IT'S an utterly haunting recollection of my lost son Shaheed Colonel Quadrat Elahi Rahman Shafique, ndc, psc. From his very childhood he appeared to be extremely sharp and meritorious. He was known as one of the most brilliant officers in the Bangladesh Army.
Finishing his studies at Jhenaidah Cadet College he joined the Bangladesh Military Academy (BMA) and commissioned on 10th June 1983. While undergoing his military training in Bhatiary he stood first in B.Sc. from Chittagong University. Then he continued his career as an officer of 3 East Bengal.
He went to the UN Peace Keeping Mission in Bosnia for one year. Soon after his return he was posted as Brigade Major (BM) in 69 Infantry Brigade in Bandarban just for a few months. Meanwhile, he appeared for the examination for Defense Services Command & Staff College (DSCSC) for PSC. For his outstanding result in DSCSC, he was sent to Malaysia for doing his second staff course for a year.
He was one of three officers who went to the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) under University of Dhaka qualifying through its competitive intake examination. In the two-year regular course Elahi stood first in MBA (Marketing) bringing glory to the Bangladesh Army. Later, Elahi was posted to MIST as an Instructor for the MBA course. He was promoted to Full Colonel in 2007 and posted as Senior Instructor (SI) in the Staff College.
A few months later he was sent to Sudan in the UN Peace Keeping Mission as Sector Commander for one year. While in Sudan, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon decorated him with the Medal of Gallantry which only a few officers of the UN Peace Mission have received.
He successfully completed his NDC in December 2008. While doing his NDC course he completed M.Phil from Dhaka University aiming to do his Ph.D at a suitable time.
On 11th of January 2009, as a full Colonel he joined as Sector Commander of BDR in Dinajpur Sector (being there for only 1 month and 10 days). He came to Dhaka for the BDR Annual Conference on 21st February 2009. As ill-luck would have it, the hellish BDR carnage occurred on February 25 in Pilkhana, Dhaka. Among others he was also a hostage in the Darbar Hall, shot in his head and left this world forever.
