Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury (1906 – 15 April 1966) was a Pakistani politician, journalist, sportsman and writer from erstwhile

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

, now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, who served in the political spheres of

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 ...

and Pakistan.

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born at Guthuma village in

Feni district Feni District () is a coastal Districts of Bangladesh, district situated in the south-east of Bangladesh, within Chittagong Division. One of Bangladesh's smallest districts, it is strategically located along the N1 (Bangladesh), Dhaka–Chittago ...

in 1906. His father, Mohammad Nurullah, was a munsiff. He passed Matriculation in 1922 from Chittagong Municipal School and ISc from

Chittagong College Chittagong College is a public educational institution in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is a higher secondary school and also a degree awarding college of National University, Bangladesh. It is the second higher secondary school in the region that ...

in 1924. He then graduated from Calcutta Islamia College in 1928.

Career

In 1933, Chowdhury took up journalism and along with his sister, Shamsunnahar Mahmud, published the literary journal ''"Bulbul"''. Chowdhury actively joined politics as an activist of the

Bengal Provincial Muslim League The Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) was the branch of the All India Muslim League in the British Indian province of Bengal. It was established in Dhaka on 2 March 1912. Its official language was Bengali. The party played an important rol ...

, and was elected a member of its executive committee in 1937. In 1944, he was elected publicity secretary of the League. He was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly from the Parshuram constituency of Feni district. He was the health minister of the first Muslim League cabinet 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 ...

Works

After suffering a stroke, he resigned from the cabinet position in 1953. Chowdhury started writing books prior to 1947 partition. His works include ''"Pakistan"'', ''"Mohammad Ali Jinnah"'', ''"Omar Faruq"'', and ''"Ameer Ali"''.

Personal life

Chowdhury was married to

Anwara Bahar Chowdhury Anwara Bahar Chowdhury (13 February 1919 – 27 October 1987) was a Bangladeshi social activist and writer. Background and education Chowdhury was born on 13 February 1919 in the town of Azizganj in the Murshidabad district, and she was raised ...

(1919–1987). Anwara was a social activist and writer. She established Habibullah Bahar College in 1969 after Chowdhury's name. Together they had 4 daughters – Selina Bahar Zaman, Shaheen Westcombe, Nasreen Shams and Tazeen Chowdhury and one son - Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury. Chowdhury's grandfather, Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz, an educationist, had a close relationship with poet

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengalis, Bengali poet, short story writer, journalist, lyricist and musician. He is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul produced a List of works by Kazi Nazrul Islam, large body of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Habibullah Bahar 1906 births 1966 deaths Bengali writers Maulana Azad College alumni Date of birth missing Place of death missing People from Feni District Politicians from Chittagong Division University of Calcutta alumni Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Bengal MLAs 1946–1947 East Bengal MLAs 1947–1954 Bangladesh independence activists Provincial ministers of East Pakistan