Profile - Lt. Col. Jafar Imam (Retd.), BB

Lt. Col. Jafar Imam (Retd.), BB

General Information

Former Minister and Sub-Sector Commander

Retired Army Officer, Politics

Full Name: Lieutenant Colonel Jafar Imam (Retd.), Bir Bikrom

Date of Birth: December 13, 1947

Place of Birth: Bangladesh

Home District: Feni

Constituency: 266, Feni-1

Term: Second (3rd-1986, 4th-1988)

Nationality: Bangladeshi

Profile:

Lieutenant Colonel Jafar Imam (Retd.), Bir Bikrom (born 13 December 1947) is a Bangladeshi Retired Army Officer, Freedom Fighter, politician, former minister and former Member of Parliament represented Feni-1 constituency. He was the Sub-Sector Commander & Command in Chief of 10th East Bengal during the liberation war. Imam was a member of the 3rd and 4th Jatiya Sangsad and was a Minister in the Government of Bangladesh. During his political career, he served as the Deputy Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation 1980, Minister 1985-1986, Minister of Jute 1986-1988, Minister of Textiles 1988-1989, and Minister of Forests & Environment since 1990.

Imam was born in Feni district. He graduated from Punjab University. He was a Bengali officer commissioned in the East Bengal Regiment of the Pakistani army as a Lieutenant in 1966. He rose to the rank of a Captain in the Pak army despite all the discrimination against Bengali officers, being finally posted back to Bangladesh in the end of the year 1970. He was posted in the Alpha Company of the 4th Battalion of the East Bengal Regiment and was stationed in the Comilla Cantonment.

As the Pak army launched Operation Searchlight and started killing Bengali civilians, young Captain Imam decided to defect from the Pak army and join the Mukti Bahini’s struggle for independence. At first, Dhaka was turned into a horrific bloodbath, but after the Pak army took control of Dhaka, Captain Imam came to Dhaka to recruit more Bengali officers and soldiers. By the month of April, 1971, he rounded up some willing defectors and decided to escape Bangladesh. He learnt that the Mukti Bahini was organizing themselves in India, so they decided to cross the border and enter India. Amongst the people he rounded up were only 3 notable Bengali officers like Captain Aminul Haque, Captain Akbar and Captain Abdus Salek Chowdhury, while the rest were enlisted men.

Imam and the Bengali officers arrived in Melaghar in India and met up with the legendary commander—Major Khaled Mosharof and the Indian army officers of the 23rd Mountain Division under the command of Major General RD Hira, in the presence of Colonel Ataul Goni Osmani—the supreme commander of the Mukti Bahini. Colonel Osmani assigned Captain Imam in Sector-2 under the command of Major Khaled.

Imam was the Commanding Officer 10th Bengal Regiment in 1971 of Pakistan Army. After the war of liberation Major Imam continued to serve in the nascent Bangladesh army and was an ardent supporter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Awami League—one of the very few officers in the Bangladesh army at that time. He was awarded the Bir Bikrom gallantry award by the Bangladeshi government for his services and was promoted to the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel. He retired from the Bangladeshi army in that rank in 1975. He is an ardent supporter of the Awami League still now, and he openly speaks about the various truths about the war, which were hidden from the Bangladeshi public. He praises India for her all out help during the war—for taking care of so many refugees and giving the Mukti Bahini its training and giving Bangladesh her rightful place in history, and he talks about it openly in front of his own people. He is forever grateful to Major General RD Hira—with whom he had served in liberating Bangladesh.

After retirement, Imam entered Bangladeshi politics and had been elected in the Bangladeshi parliament from Feni-11 in 1986 and 1988.

Imam is one of the Bengali Heroes of the battles of the Belonia Bulge.

About Belonia Bulge:

Captain Imam was posted in the Alpha Company of the 4th Battalion of the East Bengal Regiment and was stationed in the Comilla Cantonment. As the Pak army launched Operation Searchlight and started killing Bengali civilians, young Captain Imam decided to defect from the Pak army and join the Mukti Bahini’s struggle for independence. At first, Dhaka was turned into a horrific bloodbath, but after the Pak army took control of Dhaka, Captain Imam came to Dhaka to recruit more Bengali officers and soldiers. By the month of April, 1971, he rounded up some willing defectors and decided to escape Bangladesh. He learnt that the Mukti Bahini was organizing themselves in India, so they decided to cross the border and enter India. Amongst the people he rounded up were only 3 notable Bengali officers like Captain Aminul Haque, Captain Akbar and Captain Abdus Salek Chowdhury, while the rest were enlisted men.

Back then, Sector-2 comprised of the huge territory of Bangladesh consisting of greater Noakhali, parts of Dhaka and Faridpur, Comilla and specially Brahmanbaria. Major Khaled divided the sector into 6 sub-sectors and assigned Captain Imam as the sub-sector commander of Rajnagar sub-sector. Captain Imam was chief and Captain Shaheed as his second in command alongside Lieutenant Imamuzzaman.

Rajnagar sub-sector was a territory consisting of Greater Noakhali itself, alongside Chauddagram in Comilla and all the way up to the city of Feni. Being a sub-sector commander, he soon raised a Mukti Bahini strength of locals, students and volunteers, alongside his regular troops from the 4th East Bengal Regiment up to 4,000 in numbers.

Belonia Bulge was a territory of Bangladesh that projected into India on the east. The Pakistani army came from Feni to push out the Mukti Bahini defenses in here, and Captain Imam and his boys, including the other top brass of the 2nd Sector, repulsed 9 Pakistani army assaults. Unfortunately, Captain Imam and his boys were forced to retreat by the 19th of June, 1971, from the Belonia Bulge.

Something else happened during the first battle of the Belonia Bulge as well. The 10th Battalion of the East Bengal that arrived in India was in a shattered state, lacking manpower after being devastated by the Pakistanis. Here, the Battalion was reinforced with ex-officers, from the East Bengal Regiment, officers and soldiers from the East Pakistan Rifles and Ansars and Policemen who had defected and had joined the Mukti Bahini. At the same time, Captain Imam was promoted to the rank of a Major and he was assigned as the Battalion CO of the 10th East Bengal Regiment. Due to the lack of senior officers, Bengali Lieutenants and Second Lieutenants were assigned as Company commanders in the Battalion, and soon, the Battalion was included in the ‘K Force’ Infantry Brigade under Major Khaled Mosharof.

After the Mukti Bahini defenses of Belonia Bulge fell, Major Khaled got injured in the battle of Kasba, so, Major General RD Hira himself—GOC of the 23 Mountain Division of the Indian army, decided to monitor the Sector-2 operations from the month of September, 1971.

Major General RD Hira met up with Major Imam in the 10th East Bengal Regiment HQ and decided to rally orders to move in for capturing the city of Feni. Major General RD Hira and the Kilo Force Brigade of the Division—under the command of Brigadier Anand Swarup, who himself had taken part in various Mukti Bahini operations in June and August, presented a sand model for the 10th East Bengal Regiment to follow.

Feni city for its geographical position—was a matter of pride both for the Mukti Bahini and the enemy Pakistani army. In the month of September—October, the 10th Battalion of the East Bengal Regiment was heavily involved in raids and recon operations to attack Feni and liberate Belonia Bulge as well. The 10th East Bengal Regiment soon started taking out bridges, cutting off the Pakistanis while laying anti-tank and anti-personnel mines in the roads used by the Pakistanis.

Major Imam accepted the plans and Major General RD Hira and soon, by the 5th of November 1971, the operations began. In Belonia the ‘K Force’ alongside the 83 Mountain Brigade under Brigadier BS Sandhu launched an attack on the Pakistanis, while Major Imam and the 10th East Bengal Regiment launched an attack on Parshuram—close to Feni. The 23 Mountain Division provided artillery support for the 10th East Bengal Regiment. The 10 Dogra and the ‘K Force’ Mukti Bahini joined in as well with Major Imam and by the 10th of November, Belonia and Parshuram was in the hands of the Mukti Bahini and the Indian army.

The Pakistanis had over a thousand casualties in taking and losing Belonia, while over 90 of them ended up as POWs to the joint forces of Major Imam and the 23rd Mountain Division.

From the 20th of November, 1971 to the 5th of December, 1971, Major Imam’s 10th East Bengal Regiment launched heavy assaults on the Pakistanis. This time, he had the entire ‘K Force’ Infantry Brigade with him, alongside the 4th Battalion of the East Bengal Regiment and the Kilo Force of Brigadier Anand Swarup of the Indian army fighting alongside him. Brigadier Anand Swarup at first moved towards Feni but faced stiff Pakistani resistance at Pathan Nagar. But soon, the above mentioned formations including Major Imam joined in and the Pakistanis were battered—being forced to abandon Feni in front of the heavy advance, escaping to Comilla and Chittagong.

With the Liberation of Feni city—the Belonia Bulge was forever in the joint hands of the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini. Major Imam’s 10th East Bengal Regiment was heralded as a hero by the locals in Belonia Bulge alongside the rest of the victors.

Soon, the Kilo Force of Brigadier Anand Swarup liberated Noakhali, moving towards Chittagong while Major Imam led the 10th EBR to secure Hathajhari through the Hills and jungles in the area—beside the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. Hathajhari was attacked by the 4th EBR and Major Imam’s 10th EBR, decimating the Pakistani 24 Frontier Force.