Bir Protik Bir Protik (, ) is the fourth highest gallantry award in Bangladesh. Recipients This award was declared on 15 December 1973. A total of 426 people have received the award so far, all for their actions during the Bangladesh Liberation War, liber ...

Akbar Hossain (18 January 1941 – 25 June 2006) was a Bangladeshi politician of the Bangladesh National Party. He served as the Minister for Shipping, Minister for the Environment and Forests and Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

Biography

Hossain was born in Kashari Patty on 18 January 1941, in

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, () is a district located in southeastern Bangladesh. It lies about southeast of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria District, Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj District, Narayanganj dis ...

Military career

Hossain joined the army at

Kakul Kakul (Kakol) is a village situated in the Tehsil and District Abbottabad, at an elevation of 1300 metres, 5 km northeast of center of Abbottabad city near the Thandiani Hills. Abbottabad is a District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pa ...

Military Academy in Pakistan in May 1966, after his commission, he was posted to the 31 Baluch Regiment. While serving, he studied for his bachelor's at the

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

, receiving the degree in 1969. Hossain joined the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

in 1971 first under Khaled Musharraf and then with the Z force headed by

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 was decorated for gallantry, receiving the 'Bir Protik' for his role in the War. After independence was won, he took voluntary retirement from the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

at the end of December 1973, after attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Political career

Hossain then became actively involved in politics and helped form the United People's Party (UPP) in January 1974. He went on to become the vice-president of the UPP. In 1977, the UPP merged with the Jatiyatabadi Front, Hossain left and joined Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and played a crucial role in its founding. He was first made special secretary and then held the position of joint secretary general and was one of the vice-presidents of the BNP up until his death. In 1978, Hossain was appointed as the minister for petroleum and mineral resources under the government of President Ziaur Rahman. Hossain was first elected a member of the Bangladesh Parliament in 1979, he represented the Comilla 8th constituency in the 2nd

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

elections, a seat he was re-elected to four times. During the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

of General

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

, Akbar Hossain was jailed on five separate occasions for coming into conflict with the regime. After the ending of the military dictatorship and the election of

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 ...

, the country's first female Prime Minister. Hossain returned to government as Minister for the Environment and Forests in October 1993. In October 2001, Hossain was appointed Minister for Shipping after the BNP led four-party alliance won the 8th Jatiyo Sangshad elections, with a two-thirds majority and Khaleda Zia became the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the third time. He died in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

in 2006 following a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hossain, Akbar 1941 births 2006 deaths People from Comilla District Politicians from Chittagong Division University of Dhaka alumni Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians Recipients of the Bir Protik Ministers of shipping of Bangladesh Ministers of environment, forest and climate change of Bangladesh Ministers of power, energy and mineral resources of Bangladesh 5th Jatiya Sangsad members 6th Jatiya Sangsad members 7th Jatiya Sangsad members 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladeshi lieutenant colonels Mukti Bahini personnel