Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury
Former (11th) Army chief of Bangladesh From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury[a][b] (born 9 September 1948)[1] is a retired three star general of the Bangladesh Army who served as the chief of army staff from 16 June 2002 to 15 June 2005. He is the antecedent director general of Special Security Force and former ambassador to United Arab Emirates.
Chowdhury served as one of the advisers during Fakhruddin Ahmed ministry in October 2006 which he resigned after two months. He was later appointed as chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission on February 2007 which he served till Second Hasina ministry.
Remove ads
Early life and education
Chowdhury was born in a Bengali Muslim family at Sylhet, East Bengal of then Dominion of Pakistan in 1948. His father was a government revenue tax inspector. In spite his father position that required frequent transfers, Chowdhury spent most his childhood at his home town.[2]
After passing Matriculation exam from Sylhet Government Pilot High School in 1964, he was admitted to Notre Dame College, Dhaka and moved to Dhaka. In 1966, he transferred to the Economics Department of the University of Dhaka. One year later, Chowdhury decided to join the army. After being selected in Inter Services Selection Board, Chowdhury was sent for training to the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul in West Pakistan in 1967. He was commissioned into the Frontier Force Regiment on 20 April 1969. Chowdhury finished his staff college course from the Bangladesh Defence Services Command and Staff College in 1979 and advanced strategic course from the United States Army War College in 1991. He also earned his master's degree on Public Administration from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania the following year.[3]
Remove ads
Military career
Summarize
Perspective
Pakistan Army
Chowdhury served as company commander of three infantry battalions on Lahore, Karachi, Hyderabad and Mangla respectively. He was promoted to captain on 1971 and dispatched on training in Quetta. Chowdhury was detained at Quetta Cantonment during the Bangladesh Liberation War in April 1971. He recalled later, "I was interned in a remote place surrounded by mountains. We were treated as prisoners of war. It was clear to me that we would be used to exchange for West Pakistani prisoners of war in India."[3] He was held in West Pakistan from 1972 to 1974 and described the period as "miserable and wastage of time and working ability."[3]
Bangladesh Army
Chowdhury was repatriated to Bangladesh Army on January 1974, and enlisted to 17th East Bengal Regiment as company commander Delta. He was promoted to major on 1975 and posted as the brigade major of the 46th independent infantry brigade, headquartered at Dhaka. Chowdhury commanded two infantry battalions as lieutenant colonel and was furthermore was designated as general staff officer (grade-1) in the 9th infantry division then headquartered at Dhaka and the Bangladesh Military Academy.[4] He also commanded an infantry brigade in Savar as a proxy in the rank of colonel on 1986. Chowdhury was soon promoted to brigadier general in 1987 and was designated as director general of Special Security Force.
He returned to army on 1988 and commanded two infantry brigades on Cumilla and Khagrachhari respectively and commandant of School of Infantry and Tactics.[5] Chowdhury was ameliorated to major general on May 1995 and was designated as commandant of the Defence Services Command and Staff College.[6][7] After a year he was transferred to 11th Infantry Division as general officer commanding and area commanding Bogra area. [1] He replaced major general Golam Helal Morshed Khan one of the plotters of 1996 Bangladeshi coup attempt.
In 1997, Chowdhury was posted at army headquarters as the Chief of the General Staff under lieutenant general Mustafizur Rahman. Chowdhury later served as commandant of the National Defence College from 1 March 2000 for 9 months.[8] On December that year he was dispatched to Ministry of Foreign Affairs as ambassador to United Arab Emirates.[5]
United Nations peacekeeping missions
Chowdhury served United Nations peacekeeping during the Gulf War in 1991 where he commanded the first Bangladesh Battalion as part of the Coalition. Chowdhury's unit were stationed for nine months in different places across Saudi Arabia. He described his experience as "tough but professionally pleasing." After the war Chowdhury served with United Nations Iraq–Kuwait Observation Mission till June 1991.
As Chief of Army Staff
On 16 June 2002, he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed chief of army staff succeeding lieutenant general M. Harun-Ar-Rashid. Chowdhury improved the residential areas and the living conditions of military personnel across the country. He was also instrumental in establishing the Baridhara DOHS and ameliorating the Mirpur DOHS. Chowdhury was succeeded by lieutenant general Moeen U Ahmed as chief of army staff on June 2005 and went to leave per retirement. [5]
Remove ads
Political career
Summarize
Perspective
At the start of October 2006, as the confusion about Chief Justice K.M. Hasan started, he expressed his inability. Though he finally agreed to take the duty after the situation had changed. Then Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami proposed his name to become an adviser to the interim caretaker government. The Awami League (AL) nominated Sultana Kamal and Sheikh Hasina was consulted on C. M. Shafi Sami by Mukhlesur Rahman Chowdhury, as part of the AL quota. Working with the other advisers, Chowdhury was concerned by what he perceived as a lack of leadership and unwillingness to take the right decision at the right time. When the package proposal of the advisers was accepted by the opposite political parties, he was surprised to see the ignorance of the chief adviser and President Iajuddin Ahmed about it. When Chowdhury learned of its deployment, he and three other advisers immediately resigned, including Akbar Ali Khan, CM Shafi Sami, and Sultana Kamal. Responding to a question about his position, Chowdhury said that he believed the regular agencies of the government were sufficient to maintain law and order. He felt the Army could be used for special needs, but not too early in an election cycle. Chowdhury did not assume all responsibility for the political crisis, saying other parties also contributed to it.
On 22 February 2007, Chowdhury was appointed as chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission.[9] He said he would undertake a sustained battle against corruption, and numerous people were prosecuted for graft. Chowdhury had to resign on 2 April 2009 after the Awami League ascended to rule. Without his knowledge, the Moeen group had filed cases at night; they arrested former prime ministers and leaders of the two major parties, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, of the BNP and Awami League, respectively. Awami League MPs, led by Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, strongly criticised Mashhud in the parliament for appointing majority of the directors of the commission from the armed forces, and he resigned.[10][11] Bangladesh Nationalist Party MPs, led by Moudud Ahmed, supported the Awami position.[12][13] Later, in May 2025, a case was filed against Chowdhury and 2 other former ACC chairmen, accusing them of filing false cases against Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.[14]
Remove ads
Honours
 |
.JPG) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
_ribbon.svg) |
| Victory Medal | Constitution Medal | Nirapotta Padak Medal | Dabanal Padak Medal |
| Flood Relief of 1988 Medal | 1991 National Election Medal | 1996 National Election Medal | Silver Jubilee Medal (25 years of liberation) |
| 27 years service | 20 years service | 10 years service | Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi_Arabia) |
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads