Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury

Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury ( _bn. হাসান মশহুদ চৌধূরী) is a retired Bangladeshi army officer and Lieutenant General of the Bangladesh Army. He became the Chief of Army staff in 2002 and after retirement from the Army, became an adviser of the interim caretaker government in October 2006. He resigned along with three other advisers after a series of disagreements which included army deployment in the country with the Chief adviser and President Iajuddin Ahmed.

Early life

Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury spent his childhood in Sylhet. His student life started in a "pathsala" in Kanishail village of Sylhet. As his father had a transferring job, he had to come with his father in Barisal. He studied at Barisal Zilla School for five years. He came to Dhaka after passing SSC in 1964 and was admitted in prominent Notre Dame College. In 1966 he became a student of the Economics Department of the University of Dhaka. One year later he suddenly decided to join the army.After getting into the army he went to the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul in West Pakistan. Two years later he was commissioned into Frontier Force Regiment which was mainly formed with Pathan soldiers. He worked in Karachi, Lahore, Azad Kashmir and Sindh. He went to Quetta a few times for training.

Then came the Bangladesh Liberation War. At that time he was interred as an enemy officer. He remembered, "I was interred 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 Pakistani prisoners of war in India". He was captive in Pakistan from 1972 to 1974 and described the period as "miserable and wastage of time and working ability".

Professional career

He returned to Independent Bangladesh in January 1974 and joined the Bangladesh Army. Later he joined the 17th East Bengal Regiment. In 1975 he became a brigade major of the 46 Infantry Brigade Head Quarters at Dhaka. Later he returned to 17th East Bengal Regiment as a captain and in 1977 went to Ruma of Chittagong Hill Tracts. He got married in 1977.He came to Dhaka later that year to join 9 Infantry Division and received training at Defense Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur, and worked for two years as an instructor and went to Alikadam of Chittagong Hill Tracts. From there he went to Bangladesh Military Academy at Bhatiari and later returned to Dhaka. After some time he was promoted into brigade commander at Savar. At the Gulf War in 1990, he was commander of the Bangladesh Military contingent that took part at the war. He spent nine months stationed in different places across Saudi Arabia. He described his experience as "tough but professionally pleasing".

After coming back home from the war, Chowdhury received training at Army War College in United States. With that he got a chance to fulfill his long wanted dream when he finished his masters in public administration at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. As part of the training he toured Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico.

Coming back home from foreign land, he was appointed as a Brigade Commander at Khagrachari, Chittagong Hill Tracts. After that he was posted at Defence Services Command and Staff College, Mirpur. One year later he was sent to Bogra as General Officer Commanding of the 11 Infantry Division after a turmoil inside the army in 1996. After one year he was appointed as Chief of General Staff and then as Commandant of the National Defense College. Then he had a chance to work as a High Commissioner of Bangladesh in the United Arab Emirates. There he got a rewarding chance to help the local Bangladeshi immigrants. In June 2002 he received an urgent call from Bangladesh and learned that he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Bangladesh Army, a feat which is the highest for an army officer. After three years he was asked to extend his term, but he refused. He stated that "... three years was sufficient to prove the credibility of an army chief. Secondly those who are new were ready and interested for this feat.

Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury is the last Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Army who was commissioned before the Bangladesh Liberation War in the Pakistan Army.

On 22 February, 2007 Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury became the chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission of Bangladesh. [ [http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/02/23/d7022301044.htm The Daily Star Web Edition Vol. 5 Num 972 ] ]

Adviser of the Caretaker Government

At the middle of 2006 he received an unofficial proposal of becoming an adviser of the interim Caretaker Government. At that time he was assured that the government could take up their duties freely and agreed with it. At at the start of October, as the confusion about chief justice KM Hasan started he expressed his inability. Though he finally agreed to take the duty after the situation had changed.As an adviser of the caretaker government his view was to leave an example to help the democratic process like previous caretaker governments. But as he started to work along with the other advisers he felt the 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 the President Iajuddin Ahmed about it.Even before the package proposal started, Chowdhury made a direct meeting with the opposite political parties and thought the negotiation to overcome the problem may not be possible. So he gave a proposal of reassignment of the advisers to make the politicians responsible for jeopardizing the condition.Then came another twisting moment, when chief adviser Iajuddin Ahmed single-handedly deployed the army. Even he was once the chief of staff of the army Chowdhury directly said to him, "people of Bangladesh can not be controlled by the army. It was not possible in 1971, not in 1990 and there is no legitimate way to succeed in 2006". After that meeting he decided to resign if the army is being used. And next day when he came to know about the deployment he immediately resigned along with three others advisers Akbar Ali Khan, CM Shafi Sami and Sultana Kamal. Answering to a question about why he was so anxious about the deployment he said, Other regular agencies of the government are proved to be sufficient to maintain law and order. If the election holds, the army could be used for special purposes. But there activities would be in debate if they are used so early. Chowdhury also disagreed to take all the responsibilities for the political crisis and blamed the opposite alliances for the cause. He also thought of expressing his thinking about the situation later by writing a book. [Noor, Zahid Reza. Chutir Dine, "Prothom Alo", January 13, 2007]

As chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission

Hasan Masshud has been appointed the chairman of the Durniti Domon Commission (Anti-Corruption Commission) on February 24. On his first day at office, he stated that this time, there will be no resignation, only a sustained battle against corruption. He has promised to prosecute corruption in a rigorous and sustained manner. It seems like DUDOK (Anti-Corruption Commission) has been greatly invigorated and energized with the appointment of Hasan Mashhud. Freed from the grossly incompetent leadership of the 82-year old retired Justice Sultan Hossain Khan, DUDOK looks finally set and on its way to becoming an effective and independent institution to eradicate corruption.

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