| Motiur Rahman Nizami | |
|---|---|
| Leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2000 |
|
| Preceded by | Ghulam Azam |
| Minister of Agriculture | |
| In office 10 October 2001 – 22 May 2003 |
|
| Minister of Industries | |
| In office 22 May 2003 – 28 October 2006 |
|
| Member of Parliament for Pabna-1 |
|
| In office 1 October 2001 – 28 October 2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Professor Abu Sayed |
| Succeeded by | Md. Shamsul Haque |
| Majority | 135,982 (57.68%) |
| In office 27 February 1991 – 16 February 1996 |
|
| Succeeded by | Professor Abu Sayed |
| Majority | 55,707 (36.85%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 March 1943 Pabna, Bangladesh |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Political party | Jamaat-e-Islami |
| Spouse(s) | Shamsunnahar Nizami |
| Alma mater | Dhaka University |
| Profession | Politician |
| Religion | Islam |
| Website | www.motiurrahmannizami.com |
Motiur Rahman Nizami (Bengali: মতিউর রহমান নিজামী), (born 31 March 1943) is the current chief (Ameer) of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which is the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh.
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Nizami rose in the ranks of the Jamaat-e-Islami in East Pakistan in the 1960s, after being a leader of a student organization, Islamic Chhatro Shango (now Islami Chhatro Shibir). During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami actively supported the cause of West Pakistan and formed the Al-Badr Force in which he acted as the supreme commander of the Al-Badr Militia.[1] As the leader of Al-Badr, Nizami advocated deadly violence against minority Hindus, and in an article in the Daily Sangram published in 14 November 1971, Nizami claimed, "It is our conviction that the day is not far off when, standing side by side with our armed forces, our youth will raise the victorious flag of Islam the world over by defeating the Hindu Army and finishing off Hindustan".[2][3]
On Nizamis orders, The Al-Badr militia took active part in rape, extortion, loot and specially capturing and killing of Bengalis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them.[4][5][6] Al-Badar militia also helped Pakistany forces to fight against the Freedom Fighters of Bangladesh Liberation War.
After taking over the rule of Bangladesh in 1975, Ziaur Rahman allowed democratic political parties to organise themselves, which had been banned since March of the same year. Under the rule of Ziaur Rahman, top Jamaat leaders such as Ghulam Azam and Nizami whose party were banned by the subsequent government after liberation, returned to Bangladesh in 1978 and revived the Jamaat party. Nizami emerged as a key leader of the Jamaat, organising the Islami Chhatra Shibir (Jammat Students Organisation), which serves as the youth wing of the Jamaat. In 1991, he was elected as a Member of Parliament, representing Jamaat-e-Islami for the constituency of Pabna-1, and was Jamaat's Parliamentary Party leader during until 1994.[7]
However, during the 1996 elections, he lost out to both the candidates for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League in his constituency, and Professor Abu Sayed of the Awami League replaced him. Nizami took over as the Ameer from Ghulam Azam in 2001.[8] In the same year, representing his party as part of a four-party alliance including BNP, he won in Pabna-1, receiving 57.68% of the votes.[9] Nizami served as the Industrial Minister from 2003 to 2006, after a two-year term as the Minister of Agriculture.
Nizami was defeated in the general election held on 29 December 2008 as a candidate of 4-party alliance, losing his seat for Pabna-1 to Md. Shamsul Haque by 8.2%. He received 45.6% of the votes, out of which 41.03% votes were from BNP supporters. His opponent representing the Awami League won, having 53.8%.
During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he is alleged to have acted as the supreme commander of the Al-Badr militia, which had allegedly taken part in various war crimes including killing of hundreds of intellectuals around the country. His misdoings were finally brought into attention in the year 2009, when the Awami League reopened the cases pending against him.
The Anti-corruption Commission of Bangladesh indicted Nizami on the GATCO Corruption case, in which he along with several other politicians are alleged to have granted illegally a container-depot contract to the local firm GATCO.[10] A warrant was issued to arrest Nizami along with 12 others on May 15, 2008.
Nizami was accused of conspiring with 12 other politicians to award the contract to GATCO despite the fact that GATCO did not meed the conditions of the tender. The case filed by the Anti-corruption Commission of Bangladesh Govt. alleges that, the deal with GATCO caused a total loss of more than 100 million Bangladeshi Taka to the Government.[11] Nizami denied the charges, which he has said are politically motivated.[12] He was released after two months on bail.
Dhaka Jamaat chief Rafiqul Islam, in a public speech on March 17, 2010, compared the tortured life of the Prophet Muhammad of Islam propagating truth in the face of persecution with the life of Nizami, who was facing the same. On March 21, Bangladesh Tariqat Federation sued Rafiqul, Nizami and other Jamaat members for hurting Islamic sentiments of the masses by comparing Nizami with the Prophet[13].
Nizami, along with 3 other senior Jamaat leaders, were arrested on such accusations on March 29, 2010, and are still awaiting trial.[14]
Nizami is accused for aiding the smuggling of ten trucks of arms from the Chittagong port on 1 April 2004,[15] supposedly supplied by Pakistan to the ULFA insurgents in Assam, India. Nizami was the Industries Minister during that time.
He is currently in prison, and has been shown arrested for the smuggling, along with other crimes described above. His recent bail petition on 7 September 2011 was denied.[15]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ghulam Azam |
Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh 2001–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |