Ashoka Tara, the Indian major who rescued Bangabandhu’s family, shares memories with Hasina

December 16, 1971 was a wintry day, with the smell of victory in the air. Lt General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi had surrendered unconditionally on behalf of 93,000 Pakistan troops to the Bangladesh and Indian joint command. A certain Indian Major Ashoka Tara was then assigned a challenging task. The task was to rescue Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s family who was being held hostage by a dozen trigger-happy Pakistani troops at a fortified house in Dhanmondi. Already awarded the Vir Chakra in the Battle of Gangasagar a few days earlier, 29-year-old Tara, accompanied by only three soldiers, managed the task without a drop of bloodshed on either side. Sheikh Hasina, then 24-years-old, was also among the hostages, along with her kids. After all these years following independence, Col (retd) Tara , among others, shared memories of that day with PM Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the "Sommanona Ceremony" in New Delhi to honour the 1971 war martyrs, reports Times of India. "Sheikh Hasinaji was very happy to see me and my wife Abha. She told Modiji that I had helped rescue her and her family all alone, without any weapons," said Tara. India, incidentally, lost 3,843 soldiers in the 13 days they directly took part in the war against the Pakistani forces which led to the liberation of Bangladesh. But among all the bravehearts, Tara has a special personal connect with the first family of Bangladesh. Tara drove directly to the Dhanmondi house from the airport. His car was stopped by a group of nervous people just a few yards before the house and they told him it was extremely risky to move further. Taking stock of the situation, even as the Pakistani soldiers pointed their weapons at him, Tara left his own firearm with his soldiers and went ahead on his own towards the house. The Pakistani soldiers, who it is believed had instructions to kill the entire family in the event of any contingency, warned him he would be shot if he came any closer. Using a mix of Punjabi and Hindi, Tara tried to convince the Pakistani troops, who had lost communication with their superiors, to lay down their arms amid nerve-wracking moments. "They had no idea that the Pakistani army had surrendered, Dhaka had fallen and the war was well and truly over," said Tara. "I told them an unarmed Indian officer would not be standing in front of them if that was not the case," he said, even pointing to some Indian helicopters flying overhead to underline his assertion. Tara finally made a good deal on convincing the Pakistani soldiers and rescued the family unharmed, and the rest, as they say, is history.