Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
President of Bangladesh in 1975 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (Bengali: খন্দকার মুশতাক আহমেদ, romanized: Khandakar Mushtaq Ahmed; 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 Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975. He praised the assassins as "sons of the sun" and put cabinet ministers loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in jail.[2][3] On 3 November, he himself was deposed in another coup.[4]
However, due to his widely condemned role in the 1975 military coup and his perceived betrayal of Bangladesh's founding ideals, Mostaq was deeply unpopular with the general public.[better source needed] His party failed to gain any significant traction in Bangladeshi politics and never became a major political force. The Democratic League eventually faded from the national scene, and Mostaq remained a marginal figure until his death in 1996.[citation needed]
Remove ads
Early life
Ahmad was born on 27 February 1919, into a Bengali Muslim family of Khondakars in the village of Dashpara in Daudkandi, Tipperah district (now Comilla District, Bangladesh). The family was a Pir family, his father Al-Hajj Hazrat Khandaker Kabiruddin Ahmed was considered to be a Muslim saint and was known widely as Pir Sahib, his mother was Begum Rabeya Khatun, a homemaker. He was a fourth-generation descendant of Khandaker Jalaluddin, an immigrant scholar of Arabic and Persian from Baghdad who was employed by the Nawabs. He completed his Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Dhaka and entered politics in 1942. He was one of the founder joint secretaries of the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League.[5][3]
Remove ads
Background
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad was born on 27 February 1919, into a Bengali Muslim family of Khondakars in the village of Dashpara in Daudkandi, Tipperah district (now Comilla District, Bangladesh). He completed his Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Dhaka and entered politics in 1942. He was one of the founder joint secretaries of the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League.[3]
Political career
Summarize
Perspective
Ahmad was elected a member of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly in 1954 as a candidate of the United Front. After the central government of Pakistan dissolved the United Front, Ahmad was jailed in 1954 along with other Bengali leaders. He was released in 1955 and elected the chief whip of the United Front parliamentary party. In 1958, with the promulgation of martial law, he was arrested by the regime of Ayub Khan. During the 6 Point Movement, Ahmad was again jailed in 1966. Following his release, Ahmad accompanied Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (then the most senior leader of the Awami League Party) to the all-parties conference called by Ayub Khan in Rawalpindi in 1969. In 1970, he was elected a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.[3]
Government of Bangladesh in exile
At the onset of the Bangladesh War of Independence and Mujib's arrest, Ahmad and other Awami League leaders gathered in Mujibnagar, Meherpur to form the Government of Bangladesh in exile. Syed Nazrul Islam served as the acting president while Mujib was declared president, Tajuddin Ahmad was appointed prime minister and Khondakar Mostaq Ahmed was made the foreign minister.[6][7]
In this capacity, Ahmad was to build international support for the cause of Bangladesh's independence. But his role as the Foreign Minister became controversial as he wanted a peaceful solution, remaining within Pakistan by forming the Bangladesh–Pakistan Confederation. He was sidelined after his manoeuvrings came to light, left out of a visit to the United Nations General Assembly and dismissed by Prime Minister Ahmad shortly before the end of the provisional government, when the war had already ended. He was replaced by Abdus Samad Azad. Zafrullah Chowdhury alleges that Ahmad did not act alone in this regard and that Awami League leaders were involved.[8]
Sheikh Mujib administration
After the liberation, Ahmad was appointed the Minister of Power, Irrigation and Flood Control in 1972 as part of the Second Sheikh Mujib cabinet. In 1973, he took charge of the Ministry of Commerce in the Third Sheikh Mujib cabinet. He was a member of the executive committee of Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL) formed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which made Bangladesh, a one-party system[9] which was formed in 1975.[3]
1975 Political Crisis and Presidency
Sheikh Mujib and his family, except for his two daughters who were in West Germany at the time, were assassinated by a group of army personnel on 15 August.[10]
Ahmad immediately took control of the government, proclaiming himself President.[11] All three services chiefs were dismissed and replaced by next in line seniors. Major General Ziaur Rahman was appointed Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army, replacing K M Shafiullah. Air Vice Marshal A. K. Khandekar was replaced by AVM M G Ghulam Tawab. Mushtaq reportedly praised the plotters who killed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman calling them Shurjo Shontan (Sons of the Sun).[12] Mushtaq Ahmad also ordered the imprisonment of leaders Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman and Muhammad Mansur Ali. He replaced the national slogan of Joy Bangla with Bangladesh Zindabad slogan and changed the name Bangladesh Betar to 'Radio Bangladesh'. He proclaimed the Indemnity Ordinance, which granted immunity from prosecution to the assassins of Mujib.[3] Mujib's daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana were barred from returning to Bangladesh from abroad. BAKSAL and pro-Mujib political groups were dissolved.
On 3 November, in what became infamously known as the "Jail Killing Day",[13] the four imprisoned leaders Tajuddin Ahmad, Syed Nazrul Islam, A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman, and Muhammad Mansur Ali, who had refused to co-operate with Mostaq,[14] were killed inside Dhaka Central Jail by a group of army officers on the instruction of President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad.[15] However, Mushtaq Ahmad was ousted from power on 6 November following a coup on 3 November led by Brigadier Khaled Mosharraf and Colonel Shafat Jamil among others.[16]
Formation of the Democratic League
Following his removal from office in the 3 November 1975 coup led by Brigadier General Khaled Mosharraf, Mostaq Ahmad was imprisoned. After his release in 1976, he founded a political party named the Democratic League. Later that year, he was arrested for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the military government and was convicted in two corruption cases, receiving a five-year prison sentence.[3]
Remove ads
Later life and legacy
.jpg)
Ahmad was imprisoned by Brigadier General Khaled Mosharraf[17] and later by the Ziaur Rahman administration until 1978. Upon his release, he formed Democratic League and attempted to resuscitate his political career, but to no avail. He spent his last years in Dhaka and died on 5 March 1996.
Ahmad was named in the investigation of the murder of Sheikh Mujib launched in 1996 by his daughter Sheikh Hasina, who had just won the national elections to become Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Hasina blamed Ahmad for her father's death.[18] Due to his death, he was not charged or tried.
Remove ads
See also
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads