Moudud Ahmed
| Former Prime Minister |
| Politician, Lawyer |
Full Name: Barrister Moudud Ahmed
Affiliation: Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)
Current Position: Member, National Standing Committee
Date of Birth: May 24, 1940
Date of Death: March 16, 2021
Place of Birth: Bangladesh
Home District: Noakhali
Constituency: 269 &272, Noakhali- 1 &5
Term: Fifth (2nd-1979, 3rd-1986, 4th-1988, 5th-1991, 8th-2001)
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Profile:
Barrister Moudud Ahmed(24 May 1940 – 16 March 2021) was a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician. His political career started when he worked as a lawyer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the Agartala Conspiracy Case trial. But his political career ended up as one of the top BNP leaders. He was a standing committee member of the party.Ahmed was elected as a Member of Parliament total five times from Noakhali-1 and Noakhali-5 constituencies.
Ahmed completed his BA and MA in political science from Dhaka University. In 1966, he was called to the English Bar at Lincoln's Inn. He was a fellow of Heidelberg University and Harvard University.
Ahmed served as the post master general of Bangladesh after independence. Since the eighties he has 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 Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (2001–2006).
Ahmed designed his career on legal profession in Bangladesh after becoming a British qualified Barrister. Moudud served as an assistant to the former President Major Ziaur Rahman and was legal advisor to the delegation to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the liberation war with a view to attaining the support of India for Bangladesh's legal case for freedom.
Having served for a short time as Honorary Political Secretary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Moudud soon went back to his legal practice. After the assassination of Sheikh MujiburRahman in 1975 Moudud commenced his formal political career by becoming an advisor to General Ziaur Rahman and from 1979 to 1980 was deputy Prime Minister. After the Assassination of General Ziaur Rahman in 1981 Moudud was appointed as deputy Prime Minister in 1986 under the General Ershad’s regime and subsequently was made as Prime Minister in 1988. Moudud’s political career came into a halt for almost one decade after dethroning of General Ershad in 1990 following a mass protest. During this time, Moudud was engaged in writing some major books about constitutional law and the history of Bangladesh.
Moudud re-entered political career in 2001 as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. Moudud was the only politician in Bangladesh to have working experience with every major political figure in the country over the last 40 years and his contribution at crucial times (Agartala conspiracy, meeting with Indira Gandhi during the liberation war of 1971, serving firstly Sheikh Mujibur and then as a senior Minister in the governments of Generals Rahman & Ershad and Begum Khaleda Zia) together with his long standing commitment to democracy and the rule of constitutional law makes him a true Freedom Fighter for Bangladesh.
On 30 December 2020, Ahmed was hospitalized in Dhaka due to a decrease in haemoglobin levels and eventually suffered a stroke. A few weeks later, a pacemaker was implanted. Ahmed was hospitalized for pulmonary congestion and kidney complications in Singapore on 1 February 2021.He died a month later on 16 March at the age of 80.
Apart from his political life, Moudud also penned a number of books on politics and legal matters.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 Ersahd government.
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