Asaduzzaman Noor | |
|---|---|
আসাদুজ্জামান নূর | |
 Noor inGwangju, South Korea, October 2014 | |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 10 October 2001 – 6 August 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Ahsan Ahmed |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Constituency | Nilphamari-2 |
| Minister of Cultural Affairs | |
| In office 13 January 2014 – 7 January 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Sheikh Hasina |
| Preceded by | Hasanul Haq Inu |
| Succeeded by | K. M. Khalid |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1946-10-31)31 October 1946 (age 78) Jalpaiguri,Bengal Province, British India |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Political party | Bangladesh Awami League |
| Spouse | Shaheen Akhter |
| Alma mater | University of Dhaka |
| Occupation | Actor, cultural activist, politician, reciter |
Asaduzzaman Noor (born 31 October 1946)[1][2] is a Bangladeshi actor, politician and activist. He was aJatiya Sangsad member representing theNilphamari-2 constituency during 2001–2024 and served as thecultural affairs minister during 2014–2019.
Noor worked as an actor in theatre, film and television productions. He is best known for his role asBaker Bhai in the television seriesKothao Keu Nei. His other notable television works includeEi Shob Din Ratri,Aaj Robibar,Ayomoy,Bohubrihi andNokkhotrer Raat. His notable films areShonkhonil Karagar (1992) andAguner Poroshmoni (1994).
In 2018, Noor was awarded theIndependence Day Award, the highest civilian state award in Bangladesh, by thegovernment of Bangladesh.[3]
Noor was born inJalpaiguri in West Bengal (now in India) on 31 October 1946 to Abu Nazem Mohammad Ali and Amina.[4] His family migrated toNilphamari District inEast Bengal (now in Bangladesh) in 1948.[5] Both of his parents worked as school teachers.[5] He studied in Nilphamari College,Carmichael College and theUniversity of Dhaka.[5]
Noor's acting career began with the theatre. In 1973, he joined the theatre group "Nagorik".[6] He was a receptionist of the paper "Chitraly" at that time and went to take the interview of the prominent actors that time.[6] There he metAly Zaker, an actor of Nagorik, who asked him to visit the rehearsal of his new team. Later he joined that group. At first, he used to work behind the stage as a prompter.[7] At one point the rehearsal of the drama "Toilo Shonkot" which was written by Rashid Haider was going on, when with only two days remaining until performance day, the leading actor of that dramaAbul Hayat got injured. As Noor had learned all the lines in his role as a prompter, Zaker asked Noor to take the part.[8] Following a bit of persuasion from the other cast Noor performed the role and thus began his career as an actor. Noor's first television drama "Rang-er Phanush" was directed byAbdullah al Mamun in 1974.[9][10]
Noor got his break-through in acting during his early days as aBangladesh Television dramatic artist and has since starred in many television shows and films.
In 2018, Noor returned to the stage with his long-term acting partner, Zaker, in a Bengali adaptation ofBertolt Brecht's play,The Life of Galileo, about the 17th-century polymathGalileo Galilei. The role of Galileo was played by Zaker with Noor playing a number of supporting roles. The play ran for a limited number of performances in Dhaka'sBailey Road.
Noor came to politics during the period ofAyub Khan in 1962.[11] He was a student and had joined the East Pakistan Students' Union, which was a left-sided organisation. Later he became the chairman of theNilfamari Mohokuma Shomeetee.[citation needed] In 1966, he was admitted toDhaka University to study law, where he metNatyaguruNurul Momen as his teacher. He was still a member of the Students' Union. Later he became the cultural secretary of the central committee. He also was the chairman of the Shongskriti Shongshod, a very large cultural organisation of Dhaka University.[citation needed] Noor stayed in the Iqbal Hall (now Johurul Huq hall) which was the centre of student politics during that period. At that time Noor came in contact with the versatile student leaders of that time. Though the followers of different political belief they worked together against the dictatorship of West Pakistan government.
At the eve ofBangladesh Liberation War, Noor left Dhaka and came back toNilphamari District when he received an order from his political party on 8 March 1971. There he helped the then East Pakistan Rifles (nowBorder Guards Bangladesh). He crossed the border during the War of Liberation on 8 April. Noor was a freedom fighter under the Sector-6 and helped to organise the war and took training. He also helped to recruit freedom fighters during the nine-month war period. But following the liberation of Bangladesh he grew more distant with active politics. However, later Noor became active in the1990 Mass Uprising against the military leaderErshad.
In 1996, Noor was asked by theBangladesh Awami League leader and future Prime Minister,Sheikh Hasina, to run as an Awami League candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election. However, claiming he was not yet ready, he postponed participation until the subsequent general election in 2001, running in his home-town, Nilphamari. In the2001 general election Noor was elected as the Member of Parliament forNilphamari-2, a constituency in the north-west, where he won with 38% of the popular vote.
In the subsequent2008 general election Noor was re-elected, increasing his vote share to 62%. Noor ran unopposed in the2014 general election, as the election was boycotted by the opposition alliance. He was elected for a fourth consecutive time in the2018 general election for Nilphamari-2, with a vote share of 68%. He was elected again in the2024 general election (which was largely boycotted by opposition parties). Noor ceased to be an MP when parliament was dissolved in August 2024, following thequota reform movement.
In 2014, Noor was appointed to theCabinet by the Prime Minister,Sheikh Hasina, as Minister for theMinistry of Cultural Affairs. He served a full term as Minister but was dropped from the subsequent Cabinet formed in 2019.[12]
On 14 December 2013, Noor's motorcade in Nilphamari was attacked by activists ofBangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, causing the deaths of five people.[13][14] Two days earlier, 70+ shops and businesses owned by the local Hindu community in his constituency,[15] had allegedly been attacked and burnt down by Jamaat activists.[16] Noor's convoy was returning from a visit to his constituencies there when the attack happened. According to media reports,[16] the road had been cut up preventing the convoy's movement, in what was described as a planned ambush, and the attackers were brandishing sharp weapons. Four of those killed were affiliated with the ruling Awami League.[17] Noor is said to have only escaped alive because people had made a human shield around him.[18]
On 15 September 2024, Noor was arrested fromBailey Road, Dhaka by the detective branch for a murder case filed over the death of hotel staff, Siam Sarder, in theMirpur area during thequota reform movement on 18 July.[19][20] He was also sued in another murder case of Golam Rabbani, the organising secretary of BNP's Lakshmichap union leader, in Nilphamari in 2014.[21]
Noor is an elocutionist known for his poetry and prose recitation and his oration.[22] He has lent his voice to numerous television shows as a narrator and to advertisements.
Noor is a former vice-chairman at Asiatic Three Sixty and a former managing director atDesh TV, but resigned from these posts when assuming his role as a minister.[23] He is also a trustee at the BangladeshLiberation War Museum.
Noor is married to Shaheen Akhter, a professor of paediatric neurology inInstitute of Postgraduate Medical Research (IPGMR) and the director of the Institute of Paediatric Neurodisorder and Autism (IPNA).[26] Together they have a son, Shudeepto, and a daughter, Shuprova.[27]
Media related toAsaduzzaman Noor at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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