Khaled Mosharraf

Major General Khaled Mosharraf (খালেদ মোশাররফ) (November 01, 1937 – November 7, 1975) was a Bangladeshi military officer who was the Sector Commander of Bangladesh Forces Sector 2 and K-Force Brigade Commander during the Bangladesh War of Liberation. He was awarded Bir Uttam for his gallantry actions during the war. Although he suffered a bullet injury to his frontal skeleton, he recovered and remained in command of BDF Sector 2. On November 3, 1975, Khaled Mosharraf led a military coup against the politicians and military officers who had seized power in Bangladesh in 1975, but during the military uprising on November 7, he was himself overthrown and assassinated.

Early life and army career
Khaled Mosharraf was born in the village of Mosharrafganj in Islampur, Jamalpur District of the province of Bengal, British India (now in Bangladesh). He passed the matriculation examination from Cox's Bazar Government High School in 1953. Graduating from the Dhaka College in 1955, he joined the Pakistan Army and enrolled at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, West Pakistan. He became adjutant of the 4th Bengal regiment during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He also served as an instructor at the military academy and obtained an advanced degree from the Command and Staff College in Quetta in 1968. In addition he also received training in the United Kingdom and West Germany.

Bangladesh Forces Commander
Major Khaled Mosharraf was appointed commanding officer of the 4th Bengal regiment in the Comilla Cantonment on 24 March 1971. Mosharraf led this unit in mutiny following the declaration of independence read by Major Ziaur Rahman on behalf of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He merged his unit into a guerrilla force, and later served as one of its leading commanders. After conducting some successful attacks, Mosharraf and his unit were forced to retreat into the Indian state of Tripura. In an encounter with Pakistani forces, he suffered a gunshot wound to his head and soon recovered after treatment. Following the Bangladesh liberation war and the establishment of an independent Bangladesh, Mosharraf was appointed as the Staff Officer to the HQ of the new Bangladesh Army in Dhaka. In 1973 after attaining the rank of Brigadier, he was appointed to the post of Chief of General Staff. He was also awarded with the military honour Bir Uttom by the government for gallantry by the independent government of Bangladesh in 1972.

Coup of 1975
Following the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's president on 15 August 1975, a new government composing of anti-Mujib political elements was formed under the new president Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad. Mostaq Ahmad issued the Indemnity Ordinance, which gave immunity from prosecution to the killers of Mujib. Outraged at Mujib's killing and the protection of his killers, Mosharraf mobilised pro-Mujib army units with Col. Shafaat Jamil of 46 Brigade to overthrow the regime of Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad on November 3. He had Ziaur Rahman and other members of the government arrested and elevated himself to the rank of Major General and to the position of Army Chief. His mother and brother had led a commemorative procession to Mujib's family residence without his knowledge. However, a mutiny on November 7 consisting of left-wing unenlisted personnel in the army, organised and led by the radical left wing JSD leader Abu Taher, resulted in the assassination of Mosharraf. On the same day, a group of army personnel from 2nd Artillery in Dhaka Cantonment rescued Ziaur Rahman, who reorganised and brought down the mutiny and restored order under the previous Mujib declared State of Emergency. Chief Justice and President Abu Sayem restored Major General Ziaur Rahman as Chief of Army Staff and Deputy CMLA.

Assassination
On 6 November 1975, Major General Mosharraf with two others fellow officers Colonel Najmul Huda and Colonel A.T.M. Haider, went to 10th East Bengal Regiment. Next morning, i.e., on November 7, 1975 at 11 AM, under order of an officer from 2nd Field Regiment Artillery (rumour to be Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed (executed on 28 January 2010 for killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman), Captain Asad and Captain Jalil of 10th East Bengal Regiment shot and killed General Khaled Mosharraf with his two fellow officers. Ironically, both Captain Asad and Captain Jalil fought in K force under Khaled Mosharraf during Bangladesh Liberation War and once Khaled Mosharraf had saved Captain Asad's life while taking risk on his own life. Khaled Mosharraf's dead body was left under a date tree inside cantoment for a certain time.