Sunday , 22 December, 2024 | 8 পৌষ, 1431 Bangabdo
Published: 09:32 20 August 2024
Today is Birshrestha Matiur Rahman's 53rd death anniversary. On this day in 1971, the plane crashed and he was martyred. Matiur Rahman was born on 29 October 1941 at 'Mubarak Lodge', 109 Aga Sadek Road, Old Dhaka. His ancestral home was in Ramnagar village of Raipura police station in Narsingdi, now known as Matinagar. He was the sixth among 9 brothers and 2 sisters. His father Maulvi Abdus Samad, mother Syeda Mobarkunnesa Khatun.
Signs of recognition and recognition of his talent began to appear from childhood. After passing sixth standard from Dhaka Collegiate School, he joined Pakistan Air Force Public School in Sargodha. After passing his matriculation with merit, he joined the Pakistan Air Force in 1961. He served as a General Duty Pilot, Flying Officer, Flight Lieutenant, Flying Instructor and Jet Flying Instructor at different stages of his career.
In 1963, he was commissioned as a pilot officer from Risalpur PAF College. After being commissioned, he was posted as General Duty Pilot in No. 2 Squadron at Mauripur (now Masrur) Air Base, Karachi. He was promoted to the rank of Flight Lieutenant in 1967. In the last week of January 1971, Matiur came to Dhaka with his family on a two-month leave.
During his stay in the country, he was in Ramnagar village of Raipur on the night of March 25. When the war broke out, a flight lieutenant in the Pakistan Air Force opened a training camp in Bhairab with immense risk and bravery. He started training Bengali youths who came to fight. The freedom fighters built the resistance army with the weapons collected from different places. When the Pak troops attacked Bhairav, the Bengal Regiment formed a resistance base with the EPR. On April 14, 1971, Pakistani Air Force F-86 Saber jets bombed their base. Matiur Rahman had previously feared this. So he and his army changed base and escaped damage.
Then he came to Dhaka on 23 April 1971 and returned to Karachi with his family on 9 May. Returning to the workplace, he decided to seize the militant plane and join the liberation war with it. He targeted a 21-year-old trainee pilot named Rashed Minhaj on the day of the flight (August 20, 1971) to hijack the plane.
Birshrestha Matiur Rahman's elder brother Dr. after the Air Vice Marshal Saleh Uddin paid tribute on behalf of Bangladesh Air Force at Birshrestha Matiur Rahman's Shaheed Bedi in Mirpurab Shaheed Buddijeevi on behalf of the family. After paying tribute to Mahabubur Rahman, General Secretary Mamunor Khan, Information and Research Secretary Dr. Ujjal Kumar Roy executive member Imam Hasan Romit paid homage.
On 20 August 1971, Matiur Rahman and Rashed Minhaj died for their respective countries. The Pakistani government buried Matiur Rahman's body in the Class IV graveyard at Masroor Base in Karachi.
On June 24, 2006, after the independence of Bangladesh, the remains of Matiur Rahman were brought from Pakistan to Bangladesh. He was reburied with full honors on June 25 at the Martyr Intellectuals Cemetery. Government of Bangladesh honored Motiur Rahman with Bir Shrestha title for his brave role.
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