>Maqayum at 08:06, 22 December 2021

2021-12-22T08:06:26Z

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{{Short description|Bangladeshi politician}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Moudud Ahmed
| image = Moudud Ahmed (01).jpg
| caption = Ahmed at U.S. Embassy Dhaka in 2012
| office1 = [[Vice President of Bangladesh]]
| president1 = [[Hossain Muhammad Ershad]]
| term_start1 = September 1989
| term_end1 = December 1990
| predecessor1 = [[A. K. M. Nurul Islam]]
| successor1 = [[Shahabuddin Ahmed]]
| office = [[List of Prime Ministers of Bangladesh|8th]] [[Prime Minister of Bangladesh]]
| president = [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad]]
| term_start = 27 March 1988
| term_end = 12 August 1989
| predecessor = [[Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury]]
| successor = [[Kazi Zafar Ahmed]]
| office3 = [[Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs|Minister of Law and Justice]]
| term_start3 = 10 October 2001<ref name="lawjusticediv">{{cite web |url=http://www.lawjusticediv.gov.bd/static/minister_rt_live_bak_law.php |title=Honorable Minister |website=Law and Justice Division |access-date=2017-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180122041816/http://www.lawjusticediv.gov.bd/static/minister_rt_live_bak_law.php |archive-date=2018-01-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| term_end3 = 28 October 2006<ref name="lawjusticediv" />
| primeminister3 = [[Khaleda Zia]]
| predecessor3 = Abdul Matin Khasru<ref name="lawjusticediv" />
| successor3 = Md. Fazlul Haque<ref name="lawjusticediv" />
| office4 = [[Member of Parliament]]
| term_start4 = 10 October 2001
| term_end4 = 28 October 2006
| predecessor4 = [[Obaidul Quader]]<ref name="7th-parliament" />
| successor4 = Obaidul Quader<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-9th-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of 9th Parliament Members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}</ref>
| constituency4 = [[Noakhali-5]]
| term_start5 = February 1991
| term_end5 = March 1996
| predecessor5 = [[Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-4th-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of 4th Parliament Members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}</ref>
| successor5 = Obaidul Quader<ref name="7th-parliament">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-7th-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of 7th Parliament Members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}</ref>
| constituency5 = Noakhali-5<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-8th-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of Members of 8th Parliament of Bangladesh Jatiyo Sangsad |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}</ref><ref name="5th-parliament" />
| term_start6 = May 1986
| term_end6 = February 1991
| predecessor6 = [[Zafor Imam]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-2nd-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of 2nd Parliament Members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}</ref>
| successor6 = [[Zainul Abdin Farroque]]<ref name="5th-parliament">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-5th-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of 5th Parliament Members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}</ref>
| constituency6 = [[Noakhali-1]]<ref name="3rd-parliament">{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/en/mps/members-of-parliament/former-mp-s/list-of-3rd-parliament-members-bangla |title=List of 3rd Parliament Members |website=Bangladesh Parliament}}</ref>
| term_start7 = April 1979
| term_end7 = March 1982
| predecessor7 = [[Abdur Rahman (politician)|Abdur Rahman]]
| constituency7 = Noakhali-5
| birth_date = {{birth date|1940|5|24|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Noakhali]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]]
| nationality = Bangladeshi
| party = [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] <small>(1978–1984), (1996–death)</small>
| otherparty = [[Jatiya Party (Ershad)|Jatiya Party]] <small>(1984–1996)</small>
| alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|[[University of Dhaka]]|[[Lincoln's Inn]]}}
| spouse = [[Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2021|3|16|1940|5|24|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Singapore]]
}}
'''Moudud Ahmed''' (24 May 1940 – 16 March 2021) was a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician. He was a [[standing committee]] member of [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/news/govt-lost-control-over-al-leaders-activists-alleges-bnp-1806133|title=Govt lost control over AL leaders, activists: BNP|date=2019-09-27|work=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-09-30}}</ref> Ahmed was elected as a [[Jatiya Sangsad]] member total five times from [[Noakhali-1]] and [[Noakhali-5]] constituencies.

Ahmed served as the post master general of Bangladesh after independence. From the 1980s on he held numerous political offices for short stints in the [[Government of Bangladesh]], including [[Deputy Prime Minister]] (1976–1978 and 1987–1988), [[Prime Minister of Bangladesh]] (1988–1989), [[Vice President of Bangladesh]] (1989–1990), and [[Minister of Justice|Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs]] (2001–2006).

==Early life and career==
Ahmed was born in 1940 in the [[Bengal Presidency]] during the [[British Raj]]. His father, Momtazuddin Ahmed, was a [[Sufi]] [[Islamic studies|Islamic scholar]] and [[imam]] in Paribagh, [[Dacca]], Maulana . Ahmed obtained his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] and [[Master of Arts|MA]] in [[political science]] from the [[University of Dacca]].<ref name="uplbooks.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.uplbooks.com/author/moudud-ahmed|title=Moudud Ahmed|work=uplbooks.com}}</ref> He was called to the [[English Bar]] at [[Lincoln's Inn]] in London in 1966.<ref name="uplbooks.com"/>

While in the UK, Ahmed was part of a growing intellectual movement among East Pakistani students in envisioning an independent Bangladesh.<ref name=road>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-106917|title=The long road one politician has travelled|date=2009-09-25|work=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-09-30}}</ref> After returning to Dacca, he joined the legal team of [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] during the [[Agartala Conspiracy Case]] trial in 1968. He accompanied the Bengali delegation led by Sheikh Mujib to the Rawalpindi Round Table Conference with Field Marshal [[Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan)|Ayub Khan]] in 1969.<ref name=road/> Ahmed witnessed many important developments in the run up to Bangladesh's independence.<ref name=road/> He joined the [[Provisional Government of Bangladesh]] in [[Calcutta]] during the [[Bangladesh War|1971 Liberation War]]. He worked in its External Publicity Division.<ref name="uplbooks.com"/> Ahmed addressed many humanitarian rallies for [[Bengali genocide]] victims. He once stirred an entire rally in London holding up a ''Daily Mirror'' article titled ''Birth of a Nation'' and crying out "we are alive, but we are not yet free".<ref name="johnpilger">{{cite news |author=John Pilger |title=The prison that is Bangladesh |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/15/prison-bangladesh-moudud-ahmed |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

Ahmed was one of the founding members of the 33 member [[Committee for Civil Liberties and Legal Aid]] which was established to protect the opposition politicians and members of civil society who were facing the wrath of the government on 31 March 1974.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Moudud |date=2015 |orig-year=First published 1983 |title=Bangladesh, Era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |location=Dhaka |publisher=University Press Limited |page=232 |isbn=978-984-506-226-8}}</ref> Ahmed was the first Postmaster General of [[Bangladesh Post Office]] after the [[Independence of Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-03-17|title=Moudud Ahmed’s body to be brought back home on Thursday|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2021/03/17/moudud-ahmed-s-body-to-be-brought-back-home-on-thursday|access-date=2021-03-17|work=Dhaka Tribune}}</ref>

Ahmed was jailed on orders from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in December 1974, but was later released.<ref name=road/>

==BNP and Jatiyo Party==
In the late 1970s, Ahmed was courted by Lt General [[Ziaur Rahman]], the first [[military dictator]] of Bangladesh. Between 1976 and 1978, he served as [[Deputy Prime Minister]]. In 1977, he led the Bangladeshi delegation to the [[United Nations General Assembly]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lentz |first=Harris M. |date=2014 |title=Heads of States and Governments Since 1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6HKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA72 |publisher=Routledge |pages=72– |isbn=978-1-134-26490-2}}</ref> He was elected to parliament from the [[Bangladesh Nationalist Party]] (BNP) in 1979. Ahmed's feud with [[Shah Azizur Rahman]] led to him being sacked by Zia.<ref name=road/>

In 1985,<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2021-03-16|title=BNP leader Moudud Ahmed no more|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/news/bnp-leader-moudud-ahmed-no-more-2061641|access-date=2021-03-20|work=The Daily Star|language=en}}</ref> Ahmed joined the newly formed [[Jatiya Party (Ershad)|Jatiyo Party]] of Lt General [[Hussain Muhammad Ershad]]. He was appointed again as [[Deputy Prime Minister]] in the cabinet<ref>{{Cite web|title=Profile - Barrister Moudud Ahmed|url=https://www.tritiyomatra.com/profile/36|access-date=2021-03-20|website=www.tritiyomatra.com|language=en}}</ref> and held the portfolios of the Industries Ministry and the Communications Ministry. President Ershad appointed Ahmed as [[Prime Minister of Bangladesh|Prime Minister]] in 1988. Serving for a year in the office of premier, he oversaw relief operations during the catastrophic 1988 Bangladesh flood. Ahmed was invited for talks with several Western leaders, including with [[Margaret Thatcher]] at [[10 Downing Street]]. However, Ershad replaced Ahmed with the pro-Chinese leftwinger [[Kazi Zafar Ahmed]] in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prime Minister - Banglapedia|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Prime_Minister|access-date=2021-03-20|website=Banglapedia}}</ref> Ahmed was elevated to the post of [[Vice President of Bangladesh]] in 1989. He resigned in December 1990 to make way for Justice [[Shahabuddin Ahmed]] to become acting president and lead the transition to parliamentary democracy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ahmed, Justice Shahabuddin - Banglapedia|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php/Ahmed,_Justice_Shahabuddin|access-date=2021-03-20|website=Banglapedia|language=en}}</ref>

After serving a stint in prison following Ershad's ousting, Ahmed was invited by [[Khaleda Zia]] to return to the BNP in 1996. He was elected to parliament while in jail in 1996. He was reelected for the fifth time in 2001. Begum Zia appointed him as [[Minister of Justice|Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs]] in 2001.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2005-12-21|title=Bangladesh plans anti-terror law|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4547874.stm|access-date=2021-03-20}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

In 2007, the [[2006-2008 Bangladeshi political crisis|military-backed caretaker government]] arrested Ahmed on charges of illegal alcohol possession. But the case was dismissed at the Supreme Court in 2008. After his release from prison, Ahmed received a jubilant reception at his constituency in Noakhali. He was reelected to parliament in 2008. He was arrested again in 2013 by the [[Awami League]] government. His family told ''The Guardian'' that the country was turning into a prison under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.<ref name="johnpilger"/>

Ahmed joined his party in boycotting the 2014 general election.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Under the Awami League administration, Ahmed and his brother Monzur faced charges of illegally occupying their properties in the posh [[Gulshan Thana|Gulshan]] area of Dhaka. They maintained that the case was politically motivated.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/court-accepts-land-grabbing-charges-against-moudud-brother-41636|title=Court accepts land grabbing charges against Moudud, brother|work=The Daily Star}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2014/09/15/256428#.VBY7HZpwbIU|script-title=bn:বাড়ি সংক্রান্ত মামলায় মওদুদ আহমদের বিরুদ্ধে চার্জশিট গ্রহণ|work=Amar Desh |language=bn |access-date=2014-09-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915051256/http://www.amardeshonline.com/pages/details/2014/09/15/256428#.VBY7HZpwbIU|archive-date=2014-09-15|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 8 June 2017, he was evicted from his house by [[Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha]]. Ahmed described his eviction as "political vengeance" by the Awami League government. Former Prime Minister and chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Khaleda Zia, condemned the move to evict him.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-06-07|title=Rajuk evicts Moudud from Gulshan house|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/dhaka/2017/06/07/rajuk-evicts-moudud-gulshan-house|access-date=2021-03-16|work=Dhaka Tribune}}</ref> He had lived in the house for more than 40 years.<ref>{{Cite news |title=BNP leader Moudud loses his Gulshan home of more than four decades|url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2017/06/07/city-authorities-move-to-evict-bnp-s-moudud-from-gulshan-home|url-status=live|access-date=2021-03-16|work=bdnews24.com}}</ref>

==Personal life and family==
Ahmed was married to [[Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud]], a daughter of the Bengali poet [[Jasimuddin]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2006/01/13/palli-kabi-jasimuddin-s-wife-passes-away|title=Palli Kabi Jasimuddin's wife passes away|work=bdnews24.com}}</ref> They have a daughter, poet Ana Kashfiya Moudud.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unmultimedia.org/s/photo/detail/115/0115533.html|title=United Nations Photo|date=30 March 2006|work=unmultimedia.org}}</ref> Their eldest son, Asif Momtaz Moudud, died at the age of 3.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/moududs-son-dies-143791|title=Moudud's son dies|date=2015-09-16|work=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref> Another son, Aman Momtaj Moudud, died of dengue fever in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/amans-ordeal-161719|title=Aman's Ordeal|date=2015-10-24|work=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/09/15/bnp-leader-moudud-ahmeds-only-son-dies-of-dengue-fever|title=BNP leader Moudud Ahmed's only son dies of dengue fever|work=bdnews24.com|access-date=2019-09-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/moududs-son-dies-143791|title=Moudud's son dies|work=The Daily Star}}</ref>

Ahmed was a practicing barrister in the [[Supreme Court of Bangladesh]]. He was a fellow at [[Heidelberg University]] in Germany and a visiting fellow at [[Harvard University]] in the United States.<ref name="uplbooks.com"/> In the fall of 1997, he was the Bland Visiting Professor at [[George Washington University]]'s [[Elliott School of International Affairs]]. He was also a member of the Elliott School's International Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gwu.edu/~elliott/aboutus/intcouncil.html |title=Elliott School International Council |website=Elliott School of International Affairs |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050512153402/http://www.gwu.edu/~elliott/aboutus/intcouncil.html |archivedate=2005-05-12}}</ref>

==Death==
On 30 December 2020, Ahmed was hospitalized in Dhaka due to a decrease in [[haemoglobin]] levels and eventually suffered a [[stroke]].<ref name=health/> A few weeks later, a [[pacemaker]] was implanted.<ref name=health/>

Ahmed was hospitalized for pulmonary congestion and kidney complications in [[Singapore]] on 1 February 2021.<ref name=health>[https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2021/03/09/moudud-s-condition-deteriorating Moudud’s condition deteriorating]</ref> He died a month later on 16 March at the age of 80.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newagebd.net/article/132895/bnp-leader-moudud-dies |title=BNP leader Moudud dies|work=New Age|date=16 March 2021}}</ref>

== Publications ==
Ahmed is the author of nine books. Publications include:
* ''Shongshod-e Ja Bolechhi'', Dhaka: [[The University Press Limited]], 2006, {{ISBN|984-05-0278-6}}
* ''South Asia: Crisis of Development-The Case of Bangladesh'', Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 2003
* ''Democracy and the Challenge of Development: a Study of Politics and Military Interventions in Bangladesh'', Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 1995
* ''Bangladesh: Era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman'', Dhaka: The University Press Limited, 1983, {{ISBN|3-515-04266-0}}
* ''Bangladesh: Constitutional Quest for Autonomy'', South Asian Institute of Heidelberg University, 1976 and University Press Limited, Dhaka, 1979
* ''Chaloman Itihas'', the book to inform the next generation the history of the country particularly the history of HM Ershad government.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Md Mahmudul Hasan, “At Heidelberg with Moudud Ahmad.” New Age, Mar 20, 2021. https://www.newagebd.net/article/133169/at-heidelberg-with-moudud-ahmad

{{BangladeshPrimeMinisters}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Moudud}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:2nd Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:5th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:6th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:8th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:9th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians]]
[[Category:Communications ministers of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:George Washington University faculty]]
[[Category:Industries ministers of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs ministers of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Prime Ministers of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Road Transport and Bridges ministers of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:University of Dhaka alumni]]
[[Category:Vice presidents of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:People from Companiganj Upazila, Noakhali]]

Moudud Ahmed - Revision history

>Maqayum at 08:06, 22 December 2021