Abdul Haleem Chowdhury (1 February 1928 – 7 October 1987) was a politician of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

, MP, and government minister. He is a retired captain of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

and fought in the 1971 war and established Halim Bahini. His son-in-law is

Mafizul Islam Khan Kamal Mafizul Islam Khan Kamal is a freedom fighter and politician. He is a former member of parliament for the then Dhaka-3 (Manikganj-3) constituency from Bangladesh Awami League. He joined the Awami League's student wing (Chhatra League) as a stu ...

Early life

Chowdhury was born on 1 February 1928 in Elachipur, Shivalaya,

Manikganj Manikganj is a town situated in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of Manikganj District and Manikganj Sadar Upazila. Manikganj is a relatively pollution-free town of Bangladesh. The recent urbanization and highway built joining ...

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 ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He graduated from

Faridpur Zilla School Faridupur Zilla School is a secondary school in Faridpur Upazila, Faridpur, In 1840, ''the then'' district magistrate Edgar Ef Luther, established a school named English Seminary School. In 1851, the East India Company, British Government took re ...

. He went on to

Rajshahi College Rajshahi College (Bengali language, Bengali: রাজশাহী কলেজ) is a public college, public educational institution in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Established in 1873, it is the third oldest college in Bangladesh after Dhaka College a ...

, finished his BA in economics from

Rajshahi University The University of Rajshahi (), also known as Rajshahi University (RU), is a Public university, public research university located in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. It is the second oldest and third largest university in Bangladesh. The university's 59 ...

. He started his master's degree at

Dhaka University The University of Dhaka (), also known as Dhaka University (DU), is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Established in 1921, it is the oldest active university in the country. The University of Dhaka was founded in 1921 ...

Career

Chowdhury joined the Pakistan army in 1950 while still a student. In the army, he served as the Adjutant and Quarter Master in the

1st Punjab Regiment The 1st Punjab Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army from 1922 to 1947. Upon the Partition of India, it was transferred to the newly-raised Pakistan Army. It ceased to exist in this form Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, i ...

. He served as the aide-de-camp to the GOC of the 14th division. He was the commanding officer of University Officers' Training Corps Battalion in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. In 1962, he retired from the Army over health reasons. He joined the East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation. He was placed in charged of setting up a sugar mill in

Kushtia Kushtia () is a city located on the banks of the Gorai River in Bangladesh. It serves as the headquarters of Kushtia District and is considered the cultural capital of Bangladesh. The city is known for its Tiler Khaja (sesame sweets), kulf ...

. In 1966, he joined the

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP) was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, through th ...

. In the

1970 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 December 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly. They were the first direct general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence o ...

he stood as a nominee of the

faction led by Muzaffar Ahmed (NAP (M)). During the

Bangladesh 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 ...

in 1971, he helped set up the revolutionary committee of

. He was placed in charge of military operations in Dhaka Sadar and

Gazipur Gazipur () is a city in central Bangladesh. Located in Gazipur District in Dhaka Division, it is a major industrial city north of Dhaka. It is a hub for the textile industry in Bangladesh, with 75% of all garment industries situated there. ...

. He established the Halim Bahini, a paramilitary force under his command, to fight in the war. After the

Independence of Bangladesh The independence of Bangladesh was Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence, declared from Pakistan on 26 March 1971, which is now celebrated as Independence Day (Bangladesh), Independence Day. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March ...

, he stood again as a NAP (M) candidate in the

1973 Bangladeshi general election General elections were held in newly independent Bangladesh on 7 March 1973. A total of 1,078 candidates and 14 political parties contested the elections. Though the Awami League was already the clear favourite before the elections, the governme ...

. He became the president of United People's Party. In 1979, he was elected to Parliament from the

. He served in the cabinet of 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 ...

as the minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative. He later was in the cabinet of President

Abdus Sattar ʻAbd al-Sattār (ALA-LC romanization of ) is an Arabic Muslim male given name, built on the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Sattār''. The name means "servant of the Veiler (of sins)". Because the letter s is a sun letter, the letter l of the '' ...

as the minister of Food and Relief. He was a member of BNP's National executive committee. He joined General

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 ...

's Jatiya party after it came to power. He was the minister of Agriculture and Food.

Death

Chowdhury died on 7 October 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Abdul Haleem 1928 births 1987 deaths University of Rajshahi alumni Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians Bangladesh Army officers Mukti Bahini personnel 2nd Jatiya Sangsad members Place of death missing