Harun Ahmed Chowdhury is a retired ambassador and lieutenant general of the Bangladesh Army. He was the first High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the Maldives. He had served as the ambassador of Bangladesh to Cyprus and Serbia. He is a veteran of the Bangladesh Liberation War and was awarded Bir Uttom, the second-highest military award for individual gallantry.[1]
Chowdhury was a captain of the 17th wing of the East Pakistan Rifles.[2] [3] [4] He fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 after rebelling against Pakistan Army in Kaptai region where he was stationed.[5] [6] He commanded a company of East Pakistan Rifles and was ordered by Major General Ziaur Rahman to remain with the 8th East Bengal Regiment.[7] He was injured while fighting in the battle of Kalurghat and had to be stitched up by a veterinarian doctor. His second his command, Lieutenant Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury was captured during the battle by the 3rd Commando Battalion of the Special Service Group of the Pakistan Army.[8] [9] He was awarded the Bir Uttom, the second-highest military award for individual gallantry.
At the time of the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman in 1981, Chowdhury was the director of military intelligence.[10] He wrote the announcement for the murder of General Muhammed Abul Manzur, suspect in the assassination of the president, with input from chief of general staff Major General Nuruddin Khan.
Chowdhury was the defence attache at the High Commission of Bangladesh to the United Kingdom in 1985.[11] He was appointed the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Cyprus in 1988.[12] He was the ambassador of Bangladesh to Serbia in 1992.[13] He was the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Zimbabwe in 1996.[14]
In 1998, Chowdhury was appointed the High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Maldives, the first High Commissioner to be stationed in the Maldives.[15]
In July 2007, as a member of the Freedom Fighters People's Council, Chowdhury asked the caretaker government of Bangladesh to publish a list of veterans of Bangladesh Liberation War.[16]
Chowdhury was invited to Kolkata in December 2023 by the government of India on the occasion of Vijoy Dibas.[17]