Bir Shrestha Nur Mohammad’s 55th martyrdom anniv today

The 55th martyrdom anniversary of Bir Shrestha Nur Mohammad Sheikh will be observed at Nur Mohammad Nagar of Chandibarpur in Narail Sadar in the district today.

The district administration and the Bir Shrestha Nur Mohammad Sheikh Trust will jointly organise various programmes to mark the day.

According to the programme schedule, the programmes will begin with the placing of wreaths at the Bir Shrestha Nur Mohammad Sheikh’s portrait.

Guard of honour, special prayers, essay and drawing competition and a discussion on the life of Nur Mohammad Sheikh will be held at the Nur Mohammad Sheikh Memorial Museum and Library auditorium at Nur Mohammad Nagar.

Bir Shrestha Nur Mohammad Sheikh was born at Mahishkhola under Chandibarpur on February 26, 1936.

The village was officially renamed Noor Mohammad Nagar on March 18, 2008, in honour of the war hero.

Nur Mohammad Sheikh joined the then East Pakistan Rifles on March 14, 1959. After serving for a long time at the Dinajpur border, he was transferred to the Jashore sector on July 10, 1970, and was later promoted to lance naik.

In 1971, he took part in the Liberation War under Sector 8, covering the Jashore region. Under the leadership of Captain Nazmul Huda, he fought bravely against Pakistani forces in the Boyra area of the Kashipur border in Sharsha, Jashore.

On September 5, 1971, during a fierce battle at Goalhati and Chutipur in Jashore, when his fellow fighter Nannu Mia was critically injured, Nur Mohammad Sheikh advanced towards the enemy carrying a light machine gun and his wounded comrade on his shoulder, continuing to fire. Despite being seriously wounded by a mortar shell, he pressed on with remarkable courage and determination.

Eventually, he embraced martyrdom while resisting the occupying forces and protecting the lives and arms of his fellow fighters.

He was laid to rest at Kashipur under Sharsha in Jashore. In recognition of his extraordinary bravery and supreme sacrifice in the Liberation War, he was awarded the country’s highest gallantry award, ‘Bir Shrestha’.