Mohammad Ruhul Amin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Engine Room Artificer
Known forFreedom Fighter[1]
Battles/warsBangladesh Liberation War  
Awards Bir Sreshtho

Mohammad Ruhul Amin BS (Bengali: মোহাম্মদ রুহুল আমিন; 1935–1971), was an engine room artificer in the Bangladesh Navy who was posthumously awarded the Bangladesh's highest bravery award, Bir Sreshtho, for his service and bravery during the Liberation War.[2]

He was killed on 10 December 1971 while on board BNS Palash, which was sunk in reportedly bombing by Pakistan Navy (PN).[3]

Early life

Bir Shrestho Ruhul Amin was born in 1935 at Bagpanchra village under what is now

Noakhali district.[4]
His father was Mohammad Azhar Patwari and mother was Zulekha Khatun.

Involvement in the Liberation War

Ruhul Amin's tomb

At the start of Bangladesh Liberation War with

K M Shafiullah
. Later he enrolled at Palash, a warship of Bangladesh Navy and at the same time worked as the squadron leader for both warships Padma and Palash.

On 10 December 1971, during the concluding days of the Bangladesh Liberation War, an incident occurred at the Rupsha river in Khulna.[5] In a successful campaign of the allied Bangladesh and Indian naval forces, after freeing Jessore, the ships were advancing towards capturing the Titumir naval base from the Pakistan Navy. Two of the warships of the Bangladesh Navy/Mukti Bahini named Padma and Palash mistakenly came under fire from the Indian Air Force as it crossed the river Rupsha near the Khulna shipyard. According to some other witnesses, Indian Air Force fired at different places of Khunla city earlier that day and incidentally one of those bombs had fallen at the warship Palash. Ruhul Amin was working as an artificer of that ship. Both ships caught fire.[6] As a result of heavy bombing, the engine room in the warship caught fire and in a bid to save the ship, Ruhul Amin tried to extinguish it, ignoring orders to abandon the ship. But the engine room was under fire again and another shell exploded which injured Ruhul Amin which convinced him to abandon the ship. He jumped into the water and swam ashore but was attacked and killed with bayonets by the awaiting Razakars.[4]

Legacy

Ro Ro Ferry Bir Shreshtha Ruhul Amin was named after him.

Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong is named after him.[9]

He had three daughters and two sons.

References

  1. ^ "War heroes honoured". The Daily Star. UNB. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. ^ Zahir, Qazi Sajjad Ali (2012). "Amurl=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Amin,_Birsrestha_Mohammad_Ruhul". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  3. ^ a b "Day to remember a Bir Shreshtha". The Daily Star. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Bir Shrestha Ruhul Amin's death anniv today". New Age. Dhaka. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Bir Shreshtha Ruhul Amin Day observed in Noakhali". English News Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  6. ^ "During Liberation War". Bangladesh Navy. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Traffic chaos before Eid". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  8. ^ "Trust Bank Limited". atm.web.com.bd. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Stadium / Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium". The Cricket Sport. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.