Moudud Ahmed

Moudud Ahmed was a prominent Bangladeshi lawyer and politician who served in several high-ranking government positions. He held various offices throughout his career, including roles as Prime Minister and Vice President of Bangladesh. A dedicated member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, he was elected to the Jatiya Sangsad five times from the Noakhali-1 and Noakhali-5 constituencies.

Early life and education

Ahmed was born on 24 May 1940 in the village of Manikpur within the Noakhali District. He was the sixth child of Maulana Momtazuddin Ahmad and Begum Ambia Khatun. His father served as a leading Islamic scholar of Hadith who taught at several institutions, including Dacca University and Calcutta Alia Madrasa. Ahmed pursued higher education at the University of Dacca, where he earned both a BA and an MA in political science.

In 1966, he traveled to London and was called to the English Bar at Lincoln's Inn. During his time in the United Kingdom, he participated in an intellectual movement involving East Pakistani students who envisioned an independent Bangladesh. After returning to Dacca, he joined the legal team of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for the Agartala Conspiracy Case trial in 1968. He also accompanied a Bengali delegation to the Rawalpindi Round Table Conference in 1969.

Career

Ahmed worked in the External Publicity Division of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh during the War of Independence. Following independence, he served as the first Postmaster General of the Bangladesh Post Office. On 31 March 1974, he became a founding member of the 33-member Committee for Civil Liberties and Legal Aid. He was jailed in December 1974 under orders from Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, though he was eventually released.

His political influence grew in the late 1970s when he was courted by Maj General Ziaur Rahman. Ahmed served as Deputy Prime Minister between 1976 and 1978 and led a Bangladeshi delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in 1977. He was elected to parliament through the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 1979, but he was later sacked by Zia due to a feud with Shah Azizur Rahman.

In 1985, he joined the Jatiya Party led by Lt General Hussain Muhammad Ershad. During this period, he held the portfolios for both the Communications Ministry and the Industries Ministry. President Ershad appointed him as Prime Minister in 1988, a role he held for one year while overseeing relief operations during the 1988 floods. He met with Western leaders like Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street during his tenure. After Ershad replaced him in 1989, Ahmed was elevated to Vice President of Bangladesh.

He resigned from the Vice Presidency in December 1990 to facilitate a transition toward parliamentary democracy. Following a period in prison after Ershad's removal, Khaleda Zia invited him back to the BNP in 1996. He won an election while incarcerated in 1996 and secured his fifth reelection in 2001. Begum Zia then appointed him as the Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in 2001.

Later years brought significant legal challenges. In 2007, a military-backed caretaker government arrested him for alleged illegal alcohol possession, but the Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2008. He faced further arrest in 2013 by the Awami League government. In 2017, he was evicted from his Dhaka home of over 40 years by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha, an event he described as political vengeance.

Personal life

Ahmed married Hasna Jasimuddin Moudud, who is the daughter of the Bengali poet Jasimuddin. The couple had two sons and one daughter, named Ana Kashfiya Moudud. His eldest son, Asif Momtaz Moudud, passed away at age 3, while his son Aman Momtaj Moudud died of dengue fever in 2015.

As a scholar, he held several prestigious academic positions. He was a fellow at Heidelberg University and a visiting fellow at Harvard University. In the fall of 1997, he served as the Bland Visiting Professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. He died on 16 March 2021 at the age of 80 after being hospitalized in Singapore for kidney complications and pulmonary congestion.