Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman

Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman was an army officer and politician in Bangladesh. He was the leader and architect of the revolt by some disgruntled army personnel of the then-nascent Bangladesh to oust Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from power, a main figure in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and the country's first President. Farooq and other organizers of the coup installed Khandakar Mostaq Ahmad in power under the premise that he would rule in accordance to Islamic law, though this premise was later broken by Mostaq. He was 2IC of the 1st Bengal Lancers Regiment and a major of the Bangladesh Army at the time of the coup whereupon he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Farooq would found the Bangladesh Freedom Party in 1981 with his allies and go on to run for president against Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986, though the election was boycotted by other major parties. Upon the return of to power of the Bangladesh Awami League under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina in the late 1990s, Farooq was arrested and convicted, leading to his execution on 28 January 2010, along other coup members such as Bazlul Huda and Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan.

Birth and family background

Dewan Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman was born on 9 August 1946 into an aristocratic family in his paternal ancestral village of Marma-Malikpur Dewan Para to Sayed Ataur Rahman and Mahmuda Khatun. His father, Sayed Ataur Rahman, was a physician who was a member of the Indian Medical Service and then successively the Pakistan Army Medical Corps after the Partition of the Subcontinent, he was awarded with the military rank of Major for his years of service. He belonged to a prominent family of Sufi heritage, the Dewan family of Marma-Malikpur in Barshail Union, Naogaon Sadar, one of the Pir families of the Rajshahi region. The progenitor of the family was a Yemeni missionary known to the local populace by the appellation Zinda Pir, meaning living saint, due to him being known for his fiery temperament. The youngest brother of his mother, Mahmuda Khatun, was the pioneer of the export-oriented ready-made garment industry in Bangladesh, Noorul Quader Khan. Farooq was the oldest child and only son of his parents, he had two younger sisters. One of these sisters, Yasmin Rahman would be a pioneering pilot of Bangladesh and the first female commander of Biman Airlines. == Early life and schooling ==

Early life and schooling

Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman's schooling days were largely centred upon the postings of his father, who at the time was serving as an army doctor for the Pakistan Army, thus leading to Farooq attending several different schools in both West Pakistan and East Pakistan. This desire intensified after hostility between Pakistan and India had emerged after political and armed conflict known as Operation Desert Hawk in the Great Rann of Kutch. Farooq while on his usual path to college in Kohat, had decided to take a different turn, diverting to the Inter-services Selection Board office where he had volunteered to receive a commission from the Pakistan army recruitment authorities. He was a granted a commission in a call by the authorities around a week later, he had initially faced opposition in following his inner-aspirations from his mother who did not want to lose her only son to army-service, yet Farooq was finally allowed by his parents to join the army after his father had given his consent. Farooq would later claim that he was the first second-generation Bengali officer in the Pakistan army since his father had too served as a medical officer. == Early military career (pre-independence of Bangladesh) ==

Early military career (pre-independence of Bangladesh)

Farooq after receiving parental permission, ended up at the Pakistan Military Academy in Risalpur in the year of 1966, where he had quickly distinguished himself from other cadets who had volunteered for a commission by becoming appointed to the position of battalion sergeant major which had allowed him to have some initial level of seniority amongst his fellow starting cadets. He would then become involved in the Bangladesh Liberation War when it was in its final phase in which he was involved in forming and by de facto led the 1st Bengal Lancers, Bangladesh's first armoured regiment and its only one in its nascent era. He was also the 12th commander of the East Bengal Regiment. After the liberation war, Farooq was raised from Captain to the rank of Major. == Experiences with the Awami League government post-independence ==

Experiences with the Awami League government post-independence

After a few years after Bangladesh's liberation, Farooq grew increasingly critical of the premiership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the main leading figure of the Bangladesh Liberation War. All of these actions made Mujib unfavourable to ordinary citizens and the army who were being ignored and stripped of funding. Other officers part of the Bravo Squadron were reporting similar cases, whenever they arrested any prominent Awami League member and took them to the police station, there would be a phone call from Dhaka, and they would allow to walk free. Farooq would later say about this operation, 'It meant that we were supposed to root out corruption and malpractices, but we were supposed to stop short of the Awami League. The whole thing was a damn farce.' The incident that genuinely incited within Farooq, the emotions of fury and disillusionment, the desire to get rid of Mujib no matter what it takes, had occurred in Tongi. Farooq then out of rash thinking wanted to kill Mujib from that they onwards, he would however later calm down and devise a more strategic plan to oust Mujib from power. == Military career ==

Military career

In 1974, Rahman was placed in charge of recovering weapons in Demra, Munshiganj District, Narayanganj District, and Narsingdi District. He had experienced some things that made him critical of the Bangladesh Awami League government. In 1975, Rahman was a major in the Bangladesh Army. He spoke against Mujib to his fellow army officers. He also told them that Mujib would give Bangladesh to India and establish a monarchy in Bangladesh. He and Major Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan discussed ways of removing Mujib from power and asked Brigadier General Ziaur Rahman for support. Zia expressed his inability to support them. Zia asked them to do what they thought was necessary. They were supported covertly by senior cabinet minister Khondaker Mushtaque Ahmed, who was introduced to Rahman by Major Khandaker Abdur Rashid. On 12 August 1975, he discussed the plans with his fellow officers at his wedding anniversary party at the Officers Club, Dhaka. There the officers finalised 15 August 1975 as the day they would launch the coup. == Assassination of Sheikh Mujib ==

Assassination of Sheikh Mujib

On 14 August 1975, Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman met Captain Abdul Aziz Pasha, Captain Bazlul Huda, Major Khandaker Abdur Rashid, Major Shariful Haque Dalim, Major S.H.M.B Noor Chowdhury, Major Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Major Rashed Chowdhury, and other officers in his office to finalise the plan. According to the plan, Rahman commanded the tanks of the Bengal Lancers. Immediately after the killing, the officers rendezvoused at the Bangladesh Betar office, Khondakar Mushtaque called the assassins Shurjo Shontan (the gallant sons) and passed the Indemnity Ordinance, which protected the assassins from prosecution. Rahman was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and held a position of power in the new regime until it was overthrown in a counter-coup by pro-Mujib officers led by Maj. Gen. Khaled Mosharraf, who ousted Khondakar Mushtaque. However, the 7 November 1975 coup against Mosharraf by Lt. Col. Abu Taher brought Maj. Gen. Ziaur Rahman to power. Ziaur Rahman was freed by Major Mohiuddin Ahmed. Ziaur Rahman, after assuming power, appointed the assassins in the diplomatic corps in foreign posts with the exception of Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman and Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan who refused to accept the diplomatic posts. == 1976 Bogra mutiny and later coup attempts ==

1976 Bogra mutiny and later coup attempts

Later, in 1976, with the assistance of Air Vice Marshall Tawab, both Farooq and Rashid returned to Bangladesh to launch another coup. They mobilised the Bengal Lancer regiments who had been split between Savar and Bogra. However, they were pinned down by the Dhaka brigade, under Mir Shawkat Ali, in Savar, while they were pinned down by the 6th East Bengal Regiment and 11th division, under Hanan Shah, in Bogra. Eventually, Farooq surrendered and was allowed to leave the country. However, his supporters in Bogra were routed and the Bengal Lancers were disbanded. In 1979, the Bangladeshi parliament under Ziaur Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party converted the Indemnity ordinance into an official act of parliament. Farooq-ur-Rahman was dismissed from the Bangladesh Army for his role in mutinies in Savar Cantonment and Bogra Cantonment and sent abroad. The assassins were removed from government service after they tried to launch a coup against Ziaur Rahman in 1980. == 1986 presidential election ==

1986 presidential election

After the assassination of Ziaur Rahman in 1981, Rahman returned to active politics by founding the Bangladesh Freedom Party and running for the presidency against Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1986. Syed Farooq Rahman, representing the Bangladesh Freedom Party, had run for president against Hussain Muhammad Ershad of the Jatiya Party, and Muhammadullah Hafezzi of the Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan. Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman had obtained 1,202,303 of the total 21,795,337 votes, 4.64% of the total, coming third out of the twelve other Presidential Candidates. The Oxford-trained lawyer, Kamal Hossain, who was Mujib's law minister, and later foreign minister, told Salil Tripathi, a journalist, "The impunity with which Farooq operated was extraordinary. When he returned to Bangladesh, the government facilitated him and President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who wanted some candidate to stand against him in the rigged elections. Ershad let Farooq stand to give himself credibility." == Trial and execution ==

Trial and execution

In 1996, the Awami League, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, won the general election and became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Under her party's majority, the Indemnity Act was repealed, and a court case was initiated over the killing of Mujib and his family. In August 1996, he was arrested by the Bangladesh Police. In 1998, the Dhaka High Court sentenced Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman to death. After the Awami League's defeat in the 2001 general election, the BNP government of Begum Khaleda Zia slowed down the proceedings in the Mujib murder case. In October 2007, he filed an appeal with the Bangladesh Supreme Court. After Sheikh Hasina returned to power in 2009, the court case was restarted. He was executed along with other plotters on 28 January 2010. == Family life and legacy ==

Family life and legacy

Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman was married to Farida Khan, a daughter of S. H. Khan, the younger brother of Abul Kashem Khan, a leading industrialist and minister belonging to the politically prominent Khan family of Chittagong. Farooq had a passion for flying planes, reading books on military history and tactics and driving fast cars. ==See also==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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