Matiur Rahman Bio, Born, Age, Height, Facts, Family, News, Secrets,

Trivia
Name: Rahman Matiur
Status: Bir Sreshtho of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Airforce Pilot
Date of Birth: Born 29 October 1941
Why Matiur Rahman is Legend of Bangladesh?
Rahman Matiur was born 29 October 1941 and died on 20 August 1971
was a flight lieutenant of Pakistan Air Force and a receiver of Bir
Sreshtho, the highest military award given a service member in
Bangladesh for gallantry for his actions during the Liberation war of
Bangladesh.

Rahman Matiur was known for his actions when he attempted to

escape from Pakistan and pledged allegiance to Bangladesh struggle for
independence by hijacking a Lockheed T-33 aircraft (codenamed Blue
Bird)which was flown by a twenty-one-year-old Pilot Officer Rashid
Minhas, who was at the time carrying out his second solo flight.
Rahman was said to have stopped the aircraft on the runway, climbed
into the aircraft’s cockpit and hitting Minhas the pilot, rendering him
unconscious. While he was approaching the India border, Minhas
regained consciousness and a tussle ensued between Matiur and
Minhas for who would have control over the aircraft which was flying
low as at the time to avoid radar detection. He wasn’t strapped in due
to struggle; he then released the canopy causing Rahman to fly out of
the cockpit. The danger was imminent, Rashid Minhas tried effortlessly
to regain control of the aircraft, but all effort was proved abortive
because the T-33 is a low flying jet, flying extreme low as of the time.
After a short while, the aircraft crashed nearby few kilometers from the
Indian border.
Early Life of Matiur Rahman
Matiur Rahman was born on 29 November 1941 in his ancestral home
Mobarok Lodge on 109 Aga Sadek Road in old Dhaka. His father Maulvi
Abdus Samad and his mother Syeda Khatun Mobarakunnesa. Rahman
Matiur was the sixth among 11 siblings, nine brothers, and two sisters.
He finished his primary education at Dhaka College School. after
concluding his education, he gained admission into the Pakistan Air
Force School in Sargodha in West Pakistan. He joined the Pakistan Air
Force college now the Pakistan Air Force Academy on 15th August
1961at Risalpur. Rahman Matiur graduated from the 36th GD (P) course
thereafter inaugurated as a pilot officer and was posted at No. 2
Squadron of Mauripur Air Base (now Masroor) at Karachi in West
Pakistan. He then went on complete the jet conversion training on T-33
jet trainers in that base. He was allowed for Fighter conversion training
after he succeeded in passing the course with over 75% score. He
trained using F-86 Sabre jets coming up top with an 81% score. Due to
his outstanding result in his training course, he was then posted to No.
19 Squadron in Peshawar. He was promoted to Flying Officer during the
Indo-Pakistan War of 1965. Just after the war, he went back to
Sargodha to attend the MIG conversion course which led to his
promoting of the rank of Flight Lieutenant in 1967.
Involvement in Bangladesh Liberation War
Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman was able to bypass security and
smuggled the family of group Captain Taher Quddus on Royal Saudi
Arabian c-130 transport plane bound for Riyadh during the Bangladesh
war for liberation. Matiur Rahman was on leave and was on vacation
with his family to Dhaka for two months at the end of January 1971.
During the Pakistan Army crackdown codenamed Operation Searchlight
carried out on 25 March 1971, he was staying in a Ramanagar Village in
Raipur. In as much as he was a member of the Pakistan Air Force,
Rahman opened a training camp in Vairab and started training Bengali
people who volunteered to join the struggle spearheaded by Mukti
Bahini. From the volunteering training, he put together a small defense
force and a few weapons and ammunition they acquired. The camp in
Vairab was bombed by the Pakistan Air Force on the 14 April 1971. But
Matiur Rahman knew about the plan prior to the attack and was able to
take proactive measures from it having an impact by changing the
location of the camp. That singular action saved members of the
defense force and other persons training from the air raid. His trained
force partook in the battle against Pakistani military at the Bhairab.

But after so much pressure from his family, Matiur Rahman then
returned to Dhaka on the 23rd April and then returned to his base to
Karachi on 9th May with his family.

Death of Matiur Rahman

Matiur Rahman’s intention was to defect to India with an aircraft to join
the war for Bangladesh liberation war. On 20 August 1971, Pilot Officer
Rashid Minhas was meant to fly Lockheed T-33 training plane from the
air base in Karachi. Rahman approached Minhas who was about to take
off if he could be part of the mission. Rahman attempted to hijack the
aircraft midflight planning to fly to India to join the struggle. He
rendered Minhas unconscious; he then faced India, flying below the
standard flight altitude to avoid radar detection. While approaching the
India border, Minhas regained consciousness making him fully aware of
the situation; they both wrestle for the flight control system. In an
attempt to secure the jet, Minhas opened the canopy causing the plane
to dive. The plane crashed approximately 32 miles from the Pakistani-
Indian border near Thatta killing both men instantly. Matiur Rahman’s
body was found near the crash site. Rahman’s wife Milly and his two
daughters were arrested and put in prison by the Pakistan Air Force for
a month, but later regained their freedom on the 29th September
1971.

Bir Sreshtho Medal

The Bir Sreshtho medal awarded is the highest Awarded in Bangladesh.
The Bir Sreshtho is a military award of the Bangladesh military. The
Bangladesh government in 1973 under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s
government recognized 7 freedom fighters as Bir Sreshtho for their
supreme sacrifice in the liberation war. Matiur Rahman was one of the
7 persons awarded amongst others.

Matiur Rahman’s was finally returned to Bangladesh on 24th June 2006

after over 30 of back and forth negotiations. His body was finally given
a ceremonial and highly emblematic reburial in 2006, at the Martyred
intellectuals Graveyard in Mirpur Dhaka with full military honors.