Today is the 13th anniversary of the death of decorated war hero retired lieutenant colonel Quazi Nooruzzaman, Sector Commander of Sector 7 in the War of Independence.
He died in Dhaka on May 6, 2011 at the age of 86.
Nooruzzaman was awarded the second-highest gallantry award of the nation 鈥楤ir Uttam鈥� for his heroic role in the war.
He joined the independence war after his retirement from the Pakistan Army a few years earlier. The savagery of the genocide of March 25 prompting him to take up arms, said a press release on Sunday.
He continued to provide leadership in the fight against war criminals and collaborators after the war.
As the chairman of the Muktijudhha Sangsad in the early 1980s, he had demanded the banning of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the trial of war criminals. This movement led to him being jailed by the then dictator General Ershad.
He was one of the primary founders and organisers of the Ekattorer Ghatajk Dalal Nirmul Committee and was one of the 24 accused by the state for holding the Gono Adalat (people鈥檚 court) to try the war criminals and collaborators, according to the release.
Born to Quazi Sadrul Ola and Ratubannessa in Jessore on March 24, 1925, Nooruzzaman studied chemistry at St Xavier鈥檚 College, Calcutta before joining the British Indian Navy in 1943 with whom he fought in World War 2 off the coasts of Burma and Sumatra.
In 1946, at the call of Jawaharlal Nehru, he transferred to the Indian Army and received his training at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun.
As his family opted for Pakistan during partition, Nooruzzaman was then with the Pakistan Army only to retire at the advent of General Ayub鈥檚 martial law and was transferred to the EPIDC to manage the Narayanganj Dockyard.
He returned briefly to military service during the 1965 war.
He took up arms again in March 1971 to join the War of Independence聽 and was Sector Commander of Sector聽 7 spanning the present-day districts of Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Natore, Pabna, Sirajganj, Bogra, Jaipurhat, Dinajpur and Thakurgaon.
Alongside his movements against war criminals after independence, Nooruzzaman was also a noted progressive writer and thinker.
He was the editor of the weekly Noya Pododdhoni and was the lead editor of the book Ekattorer Ghatok o Dalalra Ke Kothaye, according to the release.
His books include Muktijudhho o Rajniti, Bangladesher Samaj o Rajniti,聽 Swadesh Chinta, and A Sector Commander Remembers Bangladesh Liberation War.