Mahmud Mir
Captain Rafiqul Islam was still eating when the images of the genocide witnessed over the past few days flashed before his eyes. He told Dr. Zafar, “Go to Sholashahar and the Cantonment and ask the Bengali soldiers to join us. Then, meet us at Railway Hill.”
Subsequently, Captain Rafiqul Islam telephoned the EPR headquarters in Halishahar, Chattogram, ordering them to secure the armory and detain the Pakistani officers. Anticipating a possible attack from the direction of the Naval Headquarters, he ordered the deployment of troops. Leaving his residence around 8:45 PM, he headed towards Wireless Colony, where he arrested several individuals, including Captain Hayat. They arrived in Halishahar around 9:30 PM. Halishahar was a location of critical importance, as it housed 300 West Pakistani EPR soldiers—most of whom were senior JCOs and NCOs.
Rafiqul Islam and his team first surrounded the entire area. Having already secured three armories, they held a significant tactical advantage. By 10:00 PM, two platoons were dispatched to repel any potential attack from the Naval Headquarters. Subedar Major Itbar, a West Pakistani, was arrested.
Next, two platoons were deployed to block the movement of Pakistani troops along the coastal embankment. One company was assigned the task of defending Railway Hill. Approximately 100 soldiers were divided into three groups and deployed along Agrabad Road and other strategic points, while the remaining troops were stationed in Halishahar. Troops stationed in Ramgarh were ordered to take defensive measures by destroying the Shubhapur Bridge over the Feni River and to send the rest of their forces to Chattogram.
Captain Rafiqul Islam arrived at the Railway Hill headquarters around 11:45 PM. He had hoped that the soldiers from the East Bengal Regimental Centre and the 8th East Bengal Regiment stationed at Sholashahar would succeed in capturing the cantonment. However, around 11:30 PM, troops from the 20 Baloch Regiment launched an attack on the Bengali soldiers at the East Bengal Regimental Centre.
They killed the guards, seized control of the armory, and then unleashed a barbaric massacre. Approximately 1,000 Bengali soldiers were killed in the ensuing burst of automatic gunfire. Captain Rafiqul established his headquarters in a residential building with the platoons under his command. He dispatched troops with the objective of attacking and capturing the radio station and the telephone exchange. Meanwhile, he received reports that EPR soldiers from all border outposts in the Chittagong region were preparing to march toward Chittagong city after disarming non-Bengali soldiers, intending to join the fight against the Pakistani forces.
On March 26, Captain Rafiqul Islam received news that Pakistani troops had advanced from the naval base and launched an attack on their defensive positions in Halishahar. However, the EPR troops repelled the assault. The Pakistanis had not anticipated any resistance in Halishahar; they were completely unprepared. As the first Pakistani unit encountered the Bengali soldiers’ forward defensive line in Halishahar, the Bengali troops opened fire. The surprise attack inflicted heavy casualties on the Pakistani forces, forcing them to retreat.
At this juncture, Captain Rafiqul Islam learned via a telephone call from Captain Bahar in Comilla that a massive convoy of 80 to 100 military vehicles had departed from Comilla Cantonment, heading toward Chittagong Cantonment. Consequently, Captain Rafiqul Islam dispatched a company of soldiers—equipped with light and heavy machine guns, mortars, and rocket launchers—under the command of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) from Halishahar to ambush the Pakistani convoy.
The Pakistani troops moving from Comilla Cantonment to Chittagong Cantonment consisted of the 24 Frontier Force Regiment and Field Engineers, accompanied by a unit equipped with 120mm mortars. The force was led by Brigadier Iqbal Shafi, Commander of the 53rd Brigade.
Anticipating a delay in repairing the Shubhapur Bridge in Feni, Brigadier Shafi left the mortar and engineer units behind and proceeded toward Chittagong with the infantry under his command. By late afternoon, Shafi’s unit reached Kumira, located 14 miles from Chittagong.
At that moment, EPR soldiers launched a surprise attack on them from the hills flanking the road. Approximately 70 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the ambush, and the majority of their military vehicles were damaged.
The Pakistani troops initially fled the scene, but the rear unit arrived, took up positions at a strategic location, and returned fire. A fierce exchange of fire lasting an hour ensued between the two sides, leaving five EPR soldiers critically injured. This ambush by EPR soldiers against Pakistani troops marked the first direct attack in the history of the Liberation War.
On June 10 during the Liberation War, Captain Rafiqul Islam was appointed as the Sector Commander of Sector 1. This sector encompassed an area of 18,603 square kilometers, covering greater Chattogram, Rangamati, Bandarban, Khagrachhari, and Cox’s Bazar, as well as the region extending to the eastern bank of the Muhuri River in Feni. Sector 1 comprised five sub-sectors: Rishimukh, Srinagar, Manughat, Tabalchhari, and Dimagiri. A total of 22,100 freedom fighters fought in this sector.
Captain Rafiqul Islam provided leadership and direction in several renowned battles across this region. Notable among these were the Gutuma Raid on July 16, the Debpur Ambush on July 31, the Mirsharai railway line operation on August 28, the attacks on the Champaknagar BOP on September 20 and 22, the destruction of the railway bridge on the Feni-Belonia road on September 25, the destruction of the Madunaghat power substation on October 6, and the Battle of Saliyadighi on November 7.
Rafiqul Islam was born on September 13, 1943, in Naora village, Shahrasti Police Station, Chandpur District. He began his formal education in his native village of Naora. After passing his Matriculation examination from Annada Model High School in 1959 and his Intermediate examination from Comilla Victoria College, he enrolled in the Department of Economics at the University of Dhaka.
It was during his student years that he also gained his initial experience in journalism. He joined the Pakistan Army in 1963. Following training at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, he was commissioned into the Army’s Corps of Engineers in 1965. Later, in 1968, he was transferred from Lahore Cantonment to East Pakistan.
He served as the Adjutant of the regiment stationed at Jashore Cantonment. Shortly thereafter, he was transferred to Dinajpur to serve as the Assistant Wing Commander of the 8th Wing of the East Pakistan Rifles (EPR). From there, in early 1970, Rafiqul Islam was appointed as the Adjutant at the Chattogram Sector Headquarters of the East Pakistan Rifles.
After independence, he was discharged from the army on April 29, 1972. Subsequently, he worked for a time as an Associate Editor for the English daily *The People’s View*. From 1977 to 1981, Rafiqul Islam (Bir Uttam) served as the Chairman of Dhaka WASA. Later, he became the Chairman of the Handicrafts Board and the BIWTC.
References:
বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধ দলিলপত্র: নবম খণ্ড, দশম খণ্ড
[Documents of the Bangladesh Liberation War: Volume 9, Volume 10]
লক্ষ প্রাণের বিনিময়ে/ মেজর (অব:) রফিকুল ইসলাম বীর উত্তম
[Lokkho Praner Binimoye (At the Cost of a Hundred Thousand Lives) / Major (Retd.) Rafiqul Islam, Bir Uttam]
Banglapedia
বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধের সেক্টর ভিত্তিক ইতিহাস: সেক্টর ১
[Sector-wise History of the Bangladesh Liberation War: Sector 1]
