Barrister Moudud Ahmed, a standing committee member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has passed away. He was 81.
He breathed his last around 6:30pm (Bangladesh time) at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, according to the BNP’s media wing.
He was hospitalized in Dhaka on December 30 with serious weaknesses as his haemoglobin level dropped, said Mominur Rahman Sujon, Moudud’s personal assistant.
He said the octogenarian BNP leader underwent a Covid-19 test at the hospital, but the result came out negative.
On February 1, the senior BNP leader was admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital for advanced treatment. He was shifted to the intensive care unit of the hospital on March 9 following the deterioration of his condition.
He had been struggling for a few days due to lung congestion. Besides, he had serious kidney complications, according to BNP leaders.
Moudud is survived by wife Hasna Moudud and one daughter. His two sons died earlier, reports UNB.
Life and career
Moudud Ahmed was born on May 24, 1940 in Noakhali’s Companiganj upazila. His father Maulana Mamataj Uddin Ahmed was an Islamic scholar and his mother Ambiya Khatun was a housewife.
Moudud is the only politician in Bangladesh to have worked with every major political figure in the country over the last 40 years.
He served as deputy prime minister, prime minister and vice president of Bangladesh.
He obtained his BA and MA in Political Science from the University of Dhaka. He studied law in England and was called to the English Bar in 1966. He was a fellow at Heidelberg University as well as Harvard University.
He became a leading barrister of the country in the year following liberation. In December 1974, he was jailed on the orders of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman but was later released.
Moudud Ahmed was one of the founding members of the 33-member Committee for Civil Liberties and Legal Aid, a forum established to protect opposition politicians and members of civil society facing the wrath of the government.
He had made crucial contributions to the country’s political landscape — he first served Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and later aided Ziaur Rahman and Hussain Muhammad Ershad in founding their respective political parites. He later anchored himself in the BNP under the leadership of Khaleda Zia.
The veteran politician won the parliamentary election five times from Noakhali 5 constituency.
After serving a stint in prison following Ershad's overthrow, he was invited by Khaleda Zia to return to the BNP in 1996. He was elected to parliament while in jail in 1996. He was re-elected for the fifth time in 2001. Khaleda appointed him as minister of law in 2001. He was a leading spokesman for the BNP administration between 2001 and 2006.
In 2007, the military-backed caretaker government arrested him on charges of illegal alcohol possession. But the case was dismissed in the Supreme Court in 2008. After his release from prison, the renowned politician received a jubilant reception in his constituency in Noakhali. He was re-elected to parliament in 2008. He was arrested again in 2013 by the Awami League government.
Publications
Moudud Ahmed authored nine books during his lifetime.
Some of his notable books are Shongshod-e Ja Bolechhi (2006), Democracy and the Challenge of Development: A Study of Politics and Military Interventions in Bangladesh (1995) and Bangladesh: Era of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1983).
Condolences
The president and several ministers expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Moudud Ahmed, reports BSS.
In separate condolence messages, President M Abdul Hamid, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed profound sympathy to the bereaved family.