The Liberation War is our pride. The freedom fighters are the best sons of this nation. 7 great warriors have been awarded the title of Bir Shrestha for displaying outstanding bravery in the Liberation War. This album has been arranged with the 7 brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Liberation War in 1971. The names of these medalists were announced through a notification published in an extra issue of the Bangladesh Gazette on December 15, 1973.
When the War of Independence began in 1971, he was on duty in the 173rd Engineer Battalion in Pakistan. He joined Sector 7 of the Mukti Bahini as a sub-sector commander. He fought under Sector Commander Major Nazmul Haque. Due to his extraordinary achievements in various battlefields, he was given the responsibility of capturing Chapainawabganj in Rajshahi. On December 10, Captain Jahangir, Lieutenant Qayyum, Lieutenant Awal and about 50 freedom fighters took up positions in the Bargharia area west of Chapainawabganj. On the morning of December 14, with only 20 freedom fighters, they crossed the Mahananda River from the Bargharia area in 3/4 indigenous boats from the Rehaichar area. While advancing in this way, when victory was almost certain, disaster struck. Suddenly, 8/10 soldiers of the East Pakistan Civil Armed Force ran from the dam and joined the Char area. Then the continuous firing of the Pakistani army began. Captain Jahangir moved forward without caring for his life. At that moment, an enemy bullet hit Jahangir in the forehead. He was martyred, ensuring victory at the dawn of independence. Captain Jahangir was buried in the courtyard of the historic Sona Mosque in Chapainawabganj district.
In the beginning of 1971, in the last week of January, Matiur and his family came to Dhaka for a two-month vacation. On the night of March 25, Matiur was in Ramnagar village of Raipur. A few days later, he returned to his workplace and decided to seize a fighter plane and join the liberation war with it. On the morning of August 20, he hijacked a fighter plane from one of his students, Rashid Minhaj, at the Mauripur air base in Karachi. But when Rashid reported the incident to the control tower, four other fighter planes chased Matiur’s plane. At that time, Matiur and Rashid continued to fight and at one point, when Rashid pressed the eject switch, Matiur was thrown out of the plane and due to the low altitude of the plane, the plane with Rashid crashed in the Thatta area, just 35 miles from the Indian border. He was killed as Matiur did not have a parachute with him. His body was found about half a mile away from the scene. Rashid was awarded the honorary title by the Pakistani government. Incidentally, it is rare for two people to be awarded their country’s highest honorary title for two opposing roles in the same incident. Matiur was buried in the fourth class graveyard of Masrur Base in Karachi.
On March 25, 1971, he left his job to his village in the face of the attack by the Pakistan Army. The next day, he left for the Dhalai Border Outpost located on the eastern edge of the Dhalai Tea Garden of Srimangal Police Station in Sylhet District to join the Liberation War. He fought in Sector No. 4. The Liberation Army decided to launch a grenade attack on the machine gun post of the Pakistan Army. Hamidur Rahman was given the responsibility of throwing the grenades. He started the attack by walking on his chest through the hill canal with a grenade. Two grenades successfully hit the machine gun post, but Hamidur Rahman was shot soon after. Taking this opportunity, the freedom fighters of the East Bengal Regiment moved forward with great enthusiasm, and were able to defeat the enemy Pakistan Army and capture the border outpost. But Hamidur Rahman could not taste the taste of victory, after capturing the outpost, the freedom fighters recovered the body of martyr Hamidur Rahman. Hamidur Rahman’s body was buried in the family grave of a local family in Hatimerchhara village in Tripura state, just a short distance from the border, on Indian soil. The grave, located in a low-lying area, was once submerged under water.
On 16 April, the Pakistan Army advanced northwards along the Comilla-Akhaura railway line to wipe out the 4th East Bengal. On the morning of 17 April, when the Pakistan Army began shelling the Mukti Bahini position in Daruin village with mortars and artillery, Major Shafayat Jamil ordered the 11th Platoon to join the previous platoon in Daruin village. Sepoy Mohammad Mustafa Kamal took the ammunition from him and took up his position in his trench. The enemy shelling began at around 11 am. At that time, it started raining heavily. At around 11:30 am, shelling began from the enemy positions in Mogra Bazar and Ganga Sagar. At around 12 pm, a direct attack came from the west. The defending troops were dismayed by the intensity of the attack. Mustafa Kamal desperately returned fire. The troops on his eastern side began to retreat and move to new positions and requested Mustafa to leave. But to give them all a chance to escape safely, Mustafa kept firing from his LMG. Even when the enemy came within 70 yards of him, he did not stop. This did not give the enemy the courage to chase after his companions. At one point, when the fire ran out, he too fell under the enemy’s blows.
He took up position at Burighat with a company of the 8th East Bengal Regiment. On 8 April, two companies of the Pakistan Army’s Commando Battalion advanced to capture Burighat in seven speed boats and two launches to block the Rangamati-Mahalchhari waterway in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. They came in front of the defensive formation and suddenly started a continuous fire with 3″ mortars and other heavy weapons. The defenders were forced to retreat due to the intensity of the fire. But Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rauf refused to retreat. He started firing machine guns from his trench. As a result of this counter-attack of the machine guns, the enemy speed boats sank. Their crews were killed. The two rear launches quickly retreated and took positions at a safe distance. From there, heavy long-range fire began. Heavy mortar shells landed on Abdur Rauf. He fell down, his machine gun became silent. By then, his comrades were able to move to a safe distance.
On December 10, at around 12 noon, when the gunboats approached the Khulna Shipyard, three fighter planes were seen flying at a high altitude. Shortly after, the planes unexpectedly descended and suddenly started firing. The shells hit the engine room of the ‘Padma’ directly, destroying the engine. Many sailors were killed. As a result of the ‘Padma’, the captain of the Palash, Lt. Commander Roy Chowdhury, ordered the sailors to abandon ship. Ruhul Amin was furious with this order. He urged everyone present not to stop the fight. The planes bombed the Palash from the east and destroyed the engine room. He was injured. But the infinitely brave Ruhul Amin continued to try to save the Palash. Finally, leaving the wreckage of the Palash behind, the injured Ruhul Amin jumped into the Rupsha. This warrior full of vitality eventually reached the shore. But by then, a group of hateful Razakars were waiting for him. They bayoneted and stabbed this wounded hero to death on the banks of the Rupsha.
On September 5, 1971, a standing patrol consisting of five men, led by Noor Mohammad, was sent to Goalhati village in Jessore district in front of its own defense in Sutipur. At around 9:30 in the morning, the Pakistani army suddenly surrounded the patrol from three sides and started firing. When Noor Mohammad started firing indiscriminately with his hand-held LMG, the enemy was forced to retreat. Suddenly, an enemy mortar shell hit his right shoulder. As soon as he was caught, the commander ordered the rest to leave him. The bloody Noor Mohammad started firing in unison. On one side were the Pakistani armed forces, with sophisticated automatic weapons, and on the other side were only half-dead soldiers (EPR) with a rifle and limited ammunition. In this unequal and incredible battle, he caused such damage to the enemy that they mutilated this dying warrior with bayonets and gouged out both his eyes. Later, the defense forces came and recovered his body from a nearby bush. This brave soldier was later buried in Kashipur village in Jessore.
Welcome to Lichutola, Where Entrepreneurial Excellence Meets Social Impact – Led by Jahid Hasan Rajib, Empowering Communities and Driving Business Growth
Dariapur, Mujibnagar, Meherpur-7100
+12 (0) 345 678 9
info@lichutola.com