Mohammad Mainul Islam | |
---|---|
মোহাম্মদ মাইনুল ইসলাম | |
13th Principal Staff Officer of Armed Forces Division | |
In office 1 July 2015 –31 January 2016 | |
President | Abdul Hamid |
Prime Minister | Sheikh Hasina |
Preceded by | Belal Shafiul Haque |
Succeeded by | Mahfuzur Rahman |
17th Director General of Bangladesh Rifles | |
In office 28 February 2009 –10 May 2010 | |
President | Zillur Rahman |
Prime Minister | Sheikh Hasina |
Preceded by | Shakil Ahmed |
Succeeded by | Rafiqul Islam |
Personal details | |
Born | Nilphamari,East Pakistan,Pakistan | 4 December 1959
Nationality | Bangladeshi |
Relations | Atiqul Islam (brother) Tafazzul Islam (brother) |
Alma mater | Military Training Bangladesh Military Academy |
Awards | Senabahini Padak(SBP) Oshamanno Sheba Padak(OSP) Independence Day Award |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Bangladesh |
Branch/service | Bangladesh Army Bangladesh Rifles |
Years of service | 1977-2016 |
Rank | Lieutenant General |
Unit | East Bengal Regiment |
Commands | |
Battles/wars | |
Mohammad Mainul Islam (born 4 December 1959) is a retired lieutenant general of the Bangladesh Army. He is the former Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division and Chief of General Staff (CGS) of the Bangladesh Army. He also served as Director General Bangladesh Rifles. [1] [2] He is currently the president of the Bangladesh Archery Federation. [3]
Mainul Islam completed his master's degree in strategic studies in 2003 from United States Army War College, Pennsylvania. He did his second master's in business studies in 2004 from The Trinity University, in the United States. He also completed his third master's in defence studies in 2005 from National University. As of 2020, he is pursuing a PhD under Bangladesh University of Professionals. [4]
Mainul Islam was commissioned from Bangladesh Military Academy in the East Bengal Regiment in 1977. During his long 40-year career, he served in a variety of command, staff and instructor appointments and was widely known for effectively handling critical issues. He served as Chief Instructor of Armed Forces war course (AFWC) wing of National Defence College Bangladesh. After reorganizing Border Guard Bangladesh, he was promoted to lieutenant general and was made Chief of General Staff at the Army Headquarters. He planned and transformed Bangladesh Army to be more professional and better equipped. In July 2015 he was made the Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division. He was a part of modernization of the Bangladesh Armed Forces having significant contribution in the making of Forces Goal 2030. [5] He left that position in February 2016 when he retired from the Bangladesh Army. [6] [4]
He was hand picked as brigadier general to manage the catastrophic situation of the 2009 Bangladesh Rifles Mutiny. He served as the director general of the Bangladesh Rifles from 28 February 2009 to 9 May 2010 and was given the responsibility of reorganizing the mutiny devastated force. He had replaced Director General Shakil Ahmed who was killed in the mutiny. [7] He re-established the chain of command in the force and initiated the trial of the mutiny in a very short time. He transformed working environment of the traditional border force with new laws and positive culture. [4] He oversaw the change in name of Bangladesh Rifles to Border Guards Bangladesh. During his directorship, the uniform was changed and an intelligence unit was added to the border forces. [8] He produced a new organisational structure upon which the force operates today. [9]
After forced withdrawal of Bangladesh Battalion Headquarters from UN camps in Ivory Coast, Bangladeshi peacekeepers faced image crisis; by negative branding like "armed tourists" in the mission area. He was assigned to bring change in ways of professional peace keeping duty. He could turn the tide in favor of Bangladeshi peace keepers. [9] He was also a proud member of 1st milestone group of 15 Peace Keepers deployed under United Nations Iran–Iraq Military Observer Group (UNIMOG) to Iraq in 1988, immediately after Iraq-Iran War. This group paved the way of present-day peace keeping. [4]
The Bangladesh Armed Forces are the military forces of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. They consist of the three uniformed military services: the Bangladesh Army, the Bangladesh Navy, and the Bangladesh Air Force. The Armed Forces are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of Bangladesh, and are directly administered by the Armed Forces Division of the Prime Minister's Office. The President of Bangladesh serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. Bangladesh has the third-largest defence budget in South Asia. The Bangladeshi military is the 37th strongest in the world and the third most powerful military force in South Asia. Border Guard Bangladesh and Bangladesh Coast Guard are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs during peacetime, but during wartime, they fall under the command of the Bangladesh Army and the Bangladesh Navy, respectively.
Victory Day is a national holiday in Bangladesh celebrated on 16 December to commemorate the defeat of the Pakistan Armed Forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and the Independence of Bangladesh. It commemorates the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, wherein the commander of the Pakistani Forces, General A. A. K. Niazi, surrendered to the Mukti Bahini and their Indian allies, ending the nine-month Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Bangladesh genocide and marking the official secession of East Pakistan to become the new state of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is administered by the Army Headquarters, Dhaka Cantonment. The Bangladesh Army is also constitutionally obligated to assist the government, during times of domestic national emergency e.g. the army helps people during any natural calamity. This additional role is commonly referred to as "aid to civil administration" or, using the Latin form, "Protectio, Transparentia, Reintegratio", in others words, "Protect and Serve".
Mohammad Ataul Gani Osmani was a Bangladeshi military officer and revolutionary. His military career spanned three decades, beginning with his service in the British Indian Army in 1939. He fought in the Burma Campaign during World War II, and after the partition of India in 1947, he joined the Pakistan Army and served in the East Bengal Regiment, retiring as a colonel in 1967. Osmani joined the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in 1971 as the commander-in-chief of the nascent Bangladesh Forces. Regarded as the founder of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, Osmani retired as the first full general from the Bangladesh Army in 1972.
Bangladesh has undergone several changes of government since the Proclamation of Independence in 1971. Between the first recorded uprising in August 1975 and the 2009 Bangladesh Rifles revolt, Bangladesh has been through as many as 29 military coups.
Bangladesh's military history is intertwined with the history of a larger region, including present-day India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. The country was historically part of Bengal – a major power in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The Bangladesh Rifles revolt was a mutiny staged on 25 and 26 February 2009 in Dhaka by a section of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), a paramilitary force mainly tasked with guarding the borders of Bangladesh. The rebelling BDR soldiers took over the BDR headquarters in Pilkhana, killing BDR director-general Shakil Ahmed along with 56 other army officers and 17 civilians. They also fired on civilians, held many of their officers and their families hostage, vandalised property and looted valuables. By the second day, unrest had spread to 12 other towns and cities. The mutiny ended as the mutineers surrendered their arms and released the hostages after a series of staged discussions and negotiations with the government.
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