AK Khandker passes away
One of the foremost heroes of Bangladesh’s war of Liberation, AK Khandker (Bir Uttam), has passed away during the victory month.
He died of old age complications at 10:35 am on Saturday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). He was 95 years (Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un).
AK Khandker, deputy chief of staff of the Mukti Bahini during the Liberation War, was the first chief of the Bangladesh Air Force.
The former Air Vice Marshal later entered politics and served as a minister on two occasions.
AK Khandker was born in 1930 in Rangpur, where his father was posted for work.
His ancestral home was in Puran varenga village of Bera Upazila in Pabna District. He passed his matriculation examination in 1947 and his higher secondary examination in 1949.
In 1952, he was commissioned into the Pakistan Air Force. As a group captain, he joined the Bangladesh War of Liberation and was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Mukti Bahini.
Immediately prior to the Liberation War, he was the second-in-command of the Pakistan Air Force in East Pakistan.
He later left that position and joined the War of Liberation.
On 16 December 1971, at the historic moment of the surrender of the Pakistani forces at the Racecourse Ground in Dhaka, he was present as a representative of the Mukti Bahini.
After independence, he was appointed the first chief of the Bangladesh Air Force and under his leadership the war-ravaged Air Force was reorganised and rebuilt. He served as Air Force chief until 1975.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions to Bangladesh’s War of Liberation, AK Khandker was awarded the gallantry title of Bir Uttam in 1973 and the Independence Award in 2011. He also served as president of the Sector Commanders’ Forum.
AK Khandker first served as a minister in the government of HM Ershad. Later, after being elected a member of parliament from the Awami League in 2008, he again held ministerial office.
AK Khandker’s book, 1971: Bhetore Baire (Inside and Outside), is regarded as a notable and widely discussed work on the history of Bangladesh’s War of Liberation.