Fakhruddin Ahmed, one of Bangladesh's most capable and distinguished diplomats had passed away this day four years ago.He was a career Foreign Service officer of 1954 batch and had served as Foreign Secretary twice, first time from October 1973 to November 1975 and again from 1986 to 1987. He had also served as Bangladesh Ambassador to Italy and Yugoslavia and as High Commissioner to UK.

After his retirement from service, he was called to serve as an Adviser for Foreign Affairs to Acting President Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed in 1990-1991. As a member of election observer group, he observed elections in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, India, Zambia and Guyana and also participated in the United Nations Observer Mission to South Africa.

I first met this distinguished gentleman in October 1969 at the Pakistan Foreign Ministry in Islamabad during the on-the-job training of my batch. Fakhruddin had returned to Headquarters a year ago after serving in Jeddah, New York, Tehran and Accra. He was then working as Director (Research and Consular welfare).

After his friend and batch mate SAMS Kibria left for Washington on a diplomatic assignment, he took over as Director (Personnel) in the Pakistan Foreign Ministry. Naturally, as probationers our interactions with him increased. He was a low profile, high performance diplomat. His professional skill and managerial capabilities were of very high standard. He was also a fierce nationalist, always trying to protect the interest of Bengalis.

In all Ministries of the then Pakistan Central Government, the ratio of Bengali officers had been well below the quota of parity. In Foreign Ministry, there was some effort to maintain the parity in the apex cadre, Pakistan Foreign Service (PFS), from mid-sixties. Yet the total number of Bengali officers in PFS was only a quarter of the cadre. In addition, the number of Bengalis in non-diplomatic posts was even smaller. Kibria initiated the process of hiring of more Bengalis and Fakhuruddin accelerated it. Within a short time, the Bengali quota at least in respect of class 1V was filled up.

Furthermore, in respect of postings, majority of Bengali officials used to face discrimination and were not given good postings. When my batch's turn came for overseas posting, Fakhruddin, strictly enforced the system of inter-wing parity. For example, he proposed my name for Washington DC and a West Pakistani for New York. Likewise, he proposed two Bengalis and two Pakistanis for postings in Europe. The same pattern was followed in respect of postings in other regions.

The West Pakistani colleagues did not like this system. They started using their influence to change the postings but Fakhruddin stood like a rock and did not allow any interference in his domain. His immediate boss Mufti Abbas, a Pathan, fully supported him. It was indeed a courageous step as all our West Pakistani colleagues had relations and well-wishers in high places in the then Pakistan Government.

After the independence of Bangladesh, Fakhruddin returned to Bangladesh through Afghanistan some time in early 1973, and took over as Additional Foreign Secretary. After the death of Mr. Enayet Karim in February 1974, he first took over as Acting Foreign Secretary and then he was given the substantive rank in November 1974. His excellent memoirs entitled "Critical Times" gives a graphic account of the role he played during the crucial years of our nationhood. After 15 August 1975, he had problem with the Khondokar Mushtaque Government and was sent out as Ambassador to Italy. The book is an important document of that period and I believe every Bangladeshi diplomat should read it to learn about the role of the Foreign Ministry during that crucial period.

In his book Fakhruddin had several times mentioned the names of our two distinguished diplomats, Ambassador AKH Morshed and Ambassador Abul Ahsan, who were Directors-General at that time for their major contributions.

Fakhruddin was a caring senior colleague and I would like to recollect some of my personal interactions with him. I came to Dhaka in the summer of 1974 from Washington DC on home leave. That was the busiest year for the Foreign Ministry as 12 Heads of State and Government had visited Dhaka that year alone. In fact, I called on Fakhruddin in his office just after the visit of Indian President Giri and just before the visit of Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto.

It was a pure protocol visit but to my pleasant surprise, he asked me to join him for a cup of tea in the evening. Then he added, "Bring your wife along, Helen will be there". They were staying in two rooms in the Circuit House at that time. This goes to show how much he cared for junior officers.

My next encounter with him was in 1980 when I was serving as Director (International Organizations) in the Foreign Ministry. Foreign Secretary Kibria and I were scheduled to attend Commonwealth Senior Official Meeting (SOM) in Nicosia, Cyprus. Traditionally, Foreign Secretaries or Principal Secretaries attend the SOM, but something unforeseen happened and it was not possible for Kibria to leave Dhaka at that time. Kibria decided Fakhruddin, who was our Ambassador in Belgrade, should replace him. I reached Nicosia via London while Fakhruddin reached there via Athens.

When I reached the designated hotel in Nicosia late in the evening, I found Fakhruddin was waiting for me. He was tired, yet he went over the entire briefing and the draft statement that evening. Being away from headquarters for five years, he felt he needed to bring himself up-to-date on Commonwealth activities. He was his usual totally unassuming, unpretentious self.

It was a pleasure to work with him. We attended the meetings during the day, and went to the social engagements, returning to hotel late in the evening. But every morning, I would find him waiting for me in the lobby to have breakfast together. It was a tough time for him at the personal level, as his wife was battling with cancer at that time and he had to take her to London every other month for treatment. Even in those trying moments he was cool and composed.

After attending the Commonwealth Meeting, we left Nicosia for Athens on our way to respective places of posting. He asked me in the aircraft if I have been to Athens before. When I answered in the negative, he decided he would give me a guided tour. As Greece was under his concurrent accreditation, our Honorary Consul General in Athens had sent a car for him. He spent the day showing me all the famous archeological sites in that historic city, paid the entrance fees, gave me a fabulous lunch at a traditional Greek restaurant, and then finally dropped me off at my hotel. Earlier on arrival in Athens, he had asked the local Biman Manager to arrange a decent hotel for me. I was simply overwhelmed by the kindness of this gentleman.

My next encounter with him was in New York in 1982 when he had come from London where he was our High Commissioner, to attend the UN General Assembly. I was then posted in our Permanent Mission in New York. We were terribly busy that year with Chairmanship of Group of 77, and he single-handedly dealt with our participation at the First Committee for the first three weeks. He joked with us that "this G-77 Chairmanship is a major responsibility and you fellows have taken a bigger bite than you can chew.

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Before leaving for London he fully briefed me about the ongoing deliberations in the First Committee, as I was the delegate to that Committee. He was leaving for London on a Saturday evening and he insisted that there was no need to see him off at the airport. However, I and my junior colleague Basharat Ali [currently working at FAO] picked him up from his hotel for the airport.

While checking his baggage, the airline staff found that the bag was unusually heavy and wanted to know what it contained. Fakhruddin opened his suitcase; to our utter surprise, we saw that it was full of books. He sheepishly confided to us that a few days ago he had gone to "Strand", a famous bookshop in lower Manhattan and could not resist his temptation. The airline staff smiled and passed it.

I next met Fakhruddin in Bangalore in 1986 when he had come to attend the second SAARC Summit as Foreign Secretary. I was posted In New Delhi at that time. As Bangladesh had hosted the last Summit, he chaired the inaugural session of the Standing Committee and then passed on the gavel to Indian Foreign Secretary A.P.Venkateswaran. While in Bangalore, I could see that he was finding it difficult to adjust to the whims of his higher authorities. Within a few months he quit his job. He was offered High Commissionership in a relatively unimportant station, which he flatly refused. Curiously, Venkateswaran also resigned in early 1987 in view of his policy disagreement with his Head of Government.

However, within three years the table turned, Fakhruddin triumphantly returned to the Foreign Ministry as an Adviser to the Acting President in 2000. It was a critical time and, if he had not been in charge at that time a number of our colleagues, who were close to the previous regime, would have faced serious difficulties.

The last time I spoke to him was in June 2001 when he was recuperating in his daughter's house in Pittsburgh. Fakhruddin was battling with cancer and was in great pains. Yet he was in great spirits. He was happy about my taking over as Foreign Secretary and enquired about all our colleagues in the Foreign Service.

I will always remember Fakhruddin as a kind, sympathetic and caring senior colleague. He was a perfect gentleman, and behind his unassuming outward appearance was a cool, composed, thorough professional. I pay tribute to this great diplomat and pray for the salvation of his soul.

Syed Muazzem Ali is a former Foreign Secretary.