Sylhet Representative/

September 1 is the 105th birth anniversary of Bangbir General MAG Osmani, the chief commander of the Liberation War. He was born on this day in 1918 in Sunamganj, the workplace of Baba Khan Bahadur Mofizur Rahman. His village home is in Balaganj of Sylhet.

He joined the British Army in his youth. He was the youngest Major in the British Army among Bengalis. During his time in the Pakistan Army, he was instrumental in establishing the East Bengal Regiment. He is the founder of Chittagong cantonment.

MAG Osmani joined the Awami League at the call of Bangabandhu and was elected MNA in the historic elections of the 1970s. In the liberation war of 1971, he showed outstanding achievements as the head of the liberation army. After independence, on 26 December 1971, he was appointed as General of Bangladesh Armed Forces. After retiring from office in 1972, Bangabandhu took an important position in the cabinet of the government. He also won the 1973 parliamentary elections. He resigned from the cabinet in 1974. Later, in protest against the formation of Bakshal, he resigned as a member of Parliament and Awami League in 1975. After the assassination of Bangabandhu in his family, on August 29, 1975, Khandkar was appointed as Defense Adviser to Mushtaq Ahmad. However, he resigned from that post after the incident of jail killing on November 3. In 1976, he founded a political party called Jatiya Janata Party.
MAG Osmani contested the 1978 presidential election as a candidate of the Combined Opposition. Later he also contested in the 1981 presidential election. MAG Osmani died on February 16, 1984 while undergoing treatment in London due to cancer. He was buried with full military honors at Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) Dargah Cemetery in Sylhet. Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, Osmani Airport and Osmani Children’s Park and Osmani Museum in Dhopadighir Par area of the city are in his honour.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of the 105th birth anniversary of Bangbir General MAG Osmani, the commander-in-chief of the Liberation War and the founder of the Jatiya Janata Party, the National Committee of the Jatiya Janata Party, Sylhet District, Metropolitan and Organization organized wreath laying and prayers at Osmani’s grave adjacent to the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal.

On Thursday (August 31), the National Committee’s Legal Affairs Secretary and Sylhet District Committee President Advocate Tahminul Islam Khan led the wreath-laying ceremony. National Committee’s Liberation War Affairs Secretary Kazi Golam Mortuza, Professor Abdul Muhit, Sylhet District Committee General Secretary Aklish were present during the wreath laying ceremony. Ahmed Chowdhury, Organizing Secretary Aminul Islam Bakul, Cultural Affairs Secretary Tuhin Ahmad, Metropolitan Committee President Saber Safkat Jahan Chowdhury, General Secretary Shafiqur Rahman Shafiq, Organizing Secretary Farooq Ahmad Chowdhury, Sylhet District Committee Member Kamal Talukdar, Metropolitan Committee Member Abdur Rahim, Sheikh Nazrul Islam, Abbas Uddin, Zahid Noor, Azad Chowdhury etc.

Later, prayers were held for the souls of party founder General MAG Osmani, late party chairman, former member of parliament Advocate Nurul Islam Khan, district committee president Advocate Abdul Matin Chowdhury and others.