Nizam Mohammad Serajul Alam Khan (6 January 19419 June 2023), commonly known as Serajul Alam Khan (), also called as Dada, Dadabhai and by his initials SAK, was a Bangladeshi politician, political analyst, philosopher and writer who spearheaded the

Bangladesh liberation movement Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world and among the most densely populated with a population of over 171 million within an area of . Bangl ...

under the leadership of

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 ...

but also became one of the controlling forces of

political polarization Political polarization (spelled ''polarisation'' in British English, Australian English, and New Zealand English) is the divergence of political attitudes away from the center, towards ideological extremes. Scholars distinguish between ideologi ...

in post-independence Bangladesh. Serajul Alam Khan joined politics in the 1950s–60s as a student and quickly rose to the helm of

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 terrorist organisation in B ...

, the

student wing A student wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization that is formed in order to rally support from students and focus on student specific issues, typically of those attending college or university. Stu ...

affiliated with the Bengali nationalist

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 ...

party in Pakistan. He, along with others, founded the Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad (which came to be known as 'Nucleus'), a secret organization whose existence is not directly documented but strongly supported by popular hearsay and conventional history. The organization played a significant role in 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 ...

. He along with Tofael Ahmed, Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni and Abdur Razzaq formed and commanded the

Mujib Bahini The Mujib Bahini, initially called the Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF), was an politico-armed force formed during the Bangladesh Liberation War to fight against Pakistan in 1971. The force was mainly composed of activists drawn from the Awami ...

( Bangladesh Liberation Force).

Early life

Khan was born on 6 January 1941 in

Noakhali District Noakhali District (), historically known as Bhulua (), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in Chattogram Division. It was established as a district in 1821, and officially named Noakhali in 1868. The distr ...

in ''the then''

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 ...

, British India. His father, Khorshed Alam Khan, was a government officer who retired in 1959 as the Deputy Director of Public Instruction. He graduated from Khulna Zilla School in 1956 and

Dhaka College Dhaka College (), informally known as DC, is a public educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhanmondi, Dhaka. It is one of the oldest educational institutions in the subcontinent. It offers Honours degree, honours and Master's degree ...

in 1958. He studied mathematics at the University of Dhaka from 1958 to 1962.

Career

Khan as a student of the University of Dhaka created the

Nucleus Nucleus (: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleu ...

whose aim was the Independence of East Pakistan along with Kazi Aref Ahmed and Abdur Razzaq. The Nucleus helped launch the Six point movement, Eleven Points Programme, designed the flag of independent Bangladesh, picked the national anthem, and the national slogan

Joy Bangla Joy Bangla ( ) is a slogan and was a war cry used in Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal to indicate nationalism towards the geopolitical, cultural and historical region of Bengal and Bangamata (also known as Bangla Maa or Mother ...

. It gave the title of ''Bangabandhu'' to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Khan served as the general secretary of the student political organization East Pakistan Chhatra League from 1963 to 1965. Together with other members of the Nucleus, Khan created the Bangladesh Liberation Force and an armed wing called the Joy Bangla Bahini which would be present throughout East Pakistan by 1970. At the urging of

, the command structure was expanded to include

Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni (4 December 1939 – 15 August 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician. He was one of the nephews of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. He was one of the founder of Mujib Bahini Bangladesh Liberation ...

, and

Tofail Ahmed Tofail Ahmed (; 22 February 1919 – 28 March 2002) was a well-known Bangladeshi researcher of Folk Art. He was also a collector of Folk artifacts and has authored several books on Bangladeshi Folk arts and Crafts. He was awarded the ''Shilu Abe ...

. As a key member of Nucleus, he helped writing and editing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's historic speech of the 7th March, 1971. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Bangladesh Liberation Force would be renamed to Mujib Bahini after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Soon after returning to free the country from dissension within the pro-liberation mainstream power base, Khan became conspicuous between left-of-centre leadership and simmering far-left young radicals. He was involved in a political struggle with Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani. He developed an ideological difference from Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, due to the former's advocacy of

scientific socialism Scientific socialism in Marxism is the application of historical materialism to the development of socialism, as not just a practical and achievable outcome of historical processes, but the only possible outcome. It contrasts with utopian social ...

, thus forming the

Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal () is a political party in Bangladesh. The party was founded by Serajul Alam Khan. The party was dominant during the 1972–1975 Bangladesh insurgency. The current party president is Hasanul Haque Inu. History Th ...

. In 1975, Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani urged him to join

BaKSAL The Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (), abbreviated as BaKSAL, was the sole legal ruling party of Bangladesh from January to August 1975. The party comprised politicians from the Awami League, the Communist Party of Bangladesh, the Na ...

, but he refused. After the 7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état, Khan along with other leaders of Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal were arrested. Khan was in jail from 26 July 1976 to 1 May 1981. After being released from jail, he started the publication of Ganakantha newspaper. The government of Prime Minister

Khaleda Zia Begum Khaleda Zia (born August–September 1945) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. She was the first female prime minister of Bangladesh and the second fema ...

prevented Khan from holding meetings at the government owned Hotel Sheraton.

Illness and death

In 2006, he was hospitalised in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and underwent a bypass operation. Khan died from respiratory failure at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on 9 June 2023. He was 82 at the time of his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Serajul Alam 1941 births 2023 deaths Bangladeshi academics Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal politicians University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh faculty People of the Bangladesh Liberation War People from Noakhali District Politicians from Chittagong Division University of Dhaka alumni Dhaka College alumni Khulna Zilla School alumni Bangladesh independence activists Bangladeshi political party founders

Early life

Career

Illness and death

References

Further reading

External links