 Mohammad Ruhul Amin | |
|---|---|
| Native name | মোহাম্মদ রুহুল আমিন |
| Born | 5 June 1935 |
| Died | 10 December 1971(1971-12-10) (aged 36) Rupsha River,Khulna, Bangladesh |
| Allegiance |  Pakistan (before 1971) Bangladesh |
| Branch |  Pakistan Navy Bangladesh Navy |
| Years of service | 1953 - 1971 |
| Rank | Engine Room Artificer |
| Known for | Freedom Fighter[1] |
| Battles / wars | Bangladesh Liberation War † |
| Awards |  Bir Sreshtho |
| Children | 5 |
Mohammad Ruhul AminBS (Bengali:মোহাম্মদ রুহুল আমিন; June 5, 1935 – 10 December 1971) was anengine room artificer in theBangladesh Navy who was posthumously awarded the Bangladesh's highest bravery awardBir Sreshtho, for his service and bravery during theLiberation War.[2]
He was killed on 10 December 1971 while on board BNSPalash, which was sunk in accidental bombing byIndian Air Force.
Bir Shrestho Ruhul Amin was born in 1935 at Bagpanchra village under what is nowSonaimuri Upazila ofNoakhali district.[3] His father was Mohammad Azhar Patwari and mother was Zulekha Khatun.
At the start of Bangladesh Liberation War withOperation Searchlight, Amin immediately resigned from the Pakistan Navy, left PNSComilla at Chittagong, and returned to his village.[4] He organized local youths and soldiers for the war. In May, he along with 500 others joined at Sector-3 under MajorK M Shafiullah. Later he enrolled atPalash, a warship of Bangladesh Navy and at the same time worked as the squadron leader for both warshipsPadma andPalash.
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 namedPadma andPalash 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 warshipPalash. 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 awaitingRazakars.[3]
Ro Ro FerryBir Shreshtha Ruhul Amin was named after him.[7] The Bangladesh Navy warshipBNSShaheed Ruhul Amin is named after him.[3] Bir Shrestha Ruhul Amin Sarani is a road inSaidpur Cantonment,Saidpur,Nilphamari which is named after him.[8]Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium in Chittagong is named after him.[9]
He had three daughters and two sons.
