Khan joined
Pakistan Air Force Academy as a cadet of 34th GD pilot course in 1960. He gained commission in 1962. During the 1965 Indo-Pakistan War, Hamidullah was awarded the
Tamgha-i-Jurat Gallantry Medal for his courage and Sitara-e-Harb War Medal for his dedication in the September 1965
Pathankot infiltration. In 1970, he was posted to Dhaka as the assistant provost marshal of
PAF. As
Flight Lieutenant he also served as the commanding officer of 5th P & S and the deputy director (Security) of Tejgaon International Airport in Pakistan Air Force. In the Bangladesh Independence War in 1971, he planned and commanded the Chilmari riverborne amphibious raid, one of the most strategically significant ground combat operation that was fought during the War of Independence of Bangladesh within the
Mankachar sub~sector boundary of
BDF Sector 11. Major Shafaat Jamil augmented the operation with two platoons from the 3rd
East Bengal Regiment During the war in 1971,
Squadron Leader Hamidullah held three appointments. As an official of the
Bangladesh Government, M. Hamidullah Khan was the principal
BDF representative of Guerilla Training at
Chakulia,
Bihar. After participating in the Sector Commanders Conference held between July 11~17th 1971,
BDF C-in-C Colonel
M. A. G. Osmani transferred Hamidullah to Teldhala,
BDF Sector 11 HQ. During that time he received a battlefield promotion to
squadron leader.
Bangladesh Forces Sector 11 headquarters was under the command of
BDF commander
Lt. Col. Ziaur Rahman, who appointed Hamidullah
BDF commander of
Mankachar Sub-Sector 1, with additional charge of independent
Roumari district. He was promoted to the rank of
Squadron Leader during the Bangladesh War of Independence. On 3 November 1971,
Squadron Leader M. Hamidullah Khan was appointed
BDF commander of Sector 11.. After the
independence of Bangladesh, he joined the
Bangladesh Air Force from
Bangladesh Forces. In 1973 Hamidullah was promoted to the rank of wing commander. He retired voluntarily on January 10, 1979. Hamidullah was Provost Marshall during the 7th November 1975 Nationalist Revolution and 1977 BAF uprising and hijacked JAL flt. 472. Hamidullah was the Bangladesh representative during the 34th
UNGA,
United Nations General Assembly session in 1979 as
Bangladesh Special Envoy on the question of granting recognition to the
State of Palestine and the
plenary session on
UN Resolutions 242 and 439 on the question of
Palestine and
Namibia respectively. He held numerous public appointments and elected posts during his service to the country. He joined politics
Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1978, contested the Jatiya Sangsad elections and was elected lawmaker for three times in 1979, 1991 and 1996 from Louhaganj-Shirajdi Khan constituency. He was also nominated for
Dhaka-15 constituency in the
2008 election. After his death, M. Hamidullah Khan was given a
state funeral with full
military honors. He also authored four more books and made two documentaries on the events surrounding the war and post-independence. The Bangladesh Government named Road 23 in the town of
Banani, Dhaka after him. Along with those of 55 other fighters, his biography was included in a CD released by the Bangladesh government. ==Death==