Col Quazi Zahir, Ex-Pak Army Officer On Why He Helped India In 1971

Col Quazi Zahir, Ex-Pak Army Officer On Why He Helped India In 1971

New Delhi : “I escaped with Rs 20, a shirt and the pant I was wearing, along with whatever I could gather on Pakistan’s war plans,” said Col Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir (retd), a hero of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, as he recalled his journey from being a Pakistani Army officer to becoming one of the key persons involved in the independence of erstwhile East Pakistan. Col Zahir, 70, has been honored with the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian awards of India, for the year 2021. “Every award is a milestone. But the Padma Shri is special to me because it is for upholding the spirit of the Bangladesh Liberation War,” he told ThePrint from Dhaka. 1-in-2 Tejas Fighters To Have Desi Radar Col Zahir had joined the Pakistani Army at the end of 1969 and was commissioned into its Artillery Corps. However, upon hearing the atrocities that were being committed by the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), he fled the country and reached India. “I was part of the elite 14 Para Brigade b…