S. M. Abul Kalam Azad (admiral)

Sheikh Muhammad Abul Kalam Azad^[a] (born April 30, 1967) is a retired two star officer of Bangladesh Navy and former commander Dhaka Naval Area, an assignment he uphold before as Naval Administrator Dhaka. Prior that, he was high commissioner of Bangladesh to Maldives. He is also the former Commander of Bangladesh navy fleet^[4] and Chairman of Chittagong Port Authority,^[5]Mongla port Authority.^[6][7]

Rear Admiral Abul Kalam Azad BSP, NGP
Azad in Malé (2023)
Bangladesh High Commissioner to the Maldives
In office 6 April 2022[1] – 10 August 2024[2]
President	Mohammad Abdul Hamid Mohammed Shahabuddin
Prime Minister	Sheikh Hasina Muhammad Yunus (acting)
Preceded by	Mohammad Nazmul Hassan
Succeeded by	Mohammad Sohel Parvez (acting)
Personal details
Born	(1967-04-30) April 30, 1967 (age 58) Kumarkhali, East Pakistan, Pakistan
Spouse	Begum Naomee Nahreen Azad
Children	2
Awards	Bisishtho Sheba Padak (BSP) Nou Gourobh Padak (NGP)
Military service
Allegiance	Bangladesh
Branch/service	Bangladesh Navy
Years of service	1987 – 2025
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands	Commander, Dhaka Naval Area (COMDHAKA) Commander, BN Fleet (COMBAN) Chairman of Chattogram Port Authority Chairman of Mongla Port Authority Commander, Naval Administrative Authority Dhaka (ADMIN DHAKA)
Battles/wars	UNIKOM UNMEE UNIFIL
Police career
Unit	Rapid Action Battalion[3]
Allegiance	Bangladesh
Branch	Bangladesh Police
Service years	2006–2009
Rank	Director

Early life and education

Azad was born into the Bengali Muslim at Mohendrapur village of Kumarkhali in then East Pakistan (now in Khulna Division, Bangladesh) on April 30, 1967^[5] to Sheikh Osman Gani and Khadeza Begum. He is an alumnus of the pioneer batch of Pabna Cadet College. Azad joined Bangladesh navy in January 1985 and was commissioned in executive branch as a gunnery officer on 1 July 1987. During his career, Azad attended in Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth and finished his initial staff course from Royal Naval College, Greenwich in United Kingdom. He furthermore did a gunnery specialization course from the Turkish Naval Academy in Istanbul on 1996. Azad completed his command and staff course from Defence Services Command and Staff College in 2000 and National Defence College in 2016. He also completed an International humanitarian law course in India and attended Executive Decision Making seminar from Naval Postgraduate School in United States.^[8]

Military career

Azad commanded two warships, two offshore vessel, one small patrol boat and the naval administrative authority at Dhaka. He was designated as staff officer of naval Training, staff officer operations and officer in charge of field intelligence at BNS Titumir. Azad was also the officer in charge of Gunnery School at BNS Issa Khan. Azad was also additional director for legal and media at Rapid Action Battalion. At naval headquarters, Azad served as director of naval intelligence and drafting authority. Azad also served at the Armed Forces Division as director of civil and military relations in the rank of commodore. He was promoted to rear admiral on 2020 and designated as chairman of Mongla Port Authority and then Chittagong Port Authority. He was removed due to motion of incompetence by the Ministry of Shipping, and returned to navy for commanding the Bangladesh naval fleet in January 2021. In 23 February 2022, he appointed as the high commissioner of Maldives which he served until August 10, 2024 in which the Yunus Ministry detached him from Ministry of foreign affairs in the aftermath of non-cooperation movement of 2024.^[9] Azad went to leave per retirement on 29 April 2025.^[10]

References

Footnotes

1. (G), BSP, NGP, ndc, psc, BN