“No independent country wants living guerillas. They want martyrs” -- Khaled Musharraf
A great son of the soil, Major General Khaled Musharraf, my father, was assassinated on this day, November 7, 45 years ago. Being his daughter, I take pride in the fact that Bangladesh regards him as one of finest commanders of its 1971 Liberation War -- endowed with extraordinary bravery and brilliant natural leadership quality.
It took him only moments to make his decision to desert the Pakistan army after they launched barbaric assaults on unarmed Bengalis on March 25, 1971 -- a black night. On the evening of March 26, he announced before the troops under his command as he was sent to a remote area in Sylhet: “From this moment on, I pledge allegiance to sovereign Bangla. From this day, we have no loyalties to Pakistan. Raise the flags of independent Bangla.”
Khaled was initially entrusted with being in charge of Liberation War-time Sector Two, and later with elevated responsibility of commanding the K Force. He was popularly known more for his visible role in successfully conducting guerrilla warfare at the heart of Pakistani command in Dhaka with the brilliant support of his second-in-command Major (and later Colonel) ATM Haider, who also was assassinated along with him and another 1971 veteran, Colonel Nazmul Huda, on November 7, 1975. This specialized unit earned its reputation as the famous Crack Platoon, as it had carried out a number of hit-and-run operations in enemy-occupied Dhaka city, drawing massive global media attention and changing the course of war.
Dr Nurun Nabi, in his Bullets of 1971, wrote after his revolt that Khaled was stationed in Sylhet where he mobilized the Bengali soldiers under his command. In an initial operation, he ambushed a Pakistani convoy going to Chittagong.
Khaled’s troops destroyed the enemy convoy. The damage to the enemy was very high. In retaliation, the Pakistani command sent a larger contingent led by a major general to capture Khaled dead or alive. Khaled fought fearlessly with his limited resources and, once again, the Pakistani army suffered heavy damage and was forced to retreat. The Pakistani army could not defeat fearless Khaled Musharraf.
No wonder the Pakistan High Command acknowledged his bravery and admitted that they had trained Major Khaled so well that even a major general wasn’t enough to defeat him.
Within days after the Pakistani crackdown in March, Khaled contacted leading economist and freedom fighter Professor Rehman Sobhan to convince the political leadership to form a government with immediate effect, and to formally commission Mukti Bahini as the army of independent Bangladesh. Khaled correctly felt that, without a government and commission, Mukti Bahini would be considered “illegitimate rebels or terrorists” in the eyes of the law, and the Pakistan government could take advantage.
The political landscape changes
At dawn on August 15, 1975, gunshots and loud explosions of artillery fired at the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Dhanmondi 32 residence startled people awake. On the radio, they heard the shocking announcement of Bangabandhu’s killing along with his family members in a brutal coup staged by a section of military officers. The political landscape of Bangladesh had changed.
The killers installed Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed as the president and continued to stay beside him at Bangabhaban from where they virtually ran the country. The army command chain had broken down.
This situation outraged Khaled, who at that point was the chief of army staff (CGS), and decided to expose to justice the Bangabandhu killers. Most of the officers who fought valiantly in the Liberation War and played key roles in raising the army joined Khaled and staged a counter insurrection that overthrew Mushtaq. Justice Abu Sadaat Mohammad Sayem was appointed as the new president.
Ahead of the November 3, 1975 coup, a 1971 veteran and commander of Dhaka-based 46th infantry brigade Colonel Shafayet Jamil requested the then army chief Major General Ziaur Rahman to take actions against the August 15 culprits to bring back the military chain of command. Zia verbally agreed to act but his continued inaction made clear his weakness for the killers. He had reasons to be soft to Mushtaq as well, since Mushtaq had appointed him as the army chief days after the Bangabandhu murder.
The scenario prompted the November 3 coup leaders, led by Khaled, to detain Zia at his own official house while they were consolidating their position to restore discipline in the army.
At that stage, retired colonel Abu Taher emerged at the scene after a captivate Zia reportedly contacted him through telephone and sought his assistance.
On November 5, a group of unruly soldiers under left-leaning Taher’s stewardship staged a so-called “sepoy-janata revolution,” in reality discarding the “janata,” or people, under the banner of Biplobi Sainik Sangstha, which later appeared to be a sporadic grouping of soldiers, mostly belonging to some non-combatant military units.
The August 15, 1975 right-wing coup plotters managed to leave the country soon after the November 3 putsch, leaving behind the soldiers and a few officers of their rebel units. These abandoned soldiers, being led by their sense of insecurity, quickly joined hands with Taher’s Biplobi Sainik Sangstha. They launched a malicious campaign against Khaled and his comrades, distributing leaflets in their effort to label him as an Indian agent.
Khaled, along with his two compatriots, Colonel Khondkar Najmul Huda (Bir Bikrom) and Lt Colonel ATM Haider (Bir Uttam), decided to take refuge at the makeshift abode of 10th East Bengal Regiment at under-construction Sangsad Bhaban at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
By that time, Zia along with the remaining August 15 plotters had been freed by Taher’s men. They also reached 10 Bengal and agitated the fellow soldiers there, while two unruly officers -- Major Jalil and Major Assad -- gunned down the three valiant patriotic sons of the soil. Their hunger for blood did not stop there -- within hours, they killed many other officers and their family members.
Khaled Musharraf could have made a difference, but his life was cut short before he could sketch his dreams for a country he went to war for. But he lives in the hearts of the guerrillas and freedom fighters as their guardian angel.
Long live Khaled Musharraf -- my dear father.
Mahjabeen Khaled is a politician, and the daughter of Khaled Musharraf.
