Bangladesh War hero Gen Aurora dies

New Delhi, May 3

Lieut-Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora (retd), before whom General A. A. K. Niazi of the Pakistan Army surrendered in the historic Bangladesh War of 1971, died today at the age of 89.

Gen Aurora, a chronic heart patient, was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram hospital for a routine examination, but a sudden cardiac arrest at 1 am caused his death, according to his family.

Gen Aurora became a face of India's military might when Pakistan's Gen Niazi surrendered before him along with 90,000 of his troops, as East Pakistan became an independent nation called Bangladesh.

When Gen Niazi died last year, Gen Aurora remembered his former college mate as a man of few words. ”I am sad. I came to know him first when we were together at a college in Quetta and after that I met him during the Bangladesh war. He has been a quiet chap,” Gen Aurora told UNI in February last year.

A former Rajya Sabha member, Gen Aurora leaves behind a son who is a publisher in San Francisco, and a daughter. His cremation will be held after his son arrives from the USA, his family says. — UNI