The Daily Star
On March 5, the government announced the recipients of the country’s highest civilian honour, the Independence Award, naming 15 distinguished individuals and five institutions. Khaleda Zia was listed first, while Faujdarhat Cadet College was placed second for its contribution to the Liberation War.
Faujdarhat Cadet College is widely known for its academic and extracurricular excellence. However, its role in the liberation of Bangladesh remained relatively unknown until this recognition.
Founded as the East Pakistan Cadet College, the institution began functioning in April 1958. I joined the college as a Class VII student in January 1959 and left after completing my HSC examinations in May 1965. The college was established to prepare officers for Pakistan’s armed forces and was modelled after British public schools.
The founding principal was a New Zealander, Lt Col William Maurice Brown. A Cambridge University graduate with a master’s degree in geography, Brown was an avid outdoorsman, mountaineer and United Nations peacekeeper. He took pride in the achievement of his countryman Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest in 1953.
Brown strongly emphasised excellence in both academics and sports. Students were required to participate in activities such as football, cricket, hockey, basketball and athletics. Rugby, a favourite in New Zealand, was also encouraged. In just seven years, from 1958 to 1965, Brown transformed the fledgling institution into one of the finest educational establishments in the subcontinent.
He coined the college’s first motto: “Love your country, tell the truth, and don’t dawdle.” Later, he shortened it to “Deeds, not words.”
The college was barely 12 years old when the Liberation War began in March 1971. By that time, there were only 374 alumni. Yet when the first part of the motto, “Love your country” called, the Faujians responded with remarkable commitment.
More than 50 alumni joined the Mukti Bahini, a disproportionately high number given the small pool of students at the time. Eleven of them received gallantry awards.
Tragically, eight Faujians laid down their lives during the war: Major M A Khaleque (Batch 1); Captain A K M Nurul Absar (Batch 2); Mosharraf Hossain (Batch 3); Lt Anwar Hossain Bir Uttam (Batch 7); Badrul Alam Bir Bikram (Batch 7); Captain Shamsul Huda (Batch 7); Mufti M Kashed (Batch 8); and Second Lt Rafique A Sarkar (Batch 10).
Faujdarhat Cadet College’s Independence Award was therefore earned with blood, and richly deserved.
It is also reasonable to assume that the alumni’s broader achievements contributed to the institution receiving the honour. When the Dhaka Board’s SSC (Humanities) results were announced in 1963, five of the top ten positions were secured by my classmates, including the top three.
Academic excellence has since become routine for Faujdarhat Cadet College. The institution has set a gold standard for achievement in many fields.
Its alumni include distinguished professors, vice chancellors, ambassadors, ministers, army chiefs, actors, captains of national sports teams, journalists and Bangladesh’s first two Rhodes Scholars.
Take a bow, my fellow alumni of Faujdarhat Cadet College. The nation has honoured you.
I would also like to pay tribute to a few other Independence Award recipients whom I knew or admired. Dr Zafrullah Choudhury, founder of Gonoshastho Kendra, was someone I deeply respected. I am also delighted that my late uncle, the brilliant student, patriotic civil servant and distinguished literary figure Kazi Fazlur Rahman, received the award.
I have long enjoyed Bashir Ahmed’s Bangla and Urdu songs and Hanif Sanket’s comedy sketches. It is heartening to see them receive national recognition as well.
Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed is the first Rhodes Scholar from Bangladesh and a former student of Faujdarhat Cadet College (Batch 6, 1959–1965).
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/faujdarhat-cadet-college-richly-deserving-recipient-the-independence-award-2026-4125331
