Serajul Alam Khan, also known as Dada Bhai, was a political theorist and considered to be one of the architects of Bangladesh's independence. He was one of the founders of “Sadhin Bangla Nucleus”, a secret organization that spearheaded Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971.
Born in Noakhali on January 6, 1941, Khan was the second of nine children of Khorshed Alam Khan and Syeda Zakia Khatun. His father was a government official who was posted away from Noakhali for most of his childhood.
Khorshed Alam Khan was educated in Edinburgh, Scotland, and began his career as a school inspector. He retired as the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) in 1959.
According to Serajul Alam Khan's book “Ami Serajul Alam Khan (I am Serajul Alam Khan)”, his father was a mentor to him and told him the story of Surya Sen, an East Bengali revolutionary influential who was in the Indian independence movement against British rule.
His father also inspired him to meet Sher e Bangla and Mahatma Gandhi in 1954 and 1946.
On the other hand, Syeda Zakia Khatun was from a Pir family and was moderately educated for the time. As a result of the contrasting backgrounds of their parents, Serajul Alam Khan and his siblings were exposed to both western and Muslim values from an early age.
Khan received outstanding results in his matriculation (SSC) exams at the Khulna Zilla School in 1956. He studied at Dhaka College for the next two years, before studying mathematics at Dhaka University (DU) from 1958 to 1962.
He started politics while still a student of science at Dhaka College, and immediately drew attention due to his leadership qualities.
In 1961, when he was a student of Dhaka University, Khan was elected as a Central Executive Committee member of Bangladesh Chhatra League. Later, he served as the assistant secretary and general secretary of the student organization.
In 1962, while he was still at DU, Serajul Alam Khan along with Abdur Razzak and Kazi Aref Ahmed began working on Nucleus. They had formed Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF), the political wing or Nucleus, as well as Joy Bangla Bahini, the armed wing of the organization, across then-East Pakistan by 1970.
Later on, at the request of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the BLF high command was reconstituted with Serajul Alam Khan, Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, Abdur Razzak and Tofail Ahmed, and it was renamed as the Mujib Bahini during the nine-month-long Liberation War.
From 1962 onwards, Nucleus planned and organised various mass movements, including the historic 6-point and 11-point movements. Nucleus also made the first flag of Bangladesh and hoisted it on March 2, 1971.
The organization also wrote and published the “Manifesto for Independence” on March 3 the same year, selected “Amar Sonar Bangla” as the national anthem, and established “Joy Bangla” as the slogan for the Independence Movement.
Nucleus and BLF leadership helped Bangabandhu to prepare the historic 7th March speech with the words this is our struggle for emancipation, this is the struggle for independence”. The non-co-operation movement from March 7, 1971, and a parallel civil administration were also organised by the BLF under the leadership of Bangabandhu.
BLF leadership had also conferred the title “Bangabandhu” on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Serajul Alam Khan had an interest in a variety of subjects, including philosophy, sociology, international relations, economics, literature, arts, history, political science, as well as science. During almost seven years of confinement in jail for political reasons on three different occasions as well as periods when he was in hiding, he also studied music, sports, wars, the classics, and historical novels.
In 1971, just after the independence of Bangladesh, Khan took his vast experience as a political activist into advancing political science theory. In the process, he became a visiting professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, USA in 1996.
In 1972, when Bangabandhu came back to Bangladesh after the Liberation War, a division became visible between two top former leaders of Chhatra League- Sheikh Fazlul Hoque Moni and Serajul Alam Khan. Within a few months, the Jubo League was formed under the leadership of Sheikh Fazlul Hoque Moni and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Jasod) under Serajul Alam Khan.
When Bangabandhu was assassinated on August 15, 1975, Serajul Alam Khan was in India. He gave attention to Jasod after his return to the country, but in his books has said that he has never supported the activities of Gana Bahini, an armed group of Jasod.
After the failed “National Revolution and Solidarity Day” coup, most leaders of Jasod, including Serajul Alam Khan, were arrested. He was imprisoned from July 26, 1976, to May 1, 1981.
After being released from prison, Serajul Alam Khan started to publish the Ganakantha newspaper with some old colleagues. There were several partitions in Jasod over the next decade.
In the 1990s, Serajul Alam Khan wrote several books where he delved into political theories and proposed a two-house system of parliament with 500 seats. He put forward a 14-point proposal for adjustments to governance to keep up with the changing national and international political and economic situation for Bangladesh, and suggested the establishment of upazila based industrial zones funded by the expatriate Bangladeshi Community.
He later sent the proposals in an open letter to all political parties, bureaucrats, professional communities, intellectuals, NGOs, and leaders of different social organisations in March 2000.
Serajul Alam Khan worked in collaboration with Prof Zillur R Khan, a distinguished and a prominent political scientist, ex-chair and currently Rosebush professor at the University of Wisconsin.
He has also worked with Prof Razia Ahmed of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) as well as researcher and writer Mohiuddin Ahmed.
According to the book “Protinayok Serajul Islam Khan” by writer Mohiuddin Ahmed, Serajul Alam Bhan became lonely within his party and office after releasing this theory. Sometimes, he tried to take some initiatives along with ASM Abdur Rob but they did not prove very effective.
Later, he would speak with his followers and other individuals in the lobby of the Hotel Sheraton, but the hotel authority placed an embargo on him during the tenure of Khaleda Zia as prime minister.
Subsequently, he was mostly confined at home, though he tried to give readings and passed some time at the Oxford school compound of Dhanmondi 27 of the capital in the evenings.