Serajul Alam Khan | |
|---|---|
সিরাজুল আলম খান | |
| General Secretary ofBangladesh Chhatra League | |
| In office 1965–1967 | |
| Succeeded by | Abdur Razzaq |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nizam Mohammad Serajul Alam Khan (1941-01-06)6 January 1941 Begumganj, Bengal, British India |
| Died | 9 June 2023(2023-06-09) (aged 82) Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Citizenship |
|
| Political party |
|
| Alma mater | Khulna Zilla SchoolUniversity of Dhaka |
| Nicknames |
|
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  Bangladesh |
| Branch/service |  Mukti Bahini |
| Unit | Mujib Bahini |
| Battles/wars | Bangladesh Liberation War |
Nizam Mohammad Serajul Alam Khan (6 January 1941 – 9 June 2023), commonly known asSerajul Alam Khan (Bengali:সিরাজুল আলম খান), also called asDada,Dadabhai and by his initialsSAK, was a Bangladeshi politician, political analyst, philosopher and writer who spearheaded theBangladesh liberation movement under the leadership ofSheikh Mujibur Rahman but also became one of the controlling forces ofpolitical polarization in post-independence Bangladesh.
Serajul Alam Khan joined politics in the 1950s–60s as a student and quickly rose to the helm ofChhatra League, thestudent wing affiliated with the Bengali nationalistAwami League party in Pakistan. He, along with others, founded theSwadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad (which came to be known as 'Nucleus'), a secret organization whose existence is not directly documented but strongly supported by popular hearsay and conventional history. The organization played a significant role in theBangladesh Liberation War.[1] He along withTofael Ahmed,Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni andAbdur Razzaq formed and commanded theMujib Bahini (a.k.a. Bangladesh Liberation Force).[2]
Khan was born on 6 January 1941 inNoakhali District inthe thenBengal Presidency, British India.[3] His father, Khorshed Alam Khan, was a government officer who retired in 1959 as the Deputy Director of Public Instruction.[3][4] He graduated fromKhulna Zilla School in 1956 andDhaka College in 1958.[3] He studied mathematics at the University of Dhaka from 1958 to 1962.[3]
Khan as a student of the University of Dhaka created theNucleus whose aim was the Independence of East Pakistan along withKazi Aref Ahmed andAbdur Razzaq.[4] The Nucleus helped launch theSix point movement,Eleven Points Programme, designed the flag of independent Bangladesh, picked the national anthem, and the national sloganJoy Bangla.[4] It gave the title ofBangabandhu to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[4]
Khan served as the general secretary of the student political organizationEast Pakistan Chhatra League from 1963 to 1965.[5][unreliable source][6][additional citation(s) needed]
Together with other members of the Nucleus, Khan created theBangladesh Liberation Force and an armed wing called the Joy Bangla Bahini which would be present throughout East Pakistan by 1970.[4] At the urging ofSheikh Mujibur Rahman, the command structure was expanded to includeSheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, andTofail Ahmed. As a key member of Nucleus, he helped writing and editing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's historic speech of the 7th March, 1971.[4] During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Bangladesh Liberation Force would be renamed to Mujib Bahini after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[4]
Soon after returning to free the country from dissension within the pro-liberation mainstream power base, Khan became conspicuous between left-of-centre leadership and simmering far-left young radicals.[7] He was involved in a political struggle with Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani.[8] He developed an ideological difference from Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, due to the former's advocacy ofscientific socialism, thus forming theJatiyo Samajtantrik Dal.[9] In 1975, Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani urged him to joinBaKSAL, but he refused.[10]
After the7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état, Khan along with other leaders of Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal were arrested.[4] Khan was in jail from 26 July 1976 to 1 May 1981.[4] After being released from jail, he started the publication of Ganakantha newspaper.[4]
The government of Prime MinisterKhaleda Zia prevented Khan from holding meetings at the government owned Hotel Sheraton.[4]
In 2006, he was hospitalised inLondon and underwent abypass operation.[11]
Khan died from respiratory failure at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on 9 June 2023. He was 82 at the time of his death.[12]
