In remembrance of a brother I have lost
His memory is too fresh and too endearing to forget for a long time to come. Major General Syed Badruzzaman, a very dear friend and a close relative of mine, died suddenly of a massive cardiac arrest at the Dhaka Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in the evening on May 5 this year.
How could it happen and so soon, I began wondering. Earlier on the day, as we brought him to the hospital with complaint of severe pain in the region of his chest and shoulders, the doctor on duty in the emergency ward had his angiogram done and told us what none of us were prepared to hear. He said that Gen Badr, as he was popularly known, had a massive heart attack and that he had a similar heart attack about a year back. But strangely enough, none of the family members knew of the earlier heart attack. It is difficult to believe that Gen Badr did not know of the heart attack he had suffered earlier. Here was a man so healthy and so full of life. He said that he wanted to study MBBS and pursue a medical profession but somehow opted for the army career rather fortuitously. He never complained of any serious disease or illness in the last many years after we got to know each other closely following matrimonial relations forged between our two families; my younger son married his only daughter.
Gen Badr was more than a relative to me. We were like two brothers. I was senior to him both in age and service in the army. He was never found wanting in giving me the respect of an elder brother. Whenever we met and spoke to each other, he would address me as bhai with such warmth and spontaneity as if I was his real brother. Whenever I visited his house, he would be there, invariably standing near the elevator to receive me and come downstairs to see me off. Of course we differed with each other on many issues and on many an occasion but he was always respectful towards me. This probably had something to do with his upbringing and the values he grew up with in the family.
Gen Badr was a brilliant officer of the Bangladesh Army. Even as a Captain, he served as an instructor in the Anti-Aircraft Artillery School in Pakistan Army. In the Bangladesh Army, he would be remembered most for the magnificent role he played in shaping and moulding Gentleman Cadets at the Bangladesh Military Academy (BMA) into officers during his tenure as an instructor and the Commandant of BMA. His cadets are now senior officers in command and staff in different echelons of the Bangladesh Army. What could be a more befitting reward and achievement for a senior officer than this?
In his own right he should have climbed up further in his career in the army. But that was not to be in a country like ours. He was retired when he had more years to serve in the army and the country. He would often lament about the way his career was cut short. But his eyes would light up as I consoled him and asked him to look at the gentleman cadets he had turned into officers and commanders in the army.
As he was my junior, it would have been fitting had he been living today to survive me and write an obituary on me someday. But instead, I am now writing about him which pains me the most. After all, who can defy destiny?
The writer is former Military Secretary to the President.