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 , 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.
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'.
  1. Captain Mohiuddin Jahangir
  2. Sepoy Hamidur Rahman
  3. Sepoy Mostafa Kamal
  4. Engineroom Artificer Ruhul Amin
  5. Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman
  6. Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf
  7. Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh
Recipients
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

Civilian awards

The Independence Day Award, also termed Independence Award, 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.
  1. King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
  2. President Fidel Castro
  3. President Pranab Mukherjee
  4. Prime Minister I. K. Gujral.
  5. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
  6. President Ram Baran Yadav
  7. President Girija Prasad Koirala
  8. Prime Minister Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala
  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
Friends of Liberation War Honour -; 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 and October 2012.

India

Recipients of the Param Vir Chakra:
  1. Lance Naik Albert Ekka
  2. Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon
  3. Major Hoshiar Singh
  4. Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal
Recipients
RankNameOperation/WarDate of Award
L/NtRam Ugram Pandey1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly24 November 1971
SepAnsuya Prasad1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly30 November 1971
RfnPati Ram Gurung1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly30 November 1971
MajGen Shamsher Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly1 December 1971
Vice AdmSwaraj Parkash1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly1 December 1971
MajAnup Singh Gahlaut1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly3 December 1971
BrigBasdev Singh Mankotia1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly3 December 1971
MajGen Anant Vishwanath Natu1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly3 December 1971
MajGen Kashmiri Lal Rattan1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly3 December 1971
MajGen Prem Kumar Khanna1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly3 December 1971
Lt ColJaivir Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly3 December 1971
AVMVidya Bhushan Vasisht1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly3 December 1971
Gp CaptAllan Albert D’Costa1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly4 December 1971
Sub Maj Bir Bahadur Pun1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly4 December 1971
CmdeKasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly4 December 1971
GenArun Shridhar Vaidya1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
CmdeBabru Bahan Yadav1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
CaptDevinder Singh Ahlawat1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
Lt GenKrishnaswamy Gowri Shankar1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
BrigKuldip Singh Chandpuri1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
BrigNarinder Singh Sandhu1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
Wg CdrPadmanabha Gautam1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
Air MrshlRavinder Nath Bhardwaj1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
Lt ColSawai Bhawani Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly5 December 1971
Lt GenJoginder Singh Gharaya1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly6 December 1971
BrigKailash Prasad Pande1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly6 December 1971
BrigMohindar Lal Whig1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly6 December 1971
SepPandurang Salunkhe1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly6 December 1971
AVMChandan Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly7 December 1971
Maj GenChittoor Venugopal1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly7 December 1971
Lt GenJoginder Singh Bakshi1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly7 December 1971
Sub MajMohinder Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly7 December 1971
MajChewang Rinchen1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly8 December 1971
P/OChiman Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly8 December 1971
CdrJoseph Pius Alfred Noronha1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly8 December 1971
BrigUdai Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly8 December 1971
CaptMahendra Nath Mulla1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly9 December 1971
NtSugan Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly9 December 1971
BrigRattan Nath Sharma1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly10 December 1971
MajGen Harish Chandra Pathak1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly11 December 1971
MajGen Kulwant Singh Pannu1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly11 December 1971
BrigSukhjit Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly11 December 1971
MajVijay Rattan Choudhry1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly11 December 1971
L/NtDrig Pal Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly13 December 1971
CaptPradip Kumar Gour1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly14 December 1971
BrigAmarjit Singh Bal1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly15 December 1971
Sub Maj Thomas Philipose1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly15 December 1971
Lt ColVed Prakash Ghai1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly15 December 1971
Lt GenHanut Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly16 December 1971
Lt GenRaj Mohan Vohra1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly16 December 1971
CaptShankar Rao Shankhapan Walkar1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly16 December 1971
AVMCecil Vivian Parker1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
Air CmdeHarcharan Singh Manget1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
AVMMadhavendra Banerji1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
MajMalkiat Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
Gp CaptMan Mohan Bir Singh Talwar1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
Air CmdeRamesh Sakharam Benegal1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
2nd Lt.Shamsher Singh Samra1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
L/NtShangara Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
L/HavDil Bahadur Chettri1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly21 December 1971
Rear AdmSantosh Kumar Gupta1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly21 December 1971
BrigVijay Kumar Berry1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly28 December 1971
Air Chief MarshalSwaroop Krishna Kaul1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly30 December 1971
SubNar Bahadur Chhetri1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly31 December 1971
ColDharam Vir Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly1 January 1972
BrigSant Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly2 January 1972
MajDaljit Singh Narang1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly20 January 1972

Recipients
RankNameBranchAward DateAwarded for
AdmLaxminarayan RamdassIndian Navy1 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
SubedarGurdev Singh HansIndian Army4 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
MajNanjappa K PIndian Army5 December 1971Battle of Daudkandi
Lt ColRaj SinghIndian Army15 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
MajorPK SharmaIndian Army6 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
CaptainJatinder KumarIndian Army6 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
ColGopal Krishna TrivediIndian Army11 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
Lt ColSatish NambiarIndian Army11 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
Air CmdeJasjit SinghIndian Air Force17 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
GrenadierRafiq KhanIndian Army19 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
Vice AdmArun PrakashIndian Navy21 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
Squadron LeaderM A GanapathyIndian Air force1972Boyra Encounter

Pakistan

Recipients of the Nishan-E-Haider:
  1. Major Muhammad Akram
  2. Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas
  3. Major Shabbir Sharif
  4. Sarwar Muhammad Hussain
  5. Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz