Abu Taher

Abu Taher was born in Badarpur, Assam Province of British India on 14 November 1938. His ancestral village was Kazla in Purbadhala, Netrokona District of Bangladesh. After the completion of higher secondary school from Murari Chand College in Sylhet, Taher joined the Pakistan Army in September 1960 as an officer candidate. ==Military career==

Taher was commissioned into the Pakistan Army in 1961. He joined the Special Service Group in 1965. Bangladesh War of Independence Towards the end of August 1971, Major Taher, along with three other Bengali officers, Major Manzur, Major Ziauddin and Captain Bazlul Ghani Patwari, defected from the Pakistani Army and crossed the border near Abbottabad, West Pakistan, into India. Sector 11 was located across the Rangpur District, which comprised Mymensingh District, Tangail District and parts of Rangpur District. On 10 October, upon Major Ziaur's temporary transfer to the Sylhet sector, Major Shafayat Jamil handed over the interim command of BDF Sector 11. On 2 November 1971, Taher lost his leg from a small mine blast during a debriefing. Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan was officially appointed Sector Commander of Sector 11 under direct orders through EAM from General Osmani, the Bangladesh Interim Provincial Government Headquarters. Taher was flown to Pune, India. On 21 November, Taher received a Medical Board Release. His leg was later amputated in Pune, where he remained until February 1972. For his valour, he was awarded Bir Uttom. ==Post-war activities==

Following his return, Taher was reinstated into the Bangladesh Army in April for effective retirement following administrative procedure. He retired with a legacy entitlement rank of Lieutenant Colonel and hence is widely known as Colonel Taher. a left-wing, socialist party, sometime after its founding in 1972. The Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal had split from the Bangladesh Chhatra League and called for establishing socialism through an armed revolution. Taher became the head of its armed wing, the Gonobahini and led a violent insurgency campaign against the government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 15 August 1975 coup Abu Taher supported the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, remarking, They've made a big mistake. They shouldn't have allowed Sheikh Mujib's burial. Now a shrine will be built there. His body should have been thrown into the Bay of Bengal. It was known that Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal had plans for an insurrection against Sheikh Mujib's government. After the 15 August coup, JSD encouraged its followers to study Marx's The Class Struggles in France. The insurrection soon spread to other areas, including Rangpur and Chittagong. Ziaur Rahman was freed from house arrest by soldiers and taken to the headquarters of the 2nd Field Artillery regiment, where he met Taher. Witnesses claim that Zia embraced Taher and thanked him for saving his life. ==Trial and execution==

Once Ziaur Rahman regained control of the army, he realised that the soldiers' mutiny had to be suppressed if discipline was to be restored. Taher was tried by a military tribunal inside the Dhaka Central Jail and sentenced to death on 17 July 1976. He was executed by hanging on 21 July 1976. His last meal consisted of mangoes and tea. ==High Court ruling==

On 22 March 2011, the High Court overturned the previous judgment that had authorised Taher's execution by military tribunal while the nation was under martial law. The military court judgment was declared illegal. The court observed that Taher's execution had happened according to Major General Ziaur Rahman's plan. ==See also==