Shaheed, Anwar Ul Alam
Shaheed, Anwar-ul Alam (1947-2020) student leader of the 1960s, organizer of the Liberation War, civilian head of the famous Qaderia Bahini, deputy chief of the National Security Force, former ambassador and writer. Nickname is Shahid. He was born in 1947 in Thanapara town of Tangail district. His ancestral home is in Ichapur village of Kalihati upazila under Tangail district. His father’s name is Maulvi Abdur Rahim Ichapuri and his mother’s name is Mosammat Idannesa Rahim. Anwar-ul Alam Shaheed passed Matriculation from Tangail Bindubasini High School in 1964, Intermediate from Saadat College, Koratia in 1966 and graduated from the same college in 1968. He obtained his Master’s degree in Sociology from Dhaka University in 1970. He was elected General Secretary of the Tangail District Chhatra League in 1967 and General Secretary of Dhaka University Salimullah Muslim Hall Chhatra Sangsad in 1969-70 and 1970-71. At that time, he was a member of the Central Chhatra League. Anwar-ul Alam Shaheed got involved in Chhatra League politics when he was an eighth grader at Bindubasini High School. He actively participated in the 1966 six-point movement, eleven-point movement of students and the mass upsurge in 1969. During the 1971 Liberation War, he carried on the administration in the free area of Tangail as the civilian head of the Kaderia Bahini. During this time, he edited the weekly newspaper ‘Ranangan’, the mouthpiece of the Kaderia Bahini, under the pseudonym ‘Ranadoot’. He joined the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini (National Militia) in 1972 and was later appointed its Deputy Director (Training).
When the Rakkhi Bahini was merged into the Army in October 1975, Anwar-ul Alam Shaheed joined the Army and was posted as General Staff Officer Grade-I at the Army Headquarters in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was promoted to the rank of Colonel in 1978 and appointed Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the same year. He joined the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia in 1981 as a Councillor. In 1991, he was appointed Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1994, he joined Bangladesh High Commission in Ottawa, Canada as Deputy High Commissioner. In 1998, he was appointed the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Bahrain. In 2001, he was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka and promoted as Additional Foreign Secretary. In 2003, he was appointed the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Spain and during that time, he also served as the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations World Tourism Organization. His diplomatic career ended with his retirement in 2007. Anwar-ul Alam Shaheed was enthusiastic about sports and literature. He participated in the Provincial Scout Jamboree held at the Murari Chand College ground in Sylhet in 1961, the Provincial Scout Jamboree held at the Rangpur Carmichael College ground in 1962 and the 20th Scout Jamboree held in Greece in 1963 as a member of the Pakistan team. At Bindubasini, he edited a small magazine named ‘Mukul’, while studying in High School, fortnightly ‘Ayna’, ‘Surjer Gan’, ‘Song of the Sun’ while studying in Kortia Saadat College. He was a calligrapher. Among the books written by him are ‘Greece Ghure Elam’ (1964), ‘Ekattar Amar Shreshtha Somay’ (2009), ‘Rakshibhaini’r Satti-Mithya’ (2014), etc. He established the ‘Shaheed Muktijuddya Museum’ at Tangail on his personal initiative.
Anwar-ul Alam Shaheed passed away on 10 December 2020. His wife’s name is Dr. Saida Khan. They have one son and one daughter. [Shafiuddin Talukder]
