Air Vice Marshal Air vice-marshal (Air Vce Mshl or AVM) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many Commonwealth of Nations, countries which have historical British infl ...

Muhammad Ghulam Tawab (1 July 1930 – 23 February 1999) was the second chief of the air staff of

Bangladesh Air Force The Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) () is the aerial warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The air force is primarily responsible for air defence of Bangladesh's sovereign territory as well as providing air support to the Bangladesh Army a ...

who also served as deputy chief martial law administrator 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 ...

with General

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 ...

and Admiral M. H. Khan from 1975 to 1976.

Early life

Tawab was born in a village near Sylhet, of Bengal Province,

British Indian Empire The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, on 1 July 1930. He was married to Henrietta, a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

national, and has two sons and a daughter.

Career

After graduating college, Tawab joined the Pakistan Air Force in 1951 and was commissioned with the 9th GD(P) course as a pilot officer in the

Pakistan Air Force The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

. He graduated from PAF College Risalpur on September 15, 1951. During 1965 War, he had led the Pathankot airstrike and was awarded Sitara-e-Jurat. After Sheikh Mujib's assassination in August 1975, Tawab was immediately recalled from West Germany to active duty by then military chief, Major General

upon then

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr or W/C) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Wing commander is immediately se ...

M. Hamidullah Khan's advice. In October 1975, Tawab was promoted to Air Vice Marshal and appointed Chief of Air Staff replacing Air Vice Marshal A. K. Khandker. The Bengal Lancers were directly involved in the coup and killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They were posted to

Bogra Cantonment Bogra Cantonment, also known as Majhira Cantonment, is a cantonment located at Shajahanpur Upazila, Bangladesh. About 10 kilometers south of Bogura, a city in Rajshahi Division of Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of the 11th Infantry Divisi ...

and their officers were sent into diplomatic posting outside of Bangladesh. Major General Ziaur Rahman, chief of Bangladesh Army, had difficulty moving the Bengal Lancers to Bogra but eventually succeeded after Air Vice Marshall Muhammad Ghulam Tawab, Chief of Bangladesh Air Force, threatened to use Air Force aircraft against the Bengal Lancers. Air Vice Marshall Muhammad Ghulam Tawab addressed a rally of

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. The origin of the party can be traced back to the original faction founded by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi in 1941. The predecessor of Jamaat which is known as Ja ...

calling for Bangladesh to be changed from a secular state to an Islamic one. Tawab also brought back four army officers involved in 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 ...

and reinstated them in the Bengal Lancers at Bogra Cantonment. This led to the 1976 Bogra mutiny under

Syed Faruque Rahman Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman (9 August 1945 – 28 January 2010) was the chief organizer involved in toppling the Sheikh Mujib regime in Bangladesh. He was convicted and hanged on 28 January 2010 along with co-conspirators Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, ...

, one of the officers Tawab helped return to Bangladesh. After the failed mutiny, Major General Ziaur Rahman retired Tawab, sent the four officers back, and disbanded the Bengal Lancers. M. G. Tawab retired from Bangladesh Air Force in 1977 and returned to

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. He died in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

on February 23, 1999, from prostate cancer after several years of illness.

Awards and decorations

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tawab, Muhammad Ghulam Bangladesh Air Force air marshals Chiefs of Air Staff (Bangladesh) 1930 births 1999 deaths People from Sylhet Division 20th-century Bengalis German people of Bangladeshi descent Pakistan Air Force officers