Ziauddin Ahmed (officer)

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Ziauddin Ahmed (14 September 1950 – 28 July 2017) was a Bangladeshi military officer, war hero, and freedom fighter who served as a sub-sector commander under Sector IX of Mukti Bahini during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. He later witnessed the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and took part in the Day of Uprising on November 7, 1975.

Early life
Ziauddin was born in Parerhat village, Pirojpur District, East Bengal. His father, Aftabuddin Ahmed, was a local politician. He completed his education at Pirojpur Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College and was the president of the Pirojpur Sub-Division Chhatra Union in 1968.

Military career
He was commissioned in 1970 as a second lieutenant in the Pakistan Army’s 27th Punjabis. When the Liberation War began in 1971, he fled Lahore and joined Mukti Bahini. He was appointed commander of the Sundarbans sub-sector in Sector IX and was known for running a disciplined force. By 1975, he held the rank of major in the Bangladesh Army and worked at the Directorate of Forces Intelligence. After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s assassination in August 1975, he was relieved of duty and joined the Day of Uprising on November 7, 1975.

Later life and politics
After 1975 he moved back to Pirojpur and joined the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal. He founded the Banchao Sundarban group to protect the Sundarbans and opposed military rule, even taking shelter in the Sundarbans with followers. He was arrested in 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court, but was released in 1980 by presidential clemency. He served as chairman of Pirojpur municipality from 1989 to 1991. In 1996 he joined the Awami League and served as an advisor to the party’s Pirojpur unit. He also formed the Dubla Fisherman Group to protect Sundarbans communities and chaired it. He was injured in a 2013 gun battle with forest bandits and was known as the “Mukuthin Somrat” (crownless king) of the Sundarbans. He was also a writer and journalist.

Personal life and death
Ziauddin Ahmed was married to Kaniz Mahmuda and had four children. He suffered from liver problems from 2015 and died on 28 July 2017 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore. He was given a state honour by the Bangladesh Army and was buried in his family graveyard at Parerhat Road, Pirojpur.