Captain B.N. Chaturvedi’s collection

Fluent in Bengali, Capt. Chaturvedi was posted with the BSF’s Bengal Frontier for the entire duration of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

In the initial months, he led operations as an assistant commandant and then moved to headquarters of the Bengal Frontier (later bifurcated) as an intelligence officer till the end of the war. The photos are from his personal archives.

The book details several of his experiences, including an experience in Dacca on the day that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned after the war.

Captain (Retd) Chaturvedi served in the 1965 India-Pakistan War and retired as inspector general, BSF.

photo: Ushinor Majumdar (January 2023)

field communication between Asstt Comdt B.N. Chaturvedi and a Mukti Bahini officer

Captain Chaturvedi in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house in Dhanmondi after the war with Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib (second from right)

‘First Day Cover’ and stamps issued by the Government of Bangla Desh.

This has autographs of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and then President of Bangladesh, Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, and cabinet ministers such as Tajuddin Ahmed, Col MAG Osmani, Dr Kamal Ahmed, Md Kamruzzaman and Khondaker Mushtaq