Abu Taher
- For the Buyid ruler of Hamadan see Shams al-Daula.
Abu Taher (Bengali: আবু তাহের) (1938–1976) a Freedom Fighter and Sector Commander of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh and a revolutionary who led the historic Soldiers Uprising of November 7, 1975.[1]
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[edit] Early life and education
Taher was born in Badarpur, Assam Province in then British India on 14 November 1938. His family hailed from Kazla a village in Purbadhala of the then Bengal Province, today a town in the Netrokona District of Bangladesh. After completion of Bachelor of Arts from Sylhet M C College, he joined the Pakistan Army in 1960 as a commissioned officer in the Baluch regiment.
[edit] Military career
In Pakistan Army, Abu Taher joined the elite Special Service Group (Commando Force) in 1965. Following his training, he participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 in the Kashmir sector and the Sialkot sector. For his part, he received a gallantry award from the Government of Pakistan. After the war, Taher took advanced training on Guerrilla Warfare at Fort Bragg and Fort Benning in the United States in 1969. He was posted to the Quetta Staff College, Pakistan in 1970. Taher was awarded the Ranger Award and his certificate stated "Taher is fit to serve in any army under any condition in the world".[2]
[edit] Role in Bangladesh Liberation War
Towards the end of July 1971, Maj. Taher along with three other Bengali officers Maj. Manzoor, Maj. Ziauddin and Capt. Patowary defected from the Pakistan Army and crossed over the border near Abbottabad, West Pakistan, into India.[2] He was sent to Bangladesh Forces HQ at 8 Theatre road, Kolkata and then posted as Sector Commander to Sector 11 which comprised Mymensingh District, Tangail District and parts of the Rangpur District. On November 14, 1971, Taher lost his leg in a frontal attack on a major Pakistani stronghold Kamalpur, known as the gateway to Dhaka. Taher was flown to Guahati military hospital and there after to Pune Orthopedic hospital, India for treatment. For his valor in the liberation war, he was awarded Bir Uttam.
[edit] Post-liberation activities
Following his return after treatment in India, Taher was appointed as the first Adjutant General (AG) of Bangladesh Army. He received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and in June 1972, he was appointed as the Commanding Officer of 44th Brigade of East Bengal Regiment at the Comilla Cantonment.[2] However, due to his left-leaning communist ideas of organising and reforming the Bangladesh Army in the model of a people's army, he was removed from active command and transferred as the Director of Defense purchase (DDP). In protest Taher resigned from the Bangladesh Army and joined Jatiya Samajtantric Dal (National Socialist Party).[3] After the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family by a small section of the Bangladesh Army on August 15, 1975, a coup d'etat followed on November 3, 1975 led by Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf. This led to a volatile situation in Bangladesh and it appeared to be without any Government for a few days. Taher quickly took advantage of this volatile situation and led a soldiers uprising on November 7, 1975 freeing General Ziaur Rahman from captivity. The soldiers under Taher's leadership placed a historic '12-Points Demand' calling for the establishment of a people's army. Although, the freed Zia initially pledged to establish those demands, he was quickly won over by the rightist forces and took position against Taher and the revolutionary soldiers.
Zia had Taher arrested on 24 November 1975. He was tried in-camera inside the Dhaka Central Jail by a Special Martial Law Tribunal No. 1 was sentenced to death on July 17, 1976 under Section 121A of the Penal Code, 1860, a crime under which the death penalty did not even exist as a punishment. Taher was executed by hanging just after three days of the passing of the sentence on July 21, 1976.
[edit] The High Court has declared illegal secret court martial
On March 22, 2011 a bench of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh led by Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury passed a historic judgment by declaring Taher's trial and execution as illegal and unconstitutional. The judgment stated that Taher's hanging was cold blooded murder and if any one was identified as solely responsible for the murder of Taher, it would be General Ziaur Rahman. Taher was also declared as a 'true patriot of highest order and a martyr' in the judgment. [4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Lifschultz, Lawrence (1979). Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution. London: Zed Press. pp. 211. ISBN 0 90576207 X.
- ^ a b c Biography at Banglapedia at the Wayback Machine (archived January 10, 2008)
- ^ "History of Jatiya Samajtantric Dal". http://www.jsdbd.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=3. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
- ^ HC declares Taher trial illegal, retrieved October 28, 2011
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