Kazi Nuruzzaman Bir Uttom (24 March 1925 – 6 May 2011) was a Bangladeshi war hero and secular

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

, who served as one of the principal commanders of the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary ...

during the

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 ...

. He also rejected Bir Uttam Award as a tribute to all the unknown, unrecognized martyrs of the war.

Early life

Nuruzzaman was born on 24 March 1925. He received his education from the exclusive

St. Xavier's College, Calcutta St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic, autonomous higher education college under Calcutta University run by the Calcutta Province of the Society of Jesus in Kolkata, India. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1860 and named after St. Fra ...

majoring in chemistry.

Career

He joined the British Indian Navy in 1943 but due to

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

's persuasion, he transferred to the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in 1946 and completed his training from

Royal School of Artillery The Royal School of Artillery (RSA) is the principal training establishment for artillery warfare in the British Army. Established in 1915, it is located at Larkhill, Wiltshire, on the south edge of Salisbury Plain in the United Kingdom. The Schoo ...

in UK. After

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947 he joined Pakistan army & was promoted to Major in 1954. Before retiring from the armed forces he served at East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation. Since he was a Bengali in the Pakistan Army, he was subject to racial discrimination. He did not sacrifice his dignity, and one such example was his comment against

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

. In October 1958 after General Ayub Khan declared Martial Law in Pakistan, he & Major Salauddin Amin were the only two officers who refused to sign a document of allegiance pledging loyalty to then President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan.

Bangladesh Liberation War

In 1971, he joined the Liberation War. He was senior to all the sector commanders & was given staff position by C-in-C

Osmani Usmani or Othmani or Uthmani is a large Muslim community (Urdu: عثمانی), found mainly in South Asia. The word Usmani or (one and the same thing) is a surname. Usmani are found throughout South Asia mainly in India and Pakistan. Notable peo ...

. During the war, Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors and each of those sectors had a Sector Commander who would direct the guerrilla warfare. He succeeded

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Najmul Haque as Commander of Sector 7 who died in a road crash on September 27, 1971, in India. He played a key role in Bangladesh's achieving independence from Pakistan during the 1971 war. Post war he was tasked with gathering injured freedom fighters from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Award

He was awarded the Bir Uttom award, which is the second-highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh. As thousands of

volunteers, mostly farmers, were killed and did not receive any recognition, he chose not to accept any gallantry award. He rejected the Bir Uttom award. https://pdfcoffee.com/muktibahini-wins-victory-maj-gen-atm-abdul-wahab-365p-pdf-free.html

Death

Nuruzzaman died of old age at Square Hospital on 6 May 2011. He was buried at National Freedom Fighters’ Graveyard at Dhaka Cantonment.

References

1925 births 2011 deaths Bangladeshi lieutenant colonels People from Jessore District University of Calcutta alumni Mukti Bahini personnel Recipients of the Bir Uttom {{Bangladesh-bio-stub