Khaleque, Abdul
Khaleque, Abdul (1927-2010) first IGP and Home Secretary of Bangladesh. Abdul Khaleque was born on 1 March 1927 at Jiruin village of Brahmanpara thana in Comilla district. His father’s name is Maqbul Hossain and mother’s name is Abida Khatun. He pursued his primary education at Jiruin village, fifth grade in Sahebabad, intermediate in Comilla Victoria College. He was one among the first generation Muslim students in Calcutta University. Later, he graduated from Dhaka University with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Philosophy. He also obtained a higher degree in law from the same university.
After coming out successful in the Superior Service Examination in 1951, he joined the police service and trained at the Sardah Police Academy. He was Sub-Divisional Police Officer of Gopalganj (currently, district) and Narayanganj and Additional SP of Barisal and Superintendent of Police of Pabna, Rajshahi, Chittagong and Mymensingh. He served in Central Intelligence and Anticorruption department. He was DIG of Dhaka Range and Principal of Sarda Police Academy. He also attended various trainings and conferences at home and abroad. In March 1971, he raised the black flag at his residence and started preparations for War of Liberation while he was principal of Sarda Police Academy. He failed to stay in Sarda due to the attack of Pakistani forces on 25 March night and went to India with his family. He wrote a letter to all policemen working in the then East Pakistan to actively participate in the Liberation War. During 1971, he served as Secretary to the Mujibnagar Government in Calcutta. He was given forced retirement and sentenced in absentia by a military court in Pakistan.
He served as the first IGP of Bangladesh during the time of Bangladesh War of Liberation and continued till 23 April 1973. Besides, he served as the first Home Secretary of Bangladesh from 4 September 1971 to 26 January 1973.
Abdul Khaleque served as secretaries in several ministries. After the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975, he was appointed ambassador by the Mushtaq-Zia government. He then quit the government job and engaged himself in law as a profession.
While DIG Abdul Khaleque was serving as the Principal of Sarda Police Academy, the Bengali policemen from Rajarbagh Police Lines put up the first armed resistance against the sudden attack by the Pakistani forces upon them on the dark night of 25 March 1971. The Pakistani army had also launched attacks simultaneously on Dhaka University, Pilkhana EPR Head-quarters, Old Dhaka and other places of the country. Under the circumstances, DIG Abdul Khaleque decided to prepare for a war of resistance in the police academy against the Pakistani invading forces. He ordered the Vice Principal Shailendra Kishore Chowdhury and Inspector Gazi Abdur Rahman of the Academy to take all preparations for resistance. He also ordered to dig out trenches around the academy area. Under the leadership of Inspector Gazi Abdur Rahman, he also arranged to provide training for the local people. On 13 April 1971 Pakistani forces attacked the Police Academy at Sarda. The defense system of the academy collapsed when the enemy forces armed with modern weaponry made a fierce attack. The invading forces entered the Police Academy and engaged in indiscriminate killings. Many policemen and civil staff were martyred. Considering the unfavorable situation, DIG Abdul Khaleque crossed the river Padma in disguise by boat and went to Kolkata. There he joined the Bangladesh government, being appointed as the first Inspector General of Police. At the same time, he was appointed Home Secretary to the Mujibnagar government (Bangladesh government was known by that name).
Out of thirty three thousand nine hundred and ninety five policemen serving in East Pakistan at that time, about fourteen thousand left the workplace and joined the Liberation War. When the government of Pakistan made an order asking the policemen to report to their workplace, IGP Abdul Khaleque had ignored it and issued a handwritten message, to the policemen to continue in the Liberation War and not to join the services until the country would become independent.
Abdul Khaleque played an important role in the formation of the police headquarters. According to the policies of the war-time Bangladesh government, the police headquarters appointed a Zonal Police Officer and a significant number of policemen in each zone. These police officers assigned to different zones were responsible for training Freedom Fighter, managing refugee camps, collecting news about the war inside the country, collecting information about Pakistani spies, etc. Thus, he established an effective police structure and appointed police officers to maintain law and order along with civil administration in all free zones. Upon achievement of victory in the War of Liberation on 16 December, Bangladesh government appointed Superintendents of Police in all police ranges and districts. On December 22, IGP Abdul Khaleque started operations by shifting the police headquarters from Mujibnagar to Dhaka.
He wrote books on various subjects. These include Political Economy and Foreign Aid, Transfer of Technology, Peace, Police, Crime and Violence, Three Decades of Foreign Aid, Educational Reforms, Sheikh Mujib and Liberation War Bangladesh, and Sritikatha.
Abdul Khaleque was posthumously awarded with the ‘Swadhinata Padak’ by the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in 2019 in recognition of his immense contributions in the War of Liberation. He died on 10 June 2013. [Abida Sultana]
References Mrs. Selina Khaleque, First IGP of Bangladesh and Home Secretary Abdul Khaleque; Abdul Khaleque’s Memoirs, (Nandini Publications, Dhaka 2010); Role of Police in Liberation War.
