Kazi Zafar passes away

Former prime minister and chairman of a faction of Jatiya Party Kazi Zafar Ahmed died on Thursday morning. He was 76.
Zafar’s personal staff Quamruzzman Rony told newsmen that the veteran politician breathed last at around 6:45am at Untied Hospital in Dhaka. He was suffering from multiple ailments.
One of his relatives, Hasan said body of the former prime minister would be taken to his home shortly. He is likely to be laid to rest at his village home in Comilla.
Born in 1939, in Chiora of Chauddagram in Comilla, Zafar He was a legendary student leader who spearheaded the first popular revolt against the military ruler Ayub Khan in 1962 which eventually led to the relaxation of Ayub’s iron rule and the release of imprisoned political leaders.
He later became a labour leader, mainly concentrating in organising the workers in the Tongi industrial area. He was also the leader of a pro-Chinese faction that broke away from the Communist Party in 1966. He was among the first to demand the independence of East Pakistan and on February 22, 1970 from a grand rally of students, workers and general masses at the historic Paltan Maidan declared the programme for establishing an independent Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Bangladesh.
After independence, he joined the National Awami Party of Maulana Bhashani and became its secretary general. He declared to form a responsible opposition party. Later he formed the United Peoples’ Party in 1974. He took the UPP to a coalition government with Ziaur Rahman after he assumed the presidency through a referendum. Kazi Zafar became education minister, but left the coalition due to irreconcilable differences. However, many of his former colleagues joined Zia’s new party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Prominent among them were Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Abdullah Al-Noman who later became BNP’s top ranking leaders.
He served as the prime minister of Bangladesh from March 20, 1989 to December 6, 1990 during the regime of HM Ershad. He also served Ershad government as commerce minister and deputy prime minister.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net