General Mustafiz
It is with great sadness that we took the news of the recent death of former chief of Army Staff General Muhammad Mustafizur Rahman, Bir Bikram(may his soul rest in peace). General Mustafiz was, among other things, a fine gentleman, a knowledgeable person, an expert in his field, a pleasant personality, a good orator, a good host and a good listener. Ms. Sarwar Sultana - a former acting cabinet minister (internal administration) of the United Nations administered East Timor and I have had the opportunity to meet the General and his family on a number of occasions during his life time.
In the year 2000, General Mustafiz visited East Timor as the head of the Bangladesh Army. One of the purposes of his visit was to assess and determine in person - how much effective and efficient his engineers battalion was when it came to the battalion's performance in the UN administered territory, I mean East Timor.
In the course of that visit, he enquired about the welfare of battalion members, dined and spent time with them, got himself familiar with challenges his forces had been facing in rebuilding East Timor, discussed relevant matters with the UN administration, influential political leaders and concerned others, reiterated Bangladesh's support for East Timor's rebuilding efforts, and motivated battalion members for better performance via forums such as the darbar, to mention a few.
I can still remember how much pleased he was when he heard about (from the UN administration and other sources) and witnessed in real terms the quantity and the quality of contributions the Bangladeshi forces had been making towards rebuilding East Timor's physical infra-structure.
In fine, I pray to Almighty Allah for the departed soul. May the Almighty give his family and concerned others the strength and courage to bear the irreparable loss.
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