Syed Altaf Hossain (; 16 March 1923 – 12 November 1992) was a Bangladeshi politician who was a member of Parliament and Minister of Railway.

Early life

Hossain was born on 16 March 1923 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 claiming to be

Syeds ''Sayyid'' is an honorific title of Hasanid and Husaynid lineage, recognized as descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima and Ali's sons Hasan and Husayn. The title may also refer to the descendants of the fam ...

in Vishnudia,

Kushtia Kushtia () is a city located on the banks of the Gorai River in Bangladesh. It serves as the headquarters of Kushtia District and is considered the cultural capital of Bangladesh. The city is known for its Tiler Khaja (sesame sweets), kulf ...

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influe ...

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 ...

. His father was Syed Yad Ali and his mother was Jarina Khatun. He graduated from Hari Narayanpur School in 1939. In 1940 he joined the movement to remove Howel Monument from Kolkata led by

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

. He finished in Bachelor of Arts from Islamia College in 1944. He finished his law degree and Masters in History from

Kolkata University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a public state university located in Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate colleges and 16 institutes in Kolkata and nearby areas. ...

in 1947.

Career

From 1944 Hossain worked in the news section of the Morning News in Kolkata. He moved to

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 ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

, after the partition of India. From 1949 he started to work in the Pakistan Observer (today

Bangladesh Observer ''The Bangladesh Observer'', founded by Hamidul Huq Choudhury in 1949, was the oldest continuously published English-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh until it ceased publication in June 2010. History Since its inception as ''The Pakist ...

). He also worked at the '' Daily Ittehad''. From 1950 to 1953 he worked in the Morning News in Dhaka. In 1954 he was elected to the East Bengal Provincial Assembly from the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

. In 1955 he was arrested after Martial law was declared in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. In 1956 he was the editor of the New Nation. In 1957 he was elected to Central and Provincial executive committee of

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP) was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, through th ...

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), also known reverentially as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman who was one of the founder of the Awami League, the oldest and main political party in B ...

. In 1965 he was elected general secretary of the National Awami Party. He joined the pro-Moscow group of the NAP after it split into two camps, pro-

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and Pro-

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He was elected General Secretary of the fraction. He was arrested again in 1968 and was subsequently released after the

1969 uprising in East Pakistan The 1969 East Pakistan mass uprising () was a democratic political uprising in East Pakistan. It was led by the students backed by various political parties such as the Awami League, National Awami Party, and Communist party of East Pakistan and ...

and the fall of President

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

. He was defeated in the 1970 national elections. In the Bangladesh Liberation War he helped organize the training of NAP activists, he was incharge of 60 NAP youth camps. He became a central committee member of

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 ...

in 1975. He was the Minister of Railway in the government headed by

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 ...

. 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 ...

, he joined the government of

Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad 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 A ...

as the State Minister of Road Communication. In 1978 he helped found the Jatiya Party of General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, becoming the party's first chairman. In 1983 he was arrested after he worked in the movement against general Ershad. In 1986 he was elected convenor of United National Awami Party. In 1986 he was elected to parliament from the Grand Alliance of 15 parties to parliament from

constituency. In 1990 he was elected President of

Ganatantri Party The Ganatantri Party () is a left-wing political party in Bangladesh. The party is closely aligned with the Bangladesh Awami League. History Suranjit Sengupta was elected to Parliament from Sunamganj-2 on a Ganotantri Party nomination. He left ...

. He was also the vice-principal of Dhaka Law College.

Death

Hossain died in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 12 November 1992.

References

National Awami Party politicians 1923 births 1992 deaths State ministers of road transport and bridges of Bangladesh Ministers of railways of Bangladesh 3rd Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League central committee members People from Kushtia District Politicians from Khulna Division {{Bangladesh-politician-stub