Hafizuddin Ahmed

Hafizuddin Ahmed is a retired Bangladesh Army major and a former member of the Bangladesh parliament. He fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was awarded the third highest gallantry award in Bangladesh, the Bir Bikrom, for his courage. He is now serving as a vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

Early life and education
Hafiz was born on 29 October 1939 in Lalmohan, Bhola. His father, Dr. Azharuddin, was a member of the National Council of East Pakistan from Bhola. In 1968, Hafiz received his MA degree in Political Science from Dhaka University.

Career as a football player
Hafiz was a football player during his university days. He later joined the Mohammedan Sporting Club, in 1964. He was selected for the Pakistan national football team in 1967.

Pakistan Army
While playing for the Pakistan and Mohammedan football teams, in 1967, Hafiz was inspired to join the Pakistan Army by the General Secretary of the Pakistan Football Federation, Major Mohammad Hossain Malik. Hafiz applied to join the army's Education Corps, and was commissioned in 1968. He was trained at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, Abbottabad. After being commissioned, he continued his career as a football player and participated in many tournaments. After the 1970 Bhola cyclone, he, as a captain, with Bravo Company, engaged in relief work at Galachipa, Patuakhali.

Role in Bangladesh Liberation War
Hafiz was at Jagdishpur Village in the border area of Jessore as part of a training exercise. He was barred from all type of communication there and had no idea of Operation Searchlight, by Pakistan Army, and the declaration of independence of Bangladesh. He returned to the Jessore Cantonment on 29 March. He learned from his batman that there was an order for the Baloch Regiment to disarm the East Bengal Regiment, and that 25 Baloch Regiment and 3 Frontier Force had taken up positions in front of the cantonment. The arsenal had been broken into by East Bengal non-commissioned officers and soldiers. He joined the Bangladesh Liberation War and asked his commanding officer, Colonel Jalil, to join the war. But Jalil, who maintained contact with M. A. G. Osmani of the Bangladesh Awami League, refused to join the liberation, as Osmani had asked.

During the subsequent battle, Hafiz fought with his troops, but realised that the ammunition they had with them would not be enough to last for more than three hours. So, he started thinking about an exit plan. After fighting relentlessly for almost two hours, he finally escaped the cantonment with 200 companions.

In later campaigning, Hafiz, under continuous attack from the Pakistani army of occupation, maintained a free zone at Jessore, including Benapole BOP, from April to mid-May. During the second week of May 1971, Hafiz was ordered to move to Tura, Meghalaya to join the Z Force. He was nominated as a company commander of 1st East Bengal Regiment in Jessore. He was injured during the Battle of Kamalpur, one of the most significant battles fought by Bangladesh forces in 1971.

Political career
Hafiz entered politics as an independent candidate from Bhola. He has been elected as a member of parliament from the constituency of Bhola-3 six times since 1986. Later he joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party He served as the Minister of Water Resources, during the tenure of the second government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Hafiz held several talks with India about the sharing of water. After the reshuffling of the cabinet, he was appointed as the commerce minister. Hafiz has been arrested several times by the Bangladesh Awami League-led government during its tenure. He was detained while protesting the government's decision to repeal the caretaker government system, on 11 June 2011. Again, on 28 December 2013, Hafiz was arrested on the National Press Club premises, when he was leaving there after announcing a new program of demonstrations to be led by his party.