Khalilur Rahman was a major general of

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 ...

and former director general of

Bangladesh Rifles Border Guard Bangladesh (abbr. BGB; ) is a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the border of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. It was formerly known as th ...

(now Border Guard Bangladesh) and former Chief of Defence staff.

Early life and education

Khalilur Rahman was born on 1 January 1927 in Nandina, Jamalpur of

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 ...

then

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 ...

(now in

Mymensingh Mymensingh () is a metropolis, metropolitan city and capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of the Old Brahmaputra River, Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center ...

, Bangladesh). He obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Presidency College, Calcutta. He later joined the

Pakistan Military Academy Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) is a military academy located nearby Kakul village in Abbottabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Established in October 1947, it is the only service academy in Pakistan that trains cadets to serve as army of ...

in 1948 and commissioned in

East Bengal Regiment The East Bengal Regiment () is one of the two infantry regiments of the Bangladesh Army, the other being the Bangladesh Infantry Regiment. East Bengal Regiment was founded by Major Abdul Gani. History The East Bengal Regiment was formed on ...

in 1950. He was graduated from

Staff College, Camberley Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...

Military career

Pakistan Army

He had started his career by joining 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 ...

in 1948. He was commissioned in the Pakistan Army on 26 August 1950 and was posted to the

East Bengal Regimental Centre East Bengal Regiment Centre (EBRC) is an infantry training centre of East Bengal Regiment of Bangladesh Army located in Chittagong Cantonment. Major General Towhidul Ahmed is the current commandant of the centre and flag officer commanding of t ...

.Later in 1952 he was posted to

1st East Bengal Regiment 1st East Bengal Regiment or 1st Bengal also known by its nickname The Senior Tigers of Bangladesh Army. History 1st East Bengal Regiment is the oldest battalion of the East Bengal Regiment (the first of the two infantry regiments in the Bangl ...

which was in

Jessore Cantonment Jashore Cantonment is a cantonment located in the southern part of Bangladesh in Jashore District outside Jashore town and the Headquarters of 55th Infantry Division. History Ferdousi Priyabhashini was raped in Jessore Cantonment during Bangl ...

.At the time of his posting in the 1st East Bengal Regiment Lieutenant Colonel M.A.G. Osmani was the Commanding Officer. He served as the general staff officer second grade at the

CENTO Cento (; Bolognese dialect, Northern Bolognese: ; Bolognese dialect, City Bolognese: ; Bolognese dialect, Centese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The name Cento is a reference to the centur ...

Headquarters in

Ankara, Turkey Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( Etimesgut, Yenimahalle, Çankaya, Keçiören, Altında ...

. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on 22 September 1966 and became the CO of 5th East Bengal Regiment. On 16 May 1970, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and posted to I Corps headquarters. Later, he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier on 29 May 1971. 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 posted 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 ...

as a Director of Defense Security Force.

Bangladesh Army

He repatriated to Bangladesh in 1973 after its independence in 1971. He was the

Director General of Bangladesh Rifles The Director General of Border Guard Bangladesh is the professional head of the Border Guard Bangladesh (abbreviated as BGB, previously ''Bangladesh Rifles''). The current DG is Major general, Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui. The fi ...

from 22 February 1974 to 31 October 1975. On 15 May 1975, he was promoted to the rank of Major General. He was the director general during 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 ...

, the President of Bangladesh. He pledged allegiance to the new government on

Bangladesh Radio Bangladesh Betar (; ), is the state-owned radio broadcaster of Bangladesh, initially established as the Dhaka station of All India Radio in 1939. It was later made part of Radio Pakistan. After the independence of the country in 1971, Radio Pakis ...

after the assassination. He became Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), whose position and power was above the chiefs of the three defence forces after 15 August coup. After the 7 November coup, he prevented

General Zia Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also served as the second chief of ...

from being the Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA), by arguing that that position should lie with President Sayem. This hurt his relationship with Zia as it delayed Zia's plan of eventually taking over power.

Political career

After retirement from Army, Khalilur Rahman joined

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 ...

. He contested in 1986 Parliamentary Elections as candidate of Awami League from Jamalpur-5. He won the election and was elected to the parliament. In 1991, he contested from the same constituency but lost the election to Sirajul Huq. In 1996, he again participated in the election but this time as a candidate of Gono Forum. He lost the election to

Rezaul Karim Hira Rezaul Karim Hira (born 1 December 1942) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician who served as the Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral Legislature, legislative body ...

Books

*কাছে থেকে দেখা (১৯৭৩-১৯৭৫) *পূর্বাপর ১৯৭১ পাকিস্তান সেনা-গহ্বর থেকে দেখা

Awards and decorations

Death

He died on 20 April 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Khalilur 2009 deaths Bangladesh Army generals Director generals of Border Guard Bangladesh 1927 births Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League central committee members 20th-century Bangladeshi military personnel