1971 Vetore Baire written by A K Khandakar. Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) A K Khandaker, Bir Uttom, MP is the former Planning Minister of Government of Bangladesh. He is a retired diplomat and was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Armed Forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was posted in the Pakistan Air force Base in Dhaka as Second -in -Command when the Liberation War began in 1971. He defected with 07 Bengali officers and some airmen from the Dhaka base of the Pakistan Air Force for Tripura on 12 May 1971 for joining the liberation war and reach Maninagar, Tripura on 15 May 1971. The then Bangladesh Government of Mujibnagar appointed him as the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, and was given the responsibility of operation and also training of the freedom fighters. He closely interacted with the senior officials of the Indian Eastern Command located at the Fort Williams, Kolkata about training strategies for the Freedom Fighters as well as for overall operation. He established the first ever Bangladesh Air Force in Dimapur, Nagaland during the war. The Bangladesh Air Force with its limited manpower and resources of only 09 officers, 57 airmen, and 03 aircraft carried out significant numbers of operation against the Pakistani invaders. He represented Bangladesh in the surrender ceremony of the Pakistani forces to the allied forces on 16 December 1971 at the Race Course ground. He received the gallantry award of Bir Uttom in 1972 for his luminous role in the Liberation War.