Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War


Awards and decorations of the Bangladesh Liberation War were decorations bestowed by the major warring parties for actions during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan all issued awards and decorations related to the conflict.
A listing of the medals bestowed 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:Bir Sreshtho
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. Engine room artificer Ruhul Amin
  5. Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman
  6. Lance Naik Munshi Abdur Rouf
  7. Lance Naik Nur Mohammad Sheikh

Bir Uttom
Recipients

Bir Bikrom
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. In recent 1 Bir Bikrom title award postponed. So total Bir Bikram awarded person is 174.
Bir Protik
This award was officially declared on 15 December 1973 through the Bangladesh Gazette. According to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, a total of 426 people have received the award.

Liberation War medals

Samor Pawdok
Joy Pawdok
Rono Taroka
Mukti Taroka

Civilian awards

Independence Award
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.Bangladesh Freedom Honour -; posthumously conferred on former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.Bangladesh Liberation War Honour -; conferred to heads of states and heads of governments:
  1. King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck
  2. President Fidel Castro
  3. President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed
  4. President Pranab Mukherjee
  5. Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.
  6. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
  7. President Ram Baran Yadav
  8. Prime Minister/ Acting Head of state Girija Prasad Koirala
  9. Prime Minister Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala
  10. General Secretary Leonid IIyich Brezhnev
  11. President Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny
  12. Prime Minister Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin
  13. Prime Minister Sir Edward Richard George Heath
  14. President Marshal Josip Broz TitoFriends of Liberation War Honour -; conferred to individuals, six organisations and Mitra Bahini. The individuals include 257 Indians, 88 Americans, 41 Pakistanis, 39 Britons, 9 Russians, 18 Nepalese, 16 French and 18 Japanese. Three ceremonies were held between March 2012 and October 2012.

India

Param Vir Chakra
Recipients of the Param Vir Chakra:
S. No.RankName
01Lance Naik Albert Ekka
02Flying OfficerNirmal Jit Singh Sekhon
03MajorHoshiar Singh
04Second LieutenantArun Khetarpal
Maha Vir Chakra
Recipients
S. no.RankNameOperation/WarDate of Award
01L/NtRam Ugram Pandey1971 Operation Cactus-Lily24 November 1971
02SepAnsuya Prasad1971 Operation Cactus-Lily30 November 1971
03RfnPati Ram Gurung1971 Operation Cactus-Lily30 November 1971
04MajGen Shamsher Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly1 December 1971
05Vice AdmSwaraj Parkash1971 Operation Cactus-Lily1 December 1971
06MajAnup Singh Gahlaut1971 Operation Cactus-Lily3 December 1971
07BrigBasdev Singh Mankotia1971 Operation Cactus-Lily3 December 1971
08MajGen Anant Vishwanath Natu1971 Operation Cactus-Lily3 December 1971
09MajGen Kashmiri Lal Rattan1971 Operation Cactus-Lily3 December 1971
10MajGen Prem Kumar Khanna1971 Operation Cactus-Lily3 December 1971
11Lt ColJaivir Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily3 December 1971
12AVMVidya Bhushan Vasisht1971 Operation Cactus-Lily3 December 1971
13Gp CaptAllan Albert D'Costa1971 Operation Cactus-Lily4 December 1971
14Sub Maj Bir Bahadur Pun1971 Operation Cactus-Lily4 December 1971
15CmdeKasargod Patnashetti Gopal Rao1971 Operation Cactus-Lily4 December 1971
16GenArun Shridhar Vaidya1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
17CmdeBabru Bhan Yadav1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
18CaptDevinder Singh Ahlawat1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
19Lt GenKrishnaswamy Gowri Shankar1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
20BrigKuldip Singh Chandpuri1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
21BrigNarinder Singh Sandhu1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
22Wg CdrPadmanabha Gautam1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
23Air MrshlRavinder Nath Bhardwaj1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
24Lt ColSawai Bhawani Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily5 December 1971
25Lt GenJoginder Singh Gharaya1971 Operation Cactus-Lily6 December 1971
26BrigKailash Prasad Pande1971 Operation Cactus-Lily6 December 1971
27BrigMohindar Lal Whig1971 Operation Cactus-Lily6 December 1971
28SepPandurang Salunkhe1971 Operation Cactus-Lily6 December 1971
29AVMChandan Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily7 December 1971
30Maj GenChittoor Venugopal1971 Operation Cactus-Lily7 December 1971
31Lt GenJoginder Singh Bakshi1971 Operation Cactus-Lily7 December 1971
32Sub MajMohinder Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily7 December 1971
33MajChewang Rinchen1971 Operation Cactus-Lily8 December 1971
34P/OChiman Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily8 December 1971
35CdrJoseph Pius Alfred Noronha1971 Operation Cactus-Lily8 December 1971
36BrigUdai Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily8 December 1971
37CaptMahendra Nath Mulla1971 Operation Cactus-Lily9 December 1971
38NtSugan Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily9 December 1971
39BrigRattan Nath Sharma1971 Operation Cactus-Lily10 December 1971
40MajGen Harish Chandra Pathak1971 Operation Cactus-Lily11 December 1971
41MajGen Kulwant Singh Pannu1971 Operation Cactus-Lily11 December 1971
42BrigSukhjit Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily11 December 1971
43MajVijay Rattan Choudhry1971 Operation Cactus-Lily11 December 1971
44L/NtDrig Pal Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily13 December 1971
45CaptPradip Kumar Gour1971 Operation Cactus-Lily14 December 1971
46BrigAmarjit Singh Bal1971 Operation Cactus-Lily15 December 1971
47Sub Maj Thomas Philipose1971 Operation Cactus-Lily15 December 1971
48Lt ColVed Prakash Ghai1971 Operation Cactus-Lily15 December 1971
49Lt GenHanut Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily16 December 1971
50Lt GenRaj Mohan Vohra1971 Operation Cactus-Lily16 December 1971
51CaptShankar Rao Shankhapan Walkar1971 Operation Cactus-Lily16 December 1971
52AVMCecil Vivian Parker1971 Operation Cactus-Lily17 December 1971
53Air CmdeHarcharan Singh Manget1971 Operation Cactus-Lily17 December 1971
54AVMMadhavendra Banerji1971 Operation Cactus-Lily17 December 1971
55MajMalkiat Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lily17 December 1971
56Gp CaptMan Mohan Bir Singh Talwar1971 Operation Cactus-Lily17 December 1971
57Air CmdeRamesh Sakharam Benegal1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
582nd Lt.Shamsher Singh Samra1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
59L/NtShangara Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly17 December 1971
60L/HavDil Bahadur Chettri1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly21 December 1971
61Rear AdmSantosh Kumar Gupta1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly21 December 1971
62BrigVijay Kumar Berry1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly28 December 1971
63Air Chief MarshalSwaroop Krishna Kaul1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly30 December 1971
64SubNar Bahadur Chhetri1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly31 December 1971
65ColDharam Vir Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly1 January 1972
66BrigSant Singh1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly2 January 1972
67MajDaljit Singh Narang1971 Operation Cactus-Lilly20 January 1972
Vir Chakra
Recipients
S. no.RankNameBranchAward DateAwarded for
01AdmLaxminarayan RamdassIndian Navy1 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
02SubedarGurdev Singh HansIndian Army4 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
03MajNanjappa K PIndian Army5 December 1971Battle of Daudkandi
04Lt ColRaj SinghIndian Army15 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
05MajorPK SharmaIndian Army6 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
06CaptainJatinder KumarIndian Army6 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
07ColGopal Krishna TrivediIndian Army11 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
08Lt ColSatish NambiarIndian Army11 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
09Air CmdeJasjit SinghIndian Air Force17 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
10GrenadierRafiq KhanIndian Army19 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
11Vice AdmArun PrakashIndian Navy21 December 1971Operation Cactus Lily
12Squadron LeaderM A GanapathyIndian Air force1972Boyra Encounter (1971)
132/LTDavid A DevadasanIndian Army - 1 MAHARBattle of Harar Kalan10/11 December 1971

Pakistan

Nishan-i-Haider
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