Khwaja Wasiuddin (20 March 1920 – 22 September 1992) was an army general and diplomat. He started his career as a young officer in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

and later became a senior general in

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

. He was the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations.

Early life

Khwaja Wasiuddin was born on 20 March 1920 in Ahsan Manzil,

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

, Bengal Presidency (Present-day Bangladesh). His father Khwaja Shahabuddin was the governor of North-west Frontier Province of Pakistan and member of the Dhaka Nawab family; his father's elder brother was Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin, the second Governor-General of Pakistan and subsequently its second Prime Minister. His mother was

Farhat Banu Farhat Banu was a Member of the Dhaka Nawab family and member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly in British India. Her uncle was the Nawab of Dhaka, Sir Khwaja Salimullah. Career Farhat Banu was a Member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, the lar ...

, the niece of sir salimullah and member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly. He studied at Dhaka Muslim High School and later in St Gregory's High School. In 1938 he graduated from

Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College The Rashtriya Indian Military College (abbreviated RIMC; formerly known as Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) is a military school for boys and girls situated in Doon Valley, Dehradun in India. The RIMC is a feeder institution for ...

Career

After graduation, he joined the Indian Military Academy and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in April 1940 in the 8th Punjab Regiment of the

. He served in the Burma Campaign of World War II. He reached the rank of major by 1943. In 1945 he was promoted to rank of lieutenant colonel and appointed as the additional deputy president of Inter Services Selection Board of British Indian Armed Forces.

Pakistan

After the partition of India he opted for

. In Pakistan, he continued to work in Pakistani Inter Services Selection Board, eventually becoming its president. In 1951 he went for further studies in Camberley Staff College in United Kingdom and subsequently was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. In 1960 he was made the general officer commanding (GOC) of the 14th Division located in East Pakistan's Dhaka and in 1963 he was the commander of 10th Division located in Lahore, West Pakistan. In 1962 he was a provincial martial law administrator. In 1964 he got his higher educations from

Imperial Defense College The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest lev ...

in United Kingdom. In 1967, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and was appointed as the commander of the

II Corps 2nd Corps, Second Corps, or II Corps may refer to: France * 2nd Army Corps (France) * II Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * II Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French ...

, the headquarters was firstly in Lahore and later was transferred to Multan, Punjab.

Bangladesh

During the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

he was the Master General of Ordnance (MGO) in

General Headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, West Pakistan. In October 1973, he was repatriated to Bangladesh from Pakistan. After returning to Bangladesh he would serve as the ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait and France. He retired from Bangladesh Army in 1973 and was made the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, position he held until 1986. As the representative he supported Indonesia's annexation of East Timor in the United Nation.

Death

He died on 22 September 1992 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasiuddin, Khwaja People from Dhaka Bangladeshi diplomats 1920 births 1992 deaths Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Pakistani generals Bangladeshi generals Bangladesh Army generals Members of the Dhaka Nawab family Ambassadors of Bangladesh to France Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Kuwait Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations British Indian Army personnel Rashtriya Indian Military College alumni