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List of liberation war and freedom fighters

On March 1, 1971, Pakistan's military janta president Yahiya Khan announced the cancellation of the session of the National Assembly of Pakistan. With this announcement, the entire Bangladesh erupted in protests; Militant procession also started in Tangail. The slogans of the procession were "Bengalis will not accept Yahya's declaration", "Bengali heroes take up arms, make Bangladesh independent, we will build a new country, its name will be Bangladesh". Under the leadership of Student Youth Janata Awami League, preparatory military training for armed war began in various police stations and important villages of Tangail district. All these military trainings are mainly conducted by retired members of the armed forces. Military training started at Maulana Muhammad Ali College in this sequence. This training continued mainly with dummy rifles in the cadet corps.

Soon after Bangabandhu's groundbreaking speech on March 7, the Joy Bangla Bahini parade was held at the Bindubasini school grounds in Tangail town under the leadership of the then District Student League President Abu Mohammad Enayet Karim and General Secretary Abdul Quader Siddiqui. It is mentioned here that both Mr. Enayet Karim and Quader Siddiqui were once serving in the Pakistan Army. Mr. Abdur Rashid, Secretary of the East Pakistan office at that time, received salam in the said parade.

On March 25, 1971, the Pakistani invasion forces started a horrific massacre of unarmed Bengalis in Dhaka in the name of Operation Search Light. Pakistan Army attacked Rajarbagh Police Line, Pilkhana, EPR Headquarters, Dhaka University and carried out the worst massacre in history. After midnight on March 25, Bangabandhu announced the independence of Bangladesh through wireless. Bangabandhu's announcement was collected by the then district Awami League leader and youngest MPA Fazlur Rahman Farooq from Mirzapur Cadet College. 

This announcement was announced by the former president of Tangail District Student League and GS Anwarul Alam Shahid of Salimullah Muslim Hall in Dhaka University and the leader of Tangail District Student League Farooq Ahmad in the whole city of Tangail. On March 26, the flag of independent Bengal was hoisted at Tangail police station. All-round preparations for the armed liberation war began. The high command was formed with the then MPA district Awami League leader Badiuzzaman Khan as its chairman. All MNAs and MPAs elected from Tangail and Advocate Nurul Islam were members of the High Command. Labor leader Habibur Rahman Khan and others. Awami League leader MPA Abdul Latif Siddiqui was in charge of the Commander in Chief of the High Command. This High Command was formed in a meeting held at Advocate Nurul Islam's East Courthouse residence. On March 27, the flag of independent Bangladesh was officially hoisted at the initiative of the High Command through a public meeting held at the Bindubasini school ground and the High Command took over the administrative responsibility of Tangail. The then senior government official Khandaker Asaduzzaman CSP came to Tangail and declared his support for the war of independence and was appointed as advisor to the high command. The then Zilla Parishad Office (old Faujdari Bhawan) of Tangail was made the office of the High Command Naiyam Uddin Ahmed Muktar was in charge of the Office Secretary of the High Command. Under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief of the High Command, Mr. Abdul Latif Siddiqui, the collection of weapons from various individuals began. And hand bombs and moloton cocktails were started by collecting acid from the laboratories of various schools and colleges. Left-wing student leader Bulbul Khan Mahbub, labor leader Syed Abdul Mateen etc. played an active role in this work. At that time a company of the East Bengal Regiment was stationed at Tangail Circuit House.

They were surrounded by student youth led by Quader Siddiqui in the early hours of March 27. Bengali soldiers of the East Bengal Regiment came out chanting Jai Bangla. Company Commander Major Kazem Kamal along with two Pakistani officers were detained. Later Major Shafi Ullah came from Joydevpur Cantonment and killed them. At one point in late March, Bengali soldiers of the Bengal Regiment led by Major Shafi Ullah from Joydevpur came to Tangail with arms, ammunition and military vehicles. They were felicitated at Tangail by the High Command. Later they moved towards Mymensingh.

There were strong rumors that at some point the Pak army would enter Tangail from Dhaka. For this reason, students and EPR members organized a protest at Guran Satiachora of Mirzapur police station. It was headed by the then MPA Fazlur Rahman Farooq. On April 3, the Pak forces reached a place called Guran Satiachora on the way to Tangail and faced a fierce attack. After a few hours of fighting, the resistance of student youth and EPR was clearly broken. 337 people including 6 EPR and student League leaders Jumrat were brutally killed by Pak forces and two villages of Guran Satiachora were burnt down. Later that afternoon they entered Tangail. Shahabuddin Master, his son student League leader sanwar Hossain Anu and youth Abdul Qaddus of Pardighulia village of the city were martyred by the mortars fired by the Pak forces during their entry into Tangail. The announcement of the arrival of the Pak army in Tangail was announced by the left-wing labor leader Syed Abdul Mateen in the city, ignoring all fears. Pak forces entered the city and blew up Khandaker Asaduzzaman's house, Badiuzzaman Khan's house, Advocate Nurul Islam's house with dynamite and set fire to Mr. Abdul Latif Siddiqui's house. Before Pak forces entered Tangail, with the help of Khandaker Asaduzzaman, under the leadership of Quader Siddiqui, Farooq Ahmad, Md. Sarwardi, N,A Khan Azad, Mintu Khan, Sukhan, Kala Farooq, etc. took all the police rifles and ammunition from Tangail treasury in two trucks, first to Gharinda and then to various hilly areas of Tangail. Moved to a place called Moricha under present Sakhipur upazila. Later these weapons were considered as a supporting force in the formation of the Qaderiya forces.

Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Commander-in-Chief of Tangail High Command, led a force of EPR at Hamidpur Betduba in Ghatail Kalihati. Student youth including Kader Siddiqui also participated in this resistance. A fierce battle was organized with Pak forces at that place. The freedom fighters dispersed and Abdul Latif Siddiqui left for India. Later Mukti Bahini was organized under the leadership of Abdul Latif Siddiqui in Tangail. In the hilly areas led by Shaukat Momen Shajahan, Hamidul Haque, Idris Ali etc., Anwarul Alam Shaheed, Mohammad Suhrawardy, Noorunnabi, Aziz Bangal, Syed Zia Abdul Alim, Abul Kalam Azad, Ah Qaddus, Enayet Karim, Sohrab Ali Khan Arju, Khoda Baksh, Amanullah. Bula, Syed Shajahan led by Bhuyapur area, Syed Nurul Islam led by Golra area and Khandkar Abdul Baten led by Nagarpur area. Later, everyone accepted Abdul Kader Siddiqui as the commander-in-chief except Khandaker Abdul Baten. In this way the huge Kaderiya army of Tangail was formed. In the early stages of the formation of the Qaderiya army, Farooq Ahmad was with him all the time and played an active role in the formation of this army. At one stage of the liberation war, around May, playwright Mamunur Rashid, Moazzem Hossain Khan, poet Rafiq Azad, poet Mahbub Sadiq and others joined the Qaderia army.

In May, the headquarters of the Liberation Army was established at Mahanandpur village in Sakhipur. Anwarul Alam Shahid was appointed as Civilian Chief and Hamidul Haque as Deputy Chief. A weekly mouthpiece of the Mukti Bahini, "Ranangan", began to be published. Its editor was Randoot (Anowarul Alam Shaheed), co-editors Farooq Ahmad and Syed Nurul Islam. Syed Nurul Islam, Farooq Ahmad and Abdullah were appointed Special Assistants to the Civil Chief to assist the Civil Chief. Abdul Awal Siddiqui and Saru Ali Azgar were given the responsibility of mass communication. Moazzem Hossain Khan, Enayet Karim, Abdul Alim, Syed Zia, Abdul Hamid Bhola and Khandaker Nurul Islam were given the responsibility of regional civil chiefs. The vast Qaderiya army was divided into about 97 companies.


The primary training center of Mukti Bahini was at Boheratali in Sakhipur. From the headquarters of the Liberation Army, apart from Ranangan Patrika, various document stamps, wedding cabin names and various forms were printed. The Chief Liaison Officer of the Qaderia Bahini was Mohammad Noorunnabi (currently an American expatriate) and the Liaison Officers were Nurul Islam, Moazzem Hossain Khan and AM Enayet Karim. Later, AM Anayat Karim was appointed as the administrator of the Qaderiya forces. The Qadariya forces participated in numerous battles, large and small, and in each battle showed great prowess and miserably defeated the invading forces. The names of Kader Siddiqui and Qaderiya forces were a terror for the Pakistani forces during the nine months of the liberation war. The Qaderia forces simultaneously used hit-and-run guerilla warfare methods and frontal warfare strategies and tactics by creating free zones. Tangail's notable battles include the Battle of Gogan-Satiabari, the Battle of Kalihati and Balla, the Battle of Kamutiya, the famous Battle of the Sariakandi Matikata of the jamuna River, the Battle of Dhalapara (Makrai), the Battle of Nakhirpur, and numerous smaller battles. It was the Damal fighters of the Quaderiya army under the leadership of Kader Siddiqui who together with the Indian allied forces held the first public meeting in Paltan after occupying the city of Dhaka.

The Kaderiya Army had 97 companies under five sectors. Important responsibilities of company heads included:

1) To travel rapidly through all the areas covered by the Qaderiya forces;

2) Encouraging the people for independence;

3) Breaking roads and roads if necessary (to disrupt the movement of invaders);

4) Prevention of theft and robbery. Punishment of notorious thieves and dacoits in consultation with the local public.

Besides, 23rd Engineer and Signal Platoon was tasked, as soon as possible, to prepare a complete list containing the news of the members involved in the liberation war and submit it to the captain within 15 days, to bring telephone wires from various places and to connect the headquarters with the remote places of the area. .

During the war of liberation, Qaderiya ordered the commanders of the army to strictly adhere to the following principles:

1) No company commander shall execute a man for any offense by single force;

2) If there is any complaint against anyone, if possible, he should be sent to the Chief of the Force, Kader Siddiqui;

3) General petty matters should be settled keeping in view the local conditions;

4) No company commander can release the accused in the crime of murder and rape;

5) Commanders can try any crime less criminal than murder and rape. The record of each trial arbitration shall be sent to headquarters;

6) No judgment can be made unilaterally. To be done in consultation with at least two fellow soldiers and one local person;

7) It may not be very feasible to send someone accused of a particular crime (eg murder, rape, robbery, arson) to headquarters. In such cases, a 'judicial assembly' consisting of the commander, assistant commander, a leading man and 3 fellow soldiers can sentence the offender to death. But in this case at least 4 people must agree;

8) Shall not misbehave with any person caught in war. The exception is if something needs to be done to collect the news. Any armed soldier who lays down his arms or commits to surrender shall be treated with justice;

9) No person arrested on suspicion of any crime, even if proven guilty, shall not treat his relatives, parents or sons and daughters with disrespect;

10) Even if everyone cannot agree on a matter, the judgment of the numerologist should be accepted as correct.

After the formulation of these policies, two main responsibilities were assigned to the freedom fighters. To maintain peace and order in the area and to deal with the enemy. Notable among the company commanders were Shaukat Momen, Fazlur Rahman, Nabi Newaz, Lokman Hossain, Abdul Hakim, Ali Hossain Laltu, Sarwar Hossain, Monirul Islam, Afsar Uddin Ahmed, Habibur Rahman (martyr), Habibur Rahman, Mokaddes Ali Khan, Abdul Gafur, Khorshed Alam Talukdar, Khordesh Alam, Rezaul Karim, Ashraf Humayun, Amanullah, Matiur Rahman, Ghulam Mostafa, Abdur Razzak, Lutfar Rahman, Anish, Ansari Ali, Abdul Qadduch (Idris Ali), Ferdous Alam, Arju, Habibul Haque Benu, Azad Kamal , Moin Uddin Ahmed, Angur Talukder, Riaz Uddin Talukder etc. Village by village volunteers were formed to assist the Mukti Bahini. Then the liberation war started in a well-planned way. It should be noted that on May 3, 1971, the first camp of the Tangail Liberation Army was established under the leadership of Quader Siddiqui in Morichat near Bagherbari in Sakhipur. From here, a plan was adopted to divide the members of the Liberation Army into several groups and spread them all over the area.

In addition to the 11 sectors established by the Mujibnagar government to organize and prevent the liberation war, an additional sector was formed under the leadership of Quader Siddiqui in the civilian process. Tangail district (all along the river from Aricha Nagarbari to Phulchari Bahadurabad), Jamalpur, a particular part of Netrakona, Mymensingh, Manikganj, large parts of Sirajganj districts and the northern part of Gazipur and Dhaka districts were the fighting areas of this force. Meanwhile, the invading forces started inhuman torture and torture on the innocent people everywhere in the district. Mukti Bahini continued to attack the invaders one by one. As soon as the Pak forces came out of the base, they were hit. The freedom fighters used to gather information about the movement of the enemy through the people, especially the volunteer forces. Mukti Bahini continued to pressurize the invaders everywhere in the district and launched grenade attacks on Tangail city. The heroic stories of these Grenade forces, especially Baku (martyr), Salahuddin (martyr) and Kalam, are incomparable. Mukti Bahini's Rdujoy Ghati was built around Mahandpur and Sakhipur, a hilly area of Tangail district surrounded by rivers, chars, canals and gajari forests. Anwar-ul-Alam Shahid was given the responsibility of managing the civil administration of the government. Training center and armory of Mukti Bahini was established in Andigram. A hospital for injured freedom fighters was established under the supervision of Dr. Shahzada Chowdhury, Dr. Nishi Kant Saha and Amjad Hossain.

When the Mujibnagar government was formed in April, Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani of Tangail was appointed as the chief adviser of that government and Justice Abu Saeed Chowdhury was appointed as the chief ambassador of the government to the outside world. M., who is in charge of the Ministry of Information and Radio, was given the responsibility of the government's campaign. N. A (Minister status) Tangail MP Abdul Mannan. Shamsur Rahman Khan Shahjahan was appointed as the Chairman of the Regional Administrative Committee. Shahjahan Siraj played a special role in the leadership of Mujib's army. He read out the independence manifesto as a Student League leader at Paltan Maidan on March 2.

An operation by the brave freedom fighter commander Habibur Rahman (Jahajmara Habib) boosted the courage and morale of the freedom fighters. Under the command of Quader Siddiqui, commander Habibur Rahman came to know through the intelligence department and volunteers of the Liberation Army that two ships of Pakistan Navy named SU Engineers LC-3 and ST Roger were heading towards North Bengal loaded with ammunition.. He took position with his company at Nadri Bank at Matikata village and seizing the opportunity (12 August 1971) fired a three-inch mortar and destroyed the ship's engine compartment. The Pakistani sailors escaped by jumping into the river. Then thousands of volunteers, in hundreds of boats, moved the ship's weapons to a safe place. It is mentioned here that the captains and captains of the ships claim the credit behind the shipwreck. They are the ones motivated by the love of the country and stopped the ships on the river and informed the liberation army. Today it has sunk into oblivion as their names have not been preserved. We remember them with gratitude. As far as known they were all natives of Noakhali region. Then set fire. The fire of the ship became so great that millions of people from far and wide burst into joy at the success of the liberation army. Pakistan Air Force planes came from Dhaka and fired on the Liberation Army. This caused some damage to the Mukti Bahini. But Pakistan Army never suffered such a huge loss in shipwreck in the whole five month war. Because the destruction of the ship loaded with weapons, the operational capability of the Pakistan Army in the entire North Bengal was dulled. There were 12000 boxes of weapons worth 21 crore rupees as ship's log book and movement cover. In revenge for the destruction of the ship by the Pak forces, the Pak-invaders massacred the village on November 17, 1971 in Chabibsha village, about one kilometer south-west of Bhuyapur headquarters. On the same day, the Pakistani invaders killed 32 men, women and children and burnt about 350 houses in Chabibsha village.

Meanwhile, some areas of Tangail were partially freed from invaders from July. In August, Pak forces increased military pressure and torture on the freed Ekala in Tangail. Defending the free zone becomes almost impossible. At this time, Abdul Quader Siddiqui went to India for treatment after being injured in the battle of Dhalapara. In October, Abdul Quader Siddiqui returned from India and came to Tangail Mukti Bahini headquarters. During his stay in India, Quader Siddiqui interacted with the Mujibnagar government. So in the first week of November, a delegation of Mukti Bahini headed by Anwar-ul-Alam Shaheed went to Mujibnagar. Acting President of Mujibnagar Government Syed Nazrul Islam, Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad and other leaders took the news of the war with great interest. When they were welcomed in a special cabinet meeting at Theater Road, Anwar-ul-Alam Shaheed explained the war situation in Tangail and told how the Tangail Mukti Bahini under the leadership of Quader Siddiqui was conducting the war in a well-planned manner from the interior of the country. He ordered the news of the Liberation Army to be broadcast on the radio. Under the supervision of Abdul Mannan MNA, who is in charge of Information and Broadcasting Department of Mujibnagar Government, the success story of Tangail's Liberation War spread from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra to the country and abroad under the supervision of Mr. Akhtar Mukul, who is known for extreme literature. Colonel Ataul Gani Osmani, Commander-in-Chief of the Liberation Army on November 16, in an important discussion on war strategy and war planning, showed him (the martyr) the map containing the status of the Bangladesh Liberation War hanging in his room and said, I think, Quader Siddiqui will be the first man to reach Dhaka. It should be noted that this prediction of MAG Osmani was proved literally true on the same date (December 16) a month later.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Nurunnabi, the Liaison Chief of the Qaderia Army, discussed the future operations of the war with Lieutenant General Arora and Major General Gill of the allied forces. In their bilateral talks, Arora said that if India officially went to war, they could land the Chhatri Army in Tangail - if their security could be provided by the Mukti Bahini of Tangail. In this regard, Nurunnabi Tangail gave them full assurance on behalf of Mukti Bahini. After the discussion of both sides, it was decided that as soon as the war with the allies started, 1. Madhupur area should be freed from the enemy and brought under the control of Kaderiya forces. 2. If the resistance of the enemy in Jamalpur is strong, the Qaderia forces will cross Jamalpur from the south and weaken their strength and 3. After receiving the credible instructions of Kader Siddiqui, the  Chhatri Army will be deployed in the positions indicated by him. The Allies suspected that Pakistan might have MiG-19C Chinese aircraft in Dhaka in addition to the Saber jets. A photo of the MiG aircraft was given to Nurunnabi to confirm this.

Tangail Mukti Bahini's intelligence department was able to inform them within seven days that Pak Bahini had no warplanes except Saber jets. Then the delegation of Mukti Bahini returned to Tangail. On December 11, the Pak army left Jamalpur and Mymensingh and was attacked and completely destroyed by the Kaderiya army at various places on the way to Dhaka. Numerous invading troops were killed and captured. On December 11, Tangail was freed from the invaders.

As Mymensingh or Jamalpur were not liberated, some companies of the allied forces were sent towards Joydevpur in Savar on the way to Dhaka. The plan of the Bangladesh-India joint forces was to defeat the Pak forces advancing towards Dhaka through Sylhet, Brahmanbaria and liberate Dhaka. A bloody battle was supposed to take place to quickly liberate the Tangail-Dhaka route, but the fighting force of the invading forces was dulled by then. So they surrender easily. Tangail Mukti Bahini chief Abdul Quader Siddiqui and others were present at the surrender ceremony. Tangail Mukti Bahini's Civil Office helped to set up the administration of the Bangladesh government in Dhaka in the wake of the wartime experience. After the surrender of the Pakistani invasion forces on December 16, the Kaderia Army took over the responsibility of peace and order and public services and all kinds of security of life and property in the city of Dhaka. Bangbir Abdul Quader Siddiqui, the head of the Kaderia Force, decided on the night of December 16 to hold a public meeting to inform the people of Dhaka about maintaining law and order and about their responsibilities and duties as free citizens of a free country. According to the decision, Tangail Mukti Bahini held its first public meeting in the independent capital on December 18 at the historical Paltan Maidan. Abdul Quader Siddiqui Civil Chief Anwar-ul-Alam (martyr), Abdul Latif Siddiqui and some MPs spoke in that public meeting and called for maintaining peace and order. When the leaders of the Mujibnagar government came to Dhaka on December 24, their authority was established across the country. When Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned home on January 10, Abdul Quader Siddiqui and Anwar-ul-Alam (martyr) on behalf of the Tangail Liberation Army met him and offered to surrender their arms. Then on January 24, 1972, the Qaderia forces surrendered their arms to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a military fashion and in an orderly manner at the Bindubasini Boys' School grounds under the leadership of Bangbir Quader Siddiqui.

Besides this, the forces under the leadership of Khandkar Baten (Vice-President of Government Sadat College Student Council in 71) conducted battles in South Tangail, some parts of Dhaka District, Gazipur, Pabna, some parts of Manikganj District and large parts of Sirajganj District. There were three and a half thousand armed warriors in the Baten army. Baten Bahini consisted of twenty one companies. This force had sixty three platoons and one hundred sections and three training centers. On May 4, 1971, Khandkar Abdul Baten attacked Singair Thana in Manikganj district with his forces and started the war. Besides, the attack on Daulatpur police station in Manikganj district, the attack on Chauhali police station in Sirajganj, the capture of Ghiur police station in Manikganj district, the attack and capture of Saturia by Baten forces are heroic.

In mid-December 1971, a battle between the Baten forces and the invading forces took place in Konda village of Nagarpur police station in Tangail district. The soldiers of the invasion force, on their way to escape from Tangail, reached the village of Konda, about 15 miles south of the Tangail district headquarters, when they were attacked by the brave warriors of the Baten army. A bloody battle took place here between the Baten forces and the invaders. In this battle, Abdur Rab, a brave warrior of the Baten army, was martyred by the invaders and Subedar Major Taher was fatally injured by the invaders. In the battle of Kondra, the invaders suffered heavy casualties. At one stage of the war, the invading soldiers fled towards Dhaka, leaving behind many dead bodies and weapons late at night. The contribution of Bataan forces in the Tangail episode in the independence war of Bangladesh is important. The resistance of Baten forces at Nagarpur kept the Pak invaders at bay. As a result, the invaders made various destructions in different villages. On December 13, 1971, Pak forces looted and destroyed Bangram village in Nagarpur and killed 7 members of the same family in Sarengpur village. They were given a mass grave. The horrific memory of this incident still haunts the people of Nagarpur.

1970 National and Provincial Assembly elections

Awami League party winning candidates in Tangail district are

Member of Constituent Assembly:

Abdul Mannan (Tangail-1), Barrister Shaukat Ali Khan (Tangail-2), Principal Humayun Khalid (Tangail-3), Hatem Ali Talukdar (Tangail-4), Shamsur Rahman Khan Shahjahan (Tangail-5), Rafia Aktar Dolly in the reserved women seat. 

Member of Provincial Council:

Dr. Sheikh Nizamul Islam (Tangail-1), Badiuzzaman Khan (Tangail-2), Abdul Baset Siddiqui (Tangail-3), Abdul Latif Siddiqui (Tangail-4), Inchan Ali Moktar (Tangail-5), Mirza Tofazzal Hossain Mukul ( Tangail-6) Setab Ali Khan (Tangail-7), Fazlur Rahman Khan Farooq (Tangail-8), Shamsuddin Ahmad Balu Mia (Tangail-9).


Last updated: 26/02/2015