Mostafa Ali ( bn, মোস্তফা আলী; 1921–26 July 1975) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

politician and advocate. He was the former Member of Parliament of Sylhet-19 as an

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for ''Awam Awam ( ur, ) is the Urdu language word for common people or general public. In the early 20th century, the word was extensively used in the Indian subcontinent to refer to the general po ...

representative.

Early life and education

Ali was born in 1921, to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the se ...

family in the village of Muriauk in

Lakhai Lakhai ( bn, লাখাই) is an upazila of Habiganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. History Following the 1303 Conquest of Sylhet, Bayazid Shah, a companion of Shah Jalal, took refuge in Bulla and propagated Islam there. Bayazi ...

, Habiganj (then under

Sylhet district Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...

) in the

Assam Province Assam Province was a province of British India, created in 1912 by the partition of the Eastern Bengal and Assam Province. Its capital was in Shillong. The Assam territory was first separated from Bengal in 1874 as the 'North-East Frontier' ...

of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

. He passed his matriculation from Habiganj Government High School in 1937, and enrolled at the

St. Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...

from where he earned his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1942. He also graduated with a

Bachelor of Law Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

in 1941.

Career

Ali began his career as a lawyer, and later became the president of the Habiganj Bar Association.He joined the

All Pakistan Awami Muslim League Awami League ( ur, ; bn, আওয়ামী লীগ) was a Pakistani political party founded by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in February 1950. Pir of Manki Sharif and Khan Ghulam Mohammad Khan from the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) jo ...

in 1952 and participated in the Bengali Language Movement. In 1954, Ali became the secretary of the Awami League's Habiganj subdivisional branch and was elected as its president in 1958. He represented the Awami League 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 general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence of Bangl ...

and was successfully elected to the NE-120 (Sylhet-I) constituency. However, the assembly was not formed and later led to the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

. During the war, Ali served as the convener of the Habiganj Subdivision Sangram Council and was a member of the

Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was the constituent assembly of Bangladesh. It was the country's provisional parliament between 1971 and 1973. In 1972, it drafted and adopted the Constitution of Bangladesh. The assembly was dominated by ...

. In

Mujibnagar Mujibnagar ( bn, মুজিবনগর), formerly known as Baidyanathtala (Boiddonathtola) and Bhoborpara, is a town in the Mujibnagar Upazila of Bangladesh. The Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed on 10 April 1971, however, swor ...

, he served as sub-regional administrator for the

Provisional Government of Bangladesh The Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, was established following the declaration of independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh on 10 April 1971. Headed by prime minis ...

. During the first set of elections in the newly-established country, Ali preserved his seat in the

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of ...

as a

Bangladesh Awami League Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

candidate from Sylhet-19. On 17 July 1975, he was appointed as the Governor of Habiganj Subdivision under the BAKSAL regime. He was also the chairman of the Habiganj Red Cross and served as the chairman of Habiganj Central Co-operative Bank from 1970 to 1972. Ali was elected to parliament from Sylhet-19 as an Awami League candidate in 1973.

Death

Ali died on 26 July 1975 in

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, with a population exceeding 165 million pe ...

References

Awami League politicians Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League politicians 1921 births 1975 deaths 1st Jatiya Sangsad members People from Lakhai Upazila St. Xavier's College, Kolkata alumni University of Calcutta alumni {{Sylhet-politician-stub