Bangladesh Defense Forum 
Moazzem Hossain and Bangladesh freedom struggle
Muhammad Asiful Basar 26 March, 2025, 00:00
Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain
ARE you familiar with Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain? Has his name ever appeared in our school history textbooks? Do any national liberation monuments feature his likeness in their sculptures?
Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain, a fallen hero of the Bangladesh Liberation War, remains largely unrecognised in the annals of liberation war history despite his significant contributions to the country’s struggle for independence. His absence from school textbooks, national monuments, and historical narratives underscores the lack of acknowledgement for his role, akin to that of Surya Sen in the freedom movement. The regrettable failure to properly honour the sacrifices of Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain highlights a larger problem of neglecting important individuals in Bangladesh’s struggle for independence.
Lieutenant Moazzem joined the Pakistan Navy in 1950 and went to Great Britain in the same year for naval training. Following this training, he received a commission as a Midshipman in the engineering corps of the Pakistan Navy in 1955. In 1957, he became a Sub-Lieutenant and returned to East Pakistan to serve as an engineer on PNS Babar. He returned to England again in 1958 and then moved to Karachi after completing a course, joining PNS Jahangir. It was during this phase of his career that he observed the negligence and disrespectful attitudes of West Pakistanis, particularly Punjabis, towards Bengalis. As a result, Lieutenant Moazzem became increasingly disillusioned with Pakistan and began envisioning East Pakistan as an independent nation.
He found a group of Bengali officers who shared his sentiments within the Pakistani defence forces and began laying the groundwork for a covert organisation under the name Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Cell in 1961. This group clandestinely established a fund for their cause and maintained communication with nationalist leaders of East Pakistan. Their activities were conducted with great secrecy, even keeping their families unaware of their actions. Their goal was to initiate a covert conflict against the Pakistani military in East Pakistan. Other notable individuals involved in this effort included Lieutenant Mozammel, Steward Mojibor, Flight Sergeant Mafijullah, Mahfuzul Bari, Sultanuddin Ahmed, and others. This group even met with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1964 when he was visiting Karachi for a political programme. They conveyed their mission plan to Mujib and sought his political support in that regard.
On 9 December 1967, Lieutenant Moazzem was apprehended by a joint team of Pakistan’s Defence Intelligence branch and ISI, later emerging as the primary suspect in the well-known Agartala Conspiracy Case. Moazzem was charged with orchestrating a rebellion among Bengali personnel in the Pakistan Navy. The alleged plan was said to have originated in 1964, and by 1967, they had purportedly established connections with Indian operatives and held a clandestine meeting with Indian officials in Agartala. The objective of this covert meeting was to secure Indian assistance during the revolution. They also maintained communication with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and aimed to launch a parallel militant movement alongside Sheikh Mujib’s Six-Point Movement. The case details further suggest that the conspirators’ primary strategy was to seize control of the armouries in all army barracks and cantonments in East Pakistan simultaneously on a designated night and proclaim East Pakistan as an independent nation. In June 1968, the case was revised to designate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the main conspirator, with Lieutenant Moazzem placed in the secondary position.
However, due to a strong and continuous mass movement, the Ayub government was forced to drop the Agartala Conspiracy Case on 22 February 1969. After his release, Moazzem Hossain retired from his job and decided to start a political movement under the banner of the Lahore Resolution Implementation Committee. The objective of his new initiative was to establish East Pakistan as a sovereign state in accordance with the Lahore Resolution. Subsequently, this group was rebranded as the Nationalist Party and played a significant role in promoting the concept of an independent East Pakistan, well before the formal proclamation of Bangladesh’s independence on 26 March 1971. He encouraged members of his party to undergo military training and travel throughout East Pakistan to garner public backing for his cause. Nevertheless, his political endeavours did not receive substantial recognition at that juncture, primarily due to the abrupt shift in Pakistan’s political landscape resulting from election-related dynamics.
It is important to recall that Lieutenant Moazzem Hossain was among the early martyrs of the liberation war, falling victim to a targeted killing on the morning of 26 March 1971. During a raid led by Colonel Taz of the 32 Punjab Regiment, a team of Pakistani army forces attacked his residence in Dhaka, resulting in his tragic death. Lieutenant Hossain demonstrated strong Bengali nationalist sentiments by staying at his home on Elephant Road during the very risky night of 25 March, while numerous others opted to seek shelter to avoid the upcoming military crackdown. His valour, integrity, and dedication to establishing an independent Bangladesh through guerrilla warfare warrant due recognition in the annals of history. Despite being posthumously awarded the ‘Swadhinata Padak’ by the government in 2012 for his role in the freedom movement, this acknowledgement remains inadequate. It is crucial that his legacy be immortalised in the national historical narrative, the heritage of the liberation war, and within the domains of arts and folklore. It is noteworthy that Lieutenant Moazzem and his compatriots may not have executed the revolution as planned, but the profound impact they had on the mindset of Bengali military officers was invaluable. While he may not have been formally recognised as a decorated freedom fighter of the war, his contributions were undeniably significant. Lieutenant Hossain stood as a symbol of resistance akin to Surya Sen in our struggle for freedom, deserving acknowledgement in liberation war history.
Muhammad Asiful Basar is a senior lecturer at North South University and a PhD student at the University of Antwerp.
Muhammad Asiful Basar 26 March, 2025, 00:00
Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain
ARE you familiar with Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain? Has his name ever appeared in our school history textbooks? Do any national liberation monuments feature his likeness in their sculptures?
Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain, a fallen hero of the Bangladesh Liberation War, remains largely unrecognised in the annals of liberation war history despite his significant contributions to the country’s struggle for independence. His absence from school textbooks, national monuments, and historical narratives underscores the lack of acknowledgement for his role, akin to that of Surya Sen in the freedom movement. The regrettable failure to properly honour the sacrifices of Lieutenant Commander Moazzem Hossain highlights a larger problem of neglecting important individuals in Bangladesh’s struggle for independence.
Lieutenant Moazzem joined the Pakistan Navy in 1950 and went to Great Britain in the same year for naval training. Following this training, he received a commission as a Midshipman in the engineering corps of the Pakistan Navy in 1955. In 1957, he became a Sub-Lieutenant and returned to East Pakistan to serve as an engineer on PNS Babar. He returned to England again in 1958 and then moved to Karachi after completing a course, joining PNS Jahangir. It was during this phase of his career that he observed the negligence and disrespectful attitudes of West Pakistanis, particularly Punjabis, towards Bengalis. As a result, Lieutenant Moazzem became increasingly disillusioned with Pakistan and began envisioning East Pakistan as an independent nation.
He found a group of Bengali officers who shared his sentiments within the Pakistani defence forces and began laying the groundwork for a covert organisation under the name Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Cell in 1961. This group clandestinely established a fund for their cause and maintained communication with nationalist leaders of East Pakistan. Their activities were conducted with great secrecy, even keeping their families unaware of their actions. Their goal was to initiate a covert conflict against the Pakistani military in East Pakistan. Other notable individuals involved in this effort included Lieutenant Mozammel, Steward Mojibor, Flight Sergeant Mafijullah, Mahfuzul Bari, Sultanuddin Ahmed, and others. This group even met with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1964 when he was visiting Karachi for a political programme. They conveyed their mission plan to Mujib and sought his political support in that regard.
On 9 December 1967, Lieutenant Moazzem was apprehended by a joint team of Pakistan’s Defence Intelligence branch and ISI, later emerging as the primary suspect in the well-known Agartala Conspiracy Case. Moazzem was charged with orchestrating a rebellion among Bengali personnel in the Pakistan Navy. The alleged plan was said to have originated in 1964, and by 1967, they had purportedly established connections with Indian operatives and held a clandestine meeting with Indian officials in Agartala. The objective of this covert meeting was to secure Indian assistance during the revolution. They also maintained communication with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and aimed to launch a parallel militant movement alongside Sheikh Mujib’s Six-Point Movement. The case details further suggest that the conspirators’ primary strategy was to seize control of the armouries in all army barracks and cantonments in East Pakistan simultaneously on a designated night and proclaim East Pakistan as an independent nation. In June 1968, the case was revised to designate Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the main conspirator, with Lieutenant Moazzem placed in the secondary position.
However, due to a strong and continuous mass movement, the Ayub government was forced to drop the Agartala Conspiracy Case on 22 February 1969. After his release, Moazzem Hossain retired from his job and decided to start a political movement under the banner of the Lahore Resolution Implementation Committee. The objective of his new initiative was to establish East Pakistan as a sovereign state in accordance with the Lahore Resolution. Subsequently, this group was rebranded as the Nationalist Party and played a significant role in promoting the concept of an independent East Pakistan, well before the formal proclamation of Bangladesh’s independence on 26 March 1971. He encouraged members of his party to undergo military training and travel throughout East Pakistan to garner public backing for his cause. Nevertheless, his political endeavours did not receive substantial recognition at that juncture, primarily due to the abrupt shift in Pakistan’s political landscape resulting from election-related dynamics.
It is important to recall that Lieutenant Moazzem Hossain was among the early martyrs of the liberation war, falling victim to a targeted killing on the morning of 26 March 1971. During a raid led by Colonel Taz of the 32 Punjab Regiment, a team of Pakistani army forces attacked his residence in Dhaka, resulting in his tragic death. Lieutenant Hossain demonstrated strong Bengali nationalist sentiments by staying at his home on Elephant Road during the very risky night of 25 March, while numerous others opted to seek shelter to avoid the upcoming military crackdown. His valour, integrity, and dedication to establishing an independent Bangladesh through guerrilla warfare warrant due recognition in the annals of history. Despite being posthumously awarded the ‘Swadhinata Padak’ by the government in 2012 for his role in the freedom movement, this acknowledgement remains inadequate. It is crucial that his legacy be immortalised in the national historical narrative, the heritage of the liberation war, and within the domains of arts and folklore. It is noteworthy that Lieutenant Moazzem and his compatriots may not have executed the revolution as planned, but the profound impact they had on the mindset of Bengali military officers was invaluable. While he may not have been formally recognised as a decorated freedom fighter of the war, his contributions were undeniably significant. Lieutenant Hossain stood as a symbol of resistance akin to Surya Sen in our struggle for freedom, deserving acknowledgement in liberation war history.
Muhammad Asiful Basar is a senior lecturer at North South University and a PhD student at the University of Antwerp.
