Indian Army Officer getting Foreign Army Award is not common and is not considered healthy, but Bangladesh has decided to honour a retired Indian Army Officer for saving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and a few of her family members during the 1971 war of liberation.
Col. (retd) Ashok Tara will be conferred the “Friends of Bangladesh Award” for his outstanding contribution to the freedom of the country, the Daily Star reported Monday.
The army officer rescued Hasina, her mother and wife of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Begum Fajilatunnesa Mujib, sister Sheikh Rehana and brother Sheikh Rasel, who were confined in their house at Dhanmondi Dec 17, 1971, a day after the country’s liberation.
A cabinet meeting chaired by Hasina Monday took the decision to honour Col. Tara, said Cabinet Secretary M. Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.
Fajilatunnesa Mujib was killed in a military coup along with other family members, including her husband Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Aug 15, 1975. Hasina and Rehana were visiting Germany, and therefore survived the massacre.