladesh Liberation War Honour -(Bengali: বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ সম্মাননা Bānglādēśa muktiyud'dha sam'mānanā); conferred to heads of states and heads of governments:
  1. King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck[4]
  2. President Fidel Castro[5]
  3. President Pranab Mukherjee[6]
  4. Prime Minister I. K. Gujral.[7]
  5. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee[8]
  6. President Ram Baran Yadav
  7. President Girija Prasad Koirala[9]
  8. Prime Minister Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala[10]
  9. President Leonid IIyich Brezhnev
  10. President Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny
  11. Prime Minister Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin
  12. Prime Minister Sir Edward Richard George Heath
  13. President Marshal Josip Broz Tito[10]

Friends of Liberation War Honour -(Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ মৈত্রী সম্মাননা Muktiyud'dha maitrī sam'mānanā); conferred to individuals, six organisations and Mitra Bahini. The individuals include 257 Indians, 88 Americans, 41 Pakistanis, 39 Britons, nine Russians, 18 Nepalese, 16 French and 18 Japanese. Three ceremonies were held between March 2012[11] and October 2012.[12]

India

Recipients of the Param Vir Chakra:[13][14]

  1. Lance Naik Albert Ekka (Posthumously)
  2. Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon (Posthumously)
  3. Major Hoshiar Singh
  4. Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal (Posthumously)

Recipients

Rank Name Operation/War Date of Award
L/Nt Ram Ugram Pandey 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 24 November 1971
Sep Ansuya Prasad 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 30 November 1971
Rfn Pati Ram Gurung 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 30 November 1971
Maj Gen Shamsher Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 1 December 1971
Vice Adm Swaraj Parkash 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 1 December 1971
Maj Anup Singh Gahlaut 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 3 December 1971
Brig Basdev Singh Mankotia 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 3 December 1971
Maj Gen Anant Vishwanath Natu 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 3 December 1971
Maj Gen Kashmiri Lal Rattan 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 3 December 1971
Maj Gen Prem Kumar Khanna 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 3 December 1971
Lt Col Jaivir Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 3 December 1971
AVM Vidya Bhushan Vasisht 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 3 December 1971
Gp Capt Allan Albert D’Costa 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 4 December 1971
Sub Maj (Hony Capt) Bir Bahadur Pun 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 4 December 1971
Cmde Kasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 4 December 1971
Gen Arun Shridhar Vaidya 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Cmde Babru Bahan Yadav 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Capt Devinder Singh Ahlawat 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Lt Gen Krishnaswamy Gowri Shankar 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Brig Kuldip Singh Chandpuri 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Brig Narinder Singh Sandhu 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Wg Cdr Padmanabha Gautam 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Air Mrshl Ravinder Nath Bhardwaj 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Lt Col Sawai Bhawani Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 5 December 1971
Lt Gen Joginder Singh Gharaya 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 6 December 1971
Brig Kailash Prasad Pande 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 6 December 1971
Brig Mohindar Lal Whig 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 6 December 1971
Sep Pandurang Salunkhe 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 6 December 1971
AVM Chandan Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 7 December 1971
Maj Gen Chittoor Venugopal 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 7 December 1971
Lt Gen Joginder Singh Bakshi 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 7 December 1971
Sub Maj Mohinder Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 7 December 1971
Maj Chewang Rinchen 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 8 December 1971
P/O Chiman Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 8 December 1971
Cdr Joseph Pius Alfred Noronha 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 8 December 1971
Brig Udai Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 8 December 1971
Capt Mahendra Nath Mulla 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 9 December 1971
Nt Sugan Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 9 December 1971
Brig Rattan Nath Sharma 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 10 December 1971
Maj Gen Harish Chandra Pathak 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 11 December 1971
Maj Gen Kulwant Singh Pannu 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 11 December 1971
Brig Sukhjit Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 11 December 1971
Maj Vijay Rattan Choudhry 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 11 December 1971
L/Nt Drig Pal Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 13 December 1971
Capt Pradip Kumar Gour 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 14 December 1971
Brig Amarjit Singh Bal 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 15 December 1971
Sub Maj (Hony Capt) Thomas Philipose 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 15 December 1971
Lt Col Ved Prakash Ghai 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 15 December 1971
Lt Gen Hanut Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 16 December 1971
Lt Gen Raj Mohan Vohra 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 16 December 1971
Capt Shankar Rao Shankhapan Walkar 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 16 December 1971
AVM Cecil Vivian Parker 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
Air Cmde Harcharan Singh Manget 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
AVM Madhavendra Banerji 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
Maj Malkiat Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
Gp Capt Man Mohan Bir Singh Talwar 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
Air Cmde Ramesh Sakharam Benegal 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
2nd Lt. Shamsher Singh Samra 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
L/Nt Shangara Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 17 December 1971
L/Hav Dil Bahadur Chettri 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 21 December 1971
Rear Adm Santosh Kumar Gupta 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 21 December 1971
Brig Vijay Kumar Berry 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 28 December 1971
Air Chief Marshal Swaroop Krishna Kaul 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 30 December 1971
Sub Nar Bahadur Chhetri 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 31 December 1971
Col Dharam Vir Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 1 January 1972
Brig Sant Singh 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 2 January 1972
Maj Daljit Singh Narang 1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly 20 January 1972

Recipients[15]

Rank Name Branch Award Date Awarded for
Adm Laxminarayan Ramdass Indian Navy 1 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Subedar Gurdev Singh Hans Indian Army 4 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Maj Nanjappa K P Indian Army 5 December 1971 Battle of Daudkandi
Lt Col Raj Singh Indian Army 15 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily[16]
Major PK Sharma Indian Army 6 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Captain Jatinder Kumar Indian Army 6 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Col Gopal Krishna Trivedi Indian Army 11 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Lt Col Satish Nambiar Indian Army 11 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Air Cmde Jasjit Singh Indian Air Force 17 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Grenadier Rafiq Khan Indian Army 19 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Vice Adm Arun Prakash Indian Navy 21 December 1971 Operation Cactus Lily
Squadron Leader M A Ganapathy Indian Air force 1972 Boyra Encounter (1971)

Pakistan

Recipients of the Nishan-E-Haider:[17][18]

  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 Sreshtho বীরশ্রেষ্ঠ [The Most Valiant Hero], birsreshtho.com, retrieved 22 December 2015
  2. Independence Day Award, Cabinet Division, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Haroon Habib (25 July 2011). "Bangladesh honours Indira Gandhi with highest award". The Hindu.
  4. https://thebhutanese.bt/third-druk-gyalpo-honored-by-bangladesh/title=Third-druk-gyalpo-honored-by-Bangladesh}}
  5. "Bangladesh will remember Castro with reverence: PM". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  6. Pranab Mukherjee receives Bangladesh's second highest award. NDTV.com (5 March 2013). Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  7. http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=254652
  8. 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
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Friends of freedom honoured, Wednesday, 28 March 2012, The Daily Star
  11. "Nation honours foreign friends", The Financial Express, 21 October 2012, archived from the original on 21 January 2016, retrieved 16 December 2015
  12. "Martyrs". National Defense Academy, Pune. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011.
  13. "Param Vir Chakra". Government of India.
  14. "Vir Chakra Awardee List". Bharat Rakshak. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  15. Vir Chakra (VrC) Awardee: Lt Col Raj Singh, VrC, SM, The War Decorated, India
  16. "Nishan-e-Haider holders of Pakistan Army".
  17. "Nishan-e-Haider". Shaheed Foundation Pakistan. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014.

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