Kazi Nuruzzaman

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 ...

(24 March 1925 – 6 May 2011) was a Bangladeshi

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 ...

and secular

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, who served as one of the principal commanders of the

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 ...

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 also rejected Bir Uttam award as a tribute to all the unknown, unrecognized martyrs of the war.

Early life

Kazi Nuruzzaman was born into a prominent

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family to Kazi Sadrul Ala and Ratabunesa Begum on 24 March 1925. His father Kazi Sadrul Ala was given the title '' Khan Saheb'' by the erstwhile ruling

British Raj 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 ...

for his services to society. He was educated at the prestigious St Xavier's School and College at Kolkata. He passed his

Matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

examination in 1939 and I.Sc in 1941 from there, he finished off his education from St Xavier's School and College with a Bachelor in Chemistry Science with Honors.

Career

He joined the British Indian Navy on 6 June 1943 but due to

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

's persuasion, he transferred to the

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

in 1946 and completed his training from

Royal School of Artillery The Royal School of Artillery (RSA) is the principal training establishment for artillery warfare in the British Army. Established in 1915, it is based at Larkhill, Wiltshire, on the south edge of the Salisbury Plain Training Area. The school is t ...

in UK. After

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

in 1947 he joined Pakistan army. In 1949 he was assigned as platoon commander for the Joint Pre-Cadet Training School in Quetta. He was promoted to Major in 1954. Before retiring from the armed forces he served at East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation. Since he was a Bengali in the Pakistan Army, he was subject to discrimination. He did not sacrifice his dignity, and one such example was his comment against

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

: ''Only people from good families can recognize other people from other good families.'' ''- Kazi Nuruzzaman when Ayub Khan said that he did not see people from good families in East Pakistan.'' In October 1958 after General Ayub Khan declared Martial Law in Pakistan, he & Major Salauddin Amin were the only two officers who refused to sign a document of allegiance pledging loyalty to then President of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan. In 1961 he left the army and was transferred to East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation. He served there till 1970. In 1970 he resigned from EPIDC because of some differences of opinion with EPIDC Authorities.

Bangladesh Liberation War

In 1971, he joined the Liberation War. He was senior to all the sector commanders & was given staff position by C-in-C Osmani. During the war, Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors and each of those sectors had a Sector Commander who would direct the guerrilla warfare. He succeeded Major Najmul Haque as Commander of Sector 7 who died in a road crash on 27 September 1971, in India. He played a key role in Bangladesh's achieving independence from Pakistan during the 1971 war. During the war he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Post war he was tasked with gathering injured freedom fighters from

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 ...

Award

He was awarded the

award, which is the second-highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh. As thousands of

volunteers, mostly farmers, were killed and did not receive any recognition, he chose not to accept any gallantry award. He rejected the Bir Uttom award.

Death

Nuruzzaman died of old age at Square Hospital on 6 May 2011. He was buried at National Freedom Fighters' Graveyard at Dhaka Cantonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nuruzzaman, Quazi 1925 births 2011 deaths Bangladeshi lieutenant colonels People from Jessore District University of Calcutta alumni Mukti Bahini personnel Recipients of the Bir Uttom