A BIOGRAPHY OF ABU TAHER MOHAMMAD HAIDER      

During the dreadful night of executing “Operation Searchlight” on 25 March, along with ATM Haider, the whole nation was in tremendous shock at the terrifying genocide of the Pakistan Occupation Army. As ATM Haider was then serving as a Pakistan Militant, the incident shook him from his core. He didn’t even think for a second and left the Pakistan Army at just that moment. On March 27, 1971, he officially left the Comilla Cantonment and decided to fight for his motherland. He went to Brahmanbaria and there he met the officers of the 4th East Bengal Regiment. After the meeting, he was advised to go to Teliapara where all the officers of the East Bengal Regiment were about to plan the whole tactics of the war. He went to “Teliapara Tea Garden” and then to India to proceed to the next step.

A few days later, Mohammad Haider returned from India along with some soldiers of Mukti Bahini. They operated their first operation against the Pakistan Army by sabotaging the Musalli Bridge and Mymensingh-Kishoreganj highway. On October 7, 1971, he was appointed to “K Force” as second in command in Sector 2 under the sector commander, Khaled Mosharraf. Mostly students were composed in his unit who were given training by ATM Haider himself in guerilla warfare. However, the task was not as easy as it seemed. Training the unarmed students who didn’t have any idea even how to hold a gun and prepare them to fight against such well-trained armed forces in that very short time was not a cup of tea. Yet, ATM Haider didn’t lose hope. He showed immense patience and trained his unit with utmost dedication. That was the reason, he was not known as Captain in his unit. For all the trainees, he was familiar with “Taher Vai”.

Almost all the guerillas under his command successfully operated several operations that played a significant role during the Liberation War of Bangladesh. At the end of October, ATM Haider was battling a guerilla operation under the command of Sector 2 Commander, Khaled Mosharraf. But dreadfully, all of a sudden, the commander got severely injured by a splinter of the enemy. The whole force became confused about who would lead them in such a terrifying moment. Thus, ATM Haider showed his tremendous courage and intelligence and very soon he saved the whole troop from that deadliest situation along with the commander. As Khaled Mosharraf was sent to India for better treatment, he was assigned to the Sector 2 Commander on September 22, 1971. From September 22, 1971, to February 14, 1972, he served the districts of Dhaka, Comilla, Faridpur and Noakhali as Sector Commander.

During the most awaited moment of victory, ATM Haider arrived in his independent motherland along with some freedom fighters. He reached in a helicopter with R. K. Chowdhury and political advisor of Sectors 2 and 3. They first stepped in Comilla on 14 December and the next day went to Jatrabari to celebrate the independence with the whole nation. As Haider reached Dhaka, the whole crowd felt like they got their gem. The entire crowd carried Major Haider and Chowdhury on their heads out of their tremendous love, and respect and rejoiced at the crossroads.

ATM Haider was also one of the luckiest people who witnessed the surrender of the Pakistan Army on December 16, 1971. After the glorious liberation of Bangladesh ATM Haider was promoted to the rank of Major and appointed as the commanding officer of 13 EBR (East Bengal Regiment), Savar Cantonment. In 1973, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was transferred to head the then-nascent 2nd Battalion of Artillery and the School of Artillery in Chittagong Cantonment. He served Chittagong Cantonment as the head till September 1975. On October 21, 1975, he was transferred to Bandarban as a Quartermaster in Ruma Cantonment.