Khwaja Wasiuddin
Khawaja Wasiuddin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | খাঁজা ওয়াসিউদ্দীন |
| Born | 20 March 1920 Ahsan Manzil, Dacca, Bengal, British India |
| Died | 22 September 1992 (aged 72) Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Allegiance |  British India (1940–1947)  Pakistan (1947–1973) Bangladesh (1973–1977) |
| Branch |  British Indian Army Pakistan Army Bangladesh Army |
| Years of service | 1940–1977 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Unit | 8th Punjab Regiment East Bengal Regiment |
| Commands |
|
| Battles / wars | Bangladesh Liberation War (as P.O.W) |
Khawaja Wasiuddin (20 March 1920 – 22 September 1992) was a Bangladeshi army general and diplomat from Dhaka Nawab family.[1] He started his career as a young officer in the British Indian Army and later became a senior general in Pakistan Army. In 1971, he was the highest ranking Bengali officer in the Pakistani army.[2] In 1973, he was repatriated to Bangladesh, where he was received at the airport by General M.A.G. Osmani.[3] He later served as a senior general in Bangladesh Army. 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, Bengal Presidency (Present-day Bangladesh).[1] 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, 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.[1] In 1938, he graduated from Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College.[1][4]
Military 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 British Indian Army. He served in the Burma Campaign of World War II.[1] 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.[1]
Pakistan
After the partition of India, he opted for Pakistan Army. 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 the 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 the10th Division located in Lahore, West Pakistan.[1] Also, he was the chairman of Adamjee Cantonment College. In 1962, he was a provincial martial law administrator.[5] In 1964, he got his higher education from Imperial Defense College in United Kingdom.[1] In 1967, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and was appointed as the commander of the II Corps, the headquarters was firstly in Lahore and later was transferred to Multan, Punjab.[1]
Colonel-Commandant of the East Bengal Regiment
As the oldest serving officer commissioned from the East Bengal Regiment, he was named as the Colonel-Commandant of the Regiment.[6] He also successfully advocated for the raising of new purely Bengali EBR battalions, which were the 8, 9 and 10 East Bengal battalions.[7]
He stood out from other officers by giving speeches in Bangla.[6]
Bangladesh
After Operation Searchlight, Wasiuddin wrote a strongly-worded letter to President Yahya Khan criticizing his actions. He also urged Yahya to release Sheikh Mujib and aim for a political solution.[8]
During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he was posted as the Master General of Ordnance (MGO) in General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, West Pakistan.[9] According to Lt. General Niazi, Wasiuddin verbally abused Niazi's Chief of Staff, Brigadier Baqir Siddiqui, when he requested for ordinance stores. Wasiuddin flatly refused to help supply the Pakistani Eastern Command and intentionally created a severe shortage of basic military equipment.[9]
In October 1973, he was repatriated to Bangladesh from Pakistan.[10] General Osmani and a number of officers came out to receive him at the Tejgaon Airport.[11] Despite Sheikh Mujib planning on placing Wasiuddin as the army chief, freedom fighters within the army opposed it, as they wanted a freedom fighter to lead the army.[12] He was offered a diplomatic posting instead.[13][11]
Diplomatic career
After returning to Bangladesh he would serve as the ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait and France.[1][14] He retired from Bangladesh Army in 1977 and was made the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations,[15] position he held until 1986.[1] As the representative he supported Indonesia's annexation of East Timor in the United Nation.[16]
Death
He died on 22 September 1992 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Alamgir, Muhammad. "Wasiuddin, Lt General Khwaja". Banglapedia. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ "East Pakistan had many pro-Pakistani army officers". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ^ "Some More Bengalis, Pre- and Post-1971". Daily Sun. 13 March 2021. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
- ^ Mishra, Sidharth; Singh, Bikram (1997). Where gallantry is tradition : saga of Rashtriya Indian Military College : plantinum jubilee volume, 1997. New Delhi: Allied Publishers. p. 46. ISBN 9788170236498.
- ^ Von Vorys, Karl (2015). Political Development in Pakistan. Princeton University Press. p. 55. ISBN 9781400876389. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ a b Wasiuddin, Aneela (22 September 2017). "In memory of Lt General Khwaja Wasiuddin". The Daily Star. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
- ^ Hussain Raja, Khadim (2012). A Stranger In My Own Country: 1969-1974. Oxford University Press. p. 20.
- ^ Express, The Financial. "Rehman Sobhan's 'Dawn to Darkness'". The Financial Express. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ a b Niazi, A.A.K. (1998). The Betrayal of East Pakistan. Oxford University Press. p. 81. ISBN 0-19-577727-1.
- ^ Roy, Asish Kumar (2002). Praetorian politics in Bangladesh : 1975–1981. Kolkata: Progressive Publishers. p. 50. OCLC 491399557.
- ^ a b Ahsan, Syed Badrul (10 January 2022). "The Tides of Change". Open The Magazine. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ "Years of promise, times of trouble". Dhaka Tribune. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ Liton, Shakhawat (14 August 2015). "Fatal deaf ear". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
- ^ Badrul Ahsan, Syed (27 March 2012). "Old images from a long-ago war". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ Hossain, Golam (1991). Civil-military relations in Bangladesh: a comparative study. Academic Publishers, the University of Michigan. p. 227. ISBN 9789840800452. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- ^ Krieger, Heike, ed. (1997). East Timor and the International Community: Basic Documents (1st paperback ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-521-58134-9.