Sitara Begum

{{Short description|Bangladeshi doctor, army officer and war heroine}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Sitara Begum

| image = সিতারা বেগম.jpg

| caption = Begum in 2009

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1946|09|05|df=y}}

| birth_place = Mymensingh District, Bengal Province, British India {{small|(present-day Kishoreganj District, Bangladesh)}}

| death_date =

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| awards = {{flagicon image|Bir Protik ribbon.svg|40px}} Bir Pratik

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| residence = Michigan, United States

| citizenship = British subject (1946–1947)
Pakistan (1947–1971)
Bangladesh (1971–present)

| nationality = Bangladeshi

| profession =

| relations = Abu Taher Mohammad Haider (brother)

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| allegiance = {{PAK}} (1970–1971)
{{BAN}} (1971–1973)

| branch = {{ubl | {{army|Pakistan}} | {{flagicon image|Flag of the Mukti Bahini-DeFacto.svg}} Mukti Bahini| {{army|Bangladesh}}}}

| serviceyears = 1970–1973

| unit = Pakistan Army Medical Corps

| rank = 20px Captain

| commands =

| battles = {{tree list}}

Bangladesh Liberation War

}}

Dr. Captain Sitara Begum is a Bangladeshi doctor, Army officer, and War hero. She is one of two women in Bangladesh who has received Bir Protik award. She played a magnificent role in Sector 2 during Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.{{cite news |last1=Debnath |first1=Bipul K |title=Tales of Liberation War |url=http://www.theindependentbd.com/post/128195 |accessdate=22 March 2020 |work=theindependentbd.com}}{{cite news |last1=Amin |first1=Aasha Mehreen |last2=Ahmed |first2=Lavina Ambreen |last3=Ahsan |first3=Shamim |title=The women in our Liberation War |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/victory-day-2016-special/the-women-our-liberation-war-1330396 |accessdate=22 March 2020 |work=The Daily Star |date=16 December 2016 |language=en}}

Early life

Begum was born in Kishoreganj in 1946.{{cite web |title=Sitara's Story |url=https://sitarasstory.com/sitaras_story/ |website=Sitara's Story |accessdate=22 March 2020 |language=en |date=2 September 2017}} Her father, Israil Mian, was a lawyer. She graduated from the Holy Cross College, Dhaka. She completed her MBBS from Dhaka Medical College. Her brother was Major Abu Taher Mohammad Haider.

Career

Begum was commissioned in the Medical Corps of the Pakistan Army in 1970 as a lieutenant. She was stationed in Comilla Cantonment. Her brother was stationed in Comila Cantonment as well. After the start of Bangladesh Liberation war, she and her parents with the aid of Mukti Bahini members moved from Kishorganj to Meghalaya.

Captain Dr. Sitara was the Commanding Officer of the hospital known as the Bangladesh Field Hospital, with almost 400 beds under Sector 2 in 1971. The hospital not only catered to Bengali patients and wounded freedom fighters, members of the Indian army also sought medical aid at that medical centre.

She returned to Dhaka after the independence of Bangladesh.{{cite news |title=The Forgotten Cogs of the Liberation War Wheel: Women |url=https://icetoday.net/2019/03/the-forgotten-cogs-of-the-liberation-war-wheel-women/ |accessdate=22 March 2020 |publisher=Ice Today}}

Begum left Bangladesh after her brother was killed in the 7 November 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état and settled in the United States.