Colonel (Retired) Shahid Sarwar Azam | |
|---|---|
| Native name | শহীদ সরোয়ার আজম محمد شاہد سرور اعظم شاه جہاں |
| Born | 31 December 1952 Singra, East Bengal, Pakistan |
| Allegiance |  Bangladesh |
| Service |  Bangladesh Army Bangladesh Rifles |
| Years of service | 1976–2006 |
| Rank |  Colonel |
| Unit | Corps of Engineers |
| Commands |
|
| Battles / wars | 2001 Bangladesh-India border clashes UNAMSIL |
| Awards |          |
| Spouse(s) | Kamrun Nahar |
Colonel (Retd.) Sahibzada Shahid Sarwar Azam FIEB (Urdu: محمد شاہد سرور اعظم شاه جہاں; Bengali: শহীদ সরোয়ার আজম or শহীদ সারোয়ার আজম; born Muhammad Shahid Sarwar Azam Shah Jahan on 31 December 1952,[1] sometimes spelled Mohammad Shaheed Sarwar Azam) is the current head of the Singranatore family.[2]
In his military career spanning three decades, he was in Deputy Command of the armed forces of the United Nations after the onset of the Sierra Leone Civil War in 2002 in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Republic Armed Forces and Police to provide support to the Special Court for Sierra Leone following the arrest of former Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leaders and Government minister on charges of war crimes, and enforce the Community Arms Collection and Development Program introduced by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with the local paramount chiefs where neighbouring conflicts in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and Liberia had resulted in an influx of refugees in the area.[3] His younger brother, a Lieutenant Colonel of the Bangladesh Army also served at the United Nations Mission in Sudan in 2005.
Following his service to the UN in West Africa, he commanded the Rajshahi and Khagrachari fronts of the Border Guard Bangladesh (then known as the Bangladesh Rifles) during clashes with the Banga Sena (Bengal Army) and Indian Border Security Force (BSF) in the North West and during the aftermath of the Shanti Bahini (Peace Army) operations in the South East. He was the first military officer of the Engineering Corps to be appointed as a Bangladesh Rifles Sector Commander in the history of the Bangladesh military[4] and held the commands after the armed conflicts of 2001 but prior to the 2009 military massacre where all sector commanders, including both his incumbents were systematically shot and killed. In 2004, he held talks with the BSF of India protesting killings of unarmed people at the border, and pushing Indians in Bangladesh territory, smuggling, trespassing, drugs and arms trafficking between India and the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The same year, he presented a list of Bangladeshi fugitives in hiding in India in exchange for Indians hiding in Bangladesh.[5] In 2005, along with General Jahangir Alam Chowdhury outright rejected the Indian High Commission claim of setting up border structures close to the zero line according to a former treaty. He then led the discussion to resolve this issues within the Indo-Bengali Treaty of 1975 with the Indian Forces.[6]
- ^ "Col Muhammad Shahid Sarwar Azam". Retired Armed Forces Officers' Welfare Association. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
- ^ S. S. Roy (2011) A chronicle of Bengal's Ruling families. Calcutta
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
rw21Mar2003was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ RAOWA: Retired Army Officers Welfare Association Dhaka 2010 January
- ^ BDR–BSF border confce held 26 May 2004
- ^ Border guidelines : Dhaka rejects Delhi's interpretation 17 March 2005