Mostafa Ali (; 1921–26 July 1975) was a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

politician and advocate. He was a member of parliament for Sylhet-19 as an

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 ...

representative.

Early life and education

Ali was born in 1921, 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 Muriauk in Lakhai,

Habiganj Habiganj (), is a major town and district headquarters of Habiganj District in the division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Total population of Habiganj is about 86,000. Railroad * Habiganj Bazar–Shaistaganj–Balla line Shaistaganj-Habiganj rai ...

(then under

Sylhet district Sylhet District (), located in north-east Bangladesh, is one of the four districts in Sylhet Division, which contains Sylhet, the regional capital. History Sylhet District was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Benga ...

) 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 Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. He passed his matriculation from Habiganj Government High School in 1937, and enrolled at the St. Xavier's College in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

from where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1942. He also graduated with a

Bachelor of Law A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate 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 The All-Pakistan Awami League (before 1955 the All-Pakistan Awami Muslim League), or simply Awami League, was a Pakistani political party founded by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in February 1950. Pir of Manki Sharif and Khan Ghulam Mohammad Khan f ...

in 1952 and participated in the

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 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 direct general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence o ...

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 (, ), 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 ...

. 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 first and, to date, the only constitution-making body of in the country. It was convened in 1972 by the government of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman following Bangladesh's independence. It comprised representa ...

. In

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

, he served as sub-regional administrator for the

Provisional Government of Bangladesh The Provisional Government of Bangladesh (), popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government (); also known as the Bangladeshi government-in-exile, was the first and founding government of Bangladesh that was established following the proclamatio ...

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

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

as a

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 ...

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 and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

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 Candidates in the 1970 Pakistani general election Members of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh {{Sylhet-politician-stub