Md. Habibur Rahman :
Dr. M. A. Wazed Miah is a renowned nuclear scientist and physicist. He was born on February 16, 1942 in a respectable Muslim family in Rangpur. Dr. Wazed was the youngest son of four sons and three daughters of Late Abdul Quader Miah and Late Mrs. Moyajunnesa. His family members are honored as well for contributing to the social and political sectors of Bangladesh. Wazed Miah was also known as “Sudha Miah” to his family members.
Sudha Miah completed his primary and secondary degrees from outstanding educational institutes of Rangpur. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree from the Department of Physics of Dhaka University in 1961. Later, he completed his Master of Science degree in 1962.
He accomplished a diploma course in Imperial College, London in 1963-64. Finally, he obtained his PhD degree in Physics from Durham University, England. He worked under the supervision of Professor E. J. Squires, where his thesis was on ‘the Bootstrap Hypothesis in Theoretical Particle Physics.”
Dr. Wazed was an active political activist during his student life in Dhaka. He joined the Chhatra League in 1961. He was the Vice President of the Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall Unit of the East Pakistan Muslim Chhatra League in Dhaka. He met the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the first time on February 02, 1962. He was arrested for leading the procession and protest against the Field Marshal General Mohammad Ayub Khan Regime, Pakistan’s first military dictator.
After completing his education with a PhD degree, he got married with Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, now the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, on November 17, 1967. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman welcomed the newly weds in front of jail gate and presented a Rolex Watch to his son-in-law as a gift after the marriage day. Dr. Wazed and Sheikh Hasina have been blessed with a son and a daughter, Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Saima Wazed Putul respectively. Sajeeb Wazed Joy is now the ICT Affairs Adviser of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Saima Wazed Putul is an autism expert and vice-chairperson of the Centre for Research and Information (CRI). After the tragic 15th August incident of 1975, Dr. Wazed played a supportive and careful role for his family members during the exile period with patience and bravery.
Dr. Wazed is also famous for his well-known research and writings. He has eight publications in sciences, politics, and social sciences. His writings were published in many national and international journals. The University Press Limited published his two books in Bangla namely ‘Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibke Gheere Kichu Ghatona o Bangladesh’ and ‘Bangladesher Rajneeti o Sarkarer Chalchitra’. According to many national and international scholars, his two publications — Fundamentals of Electromagnetics (1982) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (1988) are notable works. Dr. Wazed wrote Fundamentals of Thermodynamics for Physics, Applied Physics, Chemistry, and Engineer students. It has 600 (six hundred) pages. His publications are masterpieces for the researchers, writers, and apprentices of the respective fields.
Dr. Wazed attended numerous national and international conferences to contribute his thoughts on sciences and research. The International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, awarded him an associateship in 1969. Therefore, he was actively involved in research for every six months in 1969, 1973, and 1983. He was also a postdoctoral fellow at Daresbury Nuclear Laboratory, Washington DC, USA, from November 1969 to October 1970. Dr. M. A. Wazed Miah did the groundwork of Rooppur Nuclear Plant Project to implement in 1997. His dream comes true as the nuclear power plant is now under processing.
Dr. M. A. Wazed Miah passed away in Dhaka on May 09, 2009. His graveyard is located at Laldighee Fatehpur village in Pirganj Upazila in Rangpur. People from all walks of life visit the place and pay homage to his cemetery to respect his memories. Social, political, and educational institutes have organized different events and prayers to commemorate his sacrifices and memories in different places of the country.
Some educational institutes have already established some research institutes after his name. Jahangirnagar University founded the Wazed Miah Science Research Center on May 30, 2009. However, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur established Dr. Wazed Research and Training Institute in 2009. National and foreign research fellows are doing their research studies in these institutes.
He was a versatile and prominent public figure. Now the time is for the respective authorities to allocate more funds in science-based projects and research institutions to implement Dr. M. A. Wazed Miah’s dream and other societal challenges taken by him.
(Habibur Rahman is a writer).
