M. A. Rab

Mohammad Abdur Rab (Bengali: মোহাম্মদ আব্দুর রব) was a Bangladeshi 1971 war hero.

Early life

Abdur-Rab was born at village of Khagaura under Baniachang thana of Habiganj in 1919. A lifelong bachelor, he was elected as lawmaker from the Jatiya Sangsad constituency comprising Baniachang and Ajmiriganj thanas.^[2]

December 1971

Just hours ahead of the surrender of Pakistan Army on 16 December 1971 in Dhaka, machine guns fired on the helicopter carrying Colonel Osmani and Abdur Rab. Abdur-Rab sustained serious wounds. Although all of them survived, they could not join the surrender act in the capital on that historic day. This is considered to be one of the mysterious events of Bangladesh Liberation War.

After independence of Bangladesh

Abdur Rab was honoured with the 'Bir Uttam', the country's second highest award. He was also given the rank of Major General. He was awarded the Independence Day Award posthumously in 2000.^[3]

Death

Abdur-Rab died 14 November 1975^[4] at the Combined Military Hospital, Dhaka at age 56. He had been suffering from ailments including anemia. He was laid to rest at his village of khagaura on the banks of Khowai River in Habiganj.

His younger brother Abdur Rahim said that no pension was paid to any of his family members. Abdur Rab's grave is at the district headquarters of Habiganj. Other than some local freedom fighters, nobody was seen to go visit the site, even on the country's national days. ^[5]

References