Major Tara who rescued family members of Bangabandhu in 1971

[This story  was published in Indian Express News Service on December 16, 2017 with the title  "Indian war hero who saved Sheikh Hasina and scripted Bangla history".]

On the morning of December 17, a day after the Pakistani army in the east had surrendered to Indian forces in Dhaka, Major Ashok Kumar Tara was called in by his commanding officer (CO), Colonel Vijay Kumar Chanana, for an unusual mission: to rescue the family of Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, including Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the current Prime minister, that was being held hostage by Pakistani troopers in Dhamondi.

In a conversation with Foreign Editor Ramananda Sengupta, Major Tara who retired as a colonel in 1994, recounts how he went to the house alone and unarmed and  convinced Pakistani soldiers to free the family. But for his heroic deed, Bangladesh’s history would have been different. Here’s Colonel Tara, in his own words:

“On (December) 16th evening, when we were relaxing after the surrender, we got a message that in the morning, VIPs would be landing at Dhaka airport. In the morning, when I was asking my unit to secure the airport, a Mukti Bahini warrior came and told my CO that the family of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was being held captive by Pakistani soldiers and would be killed any moment.

The CO called me and perhaps without realising the sensitivity of the situation, told me to just go and sort out the problem. I took two jawans with me and moved to Dhamondi, where the family was under house arrest. There, I saw a big crowd of media, Mukti Bahini troopers and locals. They stopped me saying the Pakistani forces in the house were trigger happy.

I thought for a few minutes, because there no time to call more manpower and attacking the building would have put the family at risk. I handed over my weapon to my jawans, told them to stay back and moved towards the house. When I neared the gate of  small single-storeyed house (which had a sandbagged bunker with a light machine gun on the roof top), I shouted if there was anyone inside. They (the Pakistani soldiers) shouted back in Punjabi, saying they would fire at me if I moved any further.

Realising that they had started a dialogue, I decided to take chance and slowly moved forward. I told them I was an Indian army officer, that the Pakistani Army had surrendered and they should, too. They refused and cocked their weapon. Fortunately, at that moment an Indian helicopter flew over the house. I asked them if they had ever seen an Indian helicopter flying over like this? They kept quiet; I moved closer and reached the door.

Being a Punjabi, I was responding to them in the same language. The Pakistanis asked for some time to talk to their commanding officers. I told the Pakistanis they could not speak to their officers because the telephone lines were cut off, their commanders had all surrendered and if they didn’t surrender, too, the Mukti Bahini would come and kill them.

I promised them that if they surrendered, they would be sent back to their headquarters. Finally, they put their weapons down while I opened the door of the house.
Mrs Mujibur Rehman rushed out saying, “God has sent you, you are like my son.” There were five-six people, including Sheikh Hasina, in the house. She had a three-month-old child. Others included her sister,  brother and an uncle.

By that time, the media and others had started swarming inside. Someone handed me a Bangladeshi flag, and asked me to remove the Pakistani flag on the roof. I went up and hoisted the Bangladeshi flag. Mrs Rehman put her foot on the Pakistani flag and shouted ‘Joi Bangla!’

In 2012, I was invited to Bangladesh and honoured with ‘A Friend of Bangladesh’ award. The Government of India is yet to give me any recognition. Had Mujib’s family died, Bangladesh’s history would have been different . You would have won the body, but not the head. This day, which we celebrate today as Vijay Divas, would have had a black mark on it.”

Courtesy: Indian Express News Service/QH