A. M. Zahiruddin Khan (5 July 1936 – 29 March 2005) was a Bangladeshi politician and industrialist. He served as a

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 ...

member representing the Chittagong-6 constituency during 1979–1982.

Early life

Khan was the eldest son of Abul Kashem Khan, a minister in the central cabinet of the then Pakistan. He studied at St. Paul's School in Darjeeling, India, later on at

Aitchison College Aitchison College is an elite private, boarding school, boarding Junior School, Secondary School for boys in Lahore, Pakistan. It has educated Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime ministers, including Imran Khan, Feroz Khan Noon, president of Pakist ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Pakistan.

Career

In 1958, Khan became the managing director of A K Khan & Company and later the chairman in 1991. He was also the founding chairman of AKTEL and chairman of COATS Bangladesh, Bengal Fisheries Ltd. He was the president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce & Industry (CCCI) from two consecutive terms. In 1977 he was elected president of Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce & Industry ( FBCCI). As president of FBCCI, he initiated the formation of Islamic Chambers of Commerce & Industry. He was also elected chairman of the working group for drafting of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce & Industry Constitution in the Istanbul Conference in 1977. He also participated in the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

(ILO) conference in Geneva in 1975 as representative of Bangladesh Employers. He was also chairman of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (East Zone) from 1969 to 1971, founder chairman of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), founder director of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB) and director of Sadharan Bima Corporation. He also served as chairman of

Sonali Bank Sonali Bank PLC (SBPLC) () is the biggest state-owned leading public commercial bank in Bangladesh. It is the largest bank in the country. Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury is the chairman of the Bank. History Sonali Bank was established in 1972 unde ...

. Khan joined politics in 1978 and was also elected member of parliament (MP) in 1979 from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by President

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

. He became a member of

Begum Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

's cabinet in 1991 as the planning minister and later as industries minister.

Personal life

Zahiruddin Khan was married to Asma Afzal in 1967. They had four children, the eldest son Schezade A. K. Khan (b. 1968), eldest daughter Schezene Khan (b.1974), younger son Kalim A. L. Khan (1977-2009) and youngest daughter Alishe Khan (b.1989). Zahiruddin's eldest son, Schezade A.K Khan, is married to Zarka Rumana Khwaja, a descendant of Khwaja Yunus Ali Enayetpuri. His younger son, Kalim A. L. Khan, was married to Nusrat Kamal, daughter of industrialist S.M Kamaluddin (founder of Concord Group). His eldest daughter Schezene Khan is married to Faisal Morshed Khan.

Death

Zahiruddin Khan passed away on 29th march 2005 and was buried on 1st April 2005 with nation-wide honor at his family graveyard in Batali Hills, Chittagong. His death was condoled by President Iajuddin Ahmed, Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Barrister Jamiruddin Sircar, and other prominent members of the government and society.

References

External links

A. M. Zahiruddin Khan at A.K. Khan & Company Ltd official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, A.M. Zahiruddin 1936 births 2005 deaths Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians 2nd Jatiya Sangsad members Ministers of planning of Bangladesh Ministers of industries of Bangladesh