a further posting as third secretary followed in calcutta (1953–1956). during this time he married, at rangpur on 5 january 1956, mahfuza banu of dhubri, assam daughter of shahabuddin ahmed, a respected lawyer and mashudaa banu a well known social campaigner. then promoted to second secretary, he served in the pakistan embassy in washington, d.c. from 1956 to 1960, during which time he and his wife had their two sons, one of whom, aladin, is a strategy consultant, academic, artist and editor emeritus of the bangladeshi news organisation bdnews24.