Abu Taher (; 14 November 1938 – 21 July 1976) was a Bangladeshi

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

and

war hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such things for the sake o ...

. He first served in the

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 ...

, and later defected to the

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 ...

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 crossed into India around early August and reported to the Indian authorities. After a week screening at Dehradun, India, Taher reported to

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, Bangladesh Provincial government at 8 Theatre Rd. He was ordered to report to Sector 11 of

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

under command of Major

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

, he became the sector commander after him. He served in BDF from end of August to 2 November 1971. He was awarded the

Bir Uttom Bir Uttom () is the second highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh after the Bir Sreshtho and the highest gallantry award for living individual. Since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, 69 people have been awarded the Bir Utto ...

Medal for gallantry in the War of Liberation. He was released from military service by an Indian military medical board in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, India after his leg was amputated. After independence, he was inducted into the Bangladesh Army for administrative retirement with legacy rank of lieutenant colonel. After settling in with family, the government of

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

appointed him with employment at Kumilla. Later Taher turned into a political activist and leader of the left-wing Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal. He was responsible for the 7 November coup which was the third coup in 1975 in Bangladesh. After freeing

and reinstating him as army chief, many personnel including Taher was found guilty of

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and executed. However, in 2011, his trial was declared illegal by the high court of Bangladesh.

Early life and education

Abu Taher was born in Badarpur, Assam Province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

on 14 November 1938. His ancestral village was Kazla in Purbadhala,

Netrokona District Netrokona District () is a district of Mymensingh Division in north-eastern Bangladesh. Etymology The headquarters of Netrokona District was located at the end of the Mogra River and was called Natorkona. Many people believe that over a period o ...

. After the completion of higher secondary school from Murari Chand College in

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

, Taher joined the

in September 1960 as an officer candidate. He was married to Lutfa Taher.

Military career

Taher received his commission into the Pakistan Army in 1962. He joined the

Special Service Group The Special Service Group (SSG) are the special forces of the Pakistan Army. They are also known by their nickname of "Maroon Berets" due to their headgear. The SSG is responsible to deploy and execute five doctrinal missions: foreign inte ...

in 1965. Following his training, he participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 in

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

. For his part, he received a war participation medal from the Pakistan Army. After the war, Taher trained under U.S. Army Special Forces at

Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...

in the United States in 1969. He was posted to the

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

Staff College,

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1970.

Bangladesh War of Independence

Towards the end of August 1971,

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

Taher, along with three other Bengali officers: Major

Manzur Manzur ( ''Manẓūr''; also spelled Manzoor or Manzour) is a male Arabic name meaning "approved" or "accepted." It is most commonly used in South and Southeast Asia. Manzur is also a Spanish surname. ;Notable people named Manzur or similar incl ...

, Major Ziauddin and Captain Bazlul Ghani Patwari defected from the Pakistani Army and crossed over the border near

Abbottabad Abbottabad is a city in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. It is the 40th largest city in the country and 6th largest in the province by population, and serves as the headquarter of its namesake tehsil and district ...

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 ...

, into India. After two weeks under Indian intelligence screening and debriefing, he was sent to

Bangladesh Armed Forces The Bangladesh Armed Forces () is the Armed forces, military force of Bangladesh. It consists of three uniformed organizations, they are the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force. The Armed Forces is under the juri ...

(BDF) HQ at 8 Theatre Road, Calcutta and subsequently posted to Sector 11. He was promoted to Major in September. Major Zia appointed Taher as Sub-Sector Commander No. 2 at Mahendraganj. Sector 11 was located across the

Rangpur District Rangpur District () is a district in northern Bengal, It is a part of Rangpur Division, Bangladesh. Geography Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur is bo ...

, which comprised

Mymensingh District Mymensingh District () is a district in Mymensingh Division Bangladesh, and is bordered in the north by Meghalaya, India and the Garo Hills, in the south by Gazipur District, in the east by the districts of Netrokona and Kishoreganj and in ...

Tangail District Tangail District () is a district (''zila'') in the central region of Bangladesh. In 1969, Tangail mahakuma was separated from the Mymensingh District, Mymensingh district, and a district of the same name as the mahakuma's was created. The dist ...

and parts of the

. On 10 October, upon Major Zia's temporary transfer to the Sylhet sector, Major Shafayat Jamil handed over the interim command of the sector to BDF Sector 11. On 2 November 1971, Taher lost his leg from a small mine blast during a debriefing. Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan was officially appointed Sector Commander of Sector 11 under direct orders through EAM from General Osmani, Bangladesh Interim Provincial Government Headquarters. Taher was flown to

, India. On 21 November Taher received a Medical Board Release. His leg was later amputated there, where he remained until February 1972. For his valour, he was awarded

Post-war activities

Following his return, Taher was reinstated into the

in April for effective retirement following administrative procedure. He was retired with a legacy entitlement rank of Lieutenant Colonel and hence is widely known as Colonel Taher.

Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal

Due to his left-leaning communist ideas of governance he joined the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal. The Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal had split from the

Bangladesh Chhatra League Bangladesh Chhatra League, simply Chhatra League (), is the student wing of the political party, Bangladesh Awami League, founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 4 January 1948. The organisation is banned and listed as a terrorist organisation in B ...

, the student wing of the

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

and called for establishing

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

through an armed revolution. Taher became the head of its armed wing, the Gonobahini and led a violent insurgency campaign against the government of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

15 August 1975 Coup

Abu Taher welcomed the

assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, was assassinated along with most of his family members during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, re ...

on 15 August 1975, remarking,

They've made a big mistake. They shouldn't have allowed Sheikh Mujib's burial. Now a shrine will be built there. His body should have been thrown into the
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...
.

It was known that Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal had plans for an insurrection against Sheikh Mujib's government. After the 15 August coup, JSD encouraged its followers to study Marx's ''

The Class Struggles in France ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

''. On the morning of the coup, Taher received several phone calls, urging him to go to Bangladesh Betar, the government radio station. Upon reaching the radio station, he met Major Rashid, one of the key organisers of Sheikh Mujib's assassination. Rashid took Taher to a room, where he saw Major Dalim, Taheruddin Thakur and

Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (; 27 February 1919 – 5 March 1996) was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the Minister of Commerce in the third Mujib Rahman ministry under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and assumed the presidency of Bangladesh after the A ...

. Taher was invited to join the cabinet by Rashid, which he declined. Taher was present at Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad's swearing-in ceremony.

3 November 1975 Coup

After the 15 August coup, the chain of command in the Bangladesh Army was disrupted, as the majors involved in Sheikh Mujib's assassination 'began acting like generals'. General

Khaled Mosharraf Khaled Mosharraf (; 9 November 1937 – 7 November 1975) was a two star officer in Bangladesh Army, who is known for his role in the Bangladesh Liberation War and the subsequent coups in post-independence Bangladesh. After deposing Khondakar ...

urged General

to restore the chain of command, which he was either unwilling or unable to do. As a result, Khaled Mosharraf launched the 3 November coup, ousting Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad and placing Ziaur Rahman under house arrest. Right before Rahman was arrested, he reportedly made a phone call to Taher urging him to save him. Every night between 4 and 6 November, secret meetings of enlisted men and non-commissioned officers were held under Taher's leadership. These troops belonged to Biplobi Shainik Sangstha (Revolutionary Soldier's Organisation), which was a 'socialist and egalitarian' group which clandestinely existed within the Bangladesh Army. At these meetings, they finalised plans to organise an uprising of soldiers and civilians and free Rahman from imprisonment.

7 November 1975 Coup

The coup was launched during the early hours of 7 November in Dhaka Cantonment and soon spread to other areas, including Rangpur and Chittagong. Crowds poured into the streets of Dhaka to support the soldiers and shouted slogans, such as 'The people and soldiers have united'. Ziaur Rahman was freed from house arrest by soldiers and taken to the headquarters of the 2nd Field Artillery regiment, where he met Taher. Witnesses claim that Zia embraced Taher and thanked him for saving his life.

Trial and execution

Once Ziaur Rahman regained control of the army, he realized that the soldiers' mutiny had to be suppressed if discipline was to be restored. On 24 November 1975, he ordered Taher arrested on charges of

and

. Taher was tried by a military tribunal inside the Dhaka Central Jail and sentenced to death on 17 July 1976. He was executed by hanging on 21 July 1976. His

last meal A condemned prisoner's last meal is a customary ritual preceding execution. In many countries, the prisoner may, within reason, select what the last meal will be. Contemporary restrictions in the United States Contrary to the common belief t ...

consisted of mangoes and tea. The trial was later considered as illegal, unconstitutional and a farce. The Bangladesh High Court declared it as a "cold blooded assassination".

High Court ruling

On 22 March 2011, the High Court overturned the previous judgement that had authorised Taher's execution by military tribunal while the nation was under martial law. The military court judgement was declared illegal."HC declares Taher trial illegal"
bdnews24.com The court observed Taher's execution had happened according to Major General Ziaur Rahman's plan.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taher, Abu 1938 births 1976 deaths Bangladeshi lieutenant colonels Executed activists People of the Bangladesh Liberation War People from Netrokona District People executed for treason against Bangladesh Executed Bangladeshi people 20th-century executions for treason Recipients of the Bir Uttom People executed by Bangladesh by hanging Mukti Bahini personnel Biplobi Shainik Sangstha Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal politicians Murari Chand College alumni People from Karimganj district 20th-century Bangladeshi military personnel