Abu Sayeed Chowdhury
{{Short description|President of Bangladesh from 1972 to 1973}}
{{other people||Abu Sayeed (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Abu Sayeed Chowdhury
| native_name = {{nobold|আবু সাঈদ চৌধুরী}}
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Abu Sayeed Chowdhury at the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Dacca University, November 1970.png
| image_size =
| caption = Chodwhury in 1970
| office2 = 41st Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
| term_start2 =
| term_end2 =
| predecessor2 = Pieter Kooijmans
| successor2 = Héctor Charry-Samper
| office1 = Foreign Minister of Bangladesh
| president1 = Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
| term_start1 = 15 August 1975
| predecessor1 = Kamal Hossain
| successor1 = Muhammad Shamsul Haque
| office = 2nd President of Bangladesh
| primeminister = Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
| term_start = 12 January 1972
| term_end = 24 December 1973{{cite web |title=Leaders of Bangladesh |url=http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/bangladh.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728183807/http://www.terra.es/personal2/monolith/bangladh.htm |archive-date=28 July 2012}}
| predecessor = Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
| successor = Mohammad Mohammadullah
| office3 = 1st Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
| term_start3 = 1 August 1971
| term_end3 = 8 January 1972
| president3 = Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
| successor3 = S.A. Sultan
| office4 = Vice Chancellor of the University of Dhaka
| term_start4 = 2 December 1969
| term_end4 = 20 January 1972
| successor5 = Syed Sajjad Hussain
| predecessor5 = M Osman Ghani
| parents = Abdul Hamid Chowdhury
| education = {{ublist|Bindu Basini Govt. Boys' High School|Presidency University, Kolkata|University of Calcutta|}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1921|1|31}}
| birth_place = Nagbari, Bengal, British India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1987|8|2|1921|1|31}}
| death_place = London, England, U.K.
| party = Awami League
| children = Abul Hasan Chowdhury
}}
Abu Sayeed Chowdhury{{efn|{{langx|bn|আবু সায়ীদ চৌধুরী|Abu Sāyīd Chowdhury}} {{IPA|bn|ˈabu ˈʃɑj̯id̪ ˈtʃoʊd̪ʊɾi|}}}} (31 January 1921 – 2 August 1987) was a jurist and the second president of Bangladesh.{{Cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=149111 |title=Death anniversary of Abu Sayeed Chowdhury today |date=2 August 2010 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=1 November 2017 |language=en}} Besides that, he held the positions of the chairman of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, the vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, and the first Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK.
Early life and education
Chowdhury was born on 31 January 1921 to a Bengali Muslim zamindar family in the village of Nagbari in Tangail, Mymensingh district, Bengal Presidency (now Bangladesh). His father, Abdul Hamid Chowdhury, was a former speaker of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly.{{cite web |title=সাবেক স্পিকার আব্দুল হামিদ চৌধুরীর ৪৫তম মৃত্যুবার্ষিকী আজ |url=https://archive1.ittefaq.com.bd/print-edition/others/2014/09/04/1680.html |work=The Daily Ittefaq |access-date=28 December 2019 |archive-date=28 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191228171854/https://archive1.ittefaq.com.bd/print-edition/others/2014/09/04/1680.html |language=bn}}
Chowdhury graduated in 1940 from the Presidency College in Calcutta. He obtained his master's and law degrees from the University of Calcutta in 1942, and after the Second World War he completed bar-at-law in London.{{cite book |last=Islam |first=Sirajul |year=2012 |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh |chapter=Choudhury, Justice Abu Sayeed |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Choudhury,_Justice_Abu_Sayeed |editor2-last=Haq |editor2-first=Enamul}}
Career
File:Lord James at the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Dacca University, November 1970.png
Chowdhury joined the Calcutta High Court Bar in 1947, and after the partition of India, he came over to Dhaka and joined the Dhaka High Court Bar in 1948. In 1960, he was appointed as the advocate general of East Pakistan. He was elevated to the post of Additional Judge of the Dhaka High Court on 7 July 1961 by the then Pakistani President Ayub Khan and was confirmed as judge of the Dhaka High Court after two years. He had been a member of the Constitution Commission (1960–1961) and chairman of the Bengali Development Board (1963–1968).
Chowdhury was appointed as the vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka in 1969. In 1971, while in Geneva he resigned from the post as a protest against the genocide in East Pakistan by the Pakistan army. From Geneva, he went to the UK and became the special envoy of the provisional Mujibnagar Government. An umbrella organisation, The Council for the People's Republic of Bangladesh in UK was formed on 24 April 1971 in Coventry, UK, by the expatriate Bengalis, and a five-member steering committee of the council was elected by them. He was the High Commissioner for the People's Republic of Bangladesh, London, from 1 August 1971 to 8 January 1972.{{cite web |url=http://www.bhclondon.org.uk/list%20of%20HE.htm |title=List of the High Commissioner |website=High Commission for the People's Republic of Bangladesh, London |access-date=3 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120707131628/http://www.bhclondon.org.uk/list%20of%20HE.htm |archive-date=7 July 2012}}
= President of Bangladesh =
After liberation, Chowdhury returned to Dhaka and was elected as president of Bangladesh on 12 January 1972. On 10 April 1973, he was again elected as president of Bangladesh. In December of the same year he resigned and became special envoy for external relations with the rank of a minister. On 8 August 1975, he was included in the cabinet of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as minister of ports and shipping. After Rahman was assassinated, he became the minister for foreign affairs in the cabinet of President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad in August 1975, a position which he held till 7 November the same year.
= UN Committee =
In 1978, Chowdhury was elected a member of the United Nations Sub-committee on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. In 1985, he was elected chairman of the UN Human Rights Commission. He was honoured with the insignia of Deshikottam by Visva-Bharati University. Calcutta University awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Law.
Death and legacy
Chowdhury died of a heart attack in London on 2 August 1987 and was buried in his village, Nagbari of Tangail.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/08/03/obituaries/abu-sayeed-chowdhury-66-was-president-of-bangladesh.html |title=Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, 66; Was President of Bangladesh |date=3 August 1987 |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=21 March 2016}}
= Controversy =
Right after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Abu Sayeed Chowdhury joined the cabinet of the new government as the foreign minister and praised the new president, Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, by saying, "President Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad believes in democracy and he wants to restore democratic atmosphere in the country."{{Cite news |date=17 August 2014 |title=Who Said What After August 15 |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/who-said-what-after-august-15-37449 |access-date=20 June 2020 |work=The Daily Star |language=en}}
Books
- Probashe Muktijuddher Dinguli
- Manobadhikar
- Human Rights in the Twentieth Century
- Muslim Family Law in the English Courts{{Cite news |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-172240 |title=Abu Sayeed's birthday today |date=31 January 2011 |work=The Daily Star |access-date=2 November 2017 |language=en}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{cite web |title=Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury |url=http://www.bangabhaban.gov.bd/sayeed.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230080345/http://www.bangabhaban.gov.bd/sayeed.html |archive-date=30 December 2014 |access-date=1 November 2017 |publisher=Bangabhaban |url-status=dead}}
- {{cite web |title=The Diaspora engagement in the war |date=14 March 2012 |url=http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/?page_id=56}}
{{Presidents of Bangladesh}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Abu Sayeed}}
Category:People from Kalihati Upazila
Category:University of Calcutta alumni
Category:Presidency University, Kolkata alumni
Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Dhaka
Category:Awami League politicians
Category:Presidents of Bangladesh
Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Bangladesh
Category:Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy