Abdur Rashid (; 1937 – 20 January 2006) was a Bangladeshi politician and engineer. He was the former member of parliament for Comilla-2.

Early life and education

Abdur Rashid was born in 1937 to a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

family of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Beparis in the village of North Nasruddi in Daudkandi,

Tipperah District Meghna Division (), also known as Comilla district, is a proposed administrative division within Bangladesh. The division gets its name from the Meghna River, which forms its western border. It encompasses the north-western parts of the existing ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He was a son of Chunnu Mia Bepari. Abdur Rashid passed his

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

from Daudkandi High School in 1952, and ISC from

Jagannath College Jagannath University (JnU) () is a public university located in Sadarghat, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded as ''Dhaka Brahma School'' in 1858 and renamed ''Jagannath School'' in 1872, and later renamed ''Jagannath College'' in 1884, the institution w ...

in 1954. He received his

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

with distinction from

Ahsanullah Engineering College The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology () commonly known by its acronym BUET, is a public technological research university in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Founded in 1876 as the Dacca Survey School and gaining univer ...

in 1958.

Career

Abdur Rashid began his career as an engineer for the Comilla District Board. He was elected to the

East Pakistan Provincial Assembly The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as the East Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature of East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the ...

as an

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

candidate for

Comilla-9 Comilla-9 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh. Since 6 August 2024, the constituency is vacant. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Laksam and Manoharganj upazilas. History The constit ...

at the 1970 elections but this assembly was not formed. Then the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

broke out and so he helped out. He left the Awami League in 1973, joining the National Socialist Party and being appointed president of the Comilla District Board. Abdur Rashid was elected to the second

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad (), often simply referred to as Sangsad and also known as is the unicameral Legislature, legislative body of Bangladesh. The current parliament of Bangladesh contains 350 seats, including 50 seats reserved exclusively for w ...

from

Comilla-8 Comilla-8 is a constituency of the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh. Since 6 August 2024 the constituency is vacant. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Barura Upazila. History The constituency was created for the fir ...

as a National Socialist Party candidate following the

1979 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 18 February 1979. The result was a victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the party of the incumbent military regime, which won 207 of the 300 directly elected seats, although it only won ...

. He left the part on 30 May 1981. Abdur Rashid was elected yet again to parliament from Comilla-2 as an independent candidate in the

1986 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 May 1986. A total of 1,527 candidates contested the elections. The result was a victory for the Jatiya Party, which won 153 of the 300 directly elected seats. Voter turnout was 61%. Bangladesh Nati ...

, later joining the Jatiya Party. He was appointed Minister of Labor and Public Welfare in the cabinet of President

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Hussain Muhammad Ershad (1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi military officer, dictator and politician who served as President of Bangladesh, the president of Bangladesh from 1982 to 1990. He seized power as a result of a 1982 ...

but was dismissed from the cabinet on 10 August 1987. He was re-elected again at the

1988 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 3 March 1988. They were boycotted by several major parties, including the Bangladesh Awami League, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the B ...

as a Jatiya Party candidate. He was unsuccessful in gaining a seat as an independent candidate at the

1991 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 27 February 1991. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) emerged as the largest party in parliament, winning 140 of the 300 directly elected seats. The BNP formed a government with the support of Jamaa ...

. He contested as an

candidate at the

February 1996 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in Bangladesh on 15 February 1996. They were boycotted by most opposition parties, and saw voter turnout drop to just 15%.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, V ...

but was unsuccessful yet again. In 2004, Abdur Rashid founded the Bangladesh Institute of Management Studies (BiMS).

Death

Abdur Rashid died on 20 January 2006.

References

Jatiya Party politicians Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal politicians Awami League politicians 2006 deaths 2nd Jatiya Sangsad members 3rd Jatiya Sangsad members 4th Jatiya Sangsad members 1937 births People from Daudkandi Upazila Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology alumni Jagannath University alumni {{JatiyaParty-politician-stub