A. S. M. Abdur Rab (born 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is the founder secretary general of the

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal () is a List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The party was founded by Serajul Alam Khan. The party was dominant during the 1972–1975 Bangladesh insurgency. The current party presid ...

. In 1985, Abdur Rab and his followers left the party and formed a new party

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (, 'National Socialist Party') is a List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was formed in 2002, through a split from the original Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal. The party is sometimes refe ...

, known as JSD (Rab). He served as the

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 from Lakshmipur-4 and the Minister of Shipping and later the Minister of Fisheries and Livestock during 1996-2001 of the first Sheikh Hasina Cabinet.

Early life

Abdur Rab was born in 1945. He was general secretary of the student political organization East Pakistan Chhatra League from 1969 to 1970. He was the leader of the 1969 mass uprising in East Pakistan. He was the first person to hoist the Flag of Bangladesh on 2 March 1971 as the vice president of

Dhaka University Central Students' Union Dhaka University Central Students' Union (), also known by its acronym DUCSU, is the official students' union of the University of Dhaka. Called the second Parliament of Bangladesh, parliament of Bangladesh, DUCSU represents Dhaka University stude ...

Career

He is one of the organizers of the liberation struggle of Bangladesh. Under the leadership of Chhatra League leader Noor Alam Siddiqui, Abdul Kuddus, A S M Abdur Rab and Shajahan Siraj, the flag of independent Bangladesh was hoisted in Dhaka University on 2 March 1971. A flag of independent Bangladesh was first inaugurated by ASM Abdur Rab. In the historic Bot-tala of Dhaka University, A S M Abdur Rab handed over the flag of Bangladesh to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After the independence of Bangladesh, Rab formed the left-wing

(National Socialist Party). He along with Serajul Alam Khan and

Shajahan Siraj Shajahan Siraj (1 March 1943 – 14 July 2020) was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the vice chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). As a student, he was involved with the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was one of the founders o ...

, took a stand against the government led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He led the rally on 17 March 1974 towards the residence of the Home Minister at Ramna amid

Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini The Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini () was a Bangladeshi paramilitary force formed in 1972 by the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman government. Initially formed to curb 1972-1975 Bangladesh insurgency, an insurgency and maintain law and order, the force became involve ...

led firing upon the crowd. Abdur Rab is a survivor of the 1974 Ramna massacre. President

Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem (29 March 1916 – 8 July 1997) was a Bangladeshi jurist and statesman. He was the first Chief Justice of Bangladesh from 1972 to 1975. He became the president of Bangladesh in the aftermath of counter-coups in November ...

released M. A. Jalil and Abdur Rab after taking power because of the involvement of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal in the coup d'état in November 1975. Abdur Rab became the leader of the opposition in 1988 and also served as a minister of Sheikh Hasina's cabinet from 1996 to 2001 as the Minister of Shipping and later the Minister of Fisheries and Livestock.

References

1945 births Living people Recipients of the Bir Uttom Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal politicians 7th Jatiya Sangsad members Ministers of fisheries and livestock of Bangladesh Ministers of shipping of Bangladesh Mukti Bahini personnel Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 3rd Jatiya Sangsad members Leaders of the opposition (Bangladesh) Bangladesh independence activists {{Chittagong-politician-stub