Moudud Ahmed (24 May 1940 – 16 March 2021) was a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician. He was a

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

member of

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

. Ahmed was elected as a

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of B ...

member total five times from

Noakhali-1 Noakhali-1 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2014 by H. M. Ibrahim of the Awami League. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Chatkhil Upazila and all but three union parishads of ...

and

Noakhali-5 Noakhali-5 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2008 by Obaidul Quader of the Awami League. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Companiganj and Kabirhat upazilas. History The con ...

constituencies. Ahmed served as the post master general of Bangladesh after independence. From the 1980s on he held numerous political offices for short stints in the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

, including

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

(1976–1978 and 1987–1988),

Prime Minister of Bangladesh The Prime Minister of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী, translit=Bangladesher Prodhanmontri), officially Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজা ...

(1988–1989),

Vice President of Bangladesh The vice-president of Bangladesh was formerly the second highest constitutional office in Bangladesh, when the country was governed under a presidential system. The Vice-President was the first person in the presidential line of succession, in t ...

(1989–1990), and Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (2001–2006).

Early life and career

Ahmed was born in 1940 in the

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia an ...

during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. His father, Momtazuddin Ahmed, was a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

Islamic scholar In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

and

imam Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...

in Paribagh,

Dacca Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...

, Maulana . Ahmed obtained his BA and MA in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

from the

University of Dacca The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently it ...

. He was called to the

English Bar Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincol ...

in London in 1966. While in the UK, Ahmed was part of a growing intellectual movement among East Pakistani students in envisioning an independent Bangladesh. After returning to Dacca, he joined the legal team of

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

during the

Agartala Conspiracy Case The Agartala Conspiracy Case was a sedition case in Pakistan during the rule of Ayub Khan against Awami League, brought by the government of Pakistan in 1968 against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then leader of the Awami League and East Pakistan ...

trial in 1968. He accompanied the Bengali delegation led by Sheikh Mujib to the Rawalpindi Round Table Conference with Field Marshal

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

in 1969. Ahmed witnessed many important developments in the run up to Bangladesh's independence. He joined the

Provisional Government of Bangladesh The Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, was established following the declaration of independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh on 10 April 1971. Headed by prime mini ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

during the

1971 Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

. He worked in its External Publicity Division. Ahmed addressed many humanitarian rallies for Bengali genocide victims. He once stirred an entire rally in London holding up a ''Daily Mirror'' article titled ''Birth of a Nation'' and crying out "we are alive, but we are not yet free". Ahmed was one of the founding members of the 33 member

Committee for Civil Liberties and Legal Aid Committee for Civil Liberties and Legal Aid in short Civil Liberties Committee was a forum in Bangladesh formed by the members of civil society to restore the civil liberties and provide legal aid to the dissenting population of the country who we ...

which was established to protect the opposition politicians and members of civil society who were facing the wrath of the government on 31 March 1974. Ahmed was the first Postmaster General of

Bangladesh Post Office The Bangladesh Post Office ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ডাক বিভাগ) also known by trade name Bangla Post is a government-operated agency responsible for providing postal services in Bangladesh. It is a subsidiary of the Ministr ...

after the

Independence of Bangladesh Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh ...

. Ahmed was jailed on orders from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in December 1974, but was later released.

BNP and Jatiyo Party

In the late 1970s, Ahmed was courted by Lt General

Ziaur Rahman Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981. He was assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong in an army coup ...

, the first

military dictator A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the ...

of Bangladesh. Between 1976 and 1978, he served as

. In 1977, he led the Bangladeshi delegation to the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. He was elected to parliament from the

(BNP) in 1979. Ahmed's feud with Shah Azizur Rahman led to him being sacked by Zia. In 1985, Ahmed joined the newly formed Jatiyo Party of Lt General

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time m ...

. He was appointed again as

in the cabinet and held the portfolios of the Industries Ministry and the Communications Ministry. President Ershad appointed Ahmed as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

in 1988. Serving for a year in the office of premier, he oversaw relief operations during the catastrophic 1988 Bangladesh flood. Ahmed was invited for talks with several Western leaders, including with

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Along w ...

. However, Ershad replaced Ahmed with the pro-Chinese leftwinger

Kazi Zafar Ahmed Kazi Zafar Ahmad (; 1 July 193927 August 2015) was a Bangladeshi politician of the Jatiya Party, who was the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 1989 to 1990. Early life Ahmed was born in 1939, in village: Kazi Bari Cheora Chauddagram Upazila, C ...

in 1989. Ahmed was elevated to the post of

in 1989. He resigned in December 1990 to make way for Justice

Shahabuddin Ahmed Shahabuddin Ahmed (1 February 1930 – 19 March 2022) served as the President of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2001, and the Chief Justice of Bangladesh from 1990 to 1995. He previously served as the acting president during 1990–91 when Hussain Mu ...

to become acting president and lead the transition to parliamentary democracy. After serving a stint in prison following Ershad's ousting, Ahmed was invited by

Khaleda Zia Khaleda Zia (; born Khaleda Khanam Putul in 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1991 to March 1996, and again from June 2001 to October 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Ba ...

to return to the BNP in 1996. He was elected to parliament while in jail in 1996. He was reelected for the fifth time in 2001. Begum Zia appointed him as Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in 2001. In 2007, the military-backed caretaker government arrested Ahmed on charges of illegal alcohol possession. But the case was dismissed at the Supreme Court in 2008. After his release from prison, Ahmed received a jubilant reception at his constituency in Noakhali. He was reelected to parliament in 2008. He was arrested again in 2013 by the

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

government. His family told ''The Guardian'' that the country was turning into a prison under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Ahmed joined his party in boycotting the 2014 general election. Under the Awami League administration, Ahmed and his brother Monzur faced charges of illegally occupying their properties in the posh Gulshan area of Dhaka. They maintained that the case was politically motivated. On 8 June 2017, he was evicted from his house by

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (abbreviated as RAJUK; literally the Capital Development Authority of the Government of Bangladesh) is a Bangladeshi public agency responsible for coordinating urban development in Dhaka, Bangladesh. RAJUK is compo ...

. Ahmed described his eviction as "political vengeance" by the Awami League government. Former Prime Minister and chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Khaleda Zia, condemned the move to evict him. He had lived in the house for more than 40 years.

Personal life and family

Ahmed was married to

Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud (born 1946) is a Bangladeshi writer, environmentalist and a retired politician who served as a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Noakhali-5 constituency in the 3rd and 4th parliament during 1986–1990. Family Hasna ...

, a daughter of the Bengali poet

Jasimuddin Jasimuddin ( bn, জসীম উদ্‌দীন; 1 January 1903 – 13 March 1976), popularly called Palli Kabi (), was a Bengali poet, lyricist, composer and writer widely celebrated for his modern ballad sagas in the pastoral mode. Althoug ...

. They have a daughter, poet Ana Kashfiya Moudud. Their eldest son, Asif Momtaz Moudud, died at the age of 3. Another son, Aman Momtaj Moudud, died of dengue fever in 2015. Ahmed was a practicing barrister in the

Supreme Court of Bangladesh The Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশ সুপ্রীম কোর্ট) is the highest court of law in Bangladesh. It is composed of the High Court Division and the Appellate Division, and was created by Part VI C ...

. He was a fellow at

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in Germany and a visiting fellow at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in the United States. In the fall of 1997, he was the Bland Visiting Professor at

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...

. He was also a member of the Elliott School's International Council.

Death

On 30 December 2020, Ahmed was hospitalized in Dhaka due to a decrease in

haemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...

levels and eventually suffered a

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

. A few weeks later, a

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart ei ...

was implanted. Ahmed was hospitalized for pulmonary congestion and kidney complications in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

on 1 February 2021.Moudud’s condition deteriorating
/ref> He died a month later on 16 March at the age of 80. On 12 March 2022, Ahmed's wife,

, claimed that Ahmed was assassinated.

Publications

Ahmed is the author of nine books. Publications include: * ''Shongshod-e Ja Bolechhi'', Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 2006, * ''South Asia: Crisis of Development-The Case of Bangladesh'', Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 2003 * ''Democracy and the Challenge of Development: a Study of Politics and Military Interventions in Bangladesh'', Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 1995 * ''Bangladesh: Era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman'', Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 1983, * ''Bangladesh: Constitutional Quest for Autonomy'', South Asian Institute of Heidelberg University, 1976 and University Press Limited, Dhaka, 1979 * ''Chaloman Itihas'', the book to inform the next generation the history of the country particularly the history of HM Ershad government.

Early life and career

BNP and Jatiyo Party

Personal life and family

Death

Publications

References

Further reading