Lt Col Qazi Sajjad Ali Zahir, a former Pakistani soldier who risked his life by crossing across to India and helping free Bangladesh during the 1971 war, was one of the recipients of President Ram Nath Kovind’s Padma awards, which are among India’s highest civilian honours.
Lt Colonel Zahir’s name may have gone undetected all those years ago, but he was thrown into the spotlight this week when he won the Padma Shri, an award honouring his contributions to Indian intelligence and, later, the Bangladesh freedom effort.
Lt Col Qazi Sajjad Ali Zahir placed his life on the line to help India and Bangladesh’s budding state. As a 20-year-old officer stationed in Sialkot at the height of the Pakistani army’s atrocities and human rights violations in Bangladesh, Lt Col Zahir moved to India (erstwhile East Pakistan).
