M Khademul Bashar, BU, psc (1 September 1935 – 1 September 1976) was a two star air officer who served as chief of air Staff of the Bangladesh Air Force on 1976. He also held the office of Deputy Chief Martial Law Administrator and was in charge of the Ministry of Petroleum, the Ministry of Food and Civil Aviation and the Department of Tourism.
Early life
Khademul Bashar was born in Bogura on 1 September 1935. He passed his matriculation from Satkhira Prananath High School and intermediate from Rajshahi College. He joined the Pakistan Air Force as a flight cadet in 1955.[1]
Career
Bashar enlisted in Pakistan Air Force Academy in 1954 and was commissioned on general duties (pilot) in 1956. His initial parent unit was No. 16 Squadron. Before his repatriation, he served at different capacities such as second in command of No. 7 Squadron and No. 25 Squadron. He was promoted to the rank of Wing Commander in 1970 and was posted as staff officer at then PAF Base Tejgaon[2] he was as senior operations officer of Tejgaon Air Base until 27 March 1971. Bashar, Group Captain A. K. Khandker, and several other East Pakistani pilots defected in May 1971 and escaped to India.[3] He was one of only two airforce officers during Bangladesh Liberation War and was designated him Mukti Bahini Commander Sector 6. Later on November 3 General M.A.G Osmani designated Muhammad Hamidullah Khan as commander of Sector 6.[citation needed]
After the independence of Bangladesh Bashar was promoted to the rank of Group Captain in February 1972 and initially served in the army for establishing the 72nd Independent Infantry Brigade as deputy of Colonel Chitta Ranjan Dutta. He was then designated as air officer commanding the BAF Base Tejgaon. In 1973 he was promoted to the rank of Air Commodore and returned to newly formed Air Headquarters as Director (Operations) and Provost Marshal. Bashar was then ameliorated to Air Vice Marshal and was appointed the Chief of Air Staff of Bangladesh Air Force on 1st May 1976. Within his truncated tenure, Bashar inaugurated the first two Shenyang J-6 squadrons (No. 5 squadron & No. 8 squadron) of Bangladesh Air Force. [4]
Death
Khademul Bashar died on 1 September 1976 in an air crash. He was attending the inauguration of the Flying Instructors School at Tejgaon in Dhaka on a Shenyang J-6. On its maiden flight, an NZAI Air Tourer rolled over and crashed nose down into the airfield. Both the pilot, Squadron Leader Rafiqul Haq and Bashar were killed instantly.[5] BAF Base at Tejgaon, Dhaka has been renamed Base Bashar in his honour.
References
- ^ Mostafizur Rahman, FM (2012). "Bashar, Air Vice Marshal M Khademul". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
- ^ https://songramernotebook.com/archives/502807
- ^ Badrul Alam (March 1973). "How Bangladesh Air Force was Born". Indian Left Review. II (1): 67.
- ^ https://songramernotebook.com/archives/502807
- ^ "Chronological Listing of Bangla-Deshi Air Force Losses & Ejections". Archived from the original on 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2009-05-04.
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