Mohammad Abdul Wadud (; 1 August 1925 – 28 August 1983), known as MA Wadud, was a Bangladeshi language activist and politician. He was one of the founding members of Awami Muslim League (later

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

). He was awarded

Ekushey Padak Ekushey Padak () is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of martyrs of the Bengali language movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contributions in a number of fields, including culture, education, and e ...

in 2013 posthumously 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 ...

for his involvement in

Bengali Language Movement The Bengali language movement was a political movement in East Bengal (modern-day Bangladesh) in 1952, advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as a co-lingua franca of the then-Dominion of Pakistan to allow its use in government ...

in 1952. He is the father of former minister

Dipu Moni Dipu Moni (born 8 December 1965) is a Bangladeshi politician and former minister of social welfare. She was a member of parliament for the Chandpur-3 constituency. She was minister of education in the fourth Hasina ministry and minister of f ...

Early life

Mohammad Abdul Wadud was born on 1 August 1925 to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family in the village of Rarhir Char in Chandpur,

Tipperah district Meghna Division (), also known as Comilla district, is a proposed administrative division within Bangladesh. The division gets its name from the Meghna River, which forms its western border. It encompasses the north-western parts of the existing ...

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 ...

(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 ...

Political career

Wadud was the founder member of the Gonotrantik Jubo League in 1948, East Pakistan Muslim League in 1948, East Pakistan Awami Muslim League in 1949, ''Weekly Ittefaq'' in 1949, ''

The Daily Ittefaq ''The Daily Ittefaq'' (, Bangla pronunciation: ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper. Founded in 1949 by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, it is the oldest and one of the most circulated newspapers in Bangladesh. The newspape ...

'' in 1953 and Kendrio Kachi Kachar Mela in 1956. Wadud was imprisoned for involvement in the language movement in 1948 and 1952 and again for refusing the charge of the ministry of military government in 1978. He was the general secretary of the student political organization

East Pakistan Chhatra League Bangladesh Chhatra League, simply Chhatra League (), is the student wing of the political party, Bangladesh Awami League, founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 4 January 1948. The organisation is banned and listed as a List of designated terrorist ...

from 1953 to 1954.

Personal life

He was married to Hamida Wadud Poly, the daughter of Bangabandu

Sheikh 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 ...

's sister Khadijah Hossain Lily. His daughter

is also a politician and minister who is a doctor by profession. His son Jawadur Rahim Wadud Tipu is a diabetic foot surgeon.

References

1925 births 1983 deaths People from Chandpur District Awami League politicians Recipients of the Ekushey Padak {{Chittagong-AL-politician-stub