Sector Commander of 1971 liberation war and freedom fighter affairs secretary of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Wing Commander (retd) M Hamidullah Khan, Bir Pratik, passed away at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) on Friday. He was 74. He left behind his wife, two sons and a host of relatives, friends and well-wishers to mourn his death.
He was admitted to CMH earlier on the day when he complained of not feeling well. He died at 2:30 pm while under treatment.
His body was taken to his Dhaka cantonment residence at holding no. 15/1, Road No 3.
The first namaz-e-janaza of Hamidullah will be held at Allama Mosque of Dhaka Cantonment on Saturday at 10:00 am. Another janaza will be held at 11:00 am at the BNP’s central office at Naya Paltan. The third janaza is scheduled to be held at 1:30 pm on Saturday at South Plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. He will be buried after his son returns home from Japan.
As his death news spread, a large number of political friends, relatives and admirers of the deceased rushed to his house. His brother-in-law Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Col (retd) Faruk Khan, former mayor of Dhaka City Corporation Sadeq Hossain Khoka, Shayma Obaid of Muktijuddher Projonmo, among others, visited his house to express sympathy to the members of the bereaved family.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have expressed their great shock at his death and prayed for peace of the departed soul.
M Hamidullah Khan (born on September 11, 1938) was the Sector Commander of Sector 11 Bangladesh Forces during the liberation war.
An Air Force officer, he successfully led 22,800 troops under his command of Sector 11 (November 2, 1971 to February 14, 1972). He was one of the principal participants during the creation of the Bangladesh Forces in the historic Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference 1971. He commanded Sector 11 with distinction and valor under the leadership of C-in-C General M A G Osmani and was awarded by Bangladesh government for galantry.
Popularly known as Hamidullah, he served in the Bangladesh Air Force until his early retirement from service in early 1979. The Bangladesh government named Road 23 after him in the posh residential cum commercial town of Banani in Dhaka. Along with 55 other freedom activists, his biography was included in a CD released by the Bangladesh government.
-With The Independent input
