Khaled Mosharraf

Major General Khaled Mosharraf (Bengali: খালেদ মোশাররফ) (November 1, 1937 – November 7, 1975) was a Bangladeshi military officer who was the Sector Commander of Bangladesh Forces Sector 2 and K-Force Brigade Commander during the Bangladesh War of Liberation. He was awarded Bir Uttam for his gallantry actions during the war. Although he suffered a bullet injury, he recovered and remained in command of Mukti Bahini Sector 2. On November 3, 1975, Mosharraf led a military coup against the politicians and military officers who had seized power in Bangladesh in 1975 and assassinated President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, but during the military uprising on November 7, he was himself overthrown and assassinated.

Early life and army career

Khaled Mosharraf was born in the village of Mosharrafganj in Islampur, Jamalpur District of the province of Bengal, British India (now in Bangladesh). He passed the matriculation examination from Cox's Bazar Government High School in 1953. Graduating from the Dhaka College in 1955, he joined the Pakistani Army and enrolled at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, West Pakistan. He became adjutant of the 4th Bengal regiment during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He also served as an instructor at the military academy and obtained an advanced degree from the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1968. In addition he also received training in the United Kingdom and West Germany.

Bangladesh Forces Commander in the Liberation War

Major Mosharraf was appointed commanding officer of the 4th Bengal regiment in the Comilla Cantonment on 24 March 1971. Mosharraf led this unit in mutiny following the declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He merged his unit into a guerrilla force, and later served as one of its leading commanders.

Guerrilla fighter Shafi Imam Rumi took training for the war in Melaghar, Agartala under Sector-2, supervised by Mosharraf and Rashid Haider. After his training he came to Dhaka to join the Crack Platoon, a group that conducted major guerrilla operations against the Pakistan Army. His major target was to bomb the Siddhirganj Power Station.

At the end of June 1971, Shahadat Chowdhury and Habibul Alam came to Rumi's father Sharif's house with a letter from Mosharraf. Mosharraf asked Sharif information about bridges and culverts of Bangladesh in order to hamper the Pakistani occupation army's movement. Sharif used to provide detailed information of the exact points where to set explosives so that the bridge will be damaged, but also so that it can be repaired easily after the country is liberated.

After conducting some successful attacks, Mosharraf and his unit were forced to retreat into the Indian state of Tripura. In an encounter with Pakistani forces, he suffered a gunshot wound to his head and soon recovered after treatment. Following the Bangladesh Liberation War and the establishment of an independent Bangladesh, Mosharraf was appointed as the staff officer to the HQ of the new Bangladeshi Army in Dhaka. In 1973 after attaining the rank of brigadier, he was appointed to the post of Chief of General Staff. He was also awarded with the military honour Bir Uttom by the government for gallantry by the independent government of Bangladesh in 1972.

Coup of 1975

Following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib), the country's president on 15 August 1975, a new government composing of anti-Mujib political elements was formed under the new president Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. Ahmad issued the Indemnity Ordinance, which gave immunity from prosecution to the killers of Mujib. Outraged at Mujib's killing and the protection of his killers, Mosharraf mobilised pro-Mujib army units with Colonel Shafaat Jamil of 46 Brigade to overthrow Ahmad's regime on November 3. He had Ziaur Rahman and other members of the government arrested and elevated himself to the rank of major general, and to the position of army chief. Mosharraf installed Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem as president. His mother and brother had led a commemorative procession to Mujib's family residence without his knowledge. He allowed safe passage to those who killed Mujib. However, a mutiny on November 7 consisting of left-wing non-enlisted personnel in the army, organised and led by the radical left wing JSD leader Abu Taher, resulted in the assassination of Mosharraf. On the same day, a group of army personnel from 2nd Artillery in Dhaka Cantonment rescued Ziaur Rahman, who reorganised and brought down the mutiny and restored order under the previously Mujib declared State of Emergency. Chief Justice and President Abu Sayem restored Major General Ziaur Rahman as Chief of Army Staff and Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator.

Assassination

Main article: Assassination of Khaled Mosharraf

On 6 November 1975, Major General Mosharraf, with two others fellow officers Colonel Najmul Huda and Colonel A.T.M. Haider, went to 10th East Bengal Regiment. Next morning, i.e., on November 7, 1975, at 11 am, under order of an officer from the 2nd Field Regiment Artillery (rumoured to be Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed, later executed on 28 January 2010 for killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman), Captain Asad and Captain Jalil of the 10th East Bengal Regiment shot and killed Mosharraf and his two fellow officers. Ironically, both Asad and Jalil fought in K force under Mosharraf during the Bangladesh Liberation War, and Mosharraf had once saved Asad's life while risking his own. Mosharraf's body was left under a date tree inside cantonment for a certain time.

See also

Preceded by Major General Ziaur Rahman

Chief of Army Staff, Bangladesh November 3–7, 1975

Succeeded by Major General Ziaur Rahman

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