Nurul Huq (12 January 1936 – 25 January 2021) was a

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy () is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for the defence of Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area from any external threat, the security of sea ports and exclusive economic zones of Ban ...

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

who served as the 1st Chief of Naval Staff from 7 April 1972 to 6 November 1973 and the chairman of BIWTA and BIWTC. Huq served at the

Ziaur Rahman ministry The Ziaur Rahman ministry was the second democratically elected Council of Ministers of Bangladesh, during the 2nd legislative session of the Jatiya Sangsad. It was initially formed with members of a provisional council of ministers on 29 June 1 ...

as the Minister of Ports Shipping and IWT and one of the founding members of

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

in which he held and elected as Member of Parliament in

1979 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 18 February 1979. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the party of the incumbent military regime, which won 207 of the 300 directly elected seats, although it only won ...

Early life and education

Huq was born on 12 January 1936 in

Dohar Upazila Dohar () is an upazila of Dhaka District in the division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The upazila is situated in the southernmost part of Dhaka District. The Padma River borders the southern part of the upazila. History During the British period, farmer ...

Dhaka district Dhaka District () is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, rests on the eastern banks of the Buriganga River ...

of Bengal Province in then British India. His mother passed when he was just 7 years old. His father

Khan Bahadur Khan Bahadur – a compound of ''Khan'' "Leader" and ''Bahadur'' "Brave" – was an honorary title in British India conferred on Indian subjects who were adherents of Islam or Zoroastrianism. The equivalent title for Hindus, Buddhists and India ...

Abdul Khaleq was an officer in Education Department. After being retired from government services his father was elected a member of

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

in 1946. He was the youngest of six brothers. His immediate elder father Professor Dr Falzur Huq was a teacher in

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

. His alternative elder brother Brigadier general Feroze Salahuddin Huq was 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 ...

who later repatriated with him after

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 ...

. General Huq later served as the Military Secretary to the

President of Bangladesh President of Bangladesh (POB), officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the head of state of Bangladesh and commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The role of the president has changed three times since ...

and also served as the Bangladesh Ambassador to Singapore. He completed his matriculation from

Armanitola Government High School Armanitola Government High School is a secondary school for boys in Armanitola, in the old part of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It celebrated its centenary in 2004. History This school was established in 1904 by the British government, as an experimental ...

in 1950. He passed intermediate from

Dhaka College Dhaka College (), informally known as DC, is a public educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. It is one of the oldest educational institutions in the subcontinent. It offers Honours degree, honours and Master's degree ...

in 1952.

Military career

In 1953, Huq joined the Joint Services Pre-Cadet Training School in Quetta as a cadet of 9th Joint Services Course. After passing out from there, he enrolled to Pakistan Navy Cadet Training School around October 1953. Huq was transferred to

Britannia Royal Naval College Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth, also known as Dartmouth, is the naval academy of the United Kingdom and the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy. It is located on a hill overlooking the port of Dartmouth, Devon, En ...

in Dartmouth from Karachi after six months of instruction. With enthusiasm in engineering, Huq was also voluntarily trained in The

Royal Naval Engineering College The Royal Naval Engineering College was a specialist establishment for the training of Royal Navy engineers. It was founded as Keyham College in 1880, new buildings were opened in Manadon, Devon in 1940 and the old college site at Keyham close ...

within his naval training. On 1 January 1957 Huq was commissioned in the Pakistan Navy and completed his basic engineering course in May 1958 from Royal Naval Engineering College. He returned to Pakistan in June 1958 and posted to PNS ''Jahangir''. Later he served at PNS ''Badr''. In March 1960 he went back to The Royal Naval Engineering College to complete his marine engineering specialization course. He returned to Pakistan in April 1961. Huq then was appointed as instructor in PNS ''Karsaz''. He was transferred to PNS ''Shah Jahan'' as its Engineer Officer (Chief Engineer). In January 1966 he was posted to

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 ...

at PNS ''Bakhtiar'' as the Base Engineer Officer and Staff Officer (Engineering) to Naval Officer-in-charge, Chittagong. In his later years in Pakistan Navy, he was sent to PNS ''Babur'' on early 1968. Later he was transferred to the Training Directorate as the Staff Officer-I at Naval Headquarters. He served there until 1972. After the independence of Bangladesh like all other officers Lt.Commander Nurul Huq was also shifted to POWs Camp but he escaped from there and reached Bangladesh on 27 March 1972.

First Chief of Naval Staff

After his arrival in Bangladesh then Commander in Chief 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 ...

General M.A.G. Osmani appointed him as the commander in chief of the recently

and he was upgraded to the rank of Commander. Later on 7 April 1972 he post was as ameliorated as the Chief of Naval Staff with the rank of a captain. Huq established the Naval Headquarters in Dhaka Cantonment and also shifted the Sailors and C.P.O.'s from Eskaton Transit Camp (now the Navy House) to the barracks inside

Dhaka Cantonment Dhaka Cantonment () is a cantonment located in the northern part of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The headquarters of the Bangladesh Army and Air Force are situated within the cantonment. The cantonment is located on the north-east end of Dhaka. History ...

. Captain Huq played prominent role in establishing the structure of command in Navy he approved a temporary work base structure from the Ministry of Defense and recalled Lieutenant A.M.L.K. Siddiqui and the Volunteer Reserved Officers Lieutenant Islam and Lieutenant Siddiq with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Lieutenant

Abdur Rauf ʻAbd al-Raʼūf (ALA-LC romanization of ) is a male Muslim given name. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Raʼūf'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the Muslim theophoric names. It means 'servant of the ...

was also recalled and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was made the Commanding Officer of Khulna Area Command. He also promoted C.P.O.'s and P.O.'s to Sub Lieutenant for lade on subordinated posts. In April 1972, he was invited to visit India by Admiral

Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas "Charles" Nanda, PVSM, AVSM (10 October 1915 – 11 May 2009) was an Indian Navy admiral who served as the 6th Chief of the Naval Staff from 1 March 1970 until 28 February 1973. He led the Indian Navy during th ...

then Chief of Indian Navy on a 10-day forum. During his visit to India he was received by Admiral Nanda along with Vice Admiral Kamath and Vice Admiral

Krishnan Krishnan is a common name in South India, which refers to the Hindu deity Krishna. It is also combined with other names into a single name such as Ananthakrishnan, Balakrishnan, Gopalakrishnan, Jayakrishnan, Muralikrishnan, Ramakrishnan, Radhakris ...

for forum of future Bangladesh Naval equipments. He commissioned first two river gun boats of Bangladesh Navy during his tenure as Chief of Naval Staff. He was directed to take over as Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) in addition to his own duties in Navy. During his tenure as C.N.S. an Indian Navy Patrol Boat was given on loan to Bangladesh Navy and Captain Huq named it ''The

Padma The Padma () is a major river in Bangladesh. It is the eastern and main distributary of the Ganges, flowing generally southeast for to its confluence with the Meghna River, near the Bay of Bengal. The city of Rajshahi is situated on the bank ...

''. After the arrival of then Captain M. H. Khan from Pakistan he handed over the charge on 6 November 1973 and became the Chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA). He retired from the Navy on 31 December 1975. After his retirement from Navy he continued serving at BIWTA which by then was placed under the Ministry of Shipping, Inland, Water Transport and Aviation and was upholded to continue on Contract Service. In May 1977 he was transferred to

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC, ), is a government-owned company that owns and operates inland vessels and ports in Bangladesh, headquartered in Dhaka. The organisation gains the majority of its revenue by operating fer ...

as its chairman. In September 1977 he resigned from his contract services and joined a private company named High Speed Company as its Executive Chairman.

Political career

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 ...

then President of Bangladesh and Chief Martial Law Administrator offered him a post of an Advisor in the President's Council of Advisors with the rank of a cabinet minister. He was given the Charge of the Ministry of Ports Shipping and IWT. He officially took the charge on 7 November 1977. After the

1978 Bangladeshi presidential election Presidential elections were held in Bangladesh on 3 June 1978. They were the first direct elections for presidency in the country, as the president had previously been elected by the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was a victory for Ziaur Rahman, who ...

the President's Council of Advisors was dissolved and the Cabinet was formed and Captain Huq sworn in as the Minister the Ministry of Ports Shipping and IWT. He was the member of the Central Committee of

(BNP). In

he contested on the nomination of the BNP from

Dohar Dohar () is an upazila of Dhaka District in the division of Dhaka Division, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The upazila is situated in the southernmost part of Dhaka District. The Padma River borders the southern part of the upazila. History During the Britis ...

. He won that election. After the

Assassination of Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman, the sixth president of Bangladesh, was assassinated by a faction of officers of Bangladesh Army, on 30 May 1981, in the southeastern port city of Chittagong. Rahman went to Chittagong to arbitrate in a clash between the local leade ...

Abdus Sattar ʻAbd al-Sattār (ALA-LC romanization of ) is an Arabic Muslim male given name, built on the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Sattār''. The name means "servant of the Veiler (of sins)". Because the letter s is a sun letter, the letter l of the '' ...

elected as the new president but he was not included in the cabinet of Abdus Sattar. So his tenure as a minister ended on 27 November 1981 but he continued as a Member Of Parliament till 24 March 1982. Following the

1982 Bangladeshi coup d'état The 1982 coup d'état was a military coup by Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad, the then- Chief of Army Staff of Bangladesh, against President Abdus Sattar. After serving initially as the Chief Martial Law Administrator and installing a civilian ...

a corruption cases were filed against him along with four former ministers. Following these he moved to London. He stayed there for almost 3 years in political asylum. He worked there as the Volunteer Coordinator and the Racial Master Advisor to the Warden at Toynbee Hall. He came back to Bangladesh on 11 September 1984 after being a fugitive for about 3 years. Following his return he live a retired life.

Personal life

He married Hasna on 10 January 1964 in Chittagong. The couple had a son and a daughter.

Books

He wrote a book named ''High Tide - High Time : Reminiscences of a Naval Commander''

Awards and decorations

Death

He died on 25 January 2021 at the age of 85 at Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huq, Nurul 1936 births 2021 deaths Dhaka College alumni Bangladesh Navy personnel Chiefs of Naval Staff (Bangladesh) Pakistan Navy officers People from Dohar Upazila