A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman
Encyclopedia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i politician, senior government minister and a leading member of the Awami League. A loyalist of Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
, Qamaruzzaman was murdered along with Syed Nazrul Islam
Syed Nazrul Islam
Syed Nazrul Islam was a Bangladeshi politician and a senior leader of the Awami League. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he served as the acting President of Bangladesh in the absence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.-Early life:...
, Muhammad Mansur Ali
Muhammad Mansur Ali
Muhammad Mansur Ali was a Bangladeshi politician who was a close confidante of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh...
and Tajuddin Ahmed in the infamous "jail killings" in Dhaka Central Jail
Dhaka Central Jail
Dhaka Central Jail is the largest jail in Bangladesh, located in the old section of Dhaka, the country's capital. The jail has been used to house criminals as well as political prisoners, especially during the Language Movement of 1952, the 6 Point Movement, and the Bangladesh Liberation War....
on November 3, 1975.
Early life
Qamaruzzaman was born in 1926 in the city of RajshahiRajshahi
The city of Rajshahi is the divisional headquarters of Rajshahi division as well as the administrative district that bears its name and is one of the six metropolitan cities of Bangladesh. Often referred to as Silk City and Education City, Rajshahi is located in the north-west of the country and...
in the province of Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
(now in Bangladesh). He obtained degrees in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
from the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
in 1946, and a law degree from the Rajshahi University
Rajshahi University
Rajshahi University or University of Rajshahi is a public university located in Rajshahi, a city in north-western Bangladesh...
in 1956. He began practising law after his induction in the Rajshahi District
Rajshahi District
Rajshahi District is a district in north-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rajshahi Division. The metropolitan city of Rajshahi is in Rajshahi District.-Geography:...
bar association. As a student, Qamaruzzaman became active in the Muslim League and worked for the Pakistan movement
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
.
Political career
Qamaruzzaman joined the Awami League of Huseyn Shaheed SuhrawardyHuseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani-Bengali politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime minister of Pakistan...
and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
in 1956. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan
National Assembly of Pakistan
The National Assembly of Pakistan is the lower house of the bicameral Majlis-e-Shura, which also compromises the President of Pakistan and Senate . The National Assembly and the Senate both convene at Parliament House in Islamabad...
in 1962, 1965 and again in 1970. He rose to national party leadership posts in the late 1960s, becoming a close ally of Mujib. During the Bangladesh Liberation War
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
, Qamaruzzaman served as the minister of relief and rehabilitation in the provisional government of Bangladesh formed at Mujibnagar
Mujibnagar
Also See: Provisional Government of the People's Republic of BangladeshMujibnagar , formerly known as Baidyanathtala is a town in the Meherpur District of Bangladesh...
. After the creation of Bangladesh, he won election to the national parliament from Rajshahi in 1973. A minister in Mujib's cabinet, he resigned on January 18, 1974 to serve as president of the Awami League. In 1975, Qamaruzzaman was appointed minister of industries and a member of the executive committee of BAKSAL
BAKSAL
The Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League was a political amalgmation of the Awami League with the Krishak Sramik Party that supported President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in governing Bangladesh...
. He continued to support Mujib despite his assumption of dictatorial powers and a ban on all political parties except BAKSAL.
Death
After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur RahmanAssassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
The assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took place in the early hours of August 15, 1975, when a group of junior Bangladesh Army officers invaded Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's residence with tanks...
on August 15, 1975 Qamaruzzaman went underground with other Mujib loyalists. He was arrested by the regime of the new president Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
Khondaker Moshtaq Ahmad was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975 after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh...
and imprisoned in the Dhaka Central Jail with Tajuddin Ahmed, Syed Nazrul Islam and Mansur Ali. These four senior Awami League politicians were killed under mysterious and controversial circumstances on November 3, even as a military coup led by Mujib loyalist general Khaled Mosharraf
Khaled Mosharraf
Khaled Mosharraf was a Bangladeshi military officer who was a the Sector Commander of BDF Sector 2 and K-Force Brigade Commander during the Bangladesh War of Liberation. He was awarded Bir Uttam for his gallantry actions during the war...
overthrew Khondaker Mostaq's regime.