Quazi Nuruzzaman

Quazi Nuruzzaman
File:Nuruzzaman.jpg
Born	(1925-03-24)24 March 1925
Died
Allegiance	Bangladesh
Service/branch	Bangladesh Army
Battles/wars	Bangladesh Liberation War

Lieutenant Colonel Quazi Nuruzzaman (24 March 1925 – 6 May 2011) was a Bangladeshi war hero and secular nationalist, who served as one of the principal commanders of the Mukti Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors and each of those sectors had a Sector Commander who would direct the guerrilla warfare. He was appointed Commander of Sector 7 and played a key role in Bangladesh's achieving independence from Pakistan during the 1971 war.

Early life and Army career

Nuruzzaman received his education from the exclusive St. Xavier's College, Calcutta majoring in chemistry. Subsequently he joined the British Indian Navy but due to Jawaharlal Nehru's persuasion, he joined the armed forces and completed his training from Royal School of Artillery in UK. He went on to become Major but decided to leave the armed forces.

Since he was a Bengali in the Pakistan Army, he was subject to racial discrimination. He did not sacrifice his dignity, and one such example was his comment against Ayub Khan.

Only people from good families can recognise other people from good ones

— said Quazi Nuruzzaman when Ayub Khan said that he did not see people from good families in East Pakistan.

Liberation War Commander

In 1971, he joined the Liberation War as Sector Commander and was awarded the Bir Uttom award, which is the second-highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh. As thousands of Mukti Bahini volunteers, mostly farmers, were killed and did not receive any recognition, he chose not to accept any gallantry award. He rejected the Bir Uttom award.