Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
| Khandaker, Moshtaque Ahmed খন্দকার মোশতাক আহমেদ Khondokar Moshtak Ahmed | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of Bangladesh | |
|
In office 15 August 1975 – 6 November 1975 | |
| Preceded by | Mujibur Rahman |
| Succeeded by | Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
1918 Daspara, British Raj (now Bangladesh) |
| Died |
5 March 1996 (aged 77–78) Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Political party | Awami League (1949–1975; 1975–1996) |
| Other political affiliations |
All-India Muslim League (Before 1949) Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (1975) |
| Alma mater | University of Dhaka |
| Religion | Islam |
Khondaker, Moshtaq Ahmad (also spelled Khandakar, Mushtaq Ahmed and phonetically spelt Khondokar, Mushtak Ahmed) (Bengali: খন্দকার মোশতাক আহমেদ) (1918 – March 5, 1996) 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 father of Bangladesh. Ahmad played important roles in the Awami League and the Bangladesh government-in-exile formed during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Early life
Born in the village of Daspara in Daudkandi Upazila of Comilla District, Khondakar Mostaq Ahmad obtained a Law degree from the University of Dhaka and joined politics in 1942. An activist in the Pakistan movement and a leading student activist in the Muslim League, Ahmad was one of the founder joint secretaries of the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, founded by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and later renamed Awami League co-founded by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Ahmad was one of the closest associates of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, since his earliest days as a student leader.
Political career
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, Mostaq Ahmad was jailed in 1954 with other Bengali leaders. He was released in 1955 and elected chief whip of the United Front parliamentary party. But with the promulgation of martial law in the country in 1958 he was arrested by the regime of Ayub Khan. During the 6 Point Movement, Ahmad was once again jailed in 1966. Following his release, Ahmad accompanied Sheikh Mujib (now the topmost leader of the Awami League) to the all-parties conference called by Ayub Khan in Rawalpindi in 1969. He was elected a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1970.
Government of Bangladesh in exile
At the onset of the Bangladesh Liberation War and Mujib's arrest, Ahmad and other Awami League leaders gathered in Meherpur to form the Government of Bangladesh in exile. Syed Nazrul Islam served as Acting President (Mujib was declared President), Tajuddin Ahmad served as Prime Minister and Khondokar Mostaq Ahmad was made Foreign Minister.[1] 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 in line with the Six Point Charter. Zafrullah Chowdhury alleges that Mostaq Ahmad did not act alone in this regard and that Awami League leaders were involved.[2]
President of Bangladesh
After Bangladesh's independence, Ahmad became a member of the cabinet of Sheikh Mujib. First he was appointed Foreign Minister of Independent Bangladesh, a responsibility that he had been discharging since the formation of Bangladesh Government in exile. Later Sheikh Mujibur Rahman appointed him in minister of Power, Irrigation and Flood Control. In 1975, he was made the Commerce Minister. However, by this time Ahmad was believed to have been distanced from Mujib as he was suspected of forging alliances with anti-India and anti socialist groups. A conservative leader, Ahmad opposed Mujib's socialism, secularism and pro-India policies. Despite this, Ahmad remained in Mujib's cabinet and was appointed a member of the BAKSAL executive committee when Mujib banned other political parties, declaring himself as President.
Sheikh Mujib and all but two members of his family (his daughters, who were in West Germany at the time and thus escaped the carnage) were assassinated in a military coup orchestrated by a group of junior army officers on 15 August 1975.[3]
Khondaker immediately took control of the government, proclaiming himself as President. Several of the army officers involved in Mujib's assassination were promoted, e.g. Major Syed Faruque Rahman was promoted as Lt. Col. Major General Ziaur Rahman was appointed as Chief of Staff of Bangladesh Army replacing K M Shafiullah. He praised the assassins calling them ‘shurjo shontan’(sons of the sun).[4] Khondaker 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'. More controversially, he proclaimed the Indemnity Ordinance, which granted immunity from prosecution to the assassins of Mujib. Mujib's daughters Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Sheikh Rehana were barred from returning to Bangladesh from abroad. BAKSAL and pro-Mujib political groups were dissolved.
On November 3, in what became infamously known as the "Jail Killing Day",[5] the four imprisoned leaders Tajuddin Ahmad, Syed Nazrul Islam, A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman, and Muhammad Mansur Ali were killed at midnight by a group of army officers on the instruction of President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed. [6] at the Dhaka Central Jail. However, Ahmad was ousted from power on 6 November in a coup led by Khaled Mosharraf and Shafat Jamil.
Later life and legacy
Khondaker, Mostaq Ahmad was imprisoned by Brigadier General Khaled Mosharraf 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 March 5, 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. Due to his death, he was not charged or tried. Historians and critics assert that Ahmad was one of the key plotters of Mujib's murder. He is also criticised for legitimising political murders by protecting Mujib's killers.
He is also known to be responsible for the killing of the four national leaders, among whom were the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed and Captain Muhammad Mansur Ali, and former interior minister A H M Qamaruzzaman on 3 November 1975 inside the Dhaka Central Jail, commemorated as Jail Killing Day by the Awami League today.
See also
References
- ↑ Senior Correspondent. "PM pays homage to Bangabandhu to mark Mujibnagar Day". bdnews24.com. bdnews24.com. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ↑ Ahmed, Taib; Islam, Khadimul (16 December 2014). "‘Mujib Bahini didn’t fight liberation war’". The New Age. The New Age. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ↑ Anthony Mascarenhas, Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood ISBN 0-340-39420-X
- ↑ Tripathi, Salil. "‘Of course, we killed him ... he had to go’". dhakatribune.com. Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
- ↑ "Haroon Habib, "Hasina extends deadline", The Hindu, 4 November 2006". Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- ↑ Midnight Massacre In Dacca by Sukharanjan Dasgupta, 1978, ISBN 0-7069-0692-6
References
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mujibur Rahman |
President of Bangladesh 1975 |
Succeeded by Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem |
