Abdul Kader Siddique is a Bangladeshi politician. He served as a

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

commander, and organizer of the

Bangladesh War of Independence 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 ...

. He fought with an estimated 17,000-strong guerrilla force in the Tangail region against 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 ...

.Brian May, "Indian Army Arrests 'Tiger of Tangail' After Dacca Bayoneting", ''The Times'', 21 December 1971, pg. 4. The army was called '' Kaderia Bahini'' (Kader's Army). At the end of the war in 1971, Siddique's forces entered

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 ...

along with the Indian forces, signaling the end of the war. He was awarded

Bir Uttom Bir Uttom () is the second highest award for individual gallantry in Bangladesh after the Bir Sreshtho and the highest gallantry award for living individual. Since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, 69 people have been awarded the Bir Utto ...

by the

Government of Bangladesh The government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh () is the central government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Constitution of Bangladesh comprising the executive (the president, prime minister and cabinet), the ...

. Since 1999, he has been serving as the leader of his newly formed party, the Krishak Sramik Janata League.

Career

Bangladesh Liberation War

During the Bangladesh war of independence, he formed the Kaderia Bahini to fight against the Pakistan military. The Kaderia Bahini, as it is said, had approximately 17 thousand personnel. He was loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

After independence

After the Independence of Bangladesh, Siddique went back to his hometown of

Tangail Tangail (, ) is a city of Tangail District in central Bangladesh. A significant city in Bangladesh, Tangail lies on the bank of the Louhajang River, northwest of Dhaka, the nation's capital. Etymology ''Tangail'' originates from the Beng ...

where he enjoyed considerable patronage from the Awami League, the party of Prime Minister

Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

Anti-junta insurgency

After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, Siddiqui and his followers organised attacks on the authorities of

Khondakar Mushtaque Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (; 27 February 1919 – 5 March 1996) was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the Minister of Commerce in the third Mujib Rahman ministry under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and assumed the presidency of Bangladesh after the Ass ...

's government. Elements loyal to Siddiqui operated from bases in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

province in India and were actively supported by India's

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was formed in the wake of the Indo-Pak War of 196 ...

. In the insurgency against the military government of Bangladesh, 104 rebels were killed and more than 500 were injured. The insurgency lasted more than two years. He was tried by a military court on 24 July 1978 and sentenced to 7 years in jail. He was accused of killing a major and a number of soldiers of

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 ...

after the

Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, was assassinated along with most of his family members during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, re ...

following the

15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ' ...

. On 6 December 1990, he returned to Bangladesh from self imposed exile in India.

1990s present

Siddique was elected member of the parliament of Bangladesh from different constituencies of Tangail. In 1996, Siddique was elected to Parliament as a Bangladesh Awami League candidate from Tangail-8. In 1999, Siddique quit Awami League. He then resigned from the parliament and formed his own party the Krishak Sramik Janata League. This triggered a by-election, which he lost to the Bangladesh Awami League candidate, Shawakat Momen Shahjahan. Siddique was elected to parliament from Tangail 8 in the 2001 Bangladesh General Election as a candidate of the Krishak Sramik Janata League. On 17 October 2006, his rally was attacked by Bangladesh Chhatra League activists, leaving 11 injured in

Jamalpur District Jamalpur District () is a district in Bangladesh, and part of Mymensingh Division. It was established in 1978 during the rule of Ziaur Rahman. It has its headquarters in Jamalpur. Etymology The district is named for its headquarters, Jamalpur ...

. In 2017,

Bangladesh High Court The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh (), popularly known as High Court, is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate Division. It consists of the Chief Justice of Bangla ...

disqualified Siddique from contesting a by-election from Tangail-4 because he had defaulted on a loan. He tried to contest the 2018 Bangladesh General Election from Tangail-4 and

Tangail-8 Tangail-8 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament). Boundaries The constituency encompasses Basail Upazila, Basail and Sakhipur Upazila, Sakhipur upazilas. History The constituency was created for the first ...

but his candidacy was rejected by the

Bangladesh Election Commission The Bangladesh Election Commission (), abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is a government controlled constitutional body that operates the Law, legal functions of election laws in Bangladesh. Article 118 of the Constitution of Bangla ...

. He, along with his party, joined the Jatiya Oikyafront to contest the election against the Bangladesh Awami League alliance. His daughter, Kuri Siddique, also applied for nomination from Tangail-8 in case his candidacy was rejected. The Election Commission rejected the appeal filed by Siddique, challenging the cancellation of his nomination on 8 December. In the controversial 2024 election, he lost the consistuency of

to Awami League candidate Anupam Shahjahan Joy.

Personal life

Siddique is married to Nasrin Siddique. His elder brother,

Abdul Latif Siddiqui Abdul Latif Siddiqui (born 18 December 1937) is a former Bangladesh Awami League politician. He is a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Tangail-4 constituency. He served as the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, Minister of Textiles and ...

is also an Awami League politician who served as the member of parliament and the minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology. Their other two younger brothers are Murad Siddiqui and Azad Siddiqui. He has been widely discussed and criticized for writing newspaper columns. He regularly writes columns in the daily

Amar Desh ''Amar Desh'' (; ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka since 2004. ''Amar Desh'' provides news about Bangladesh from local and regional perspectives and covers international news. ''Amar Desh'' is considere ...

and the daily

Naya Diganta The ''Daily Naya Diganta'' () is a Bengali daily newspaper published in Bangladesh since 2004. History It is part of Diganta Media Corporation, which was owned by Mir Quasem Ali, politician of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The television channel, Dig ...

. In addition, he discussed the country's ongoing political, social and contemporary issues as a presenter on the program called Sabar Paap Desh on Diganta Television.

Notable books written by Quader Siddiquie

* Maulana Bhashani Ke Jemon Dekhechi * Meghe Dhaka Tara * Swadhinata'71 * Bajrakathon * Tara Amar Boro Bhai-Bon * Na Bola Kotha * Pita-Putra

Political life

He is currently the president of the Krishak Sramik Janata League. On 8 November 2018, he joined the Jatiya Oikyafront under the leadership of Dr. Kamal Hossain to participate in the 11th National Parliament election in an alliance. The main partner of the Oikyafront was 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 ...

. Through this alliance, his party and he participated in the national election under the symbol of a sheaf of rice.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siddique, Abdul Kader Living people Mukti Bahini personnel Recipients of the Bir Uttom 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Former Awami League politicians Place of birth missing (living people) 7th Jatiya Sangsad members People from Kalihati Upazila 1947 births Bangladeshi political party founders