A. N. M. Nuruzzaman

A.N.M Nuruzzaman, Bir Uttom (December 1938 – 16 March 1993) was a Bangladeshi army officer, who was also a sector commander in the Bangladeshi War of Liberation. After the war he served as the first and only director general of the paramilitary force, Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini.

A. N. M. Nuruzzaman abc
Personal details
Born	December 1938 Narsingdi
Died	16 March 1993 Dhaka, Bangladesh
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Alma mater	University of Dhaka
Profession	Military officer
Awards	Bir Uttom
Military service
Allegiance	Bangladesh  Pakistan (before 1971)
Branch/service	Pakistan Army Bangladesh Army
Rank	Brigadier General

Biography

Nuruzzaman was born in December 1938 in Saidabad, Raipura, Narsingdi. Abu Ahmad, his father, was a government officer. He graduated from Sunamganj High School and Sylhet Murari Chand College. He graduated from University of Dhaka in 1959 and afterward joined Pakistan Military Academy. In 1960 he was commissioned in the Pakistan army as second lieutenant.[1]

Career

In 1968 he was promoted to the rank of Captain and posted in Quetta, West Pakistan.[1]

Agartala Conspiracy case

He was one of the accused in the Agartala Conspiracy Case. After the Agartala Conspiracy Case was withdrawn he was reinstated in service.[1]

Bangladesh Liberation war

Nuruzzaman joined the War of liberation in 1971 in the S-Force under KM Shafiullah,[2] commander of Sector-3. In September he was made the commander of sector-3 by the Mujibnagar Government. He served in that position till the end of Bangladesh Liberation War.[3]

Post Independence

He joined the Bangladesh army after the independence of Bangladesh, he was promoted to Brigadier general. On 28 January 1972, he and Anwar Ul Alam meet to discuss the formation of Rakhi Bahini in Gonobhaban. In March 1972 Rakhi Bahini came into existence.[4] He was the director of Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini. A cable from Dhaka American embassy was sent to note that he left for the United States on 11 August 1975. The cable was sent on 14 August 1975.[5] He was in London when Sheikh Mujib was assassinated in 1975.[6] After the Assassination of Bangladesh Liberation war in 1975 he was placed under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and performed diplomatic responsibilities in Australia, Philippines, Senegal, Canada and Sweden.[1]

Death

He died on 16 March 1993 at Stockholm while working as ambassador of Bangladesh to Sweden.[1]

Legacy

The Government of Bangladesh awarded him the highest living gallantry award Bir Uttam for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War. Dhaka City Corporation renamed a road Bir Uttam ANM Nuruzzaman Sarak after him.[1]

Footnotes

• This article has been translated from the original report titled “তোমাদের এ ঋণ শোধ হবে না” published in 14 October 2012 on the daily Prothom Alo. The Daily Prothom Alo has released a Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 3.0 international license on Wikipedia (Permited). The reports were written by Rashedur Rahman (also known as Tara Rahman) on behalf of the Daily Prothom Alo Liberation War Trust.

References

1. "Nuruzzaman, Brigadier General ANM - Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
2. "Notable battles in the 11 Sectors". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
3. "SECTOR COMMANDERS". The Daily Star. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
4. Ahsan, Syed Badrul. "Myth, reality and Rakkhi Bahini". The Daily Star. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
5. "VISIT TO U.S. OF RAKKHI BAHINI CHIEF". wikileaks.org. wikileaks.org. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
6. Chowdhury, Kamran Reza. "New book defends roles of Rakkhi Bahini, Tofail". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 9 July 2015.

• Anwar Ul Alam (14 March 2014). "An unsung hero". The Independent (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.