Ex-Pak soldier who helped liberate Bangladesh awarded Padma Shri: All you need to know

New Delhi, Nov 11: One of the recipients of the Padma awards, the highest civilian honour in India was Lt. Colonel Qazi Sajjad Ali Zahir, a former Pakistani soldier.

He had risked his life by crossing over to India and helping liberate Bangladesh in the 1971 war. Due to the confidential nature of the military business, his name had gone largely under the radar. He was however back in the spotlight when he stepped on to the podium to receive the Padma Shri from President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. He was awarded the Padma Shri for his contribution to the Indian Intelligence and subsequently the freedom of the Bangladesh freedom movement.

As a 20 year old officer posted in Sialkot, Lt. Col Zahir crossed over into India at the height of the Pakistani army's atrocities and human rights violations in Bangladesh. In India, he was initially suspected of being an Indian spy due to which he was grilled by the border forces and later by the senior officers of the Indian Army.

He however presented a bunch of Pakistani arm documents to back up his case, following which he was sent to a safe house in Delhi. It was from here that the Indian Intelligence coordinated with him. He was later sent to Bangladesh where he trained the Mukti Bahini in guerrilla warfare to take on the Pakistani forces.

His actions obviously did not go down well with Pakistan where he is hated. In fact there is a death sentence pending against him in Pakistan for the past 50 years. However in Bangladesh he has been honoured with gallantry medals such as the Bir Protik and the country's highest civilian honour, the Swadhinata Padak.