Years of service 1971–1979 Rank Wing commander | Name Muhammad Khan Allegiance Bangladesh Role Armed force officer | |
 | ||
Unit Administration and Special Duties A&SD Battles/wars Bangladesh Independence War
Chilmari Landing Expedition
Kurigram and Gaibandha Guerilla Campaigns
Kodalkati and Kamalpur Assaults
Tangail Area Ambushes and Raids Died December 30, 2011, Dhaka, Bangladesh | ||
Commands held Ground Defence Command Service/branch Bangladesh Air Force | ||
M. Hamidullah Khan (Bangla: এম হামিদুল্লাহ খান) (11 September 1938 – 30 December 2011) was a distinguished war commander in the Bangladesh War of Independence. A career officer in the air force, initially in the PAF and after independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan he was inducted into BAF on 6 April 1972. M. Hamidullah Khan served PAF from 1960 to 1971. He participated in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War and was awarded Sitara-e-Harb War Medal for participation, and Tamgha-e-Jurat Gallantry medal for displaying immense dedication and courage. During the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971 he held three posts. He was initially member of the Interim Provincial Bangladesh Government as Bangladesh Forces Representative of Guerilla Training at Chakulia Canp. In early July Hamidullah Khan participated at the Sector Commanders Conference. Following the conference Hamidullah was appointed Commander of Mankachar Sub-Sector 1 and in charge of independent Roumari area. On 3 November 1971 Hamidullah Khan was appointed Commander of Sector 11, Bangladesh Forces. M. Hamidullah Khan represented Bangladesh during the 34th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1979 as Bangladesh Special Envoy on the question of granting recognition to the State of Palestine and the plenary session on UN Resolutions 242 and 439 on the question of Palestine and Namibia respectively. He was an elected Member of Parliament three times from his ancestral home of Bikrampur. Upon his death President of Bangladesh Zillur Rahman and Awami League Administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Haisina gave M Hamidullah Khan a state funeral with full military honours.
Contents
- Early life
- Air Force career
- Bangladesh War of Independence
- Post independence
- Political career
- Death
- References
Early life
M. Hamidullah Khan was born in Medini Mondal village, Louhajong Ward, Bikrampur, Dhaka. He was the second of nine children, one of whom died in infancy, born to Muhammad Dabiruddin Khan and Jasimunnesa Khan. His father was a forest ranger in the Bengal and Assam Forest Department of the Imperial Forest Service. Hamidullah married Rabeya Sultana Khan, the third daughter of Mokbul Hossain Siddiqi, then East Pakistan Commissioner of Taxes and Excise, on 1 August 1965, in Dhaka. Hamidullah Khan's childhood was divided between living in Bikrampur and Dhaka city. His family moved to the Mughaltully Ward of Dhaka in 1954, where he would spend his adolescence. Following independence and the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the family remained in East Pakistan, while his father chose to work for the Indian government until his retirement in 1957. Hamidullah Khan attended primary school at Silver Jubilee Anglo-Bangla Government English School, Guwahati, Assam. He went on to secondary school for a year at Rangamati Missionary School at Chittagong Hill Tracts, then transferred to and graduated from Louhajong A.T Institute in Dhaka Bikrampur. He then enrolled in Jagannath College, now Jagannath University, in 1954. After completion of senior secondary school in 1956, he studied at the same college in pursuit of a Bachelor of Arts in Commerce (General). Hamidullah simultaneously enrolled in the Honours program at Dhaka Textile College at Tejgaon. Hamidullah Khan entered the Pakistan Air Force Academy in July 1960 and reported to Risalpur in the 34th GD(P) as a flight cadet.
Air Force career
Hamidullah was commissioned on 30 June 1962 in the GD(Admin) branch of Pakistan Air Force. His primary field of duty was security, investigations and counter intelligence. He served in the Pakistan Air Force at bases in Risalpur, Chaklala(Rawalpindi), Sargodha, Karachi, Peshawar, and finally Dacca. In September 1970, Flight Lieutenant Hamidullah Khan was transferred to the Pakistan Eastern Zone as Assistant Provost Marshal and Director of Security for Tejgaon International Airport in Dhaka.
1965 India - Pakistan War -
PAF Base Chaklala, Rawalpindi: With only 8 weeks counter-intelligence and guerilla training he successfully infiltrated Indian border from Sialkot on a night reconnaissance mission to gather photographic intel for assisting SSG commandos air drop mission over the border near Pathankot(about 12 hrs terrain hike to the air base). For his dedication and show of courage he was awarded Tamgha-e-Jurat(Star of Courage) and the Sitara-e-Harb(Medal of War) for participation.
Bangladesh War of Independence
On 30 March 1971 Flight Lieutenant Hamidullah defected from the PAF, and reported to the Bangladesh Provincial Government April 14 via Agartala. He was inducted into the Provincial government of Bangladesh ar 8 Theatre road, Calcutta. He was rhen posted as the Bangladesh Representative of the Provincial Government to Chakulia Guerilla Training Camp in Bihar during the period of April ~ June 1971. After he joined the Bangladesh Forces during the war of Independence, he had received a Battlefield Promotion to squadron leader in July 1971.
Between 11 and 17 July 1971, Hamidullah attended the Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference and was subsequently posted by BDF C-in-C Colonel Osmani to Teldhala, BDF Sector 11 Headquarters under Sector Commander Major Ziaur Rahman, in command of the entire war effort in that sector, appointed Hamidullah as commander sub-sector 1, stationed in Mankachar, with the additional responsibility as the administrator with responsibility of the protection of the Roumari area. Hamidullah would hold these positions between April until end of October 1971 during the war. As sub-sector commander, he commanded over 800 troops and fought 22 major encounters. In recognition of his efforts, Flight Lieutenant Hamidullah received a battlefield promotion to squadron leader by Bangladesh Forces Commander in Chief Colonel M.A.G Osmani. His largest and most significant guerrilla operation would be the Chilmari Landing/Raid, on 16 and 17 October, during which Hamidullah led a crossing with 50 boats of the Ganges River by Kurigram and conducted a shock landing and attack on the Chilmari stronghold of the Pakistan Army, On 3 November 1971 Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan officially took command of BDF Sector 11 under authority of Direct Order Transfer of Command from an Emergency Action Message tele-wired from the Provincial Bangladesh Government interim HQ at 8, Theatre Rd. Calcutta.
Post independence
After the war, Hamidullah was inducted into the nascent Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) A&SD branch upon transfer from BDF Command by official government order, gazetted 7 April 1972 and was appointed the first Provost Marshal of Bangladesh Air Force in Command of BAF Police and Ground Defense. In addition, he was assigned the security of the two airports in Dhaka, Kurmitola Air Base and Dhaka Air Base at Tejgaon. In 1973 Hamidullah received his final promotion to Wing Commander.
As Ground Defense Commander, Wing Commander Hamidullah led a team that brought down BAF airmen uprising and rebellion following the 1977 JAL Flt. 472 at Dhaka International Airport/Bashar Air Base, Tejgaon hijacking incident during Air Marshall A. G Mahmood's tenure as COS. He further secured and tightened the safety and movements in and around the entire airport.
He also held the positions of Chief of Air Force Security (Provost Marshal), Director of Air Intelligence and Director of Recruiting, and Ground Defense Commander. He was also the Administration Branch Commanding Officer at BAF Base Bashar. Hamidullah officially retired from Bangladesh Air Force on 10 January 1979.
Hamidullah received a gallantry award for Courage on 15 December 1973. M. Hamidullah Khan wrote a three volume book 71' Northern Front (in Bangla: Ekature Uttor Ronangon) of his and other guerrilla fighters' accounts of the War of Independence, squarely concentrating on guerilla warlfare at the Central Sector BDF Sector 11. Hamidullah's second book was a two-volume set about the Independence War. He also authored four more books and made two documentaries on the events surrounding the war and post-independence. The Bangladesh Government named Road 23 in the town of Banani, Dhaka after him. Along with those of 55 other fighters, his biography was included in a CD released by the Bangladesh government.
Political career
In September 1978, Hamidullah joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). During the BNP's first council in 1978, Hamidullah Khan was appointed the first Executive Secretary of the Central Executive Committee, later re-designated as Office Secretary. He remained in that post until 1989. In the party's second national council 1993 he was demoted and made Secretary of the BNP International Affairs Committee. In the fifth national council, Hamidullah was appointed Secretary of the Central Committee of the BNP National Executive Committee on Independence War and Veterans Affairs, which he held until his death. Hamidullah was denied a party nomination and brushed aside without notice in 2001. M. Hamidullah Khan immediately followed into the welcoming hand of Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League but later returned to the BNP.
He was nominated four times and elected thrice in Jatiyo Sangshad elections. These elections included:
He re-emerged in 2007 after an absence from public life and began speaking on Bangladesh social, political, and economic matters. BNP party chief and former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia recalled him to active politics and nominated him for the electoral seat of Dhaka-15 (Mirpur and Kafrul) during the 9th Parliamentary General Elections, held on 29 December 2008. Hamidullah served in different positions in the Bangladesh government throughout his active life. He served as chairman of the Bangladesh Postgraduate Medical Research Centre between 1979 and 1982, member of the DU senate, chairman of the Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust from 1993 to 1996, and chairman of the Janata Bank between 1995 and 1996.
Death
Upon his death, Muhammad Hamidullah Khan was given a state funeral with a military guard of honour. Hamidullah Khan is survived by his spouse Rabeya Sulatna Khan and two sons, Murad Hamid Khan (Sonny) and Tariq Hamid Khan (Konny).