Abdus Samad Azad

Abdus Samad Azad ( pronunciation  ahb-DOOS sah-MAHD ah-ZAHD January 15, 1922 – April 27, 2005) was a diplomat and politician from Bangladesh. Azad was elected to Bangladesh's parliament five times from 1970 to 2001. He was also elected Member of Lower Assembly in the Parliament of then East Pakistan. He became President of the Muslim Student Federation of All - Asam in 1946 and Lead Language movement in 1952.

Life

Azad was born in Bhurakhali village, Sunamganj District, in what is now Bangladesh. He was a leader and an executive member of the Awami League and a friend to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by 1970 when he became the chief representative of the Bangladeshi independence movement in exile, helping the movement get international support while Mujibur Rahman was imprisoned. When independence for Bangladesh was achieved in 1971, Azad became its first foreign minister,^[1] within the Mujibur Rahman government. He served in that position until 1973 and then became agriculture minister.

Azad did not support the 1975 military coup in which Mujibur Rahman was killed. He was imprisoned until 1978. In 1996, when the Awami League came back to power under Mujibur Rahman's daughter, Sheikh Hasina, Azad was appointed foreign minister again.^[1] He served in that position until 2001 when the Awami League lost elections.

Azad died at a hospital in Dhaka of stomach cancer. He had undergone medical treatment in India but became ill again after returning to Bangladesh and remained in the hospital from February 2005 until his death at the age of 83. He was buried in Banani Graveyard, Dhaka.

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