Bangladesh Freedom Honour

[2] A Bangladeshi national committee had nominated her for the special honour for her "unique" role in "offering training to freedom fighters and refuge to millions of people who fled the country and building world opinion for Bangladesh's independence".

[4] The award included a crest weighing three kilograms is designed on 400-year-old terracotta of a 'Kadam tree' made of gold and a citation which read:[1] "Ms. Indira Gandhi stood by the side of the people of Bangladesh from the beginning of the Liberation War despite various adversities.

General Tikka Khan of Pakistan army earned the nickname 'Butcher of Bengal' because of the widespread atrocities he committed.

The Indian leadership under Prime Minister Gandhi quickly decided that it was more effective to end the genocide by taking armed action against Pakistan than to simply give refuge to those who made it across to refugee camps.

[9] Exiled East Pakistan army officers and members of the Indian Intelligence immediately started using these camps for recruitment and training of Mukti Bahini guerrillas.

"All unprejudiced persons objectively surveying the grim events in Bangladesh since March 25 have recognized the revolt of 75 million people, a people who were forced to the conclusion that neither their life, nor their liberty, to say nothing of the possibility of the pursuit of happiness, was available to them" – written by Indira Gandhi in a letter to Richard Nixon , 15 December 1971.