Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad | |
|---|---|
খন্দকার মোশতাক আহমেদ | |
 Mushtaque in 1972 | |
| 5thPresident of Bangladesh | |
| In office 15 August 1975 – 6 November 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | None |
| Preceded by | Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |
| Succeeded by | Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem |
| Minister of Commerce | |
| In office 16 March 1973 – 31 May 1975 | |
| Prime Minister | Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |
| Preceded by | Abdul Momin Talukdar |
| Succeeded by | Ziaur Rahman |
| Minister of Land Revenue | |
| In office 12 January 1972 – Unknown | |
| Prime Minister | Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |
| 1stMinister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 14 April 1971 – 29 December 1971 | |
| Prime Minister | Tajuddin Ahmad |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Abdus Samad Azad |
| 1stMinister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs | |
| In office 14 April 1971 – 12 January 1972 | |
| Prime Minister | Tajuddin Ahmad |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Kamal Hossain |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 February 1919[1] |
| Died | 5 March 1996(1996-03-05) (aged 77) Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Political party | Democratic League(1978–1996) |
| Other political affiliations | Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League(1975) Bangladesh Awami League(1971–1975) All-Pakistan Awami League(1949–1971) Pakistan Muslim League(1947–1949) All-India Muslim League(Before 1947) |
| Alma mater | University of Dhaka |
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (Bengali:খন্দকার মুশতাক আহমেদ,romanized: Khandakar Mushtaq Ahmed; 27 February 1919 – 5 March 1996) was a Bangladeshi politician. He was theMinister of Commerce in thethird Mujib Rahman ministry under President-Prime MinisterSheikh Mujibur Rahman, and assumed thepresidency of Bangladesh after thePresident-Prime Minister's assassination on 15 August 1975. He praised the assassins as "sons of the sun" and put cabinet ministers loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in jail.[2][3] On 3 November, he himself was deposed inanother coup.[4]
His party failed to gain any significant traction in Bangladeshi politics and never became a major political force.
Ahmad was born on 27 February 1919, into aBengali Muslim family ofKhondakars in the village of Dashpara inDaudkandi,Tipperah district (nowComilla District,Bangladesh). The family was aPir family, his fatherAl-HajjHazrat Khandaker Kabiruddin Ahmed was considered to be a Muslim saint and was known widely asPir Sahib, his mother was Begum Rabeya Khatun, a homemaker. He was a fourth-generation descendant of Khandaker Jalaluddin, an immigrant scholar of Arabic and Persian fromBaghdad who was employed by theNawabs. He completed hisBachelor of Laws degree at theUniversity of Dhaka and entered politics in 1942. He was one of the founder joint secretaries of theEast Pakistan Awami Muslim League.[5][3]
Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad was born on 27 February 1919, into aBengali Muslim family ofKhondakars in the village of Dashpara inDaudkandi,Tipperah district (nowComilla District,Bangladesh). He completed hisBachelor of Laws degree at theUniversity of Dhaka and entered politics in 1942. He was one of the founder joint secretaries of theEast Pakistan Awami Muslim League.[3]
Ahmad was elected a member of theEast Pakistan Provincial Assembly in 1954 as a candidate of theUnited Front. After the central government of Pakistan dissolved the United Front, Ahmad was jailed in 1954 along with other Bengali leaders. He was released in 1955 and elected the chief whip of the United Front parliamentary party. In 1958, with the promulgation ofmartial law, he was arrested by the regime ofAyub Khan. During the6 Point Movement, Ahmad was again jailed in 1966. Following his release, Ahmad accompaniedSheikh Mujibur Rahman (then the most senior leader of the Awami League Party) to the all-parties conference called by Ayub Khan inRawalpindi in 1969. In 1970, he was elected a member of theNational Assembly of Pakistan.[3]
At the onset of theBangladesh War of Independence and Mujib's arrest, Ahmad and other Awami League leaders gathered inMujibnagar,Meherpur to form theGovernment of Bangladesh in exile.Syed Nazrul Islam served as the acting president while Mujib was declared president,Tajuddin Ahmad was appointed prime minister and Khondakar Mostaq Ahmed was made the foreign minister.[6][7]
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 by forming theBangladesh–Pakistan Confederation. He was sidelined after his manoeuvrings came to light, left out of a visit to theUnited Nations General Assembly and dismissed by Prime Minister Ahmad shortly before the end of the provisional government, when the war had already ended. He was replaced byAbdus Samad Azad.Zafrullah Chowdhury alleges that Ahmad did not act alone in this regard and that Awami League leaders were involved.[8]
After the liberation, Ahmad was appointed the Minister of Power, Irrigation and Flood Control in 1972 as part of theSecond Sheikh Mujib cabinet. In 1973, he took charge of theMinistry of Commerce in theThird Sheikh Mujib cabinet. He was a member of the executive committee ofBangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL)Sheikh Mujibur Rahman introduced a political system often described as “One Party, One Man, One Rule,” reflecting the establishment of a centralized authority under the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL) in 1975. system[9] which was formed in 1975.[3]
Sheikh Mujib and his family, except for his two daughters who were inWest Germany at the time, wereassassinated by a group ofarmy personnel on 15 August.[10]
Ahmad immediately took control of the government, proclaiming himself President.[11] All three services chiefs were dismissed and replaced by next in line seniors. Major GeneralZiaur Rahman was appointedChief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army, replacingK M Shafiullah. Air Vice Marshal A. K. Khandekar was replaced by AVM M G Ghulam Tawab. Mushtaq reportedly praised the plotters who killed Sheikh Mujibur Rahman calling themShurjo Shontan (Sons of the Sun).[12] Mushtaq Ahmad also ordered the imprisonment of leadersSyed Nazrul Islam,Tajuddin Ahmad,A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman andMuhammad Mansur Ali. He replaced the national slogan ofJoy Bangla withBangladesh Zindabad slogan and changed the nameBangladesh Betar to 'Radio Bangladesh'. He proclaimed theIndemnity Ordinance, which granted immunity from prosecution to the assassins of Mujib.[3] Mujib's daughtersSheikh Hasina andSheikh Rehana were barred from returning to Bangladesh from abroad. BAKSAL and pro-Mujib political groups were dissolved.
On 3 November, in what became infamously known as the "Jail Killing Day",[13] the four imprisoned leaders Tajuddin Ahmad, Syed Nazrul Islam, A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman, and Muhammad Mansur Ali, who had refused to co-operate with Mostaq,[14] were killed insideDhaka Central Jail by a group of army officers on the instruction of President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad.[15] However, Mushtaq Ahmad was ousted from power on 6 November following a coup on 3 November led by BrigadierKhaled Mosharraf and ColonelShafat Jamil among others.[16]
Following his removal from office in the 3 November 1975 coup led by Brigadier General Khaled Mosharraf, Mostaq Ahmad was imprisoned. After his release in 1976, he founded a political party named the Democratic League. Later that year, he was arrested for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to overthrow the military government and was convicted in two corruption cases, receiving a five-year prison sentence.[3]
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Ahmad was imprisoned by Brigadier GeneralKhaled Mosharraf[17] 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 5 March 1996.
Ahmad was named in the investigation of the murder of Sheikh Mujib launched in 1996 by his daughterSheikh Hasina, who had just won the national elections to becomePrime Minister of Bangladesh. Hasina blamed Ahmad for her father's death.[18] Due to his death, he was not charged or tried.
Khondakar also knew that the situation was bound to be grave once Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Kamaruzzaman and Mansur Ali were released ... Khondakar had them arrested under various pretexts shortly after Mujib's assassination, who remained in Dacca Jail. Khondakar ordered the assassination of the jailed four leaders.
Media related toKhondaker Mostaq Ahmad at Wikimedia Commons
