He had just Rs 20 in his pocket when he crossed the border. Initially, he was suspected as a Pakistani spy, but gained trust later on…reports Asian Lite News.
India has honoured Qazi Sajjad Ali Zahir (retd), a former Pakistan elite para-brigade member in Sialkot who became a Bangladeshi Lt. Col., for his contribution in liberating Bangladesh from the atrocities of Pakistan.
Lt. Col. (retd) Zahir, a Pakistan Army officer who went on to serve the Bangladesh Army, is a highly-decorated officer. Interestingly, there is a death sentence for him for the last 50 years in Pakistan for showcasing his bravery.
Lt. Col. (retd) Zahir turned 71 when India and Bangladesh celebrated 50 years of the war this year.
He was conferred with Bir Protik, the Indian equivalent to a Vir Chakra, for gallantry, and Bangladesh’s highest civil honour, Swadhinata Padak.
India has now conferred him with the Padma Shri — one of the highest civilian awards — recognising his sacrifices and contributions to India’s success in the 1971 war against Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
He came to India when he was 20 with documents and maps about Pakistan’s plans.
He was a young officer in the Pakistan army posted in the Sialkot sector and thereafter managed to cross over to India in March 1971, seeing the brutality and genocide in East Pakistan.
He had just Rs 20 in his pocket when he crossed the border. Initially, he was suspected as a Pakistani spy, but gained trust later on.
Once he landed in India, he was taken to Pathankot where military officers grilled him about Pakistan army deployments.
He was kept in a safe house for months before moving to East Pakistan, training the Mukti Bahini in guerilla warfare to take on the Pakistan Army.
He had cited that the reasons for his escape from Pakistan was that Jinnah’s Pakistan had become a ‘Kabristan’ (graveyard).
They were treated like second class citizens, with no rights. They were a deprived population. They never got a democracy as was promised. They only got a martial law.
“Jinnah said we will have equal rights but we didn’t have any. We were treated as servants of Pakistan,” he stated.
President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Lt Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir (Retd.) for Public Affairs. He is an independent researcher and author on the Bangladesh Liberation War. He joined the War of Liberation and participated in many battles alongside the Indian Army. pic.twitter.com/xhuCupSCto
He is a a second generation military officer, who is proud of all those who serve their country. His father was an officer in the British Army and was part of the Burma (Myanmar) action in the Second World War. His teenage brother was part of the Mukti Bahini that fought for the freedom of Bangladesh.
Lt. Col. Sajjad was master of map reading and night navigation.
He claims that because of his information, the Indian Army penetrated 56 miles into the Pakistani territory in the Battle of Shakargarh.
From Delhi, he was sent to East Pakistan where he served at a camp adjacent to Tripura and Assam border in a hilly area where there were 850 mukti bahini men whom he trained in guerilla warfare.
While 61 luminaries were awarded Padma Shri in the morning session, another 61 were awarded in the afternoon part of the civil investiture ceremony…reports Asian Lite News.
President, Ram Nath Kovind on Monday presented seven Vibhushans, including to classical singer Pandit Chhannulal Mishra, 16 Padma Bhushans and 122 Padma Shri Awards for 2020.
The awards were presented at the Civil Investiture Ceremony held in two parts at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, a communique said.
Among the dignitaries present on the occasion were Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Padma Awardees at Rashtrapati Bhavan today. pic.twitter.com/c9uG2OECAA
Apart from Mishra, Padma Vibhushan awards were presented to former Union Ministers George Fernandes, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj, former Mauritius Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth and Vishwesha Teertha Swamiji (all posthumous) and boxer Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom.
The Padma Bhushan awardees included Bangladeshi diplomat Syed Muazzem Ali (posthumous), spiritual leader Mumtaz Ali, architect Balkrishna Doshi, former Nagaland Chief Minister and Goa Governor S.C. Jamir, environmental activist Dr Anil Prakash Joshi, former civil servant Neelakanta Ramakrishna Madhava Menon, entrepreneur Indian American Dr Jagadish N. Sheth and sportsperson P.V. Sindhu.
The other Padma Bhushan awardees included former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffar Hussain Baig (public affairs), classical singer Pandit Ajoy Chakravarty (arts), author Manoj Das (literature and education), social activist Krishnammal Jagannath (social work), pioneer of women’s health in Ladakh, Dr Tsering Landol (medicine), industrialist Anand Gopal Mahindra (industry and trade), late Defence Minister and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar (public affairs) and TVS Motors chairman Venu Srinivasan (trade and industry).
The Padma Shri awardees were: dance exponent Shashadhar Acharya (art), plastic surgeon Dr Yogi Aeron (medicine), Surya Foundation chairperson Jaiprakash Agrawal (trade and industry), educationist Kazi Masum Akhtar (literature and Education), Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay (retd); ‘One Rupee Doctor’, Dr Sushovan Banerjee, Santhali author and tribal researcher Dr Damayanti Beshra (literature and education), Himmataram Bhambhu (social work), Gandhian and social worker Gafurbhai M. Bilakhia (trade and industry), Sufi singer Madan Singh Chauhan (art), Kathak dancer Dr Purushottam Dadheech (art), Sri Lankan linguist, Prof Indra Dassanayake (posthumous) (literature and art), former football team captain, Oinam Bembem Devi (sports), Brazilian Lia Diskin (social work), NIMHANS, Bengaluru, Director Prof B. Nanjunddaiah Gangadhar (medicine), Dr Raman Gangakhedkar (science and engineering), Bharat Goenka (trade and industry), and Harekala Hajabba (social work).
The Padma Shri awardees also included Sadri folk dancer Madhu Mansuri Hasmukh (art), historian Dr Meenakshi Jain (literature and education); litterateur Dr Shanti Jain (for art); disability activist Bimal Kumar Jain (social work); educationist Sudhir Kumar Jain (for science and engineering), editor of one of the oldest Sanskrit dailies, Vidushi K.S. Jayalakshmi (literature and education – journalism); editor, printer of one of the oldest Sanskrit dailies, K.V. Sampathkumar (posthumous) (literature and education – journalism), actor Sarita Joshi (art), Dr Ravi Kannan R. (medicine), singer Adnan Sami (art), Indian-American economist Sriprakash Kothari (literature and education), botanist Kattungal Subramaniam Manilal (science and engineering), Beenapani Mohanty (arts), Dr Arunoday Mondal (medicine), library movement activist Sathyanarayanan Mundayoor (social work) terracotta sculptor, V.K. Munusamy (art); Hindi language scholar N. Chandrasekharan Nair (arts) and oldest working journalist from Mizoram, Lalbiakthanga Pachau (literature and education – journalism).
Other recipients were puppetry artists M. Pankajaskshi (arts), Prof Jogendra Nath Phukan (for literature and education), scientists Prof T. Pradeep (science and engineering), Radhamohan (posthumous) (agriculture), farming activists Kumari Sabarmatee (agriculture), Olympian Taarundeep Rai (sports), S. Ramakrishnan (social work), actor Kangana Ranaut (art), hockey captain Rani (sports), artist Yadla Gopal Rao (for art), educationist Shahabuddin Rathod (literature and education), farming innovator Chinthala Venkat Reddy (agriculture), fish farmer Bata Krishna Sahoo (animal husbandry), teacher Trinity Saioo (agriculture), philanthropist Vijay Sankeshwar (trade and industry) and ‘Elephant Man of India’ Dr Kushal Konwar Sarma (medicine).
Women’s rights activist Mehboob Gous Sayed alias Sayedbhai (social work), artist Shyam Sunder Sharma (art), ENT surgeon Dr Sandra Desa Souza (medicine), Nadhaswaram exponent Kaleeshabu Mahaboob (arts); Nadhaswaram expern Sheikh Mahaboob Subhani (art), literary activist Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi (literature and education), founder of Gandhi Ashram at Bali, Agus Indra Udayana (social work), and activist Sundaram Verma (social work) were also conferred the Padma Shri.
While 61 luminaries were awarded Padma Shri in the morning session, another 61 were awarded in the afternoon part of the civil investiture ceremony.
President Kovind confers Padma awards in glittering function (Pictures Credit: Ram Nath Kovind /Twitter)
Those who received the award in the second half included social worker known for feeding the hungry, Jagdish Lal Ahuja, Brazilian Sanskrit scholar Gloria Arieira, Professor Digambar Behera (medicine), rural development and environment activist, Popatrao Bhaguji Pawar (social work), entrepreneur industrialist Sanjeev Bikhchandani (industry and trade), British politician Robert John Blackman (public affairs), classical dancer Indira P. Bora (arts); Sulabh International President Usha Chaumar (social work), Nepali language author from Assam, Lil Bahadur Chhetri (literature and education), ‘Bombay Sisters’, Karnataka music exponents, Lalitha Chidambaram and Saroja Chidambaram (arts); Ghoda Nacha folk dance form revival artist from Odisha, Utsab Charan Das (arts), educationist and technocrat, H.M. Desai (literature and education), writer, musician Manohar Devadoss (arts) and hockey player M.P. Ganesh (sports).
