A. K. M. Miraj Uddin (born 11 March 1948 – disappeared 8 December 1971) was a Bangladeshi athlete, politician and a freedom fighter. As an athlete, he achieved success in hurdling, pole vault and long jump in primary and secondary school. He also competed in Pakistani national sporting events from 1963 to 1970, setting multiple records. He is considered one of the best athletes of Bangladesh's pre-independence era.[1] He fought in various battlefields of Manikganj as an active freedom fighter in Bangladesh Liberation War. He was captured by the Pakistani army during the war and later went missing. The Shaheed Miraj–Tapan Stadium in Manikganj was named in honour of him and another martyred freedom fighter Tapan Chowdhury.
A. K. M. Miraj Uddin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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এ কে এম মিরাজ উদ্দিন | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 11 March 1948 Vatikanda, Harirampur, East Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disappeared | 8 December 1971 (aged 23) Old Dhaka Central Jail, Dhaka, Bangladesh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | Missing for 52 years, 11 months and 4 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Pakistani (1948 – 25 March 1971) Bangladeshi (26 March – 8 December 1971) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other names | Alok | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1963–1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known for | Athletics, freedom fighter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sports career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Hurdling, pole vault and long jump | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 2020-11-20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Early life and education
editMiraj Uddin was born on 11 March 1948 in the village of Vatikanda in the Ramkrishnapur Union of Harirampur Upazila in East Pakistan. He is the eldest son of Sharif Uddin Ahmed and Mosammat Hajera Khatun. He completed his formal education from primary to eighth class in Harirampur. He passed primary from Leshraganj Primary School in Harirampur and eighth grade from Patgram Onathbandhu School. He completed his secondary at Nabakumar Institute in Dhaka and his higher secondary at Jagannath College. At the undergraduate level, he was a student of social sciences at Dhaka University.[1][2]
Athletics career (1963–1970)
editIf this boy gets a fiber pole, he will be able to break the record of the Asian Games.
—Hoffmann, Pakistan national athletics coach, commented after seeing Miraj setting a record with a bamboo pole at the Polevolt event in 1966[1][3]
Miraj Uddin's athletics career started in 1963. That year, he won national-level pole vault, hurdles and long jump events at the inter-school sports competition. He achieved this feat in the 1964 Pakistan Provincial Sports Competition in Lahore, where he also won the individual title. In 1965, he set a new national record for 110 m hurdles, pole vault and long jump on behalf of Jagannath College in the intercollegiate sports competition.[2] He set a Pakistan national record by crossing a height of 12 feet 2 inches with a bamboo pole, instead of fiberglass or carbon fiber pole in a pole vault event at the 10th Pakistan Games (known as the 'Pakistan Olympic') in Lahore in 1966. In that competition, he was the only gold medalist among the Bengali players of East Pakistan at that time.[1] His successes continued into university life in the areas of pole vault, hurdles and long jump events. He was the first to win a personal title in the inter-university sports competition in 1970. In the same year, he led a parade bearing the flag of the East Pakistan Sports Team at the 12th Pakistan National Games at the Karachi Hockey Club Ground.[3] Due to his success in athletics, he was selected as a member of the Pakistan team for the 1972 Munich Olympics.[1][2]
Political career (1970)
editMiraj Uddin studied social sciences at Dhaka University from 1969; he was the second year in 1970. At that time he was elected Sports Secretary of Haji Muhammad Muhsin Hall student council on behalf of Bangladesh Chhatra League.[4][5]
Participation in the War of Liberation (1971)
editMiraj Uddin returned to his village Vatikanda, after Operation Searchlight took place in Dhaka. In the first week of April 1971, along with his younger brother AKM Siraj Uddin, the freedom fighter organizer of Manikganj, led by former Captain Abdul Halim Chowdhury, joined the war of liberation and took part in the front line as a guerrilla.[2][4] One of the battles he took part in was the Golaidanga battle in Singair upazila.[6] He fought in the battle of Golaidanga on 26 October under the leadership of Tabarak Hossain Ludu. 81 Pakistani soldiers were killed in this battle.[1][7] On 2 November, he was caught by the Pakistan army while planting dynamite on the Baniajuri bridge on the Dhaka-Aricha highway.[4]
The Pakistani army did not leave him in the Manikganj prison camp but sent him to Dhaka Cantonment. He was later sent to Dhaka Central Jail.[4]
Disappearance
editOn the morning of 6 December 1971, Major Mostaq, the director of Al-Badr forces, released Miraj from Dhaka Central Jail and took him in a jeep. He has been missing since then.[1][2]
Honours and recognition
editAfter Bangladesh gained independence, the Manikganj District Stadium was named the Shaheed Miraj–Tapan Stadium after him and another martyred freedom fighter Tapan Chowdhury.[2][8][9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Nannu, Saifuddin Ahmed (27 December 2011). "বিস্মৃতির অতলে মানিকগঞ্জের শহীদ মিরাজ". banglanews24.com (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "পোলভল্টের লাঠি ছেড়ে অস্ত্র কাঁধে তুলে নিয়েছিলেন যে মুক্তিযোদ্ধা". The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 16 December 2013. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ a b "অলিম্পিকের মঞ্চ ছেড়ে মুক্তির লড়াই". RTV online (in Bengali). 16 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ a b c d "বালিরটেক সেতুর নাম 'শহীদ মিরাজ সেতু' করা দাবি". The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 4 July 2017. Archived from the original on 25 April 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ "শহীদ মিরাজ : পোলভল্টের মাঠ থেকে অস্ত্র কাঁধে এক মুক্তিযোদ্ধা". Barcik News Portal (in Bengali). 8 January 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ "মুক্তিযুদ্ধ ও মুক্তিযোদ্ধা – মানিকগঞ্জ জেলার গৌরবময় মুক্তিযুদ্ধের ইতিহাস". Manikganj District Official webportal (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
- ^ "Manikganj freed from occupation forces December 13 | New Age". New Age (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 22 November 2021. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ "মাঠ সংকটে মানিকগঞ্জ". Kalerkantho (in Bengali). 4 September 2015. Archived from the original on 12 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
- ^ Shah, Zahangir (9 August 2020). "A pipeline at risk of being clogged". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
