Battle of Goalhati
| Nur Mohammad Sheikh | |
|---|---|
Lance Nayek , Nur Mohammad Sheikh Bir Sreshtho
|
|
| Native name | নূর মোহাম্মদ শেখ |
| Born |
26 February 1936 Moheshkhali, Narail |
| Died |
5 September 1971 (aged 35) Goalhati, Jessore |
| Allegiance | Bangladesh |
| Rank | Lance Nayek |
| Unit | East Pakistan Rifles |
| Battles/wars | Bangladesh Liberation War |
| Awards | Bir Sreshtho |
Nur Mohammad Sheikh (Bengali: নূর মোহাম্মদ শেখ; 26 February 1936 – 5 September 1971) was a Lance Nayek in East Pakistan Rifles during the Liberation War. He was killed in an engagement with the Pakistan Army while providing fire for covering the extrication of fellow soldiers at Goalhati in Jessore district on 5 September 1971. Nur Mohammad died saving his compatriots and inflicting heavy casualties on his enemy. He was awarded Bir Sreshtho, the highest state insignia of Bangladesh for his bravery and the highest sacrifice.
Nur Mohammad Sheikh was born in February 26, 1936, in Moheshkhali village Narail. His father is Mohammad Amanat Sheikh and his mother's name Mosammat Jinnatunnesa Khanam. He lost his parents at an early age and continued his education up to seventh grade at local schools. Early as a child he loved theatre.
On 14 March 1959, he joined the East Pakistan Rifles. After finishing elementary training, he was appointed at the Dinajpur sector. He was transferred to Jessore sector on 1 July 1970. In March 1971, Nur Mohammad was spending a vacation at his village. As the war started, he joined sector 8 and continued to take part at different battles at Jessore. He died on 5 September during the Goalhati Battle in Sutipur.
Lance Nayek Nur Mohammad was selected as the captain of the Standing Patrol team at Goalhati in Jessore's Chutipur Camp that was established to monitor the Pakistan army. On 5 September, Nur Mohammad was patrolling with 4 fellow soldiers. The Pakistan army managed to point out the position of Nur Mohammad's team and attacked them from three different sides. Nur Mohammad wanted to retreat to his base and continued to fire towards Pakistani armies. Meanwhile, one of his fellow soldiers, Nannu Mia, was shot by a bullet and Nur Mohammad started carrying him towards safety and started to shoot guns from different places as a trick to confuse the Pakistanis with a aim to make the enemies think that there were not just 5 freedom fighters, but there were a lot of them. But Nur Mohammad himself was hit by a mortar and his foot was destroyed. Even though he was seriously injured, Nur Mohammad decided to continue to provide covering fire for his team to escape. At the time, his fellow Sepoy Mostafa, urged Nur Mohammad to go with him. Mostafa even tried to force Nur Mohammad to go but Nur Mohammad refused to go but gave his Light Machine Gun to Mostafa so that it would not be captured after his death. He kept a self loaded rifle with him and kept on fighting until he died.
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