Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed took his last breath at the age of 92 at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka yesterday morning.
The former president was arguably one of the most underappreciated figures in Bangladesh’s history. In some of the country’s toughest moments after the Liberation War, he was the one who reluctantly took the reins and guided the people to a safe harbour.
Then-Chief Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed first became acting president after the fall of the military regime of HM Ershad in the early 90s. After the movement to oust the dictator, three political alliances unanimously nominated Justice Shahabuddin as a non-partisan head of state.
Shahabuddin’s main goal throughout his tenure was to build a democratic system of governance in the country. His frank and straightforward manner led to disagreements with several political parties, but none went against his decisions.
He stayed in the post until the interim government organized the fifth general election on February 27, 1991. As he had stipulated before the election, he returned to the post of chief justice once an elected government took over.
As chief justice, Shahabuddin oversaw amendments to several draconian laws, bringing about significant improvement to freedom of expression and the press in the country. At the end of his tenure, he retired.
However, duty was not quite done with Shahabuddin yet. After the Awami League came to power in 1996, he came out of retirement to once again take over the presidency at the request of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He was sworn in as president on October 9, 1996, and retired from the presidency on November 14, 2001.
Justice Shahabuddin was born on February 1, 1930, at Pemal village under Kendua thana of Netrakona district. An outstanding student, he completed his BA (Hons) in Economics in 1951 and MA in International Relations in 1952 from Dhaka University. He also attended a special course in public administration at the University of Oxford following his entry into the Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1954.
During his career as an administrator, he served as a sub-divisional officer of Gopalganj and Natore, before being promoted to the post of additional deputy commissioner of Faridpur.
He was transferred to the judicial branch in June 1960 and appointed registrar of the Dhaka High Court in 1967. He was promoted to the bench as a judge of the High Court of Bangladesh on January 20, 1972, and was subsequently appointed a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on February 7, 1980.
Justice Shahabuddin was chairman of the Commission of Enquiry formed to investigate the causes of police firing on agitating students at Dhaka University in 1983, which led to the deaths of several students. His detailed report, however, was never made public by the then government.
He served as chairman of the Bangladesh Red Cross Society from August 1978 to April 1982.
In his personal life too, Justice Shahabuddin was very humble. All gifts he received from foreign delegates were deposited in the government treasury, as per rules.