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Written by Col (Ret.) Muhammed Abdul Haq published Janwary 2022 This is about a great soul a senior Bengali Military Commander Major Abdul Waheed Chowdhury he is considered as the founding father of the East Bengal Regiment The Bengalis had no regiment in British India; As a result, this nation did not have much respect. Some of our brave, talented predecessor army officers worked tirelessly in the forties to build a Bengali regiment. It is their tireless work that has been successful since the creation of Pakistan. The government of Pakistan established the East Bengal Regiment. This regiment manages and leads our great war of independence. Every sapling they planted became Mahiruha in the war of independence. Today's story is about an officer involved in its establishment. There were some brave, courageous, fearless and outspoken Bengali officers in the British Indian Army and later in the Pakistan Army who were like uncompromising lions in defending the rights of their nation and motherland. One of them is Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury; In short, he is better known as AW Chowdhury, although the present generation knows very little about our heroic men. Major Muhammad Abdul Ghani, Major MT Hossain and Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury were among the pioneers of the East Bengal Regiment which led the East Bengal Regiment in 1971 when Bangladesh was victorious in the Great War of Independence. . Major Chowdhury was one of the senior Bengali army officers who participated in the Second World War. His contribution to the establishment of the Bengal Regiment in the Pakistan Army on 15 February 1947 was unforgettable. He was the commander of the training company of the 1st East Bengal Regiment. He is therefore regarded as one of the fatherly commanders of the regiment. But due to his outspokenness, he had to leave the army prematurely and join the police force. He was well known in the East Pakistan Police Service as a very honest and exemplary police officer. Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury was born on 1 February 1914 in an aristocratic Muslim family in the village of Dariapur in the present Habiganj district of British India. Later, his family settled permanently on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka. Major Waheed's father was Khan Saheb Abdur Rob Chowdhury, the founding controller of examinations at Dhaka University. St. Gregory's High School, Dhaka, a well-known educational institution at a time when the children of Bengali Muslims were backward in education. He passed the matriculation and higher secondary examinations from Dhaka College and was admitted to Dhaka University. From here he successfully passed Honors in Economics and Masters in 1936. He was well known as a very gifted student. He was also known as one of the best players in the university. He was a dear student of Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah and National Professor Abdur Razzak was his close classmate and dear friend. After completing his Masters, Abdul Wahed Chowdhury, a meritorious student and a talented player, joined the British-Indian Army as an officer cadet at the Dehradun Military Academy as a Gentleman Cadet (GC). He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the British-Indian Army as an Emergency Commissioned Officer on 15 May 1941, before completing his training at the outbreak of World War II. He was transferred to the 4th Madras Regiment, the traditional and oldest infantry of the subcontinent. At the outbreak of World War II, the British government decided to form the 10th British Army under General Sir Edward Quinn in Basra, Iraq. Under this Army, Captain Waheed along with his 4th Madras Regiment was posted at the Sub Area Headquarters of the 10th Army. At one point in time, the Tenth Army was disbanded and transferred to the Ceylon sub-area headquarters in the Burma sector. During the Indo-Pakistani independence in 1947, he was transferred from the Madras Regiment to the First Punjab Regiment, the oldest regiment of the British-Indian Army. That unit is better known as 'First of the First'. As an officer of the 1st Punjab Regiment, he served as Brigade Staff Captain under Brigadier Mohammad Kiana, the oldest commander of the British-Indian Army at the Multan Zhohab Brigade Headquarters in the North-West Frontier Province. He then joined the Pakistan Cell at the Infantry Directorate of the Supreme Army Headquarters in Delhi to work on the division of the British-Indian Army and the transformation, distribution and consolidation of the Pakistan Army. He worked tirelessly to protect the interests of the then Pakistan Army. The long-standing need and aspiration of establishing an army of Bengali Muslim soldiers, who had been deprived of the army for a long time, gave rise to some hope for the creation of Pakistan. Achinlake also realized the importance of establishing a Bengali regiment in Field Marshal Claude, the Chief of the British-Indian Army during the partition of the country until 15 August 1947, and he urged his successor, General Frank Walter Messer, the first Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army to do so. He took the initiative to approve the formation of a Bengali-led regiment considering the military importance of the Bengali Muslim army returning from the war in East Bengal, considering the Bengali officers and soldiers. He postponed the proposal to form the Pakistan National Guard, emphasizing the military importance of forming a full-fledged regiment for the Bengalis of East Bengal. Meanwhile, after the creation of Pakistan on 14 August 1947, he was transferred to the Pakistan Army Training and Education Doctrine in Rawalpindi. From the very beginning he was deeply involved in trying to establish a separate regiment for the Bengalis like Major Abdul Gani. With the formation of the new state of Pakistan his efforts intensified and they succeeded. An order was issued to form a separate regiment with the Bengalis of East Bengal. At that time Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury was a senior Bengali army officer. With the formation and training of the 1st East Bengal Regiment, he was transferred as the Commander of the Training Company. Finally, on 15 February 1948, the first dream 'East Bengal Regiment' was formed. Despite his inadequate equipment, weapons and ammunition, he continued to do the arduous task of forming and training the 'Senior Tigers' of the 1st East Bengal Regiment. Despite hundreds of obstacles, he played a major role in the formation of a new unit. It goes without saying how difficult and arduous it is to form a regiment and enable war in a very short time. The sacrifices and contributions of him and his colleagues in the formation of the First East Bengal Regiment were immense. But sad but true, the then West Pakistani authorities, like the British colonial army officers, started treating the Bengali army and officers in the same racist manner. Despite being part of the same army, the East Bengal Regiment was subjected to injustice and discrimination. Which angered the Bengali army officers including Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury. Major Chowdhury, like other regiments of the Pakistan Army, proposed to Major General Ayub Khan, the Chief of Army Staff and GOC of the Eastern Command, to remedy and reform the East Bengal Regiment in order to maintain its development and equality and to eliminate inequalities and inconsistencies in the operation of the regiment. Major Waheed's independent attitude and this offer was not taken lightly by Lieutenant Colonel VJE Patterson, Commander of the GOC and the 1st East Bengal Regiment. On the contrary, Major Wahid's proposal was considered as his 'arrogance and command channel violation'. At a command conference in Kurmitola, Major General Ayub Khan made anti-Bengali remarks and taunted politicians. Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury protested and criticized his amateur behavior. Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury of the regiment as a citizen of an independent country Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury was appointed to the East Pakistan Police Service in 1952. He took over as the Superintendent of Police and in a short period of time established himself as a servant of the people with the identity of extreme justice. He performed his duties with skill and courage in Tejgaon Industrial Area of ​​Dhaka, Comilla, Rajshahi and Chittagong. While serving as the Superintendent of Police in Chuadanga, he gained a great reputation and became a 'friend of the people'. Through his efforts Chuadanga College was established. Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury's extraordinary honesty, diligence, sincerity in carrying out his duties and his love for the people made the image of the police force very bright to the people. Major Abdul Wahed Chowdhury passed away in 1985 at the age of 51 at his residence on Nazimuddin Road in Dhaka. He was buried in the premises of 'Maryam Chaleha Mosque' at Babupura Shahsaheb's house in Nilkhet area of ​​Dhaka. This short-lived man left a lot of contribution to Bangladesh and the Bengali nation. The ideals of extraordinary sacrifice, courage and patriotism of this glorious patriot will be followed and imitated for present and future generations. In gratitude,