Enayet Karim ( bn, এনায়েত করিম) (31 August 1927 – 16 February 1974) was a Bangladeshi diplomat. He was the first ambassador from Bangladesh to United States. He later served as the Foreign Secretary.

Early life and education

Karim secured the first position in

Matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

examination and later studied economics at

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

Career

Karim had a brief teaching career at University of Dhaka. He joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1952. Karim served the Pakistani Missions in both

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

before assuming the key post of Director (India) in the Pakistan Foreign Ministry. In early 1970, Karim left Islamabad and took up the post of Counselor at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC. In the initial stage of

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

, Karim propagated the cause of the independence of Bangladesh in the US diplomatic arena. But immediately afterwards Karim suffered two consecutive heart attacks within months and was hospitalized. In August 1971, the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

officers at the US Embassy formally announced their allegiance with the provisional Bangladesh Government. Karim joined them, risking the well-being of his family, in spite of his poor health conditions.

Foreign Secretary

After the independence of Bangladesh, Karim was nominated as the first Ambassador from Bangladesh to United States. But after a very short time, he was asked to assume the role of Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh. He also maintained international efforts to reconstruct war-ravaged Bangladesh under the UN Relief Operations, and to secure bilateral assistance from US and other major donors. His other major tasks were: reaching accords with New Delhi and Islamabad for the release of Pakistani POWs and war crime trial, repatriation of the stranded Bengalis from Pakistan and the Pakistanis from Bangladesh, and the distribution of assets and liabilities of the former federal government of Pakistan.

Death and legacy

On 12 February 1974, while working at his office, Karim suffered his third heart attack which later proved fatal. In 1977, the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

, honored him by posthumously awarding the

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

, the highest civilian award of the country.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karim, Enayet 1927 births 1974 deaths Bangladeshi diplomats Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the United States Recipients of the Independence Day Award Foreign Secretaries of Bangladesh