Zahurul Haq (9 February 1935 – 15 February 1969) was a

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 ...

sergeant. He was one of the 35 persons accused in the

Agartala Conspiracy Case The Agartala Conspiracy Case was a sedition case in Pakistan during the rule of Ayub Khan (general), Ayub Khan against Awami League, brought by the government of Pakistan in 1968 against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then leader of the Awami Lea ...

in 1969. He was killed in custody and his death led to increase in

1969 uprising in East Pakistan The 1969 East Pakistan mass uprising () was a democratic political uprising in East Pakistan. It was led by the students backed by various political parties such as the Awami League, National Awami Party, and Communist party of East Pakistan and ...

. He received the

Independence Day Award The Independence Award (), formally known as the Independence Day Award or Swadhinata Padak (), is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh. Introduced in 1977 by President Ziaur Rahman, this award is bestowed upon Banglade ...

from the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

in 2018.

Early life

Haq was born on 9 February 1935 to a

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 in Sonapur, Sudharam (now

Noakhali Sadar Upazila Noakhali Sadar () is an upazila of Noakhali District in Chittagong Division, Chattogram, Bangladesh. Noakhali Thana was established in 1861 and was converted into an upazila in 1984. The upazila takes its name from the district and the Bengali wor ...

Noakhali Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

. He completed his matriculation from

Noakhali Zilla School Noakhali Zilla School () is a boy's high school located in the Maijdee town of Noakhali, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest schools in the country. The school was established in 1850.(EIIN NUMBER 107540). History In 1850, Jones, an officer from ...

in 1953 and intermediate and B.Sc. in physics from

Jagannath College Jagannath University (JnU) () is a public university located in Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded as ''Dhaka Brahma School'' in 1858 and renamed ''Jagannath School'' in 1872, and later renamed ''Jagannath College'' in 1884, the institution w ...

Agartala Conspiracy Case

Haq joined

in 1957 as an

Airman An airman is a member of an air force or air arm of a nation's armed forces. In certain air forces, it can also refer to a specific enlisted rank. An airman can also be referred to as a soldier in other definitions. As a military rank designat ...

and reached the rank of a Sergeant. He was arrested in December 1967 in accusation of a conspiracy to cause an uprising in

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 ...

with the intention of bringing about the secession of the province from the rest of Pakistan. He was confined in

Dhaka Central Jail Dhaka Central Jail was the largest jail in Bangladesh, located in the old section of Dhaka, the country's capital. The jail has been used to house criminals as well as political prisoners, especially during the Language Movement of 1952, the 6 ...

and later, was transferred to

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 ...

in Kurmitola. In January 1968, Awami League leader

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 ...

's name was added to the case. A special tribunal was set headed by a West Pakistani Justice S. A. Rahman, with two other Bengali judges Justice Mujibur Rahman Khan and Justice

Maksum-ul-Hakim Maksum-ul-Hakim was a jurist, diplomat and justice of Dhaka High Court in Bangladesh. He was an Advocate General for the government. He was an elected member of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Committee for Prevention of Discrimination of Minori ...

Barrister Abul Khair Khan A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the law and givin ...

served on the legal panel in this Agartala Conspiracy Case as a lawyer for Sergeant Zahurul Haq. The final date for the case was set to 6 February 1969 and the date was deferred later. On 15 February 1969, he was shot by a Pakistani

Havildar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian and Pakistani armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry and armoured units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British sergea ...

. He was taken to the Combined Military Hospital and died at around 10 pm.

Legacy

Haq's death led to more street protests and state guest house and other government buildings were burned down which led to the withdrawal of the Agartala Conspiracy Case on 22 February 1969. ''"February 15 Bahini"'', the first armed force was formed and consisted of student leaders. Haq was a painter. Some of his paintings are displayed in

Bangladesh National Museum The Bangladesh National Museum (), is the national museum of Bangladesh. The museum is well organized and displays have been housed chronologically in several departments like department of ethnography and decorative art, department of history an ...

. Sergeant Zahurul Haq Hall of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public university, public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka w ...

is named after him. BAF Zahurul Haq base, a

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 ...

base is named after him. Haq's eldest brother, Aminul Haque (d. 1995) became the

Attorney General of Bangladesh The attorney general for Bangladesh () is the Bangladeshi government's chief legal adviser and its primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. The attorney general is usually a highly respected senior advocate and is appointed by the ru ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haq, Zahurul 1935 births 1969 deaths People from Noakhali District Pakistan Air Force personnel Bangladesh Air Force personnel Bangladeshi activists Causes and prelude of the Bangladesh Liberation War Protest-related deaths Recipients of the Independence Award H Noakhali Zilla School alumni