Zahur Ahmad Chowdhury (1916 – 1974) was a

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 ...

Awami League politician and a former Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

Early life

Zahur Ahmad Chowdhury was born in Uttar Kattali,

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

in 1916. He studied in Kattali Nurul Huq Chowdhury High School and Pahartali Railway High School, and went on to Calcutta Islamia College.

Career

He joined the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

in 1940. He was one of the founding members Awami Muslim League in 1949. He was a labour activist and was the assistant secretary of Trade Union Federation. He was active in the Language Movement. In 1954 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the united front representing Chittagong centre. He supported the Six point movement and was imprisonment for it. In 1970 he elected to Provincial Assembly from

Kotwali Dhaka Kotwali () is the ''sadar'' (principal) thana of Dhaka District in the Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Geography Dhaka Kotwali is bounded by Bangshal Thana to the north, Keraniganj Upazila to the south, Sutrapur Thana to the east, and Chow ...

, Chittagong from the

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 a member of the Sangram Committee in Chittagong in March 1971. He went to Agartala, India after the start of

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 was elected chairman of the Regional Council South-East Region-2 of 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 ...

. In the first cabinet of Bangladesh he was the minister of Labour and Social Welfare. In 1973 he was elected to the Jatiya Sangsad from Kotwali Panchlaish Bangladesh Awami League in 1973. He was appointed the Health Minister. He was secretary of Labour Affairs in the central committee of Bangladesh Awami League.

Death

He died on 1 July 1974 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has been remembered in the naming of the

Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium Bir Shreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Cricket Stadium (), previously known as Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium and Bir Shrestha Shaheed Ruhul Amin Stadium, is a cricket stadium located in the port city of Chattogram, in south-eastern Bangla ...

in Chittagong. After the Bangladesh Nationalist Party came to power they renamed the stadium to Bir Shrestha Shahid Ruhul Amin Stadium. The Bangladesh Awami League government returned the stadium to its original name after it came to power.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Zahur Ahmad Awami League politicians 1916 births 1974 deaths Ministers of labour of Bangladesh Ministers of social welfare of Bangladesh Health and Family Welfare ministers of Bangladesh Pakistani politicians Recipients of the Independence Award