Had it not been for Ziaur Rahman’s inspiring call to join him in a new political party with an aspiration to rebuild Bangladesh in the post-Mujib era, Badruddoza Chowdhury could have still risen to a position of national repute in his own right as a physician.
Well before his joining the Bangladesh Nationalist Party as its founding secretary general in the late 1970s, Badruddoza Chowdhury had already established himself in the medical profession – earning for himself enviable admiration from patients for his empathy and gentlemanly bedside manner.
By then he had already served Rajshahi Medical College, Sir Salimullah Medical College, and Sylhet Medical College as professor of medicine.
On top of that he was a likeable television presenter, and an orator of distinction, earning the National Television Award in 1976.
But fate had something else in store for him – a bumpy ride on Bangladesh’s turbulent political plane that would eventually fly him to the heights of Bangabhaban, which should have been a fitting end to a storied political career, but was not to be.
No matter how unceremoniously he had to resign from his seven-month stint as the head of the state in 2002, Badruddoza Chowdhury was always guided by the right mindset throughout his political career spanning nearly five decades.
His political career saw him in a constant attempt to rise above the vengeance and vendetta that subcontinental politics are so prone to and make room for moderation and the middle path.
His was also an early attempt to bring in political fresh blood in the form of a political third force in an otherwise perennially divided all too familiar and limiting Awami League-BNP dichotomous landscape.
Abul Qasim Mohammad Badruddoza Chowdhury (aka AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury aka B Chowdhury) was born to a politician father -- Kafiluddin Chowdhury who had started his political career in the Krishak Praja Party of Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq.
B Chowdhury’s father, who was one of the early campaigners for the Pakistan movement, later served as general secretary of the United Front and was elected to the provincial assembly in 1954 and also served as a minister.
But a politician at home at the dinner table was apparently not much of a hook for B Chowdhury to join politics, rather he was later drawn to it by the late President Zia’s encouragement.
Zia’s trusted confidante B Chowdhury was with him from the start right to the end -- joining BNP as its secretary general and staying in a room right next door to that of Zia when the latter was assassinated at Chittagong Circuit House on May 30, 1981.
In the post-Zia years, that legacy of trust appeared to pass the test of time with Zia’s widow and political heir Khaleda Zia at the helm of affairs in BNP and to a great extent in national politics.
B Chowdhury served the governments of both Zia and Khaleda in various senior capacities including cabinet minister and deputy leader.
He worked in close synchronization with Khaleda in the post-Ershad democratic transition when Bangladesh also chose to shift its governing system from a presidential one to parliamentary democracy.
But after her party routed Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League in 2001 and Khaleda picked B Chowdhury first as foreign minister in her cabinet and soon afterwards offered him the role of the president of the country, things went south.
Till date it remains a mystery what prompted such a large group of BNP lawmakers that time to stand against B Chowdhury with an impeachment threat within seven months of his stay in the presidential office.
But a political gentleman as he was, Dr Badruddoza offered his resignation without allowing political opportunists to create further havoc.
Dozens of reasons were assigned – however absurd they might sound – by many BNP leaders and activists as well as a section of political analysts as to why B Chowdhury had earned Khaleda’s displeasure.
These included not referring to Zia as "the proclaimer of liberation" in one of his speeches as well as his failure to visit Zia's grave on his death anniversary.
It was even claimed in some quarters that his crime had been taking a greater chunk of airtime in BTV news as president compared to what Khaleda was allotted as the prime minister.
But how I see it today is – as a man of deep commitment to democracy and nationalistic politics in Bangladesh what B Chowdhury did in his role as president, might go down well in history as some early attempts to instill some dignity and neutrality in the otherwise titular position of head of state.
He saw himself as the president for the entire nation, not for one political party, and that perhaps was his downfall.
In the post-July 36 Monsoon Revolution as we are talking about bringing in reforms today – are we not also talking about bringing in a much-needed power balance between the positions of president and prime minister so that no premier can transform himself or herself into a dictator?
To me, B Chowdhury’s were the early attempts to infuse some sort of balance in the power dynamic that the BNP of that period couldn’t stomach.
Lest we forget, B Chowdhury resigned from his BNP party position before embarking on the role of the president in 2001 and he had an aspiration to emulate one of his
predecessors – President Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed – in rising above the petty party line while playing the role of a guardian figure in politics as the head of state.
BNP at that point did not only make him resign as the president, but also subsequently gave him a hard time in his honest pursuit to form a political third force beyond the AL-BNP two-party politics in Bangladesh.
BNP thugs insulted and assaulted him during the formation days of Bikalpa Dhara – a party that ultimately lost steam in the long run – but that’s a different story.
In his passing, Bangladesh has lost a rare personality in politics, who wholeheartedly loved his people like he used to care for each of his patients as a doctor.
He was definitely among the Last of the Mohicans in the political culture of Bangladesh who tried in his own way to make a difference, putting the country above all.
