The then Indian defence minister, Jagjivan Ram, and a number of veterans of the Indian army who fought in the 1971 war were among the Indians and conferred upon ‘Friend of Liberation War’ honour while former Indian Prime Minister IK Gujral and ex-Nepalese Prime Minister late Girija Prasad Koirala awarded Bangladesh Liberation War Honour at a special ceremony, third of its kind in Bangladesh.
President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina together handed over the awards along with citations to the foreign distinguishes at a colourful ceremony at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.
Several of the elderly 1971 foreign friends appeared in wheelchairs with beaming smiles to receive the honour in person while some were represented by their relatives as they were honoured posthumously under a government plan to formally acknowledge their contributions.
Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Sharan represented several Indians at the ceremony. Ram’s grandson and Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar’s son Anshul Abhijit received the crest on behalf of 1971 Indian defence minister Jagjivan Ram while Famous Indian film-star Sabana Azmi received on behalf of his father noted poet and lyricist Kaifi Azmi Padmashree.
“He (Ram) was instrumental in the creation of the joint command of Bangladesh and Indian forces for the final assault (on Pakistani troops) which led to the victory,” the citation for the ex-Indian defence minister reads.
Out of the 61 honoured guests, 51 are Indians while the others are from six other countries who extended their supports to Bangladesh as aide workers, politicians, journalists, artistes and diplomats. .
In his speech President Zillur Rahman termed the contribution of foreign persons to the country’s War of Liberation as invaluable, inspiring and precious.
“Your endless generosity will remain in our hearts forever. As a friend of ours, I believe, you would continue your valuable support and cooperation in our development process in the years to come,” he said.
Expressing sincere gratitude to the ‘foreign friends’ for their unequivocal support to Bangladesh’s independence, Sheikh Hasina said: “As we honour our heroes today, we reaffirm our faith in the principles we stood for.”
The Prime Minister further said: “Your support reconfirmed that our cause was right and our struggle could not be trampled. You heard our yearning for justice, honour and dignity. You added to our voice and magnified it for the global community.”
The Cabinet Division, the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly arranged the colourful function.
Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni and State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Capt (retd) AB Tajul Islam also addressed the function, while Joan A Dine, a social worker of the USA, spoke on behalf of the award-recipients.
Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hussain Bhuiyan conducted the function and read out citations to the persons and institutions who got the awards. One of the recipients of the honour this time is Col Ashok Tara, a well- known veteran who took part in and survived several crucial and deadly battles with Pakistani troops and was decorated subsequently with Indian army’s gallantry award.
Tara, an army major at that time, however, is more known for his role in rescuing incumbent Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, her mother and Bangabandhu’s wife Begum Fajilatunnesa Mujib, sister Sheikh Rehana and brother Sheikh Russell from the captivity of Pakistani troops at the fag end of the liberation war.
The awardees include former Chief Minister of Tripura Nripen Chakraverti, Chief Minister of Meghalaya Williamson A Sangma, former Indian minister Dr Triguna Sen, former general secretary of Indian Communist Party Chandra Rajeshwar Rao, former Indian ambassador Sashanka S Banerjee, eminent Indian lyricist Gouri Prassanna Majumdar, leader of the national liberation front of former south Vietnam Nguyen Thi Binh, Brigadier (retd) Sant Singh Maha Vir Chakra, Brigadier (retd) Kailash Prasad Pande Maha Vir Chakra of Indian Army and Captain (retd) M N R Samant Maha Vir Chakra of Indian Navy.
The government has also awarded numbers of foreign journalists including Dilip Chakraborty, Manosh Ghosh, Hiranmoy Karlekar, Pankaj Saha, Tarun Sanyal, Robin Sengupta, Anil Bhattacharya, Bhupen Datta Bhaumik, Aveek Sarker and Santosh Kumar Ghosh of India, Sir William Mark Tully of the UK, Sven Stromberg of Sweden and Anthony Laurence Clifton of Australia.
“We have an initial list of over 500 such foreign friends who made immense contribution to the birth of Bangladesh. We want to honour them all in phases,” State Minister for Liberation War Affairs retired captain AB Tajul Islam told BSS ahead of the ceremony.
He said more 1971 foreign friends were expected to be conferred with the honour in ceremonies at home and abroad in phases while foreign ministry officials said the next such ceremony would be held in Dhaka coinciding with the Victory Day celebrations in December this year.
The then Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, was the first ‘foreign friend’ to be conferred with the honour while her daughter-in-law and ruling Congress president Sonia Gandhi received the honour on her behalf last year at a special ceremony.
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