In 1992, I was commanding an infantry battalion in the Dhaka brigade. At the time, Maj. Gen. Lehrasab Khan (later Lt. Gen.) of the Pakistan Army and Commandant, Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) at Kakul, visited Bangladesh. As his Conducting Officer, I accompanied him throughout his stay in Bangladesh.
1 EB’s nom de plume is Senior Tiger. It is an age-old worldwide tradition to have a nom de plume for each battalion in all the armies. To date, officers and men commissioned and posted in 1 EB are considered to be extremely fortunate because of the very rich traditions and heritage of this battalion. Being the first battalion of the East Bengal Regiment, it is the proud possession of all Bengalis since pre-liberation time to date. Like all other officers and men, Gen. Lehrasab was also a blind follower and front liner of the Senior Tigers.
Maj. Gen. Lehrasab along with Maj. Gen. (retd.) Abdus Salam, RCDS, PSC (coursemate) was initially commissioned in 4 EB, which was being raised at Comilla Cantonment. Later, due to some reason, Gen. Lehrasab was posted to 1 EB. Although he was a non-Bengali officer, Gen. Lehrasab was a very popular and active member of 1 EB. Out of love and affection, Senior Tigers used to call him Lehri Saab. During the Liberation War 1971, Gen. Lehrasab (then Maj. Lehrasab) was with 1 EB at Jessore Cantonment. He left 1 EB quite late during the Liberation War. It is heard that Bengali officers of 1 EB told Maj. Lehrasab that they would not kill him and asked him to run away. Maj. Lehrasab left 1 EB and joined Baluch Regiment (a Pakistani Unit) in the Jessore area and fought against the Senior Tigers. Towards the end of the Liberation War, Maj. Lehrasab was evacuated to Pakistan when he sustained a serious injury in a mine blast. To conduct the whole visit of Gen. Lehrasab, I underwent several briefings. But, I was alarmed by the security briefing from the desk officer of the Military Intelligence Directorate. I was told that the visiting General is a high-risk man in Bangladesh because of his role during the Liberation War. At the same time, I was instructed that all his requests must also be met because he was a very popular member of Senior Tigers. It was a real dilemma for me as a Conducting Officer.
Gen. Lehrasab was accommodated in Hotel Sonargaon. On his arrival, he handed me a long list of Senior Tigers and their families whom he wished to meet. As a ‘Tiger’ officer, I have no shame to admit that at that time, even I haven’t had the opportunity to meet some of those senior officers. No doubt, it was a Herculean task for me to balance Gen. Lehrasab’s wishes and the guidelines of the Military Intelligence Directorate.
Gen. Lehrasab’s schedule used to start at dawn and last very late into the night. In those days, for me, paracetamol (a pain killer) and an antihistamine tablet was a must before retiring every night. His daily schedule was a surprise for me when I saw the depth of his understanding about Regimentation and Comradeship for Senior Tigers, irrespective of rank and file. Every day’s program was a new experience for me. One evening, Gen. Lehrasab was to call on Mrs A.T.K. Haque, wife of late Col. A.T.K. Haque, SJ, a very senior ‘Tiger’ officer. For some reason, we were half an hour late. On arrival at Mrs Haque’s residence, we were asked by the caretaker to wait in the drawing-room. After waiting for about forty minutes, Mrs Haque appeared and welcomed us by saying, ‘Lehrasab, was this your sense of timing at this age and service?’ I kept mum while Gen. Lehrasab tried very hard to find suitable words to apologize. However, after a few moments, the tense situation became normal. On our way back, Gen. Lehrasab told me, ‘you see Noor, we had to wait for the Madam for forty minutes for half an hour late arrival there.” Gen. Lehrasab called on Gen. Afsar (now deceased; actual name of this Bangladeshi ‘Senior Tiger’ has been withheld) at his residence.
Gen. Afsar was senior to Gen. Lehrasab. While reminiscing about their young years, Gen. Afsar related the story of how he got married. When the marriage proposal was sent to the girl’s family, Gen. Afsar was asked to think for a year or so by the girl before taking the final decision to marry her. That became a very hot subject in the battalion at that time. Considering it a prestige issue, Gen. Afsar asked all the junior officers in the battalion including Gen. Lehrasab to produce at least one draft ‘love letter’ each fortnight. Out of those, the edited final one used to be sent to the prospective bride. This standing operating procedure of exchanging beautiful ‘love letters’ continued for one complete year without fail and ultimately the marriage took place.
Since then, Gen. Afsar spent a happily married life. On his last day in Bangladesh, Gen. Lehrasab again made a farewell visit to Gen. Afsar. That day we were very late for the visit due to other commitments. It was past midnight when we knocked on the door; Gen. Afsar along with his son opened the door. On seeing Gen. Lehrasab, Gen. Afsar laughed loudly and told his son, ‘here comes “The Senior Tiger”-may he be very old and very late.’ He further added ‘A “Senior Tiger” never misses/forgets appointments even if it is too late at night.’ Gen. Afsar’s son nodded his head only. Gen. Afsar also gave a victorious posture in front of us! Subsequently, talks about Senior Tigers continued late into the night, eventually I had to remind Gen. Lehrasab that he was to leave for the airport early the next morning!
Gen. Lehrasab also visited a place named Churamonkathi near Jessore where one of the biggest tank-battle was fought during the Liberation War 1971. Here Gen. Lehrasab took an active part with his Pakistani Battalion and got injured and evacuated to Pakistan. During that visit in the field, he told me that he would like to meet a 1 EB’s retired Bengali soldier named Lance Naik (now Lance Corporal) Dalil Uddin (presently canteen contractor of CMH, Dhaka) who was seriously injured by a bomb blast during Indo-Pak war in 1965. I passed the request to the desk officer of the Military Intelligence Directorate and they confirmed that the individual would be available at the Tejgaon helipad when Gen. Lehrasab returns to Dhaka. At the helipad, I witnessed a very emotional and moving scene. Gen. Lehrasab got down from the helicopter and embraced retired Lance Naik Dalil Uddin. Both of them kept on weeping like children, while everybody around them was mum. Breaking the silence, Gen. Lehrasab said, ‘Dalil, seeing you alive, one of the aims of my life has been fulfilled today.’ What Gen. Lehrasab meant is only known to him. At that time, sitting in the car, on the way back to Hotel Sonargaon, I kept on asking myself what is this comradeship? This fellow feeling for those ‘Men at Arms’ we command? Retired Lance Naik Dalil Uddin was a very close comrade of Gen. Lehrasab as they were in the same rifle company in Senior Tiger. Still, these million-dollar questions haunt me now and then, but I have no answers to those questions as yet. However, the saying ‘a Soldiers never dies, he fades away’ offers some Solace- may be that is what it is
May Allah (SWT) Bless us all – Aameen
