Wikipedia Draft:Abdul Waheed Chowdhury (Major)

Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury, more prominently known as Major A. W. Chowdhury, was a senior Bengali Army officer in British Indian Army and later in Pakistan Army who helped establish the training regiment of the 1st East Bengal Regiment. He was one of the fatherly commanders of the regiment.

Birth
Abdul Waheed Chowdhury (1914-1975 AD) was born on 1 February 1914 in the village of Dariapur in the former British Indian district of Habiganj to a prominent Muslim family. His father was Abdur Rob Chowdhury, Controller of Examinations, Dhaka University. His mother was Umme Arefa Khatun Chowdhury.

Education
Abdul Waheed Chowdhury passed Matriculation with first class from St. Gregory High School, Dhaka and passed IA with first class from Dhaka College and later graduated from Dhaka University in 1937 with first class and post graduate in law and economics. He was good at sports and was a university blue in sports. He was a student of Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah and he was a friend and classmate of National Professor Abdur Razzak. General M. A. G. Osmani was his friend and colleague.

Career in the army
After completing his studies at the University of Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury, joined the British Indian Army. At the outbreak of World War II, he was trained as an officer at the Dehradun Military Academy. At the beginning of World War II, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the British Indian Army as an Emergency War Commissioned Officer in the 4th Madras Regiment on 15 May 1941. Meanwhile, when the British Tenth Army was formed under General Sir Edward Quinn, he and his regiment marched to the 10th British Army Area Headquarters in Basra, Iraq. He returned from Basra and joined the Salon sub-area (now Sri Lanka) on the Burma Front. He was later transferred to the Multan Army Headquarters at the Multan Zohab Brigade Headquarters in the North West Frontier Province, Multan. There he served as Brigade Staff Captain.

Before the partition, he was posted in the Supreme Army HQ Pakistan Cell in Delhi for the transformation and consolidation of the Pakistan Army. Later after the independence of Pakistan, he was posted in the training and education doctrine of the Pakistan Army at the Pakistan Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

It is to be noted that later he served as the Officer Commanding(O.C.) of the 1st East Bengal Regiment Training at its inception. Lieutenant Colonel V. J. E. Peterson was appointed as the First Commanding Officer of the regiment and Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury served as the Officer Commanding (O.C.) of the 1st East Bengal Regiment and Training Regiment. Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury arrived in Dhaka from the Rawalpindi army headquarters, with the responsibility of forming a training regiment of the East Bengal Regiment. He laid the foundation of the Senior Tigers despite obstacles. Note that there was nothing but a weak brigade with two battalions of 3/8 Punjab and 1st East Bengal Regiment to defend the eastern part of the country. The government kept East Bengal completely unprotected, exposing the policy of colonial exploitation of East Bengal by the West Pakistani rulers, which later took severe shape.

His military career came to an abrupt end when he protested against the partiality and anti-Bengali attitude of some senior West Pakistani service commanders in a Conference of Army Commanders at Dhaka Kurmitola Cantonment.

Establishment of East Bengal Regiment
Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck was the transitional Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan and India until 15 August 1947. Later, on 15 August 1947, General Frank Walter Messervy was appointed as the first Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army. Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury highlighted in front of the Army Headquarters, the need for forming a regiment of Bengali Muslim veterans of World War II in East Pakistan. Instead of the proposed formation of Pakistan National Guard (PNG), a paramilitary force for the defence of East Bengal, Lieutenant Colonel M. A. G. Osmani was able to explain to the Field Marshal, the need to establish a complete regiment for East Bengal and suspend the previous proposal. Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck took initiatives to establish this revised proposal. He sent this revised proposal for approval to Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Government of Pakistan. Consequently Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Government of Pakistan, had to reluctantly approve the establishment of the East Bengal Regiment.

Followed by this, two company of Bengali pioneers from the Bihar Regiment were regimented into the 1st battalion - East Bengal Regiment Senior Tigers - under Lieutenant Colonel V. J. E. Patterson as Commanding Officer (C.O.) and Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury as the Officer Commanding (O.C.) of the First training regiment. A 2nd battalion was formed soon after.

Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury arrived in Dhaka from Rawalpindi HQ, with the responsibility of forming a training regiment of the East Bengal Regiment. He was then Joint Officer for 3/6 Punjab Regiment. He was assigned as the Officer Commanding to form and train the 1st East Bengal Regiment. Despite of inadequate equipment in adverse conditions, he formed the base of Senior Tigers. Needless to say, Bengali Muslim soldiers were subjected to injustice and oppression in the Punjabi and Pathan dominant army. Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury protested against the anti-Bengali hateful behavior of the then Brigadier Ayub Khan at the Conference of Army Commanders at Dhaka Kurmitola Cantonment. He also protested against the then GOC East Pakistan Brigadier Ayub Khan and the British C.O. Patterson of the East Bengal Regiment for their partiality and mistreatment against the East Bengal Regiment. As a result, he fell under their wrath and his military life came to an end.

Life after the army
Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury later joined the East Pakistan Police Service in 1950 as Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP). He served in Tejgaon, Comilla, Rajshahi, Chittagong and in Dhaka. He established Chuadanga College when he was the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Chuadanga.

Death
He died in 1965 at his residence on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka. He was buried in the premises of Bibi Masjid, Nilkhet, Dhaka.

See More

 * Bangladesh Army
 * East Bengal Regiment
 * Senior Tigers
 * East Bengal Regimental Centre