Mustafizur Rahman (general)

For other people with the same name, see Mustafizur Rahman (disambiguation).

General Mustafizur Rahman BB
মুস্তাফিজুর রহমান
9th Chief of Army Staff
In office 24 December 1997 – 23 December 2000
President	Shahabuddin Ahmed
Prime Minister	Sheikh Hasina
Preceded by	Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman
Succeeded by	M Harun-Ar-Rashid
Personal details
Born	(1941-01-20)20 January 1941 Rangpur, Bengal, British India
Died	3 August 2008(2008-08-03) (aged 67) Dhaka, Bangladesh
Relations	Waker-uz-Zaman (Son-in-law) Sheikh Hasina (niece)
Awards	Bir Bikrom
Military service
Allegiance	Pakistan (before 1971) Bangladesh
Branch/service	Pakistan Army Bangladesh Army
Years of service	1966–2000
Rank	General
Unit	Corps of Engineers
Commands	Commander of 101st Infantry Brigade MGO of Army Headquarters GOC of 55th Infantry Division ENC of Army Headquarters Director General of National Security Intelligence 9th Chief of Army Staff
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 Bangladesh Liberation War

Mustafizur Rahman (20 January 1941 – 3 August 2008) was a Bangladeshi four star general who served as the chief of army staff from December 1997 until 23 December 2000.

Early life and education

Rahman was born on 20 January 1941 in Rangpur of Bengal Presidency, British India (now in Rangpur Division, Bangladesh) to Muhammad Abdus Sattar a clerk at Rangpur Town Hall and Zarina Khatun.

Rahman obtained his bachelor's degree thrice, in Science and Applied Science on 1958 and 1960 from Carmichael College and furthermore, Bachelor of Engineering at the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology on 1965. Rahman enlisted voluntarily to Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul at the eve of Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 through the Pakistan emergency war cadre in Inter Services Selection Board and was commissioned in to the army on 1966 with the Corps of Engineers. He was one of the trailblazing graduate of the Bangladesh Defence Services Command and Staff College on 1979.

Military Career

Rahman commanded a riverine engineers company at East Pakistan in the rank of lieutenant and was promoted to captain on December 1970. During the Operation Searchlight, Rahman was posted as assistant garrison engineer staff at Comilla Cantonment and was one of the Bengali officers who revolted against the Pakistan army. He enlisted to the newly formed Bangladesh army on 26 March 1971.

Bangladesh Liberation War

During the Liberation War, Rahman was posted as company commander of Bravo company of Sector VIII which was stationed near Darshana. As sub-commander of the Mukti Bahini, most of Rahman's company was composed of partisans which were involved in commando and guerrilla warfare. He was injured on 13 November 1971 a month before the independence of Bangladesh. He was awarded Bir Bikrom, the third highest gallantry award of Bangladesh.

Post war

Rahman was soon promoted to the rank of major and was posted as brigade major of 55th Infantry Brigade on 1972. He was soon upgraded to the rank of lieutenant colonel on 1973 and was the chief engineer of Dhaka and Bogra Cantonment. Rahman furthermore instructed at Engineers school at Qadirabad Cantonment and graduated from the Royal School of Military Engineering on 1975. He was one of the pioneer officers of the 66th Infantry Division, commanding an engineers battalion and later serving as colonel administrative at the rank of colonel on 1980. At army headquarters, Rahman served as director engineers branch on 1981. He was ameliorated to brigadier general on 1982 and was sent to Turkey as Military attaché. He return back to army on 1986 and commanded an infantry brigade at Comilla Cantonment. Soon after on 1992 he was ameliorated to major general and returned to army headquarters as master general of ordnance. He was later appointed as general officer commanding of 55th infantry division and area commander, Jessore area. Rahman returned one last time in the rank of major general to army headquarters and served as the Engineer-in-Chief on 1996. On December same year he was designated as the director general of National Security Intelligence.

As chief of army staff

On December 1997, Rahman was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and appointed as the chief of army staff. He was first army chief under Hasina ministry. Rahman was the first army chief of Bangladesh to be given the honour of reviewing the passing out parade of the IMA, Dehradun.Rahman was an instrumental figure for orchestrating the Military Institute of Science and Technology and the Armed Forces Medical College. Rahman also took an initiative launch of Trust Bank, a financial protection project initiated for the defence personnel of Bangladesh. Rahman was promoted to brevet general on 23 December 2000 and went to leave per retirement the next day. He was succeeded by lieutenant general M. Harun-Ar-Rashid as chief of army staff. . The promotion was later cancelled in 2004, but the High Court declared the action as illegal and restored his rank. On the situtation, Rahman stated,

"Old soldiers never die. By stripping me of the rank, an attempt was made to make the army controversial. But it was not right,the High Court verdict proved the justification of elevating me to the rank."

Personal life

Rahman's wife was the maternal cousin of first president of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Her niece, Sheikh Hasina was the longest serving prime minister of the country till her resignation on July Revolution 2024. The couple had three daughters. Rahman's eldest daughter Sarahnaz Kamalika Rahman is the spouse of 18th chief of army staff general Waker-Uz-Zaman. His youngest daughter is an army officer serving under the signals regiment.

Mustafizur Rahman was one of the accused in a corruption case regarding the procurement of MiG-29s for the Bangladesh Air Force along with other government officials of First Hasina ministry.

Death

Rahman was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer on 2006 and was expired on 3 August 2008. He was buried in Islamic funeral at Banani military graveyard with full military honours.