Bangladesh to honour Indian martyrs.-FB Post
Bangladesh to honour Indian martyrs.
Shocking neglect of martyrs, says History Project head.
Lieutenant-Colonel Kaji Sajjad Ali Zahir, who is the Project Director of the Bangladesh Army’s History Project, says the neglect of the Indian soldiers who had sacrificed their lives “to liberate” another country forced him to take up a project to identify those martyrs.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally approved a proposal by the senior researcher and freedom fighter to honour nearly 2,000 Indian martyrs.
“Wife of a 17-year-old soldier, Ansul Prasad, of 10 Mahar Regiment asked me whether Bangladesh knows about her husband. I had many such experiences and do remember each of them. I remember what the wife of Lance Naik Albert Ekka of Damar village, 186 kilometres from Ranchi, told me as well. She held my hand and said: ‘First time I am seeing Bangladeshi’,” he said.
Producing a list of Indian soldiers who laid down their lives, Lt. Colonel Zahir told The Hindu that he proposed to honour the dead soldiers and the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved it.
“But there is a problem. How can we fly family members of 1,984 soldiers, whom I have identified so far,” he said. “I rather proposed to take a team of Prime Minister’s personal emissaries to seven Army Commands of India to honour the families.” He, however, agrees that he is yet to identify all the soldiers who laid down their lives. Once the proposal is formally approved, the soldiers can be duly honoured.
“Whether we give them a plaque, certificate or Nakshi Kantha (embroidered quilt) with images of Bangladesh and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman stitched on it, has to be decided. But we can think of the process once the proposal is formally announced,” he said.
Lt. Colonel Zahir is the nodal officer of another India-Bangladesh project of identifying the graves of the Bangladeshi freedom fighters who are believed to be buried on Indian side of the border.
“I am nearly sure that there will be a mention in the joint statement, formalising the process of verifying the graves of the ‘Muktijoddhas’,” he said.
“As a practising Muslim, I can’t think of dislodging all the graves. If some graves are properly maintained, we should not dislodge those. But if some of the graves are in dilapidated condition, we will ensure that those are shifted with proper respect and care.”
Sheikh Hasina has formally approved a proposal to honour nearly 2,000 Indian martyrs