Abul Hasnat Mohammad Qamaruzzaman- An Iconic Figure of Bangladesh Politics

 

                                                

Aktarul Islam

We are fortunate as a nation to have some visionary leaders who knew the mantra to achieve freedom. They went all the way to restore promises for the nation and showed their aimless fellow citizens the hopes and aspirations of leading a life quite larger than lives with proper homage and courage. They had the charismatic leadership quality to translate vision into reality. More specifically, they transformed dreams and ideas into courage and spirit in the mindset of freedom-loving people and instigated the desire and demand for an independent country.    

                                    Photo- Qamaruzzaman Square, Rajshahi

Abul Hasnat Mohammad Qamaruzzaman (lovingly called Hena by his family members and millions of his followers) was one of those visionary leaders who dreamt of an independent country for his future generation and fought entirely and absolutely to the last breathe for a sovereign and prosperous Bangladesh. He was one of the closest associates and faithful companions of the father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He is most renowned for the portfolio of the Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation in the provisional government of Bangladesh at Mujibnagar in the course of the war of liberation in 1971.

A phenomenal leader and freedom fighter from the Rajshahi region was born on 26 June 1926 at his maternal uncle’s residence in Natore. His paternal inhabitance is in Rajshahi and he was brought up there in a serene family atmosphere with the divine care of his parents and grandparents. His father Abdul Hamid was a famous politician and philanthropist who played a significant role in the establishment of the Muslim League in the greater Rajshahi region. He was a member (MLA) of the East Bengal National Assembly.     

AHM Qamaruzzaman’s grandfather Hazi  Lal Mohammad Sardar was a very influential landlord and had an affiliation with the Indian National Congress Party and Muslim League.  Hazi Lal Mohammad was elected two times as a member of the Legislative Council (M.L.C) from the undivided Bengal province during British colonial India. He was the only Muslim member of the Varendra Academy and the Rajshahi Association.

AHM Qamaruzzaman was a student of Rajshahi Collegiate School. A famous teacher of that institution was his close relative who took young Hena with him to Chattogram and admitted him to Chattogram Collegiate School. Qamaruzzaman successfully passed his matriculation exam from there in 1942. He passed his Higher Secondary School exam from Rajshahi College in 1944 and move to Kolkata for higher studies. He completed a graduation course in economics from the University of Kolkata in 1946 and a Bachelor of Law (BL) degree from the University of Rajshahi in 1956.

A renowned lawyer at Rajshahi district bar, Qamaruzzaman had a grandiose political career filled with many enviable successes and achievements. As he had been raised in an aristocratic political family, his involvement in active politics was quite obvious which bears testimony to his liability and obligation to the people whom he loved and cared about more than anything. His political journey started in 1942 with the portfolio of general secretary (Rajshahi District Unit of Bengal Muslim Student League and he was also elected its vice president from 1943 to 1945. He joined Awami League in 1956 and became its general secretary of the Rajshahi District unit in 1957. During the reign of General Ayub Khan, AHM Qamaruzzaman was elected a member of the Pakistan National Assembly for the first time in 1962 and a second time in 1965 under the Basic Democracy System.

During the military regime, Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) had been facing a dreadful situation due to the systematic disparity year after year. To abolish the economic subjugation and pervasive form of discrimination in the allocation of federal funds and foreign exchanges, the then firebrand Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman put forwarded six points in 1966. AHM Qamaruzzam solidly became a part of a six-point movement that brought him closer to Bangabandhu.

He resigned from the Pakistan National Assembly as a protest against the repression and persecution done by the Ayub Khan’s government in 1969 and affirmed his support and solidarity with the eleven points demands prescribed by Chhatra Sangram Parishad. He took part in the 1970 election and got re-elected as a member of the Pakistan National Assembly from Rajshahi. However, Awami League won a landslide victory in that election but the then-West Pakistan authority was unwilling to hand over power to the Bangabandhu-led Awami party gave rise to political upheaval across the country. Moreover, the West Pakistani administration was reluctant to provide relief after the devastating cyclone hit East Pakistan in 1970 which made Qamaruzzaman rebellious towards the Pakistani oppressive regime.  

In the face of that crisis, Bangabandhu formed a five-member party high command and AHM Qamaruzzaman was one of the most prominent leaders who helmed that high command in response to people’s demands and aspirations.

AHM Qamaruzzaman played a significant role during the war of liberation in 1971. Pakistani military started carrying out the infamous “Operation Searchlight” on the night of 25 March to restrain the Bengalis from independent movement by taking control of all the major cities and streets of erstwhile East Pakistan. They arrested the then de facto leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on that black night to make the independent movement a complete fiasco. However, Shaheed AHM Qamaruzzaman along with other key Awami League leaders came forward with an indomitable spirit to lead the whole nation on the way to a free, sovereign, and independent state.    

AHM Qamaruzzaman was one of the masterminds in forming the provisional Mujibnagar government on 10th April 1971. He has been esteemed with the designation of Interior, Agriculture, Relief, and Rehabilitation minister in the provisional government. As a hardworking and meticulous person, Qamaruzamman accomplished the daunting task of managing millions of refugees and supervising the relief and rehabilitation process in the bordering areas during the liberation war.

After the liberation war, Bangabandhu returned to the newly born independent Bangladesh and reformed his government where Qamaruzzaman was given the charge of the Relief and Rehabilitation ministry. He was also elected a member of the national parliament from two constituencies (Godagari and Tanore) in Rajshahi in the general election on 7 March 1973.  From 1972 to 1974 AHM Qamaruzzaman successfully served in different ministries of the Bangladesh government with honesty and integrity. Above and beyond, Shaheed Qamaruzzaman resigned from the cabinet on 18 January 1974 and became the president of the Bangladesh Awami League. In addition, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed a new cabinet in 1975, and Qamaruzzaman was placed in charge of the Ministry of Industry. 

However, the flamboyant political journey of Shaheed Qamaruzzaman came to an end with the ruthless assassination of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu on 15 August 1975. He along with three other national leaders (Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, and Capt. Mansur Ali) was arrested and imprisoned in the Dhaka Central Jail by the regime of the new president Khondaker Mushtaq Ahmad. Qamaruzzaman met the tragic end of his life on 3 November just 79 days after the assassination of Bangabandhu.

                           Photo- AHM Qamaruzzaman and other three national leaders. 

Shaheed AHM Qamaruzzaman was one of the few rarest souls who came from the upper-class aristocratic Bengali Muslim zamindar family and dedicated himself to the fullest for the service of people in general irrespective of their caste and creed. As a politician and philanthropist, he was a charismatic leader and noble personality who fought for emancipation, struggle for self-esteem, and cherished the dream of an independent identity for his beloved people. He lived a life quite larger than his life. His sedulous political philosophy and way of plain living have made him an iconic figure in the history of Bangladesh.