Khawaja Wasiuddin (20 March 1920 – 22 September 1992) was a Bangladeshi army general and diplomat from

Dhaka Nawab family The Nawab of Dhaka ( Bengali: "ঢাকার নবাব"), originally spelt in English Nawab of Dacca, was the title of the head of one of the largest Muslim zamindar in British Bengal and Assam, based in present-day Dhaka, Bangladesh. The ...

. He started his career as a young officer in the

British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

and later became a senior general in

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

. In 1971, he was the highest ranking Bengali officer in the Pakistani army. In 1973, he was repatriated to Bangladesh, where he was received at the airport by General M.A.G. Osmani. He later served as a senior general in

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

. He was the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations.

Early life

Khwaja Wasiuddin was born on 20 March 1920 in

Ahsan Manzil Ahsan Manzil () is a palace located in the Kumartoli area beside Buriganga River of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was formerly the residence and seat of the '' Nawab of Dhaka'' and has been designated an Old Dhaka Heritage Site. It now serves as a m ...

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(Present-day Bangladesh). His father,

Khwaja Shahabuddin Khawaja Shahabuddin (31 May 1898 – 9 February 1977), sometimes spelled Khwaja Shahabuddin, was a politician of Kashmiri-Bengali descent from East Pakistan who was a minister in the Government of Pakistan and member of the Dhaka Nawab family. ...

, was the governor of

North-west Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

of Pakistan and member of the

; his father's elder brother was Sir

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964), also spelled Khwaja Nazimuddin, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second Prime Minister ...

, the second Governor-General of Pakistan and subsequently its second Prime Minister. His mother was Farhat Banu, the niece of Sir Salimullah and member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly. He studied at Dhaka Muslim High School and later in St Gregory's High School. In 1938, he graduated from

Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) () is a military school for boys situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for the Nation ...

Military career

After graduation, he joined the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in April 1940 in the

8th Punjab Regiment The 8th Punjab Regiment was a regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. It was transferred to Pakistan Army on Partition of India in 1947 and merged with the 10th Baluch Regiment, Baluch Regiment in 1956. History Madras Infantry Th ...

of the

. He served in the

Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...

of World War II. He reached the rank of major by 1943. In 1945, he was promoted to rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed as the additional deputy president of Inter Services Selection Board of British Indian Armed Forces.

Pakistan

After the partition of India, he opted for

. In Pakistan, he continued to work in Pakistani Inter Services Selection Board, eventually becoming its president. In 1951. he went for further studies in

Camberley Staff College Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the British Indian Army, Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, fou ...

in the United Kingdom and subsequently was promoted to the rank of Brigadier general. In 1960, he was made the general officer commanding (GOC) of the 14th Division located in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

's Dhaka and in 1963 he was the commander of the10th Division located in Lahore,

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

. Also, he was the chairman of

Adamjee Cantonment College Adamjee Cantonment College () also known as ACC is an educational institution in Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The institution was established in 1960 following the ideology of originally renowned public schools of England – Eton and H ...

. In 1962, he was a provincial martial law administrator. In 1964, he got his higher education from

Imperial Defense College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest level ...

in United Kingdom. In 1967, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and was appointed as the commander of the II Corps, the headquarters was firstly in Lahore and later was transferred to

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He also successfully advocated for the raising of new purely Bengali EBR battalions, which were the 8, 9 and 10 East Bengal battalions.

Bangladesh

During the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

, he was the Master General of Ordnance (MGO) in

General Headquarters The General Headquarters (abbreviated Army GHQ) is the direct reporting and the command post of the Pakistan Army, located in the Chaklala at the vicinity of Rawalpindi, adjacent to the Joint Staff Headquarters (JS HQ). History In 1851, th ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

. According to Lt. General Niazi, Wasiuddin verbally abused Niazi's Chief of Staff, Brigadier Baqir Siddiqui, when he requested for ordinance stores. Wasiuddin flatly refused to help supply the Pakistani Eastern Command and this led to a severe shortage of basic military equipment. In October 1973, he was repatriated to Bangladesh from Pakistan.

Diplomatic career

After returning to Bangladesh he would serve as the ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait and France. He retired from Bangladesh Army in 1977 and was made the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, position he held until 1986. As the representative he supported Indonesia's annexation of East Timor in the United Nation.

Death

He died on 22 September 1992 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasiuddin, Khwaja Military personnel from Dhaka 20th-century Bangladeshi military personnel 1920 births 1992 deaths Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Pakistan Army lieutenant generals Bangladeshi generals Bangladesh Army generals People of East Pakistan Members of the Dhaka Nawab family Ambassadors of Bangladesh to France Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Kuwait Permanent representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations British Indian Army personnel Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni