Sabihuddin Ahmed | |
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Allegiance | ![]() ![]() |
Service/ | |
Years of service | 1961-1986 |
Rank |
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Unit | Corps of Engineers |
Commands held |
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Battles/wars | Bangladesh Liberation War |
Other work |
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Sabihuddin Ahmed was a Brigadier General of the Bangladesh Army. [1] He has previously served in the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini. He was the founding chairman of Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board, the largest power distribution company in Bangladesh. [2] [3]
After the Independence of Bangladesh, President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman appointed Ahmed to the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini led by Brigadier General A. N. M. Nuruzzaman. [4] The Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini was a special paramilitary force composed of veterans of Bangladesh Liberation War. [5] [6] The force was assimilated into the Bangladesh Army after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the 15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état. [7] In 1977, President Ziaur Rahman asked Ahmed to head the recently established Rural Electrification Board. [4] [8] He agreed on the condition that he would have complete autonomy to operate the organization. [4] He was appointed chairman of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board. [9] The United States Agency for International Development provided US$50 million at the beginning of the program. [9] The Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, Kuwait, and Finland provided US$280 million in additional funding. [9] The Government of Bangladesh provided an additional US$132 million. [9]
Ahmed served as the chairman of Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board from 2 January 1978 to 25 June 1986 and was replaced by Brigadier General Mohammad Abdul Halim. [10] He met Senator Larry Lee Pressler on his tour of Dhaka in 1985. [1]
Ahmed received a heart transplant in the United States with the help of United States National Co-Operatives of Rural Electrification, partner agency of the Rural Electrification Board official, James Cudney. [4]
Ahmed died on 30 May 2008 in Maryland, United States. [4] There is a Brigadier General Sabihuddin Ahmed Hall at the Rural Electrification Board headquarters in Dhaka. [11]