Major Taher was born on July 20, 1948 in his hometown of Chatkhil in Noakhali district, located in southeastern Bangladesh. His father was Late Al-Haj Saidur Rahman, a humble employee in the ceramics industry, who was himself arrested, jailed, and tortured by the West Pakistan Army in 1971. Major Taher’s mother, Late Al-Haj Tahurun Nahar Chowdhurani was, until her death, a matriarch who held her own during harsh times. The family lived in Shobujbagh, Dhaka.
One day, young Taher’s father sent him packing to his aunt and uncle’s home in Noakhali as he felt that his son needed to be disciplined. It was there that Taher’s passion for his native home thrived. At Chatkhil High School, he excelled in his studies and topped his class as the syllabus at his new school had previously been covered at his former school in Dhaka.
Taher even helped coach the less meritorious students of his school, gaining further popularity with his fellow classmates and teachers. The adventures that Taher and his friends embarked upon began to take flight. The relentless love his aunt and uncle gave him and the natural beauty of his village overwhelmed Taher. By now, he had forged special bonds with the people of his hometown and deep down, he knew he would surely return to Chatkhil one day.
A few years later, Taher travelled back to Dhaka with a new perspective on life. He learned to appreciate simplicity, honesty, and perseverance to achieve soaring success. These morals would stay with him until his later years.
In 1971, Taher was a final-year BSc student of Physics at Dhaka College. By then, the silhouette of Pakistani oppression, in then East Pakistan, became strikingly omnipresentTaking up arms
Taher wasn’t an unskilled fighter, and his mastery of firearms acquired from short training stints at Shabujbagh with other locals enhanced his ability. Before joining the war, Taher’s topmost priority was to ensure that his own family be taken to safety. For approximately four days, he and his family made the risky but necessary journey to Noakhali, on foot, via boat and finally by rickshaw.
In April 1971, Taher endured a grueling 40-mile track across the border in to Tripura, India, with his platoon. There, he enlisted in Melaghar Camp – Sector 2 (near Agartala) and underwent guerilla training under the supervision of Major Khaled Mosharraf in order to fight in the Mukti Bahini.
From July to October, Taher, took part in a rigorous pre-commission training at the makeshift Bangladesh Military Academy named Murtee in Siliguri, West Bengal. There, he trained and received accolades for his performance under Brigadier RP Singh (then captain). Finally, on October 9, 61 commissioned officers graduated as the 1st Bangladesh War Course from Murtee.
Shortly afterwards, Taher who had been promoted to 2nd lieutenant, was posted to Sector 11. He reported for duty on October 17. The following day, 2nd Lieutenant Taher was driven to Dalu (Indian side) where he was appointed as sub-sector commander.
Among his most significant achievements during the Liberation War, Major Taher entered Nokhla and with his battalion, blew up Begunbari Bridge in Mymensingh district in order to keep out the rapidly advancing West Pakistan army.
For his heroic triumph in Nokhla, Major Taher was awarded the Gallantry Award and title of Bir Protik by the government of Bangladesh in 1993. Following the war, he rekindled close ties with his surviving comrades.
Later in his eminent career, Major Taher Ahmed BP joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1983 and held distinguished diplomatic posts as the assistant high commissioner to Birmingham, UK, and first secretary in Belgium, Thailand, and Singapore at the Embassy of Bangladesh.
In Birmingham, he was praised for his shrewd diplomacy during meetings with foreign dignitaries, including the Lord Mayor of Birmingham. In Brussels, he was frequently sent on special assignments, for instance to the Royal Palace to meet King Bowdoin, to Strasbourg Palace in France, to meet the Luxembourg premier, and other high-ranking officials of foreign missions.
Major Taher retired from the Bangladesh Army in 1996 also ending his 13-year long career as a diplomat. Despite this, he perpetually remained updated on global political affairs and current events. After retirement from the army, he worked in senior level positions in the corporate sector.
He also reconnected with personal pleasures such as travelling, cooking, gardening, reading, remaining fit, networking on social media, collecting newspaper clippings, innovations in agriculture, attending public events, and of course, indulging in more family time. However, it was his inspiration to work for the good of the people that fed his zeal to dream big.
In the final years of his life, with conviction, Major Taher believed that God has kept him alive because he “still had a great deal to accomplish.” In January 2018, after much contemplation and planning, he launched a small tourist resort Shopno 71 Baganbari in his hometown.
Major Taher’s indomitable strength, resilience, and determination to improve the quality of life of the local community transformed him into a staunch social activist and mentor. He worked to bridge the gender gap and uphold equal opportunities through employment for men and women, helped raise social awareness on issues such as youth development, health, and hygiene, prevented abuse and harassment of girls, drug addiction, gambling, petty theft, and passionately educated young people on the ideals of the Liberation War of 1971.
His gentleness and charisma were unmatched, these qualities enabled him to uniquely engage with people from all generations throughout his life and brought out the best in them. Though the Covid-19 lockdown resulted in the temporary closure of Baganbari, Major Taher remained unperturbed and engaged his resources in aquaculture projects, with the hope that one day things would return to normal.
Summing up the life of this son of the soil in a few paragraphs by no means serves justice to his legacy. He will be fondly remembered by his family, friends, comrades, former colleagues, and the community as a man who dared to live his dream, a selfless person who gave so much back to achieve positive change, whether this be as a soldier or a fun-loving human being with a raucous laugh and ferocious appetite for living.
Our father will dearly be missed, but we know that he will live on as our strength. As the saying goes: Heroes never die.
Arefeen Ahmed is a Senior Sector Specialist at BRAC’s Humanitarian Program. She has completed a double Master’s in Communications and Linguistics from Australia and Bangladesh respectively.
