Abul Hasnat Muhammad Qamaruzzaman

{{short description|First Home Minister of Bangladesh (1971-1972)}}

{{infobox officeholder

| name = Abul Hasnat Muhammad Qamaruzzaman

| native_name = আবুল হাসনাত মোহাম্মদ কামারুজ্জামান

| native_name_lang = bn

| image = A.H.M. Qamaruzzaman.png

| caption = AHM Qamaruzzaman

| office = Minister of Industries

| term_start = 25 January 1975

| term_end = 15 August 1975

| predecessor = Syed Nazrul Islam

| successor = Sultan Mahmud

| primeminister = Muhammad Mansur Ali

| office1 = 5th President of Bangladesh Awami League

| 1blankname1 = General Secretary

| 1namedata1 = Zillur Rahman

| predecessor1 = Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

| successor1 = Syeda Zohra Tajuddin

| term_start1 = 18 January 1974

| term_end1 = 24 February 1975

| office2 = Member of Jatiya Sangsad

| term_start2 = 7 April 1973

| constituency2 = Rajshahi

| term_end2 = 18 January 1974

| predecessor2 = Constituency established

| successor2 =

| office3 = 1st Minister of Home Affairs (in exile)

| president3 = {{ubl|Sheikh Mujibur Rahman|Syed Nazrul Islam (acting)}}

| term_start3 = 10 April 1971

| term_end3 = 12 January 1972

| primeminister3 = Tajuddin Ahmed

| predecessor3 = Office established

| successor3 = Abdul Mannan

| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|06|26|df=y}}

| birth_place = Natore, Bengal, British India (now Rajshahi, Bangladesh)

| death_date = {{death date and age|1975|11|3|1926|06|26|df=y}}

| death_place = Dacca Central Jail, Dhaka, Bangladesh

| nationality = Bangladeshi

| occupation = Politician, minister

| party = Awami League

| children = A. H. M. Khairuzzaman Liton

| awards = 30px Independence Award

}}

Abul Hasnat Muhammad Qamaruzzaman{{efn|{{langx|bn|আবুল হাসনাত মোহাম্মদ কামারুজ্জামান}}}} (26 June 1926 – 3 November 1975){{Cite web |date=2017-11-03 |title=What we lost on November 3, 1975 |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/tribute/what-we-lost-november-3-1975-1485592 |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}} was a Bangladeshi politician, government minister and one of the founding leader of Bangladesh. He was the Home Minister to Mujibnagar Government, Qamaruzzaman was murdered along with Syed Nazrul Islam, Muhammad Mansur Ali and Tajuddin Ahmed in the jail killings in Dhaka Central Jail on 3 November 1975 by a group of army officers on the instruction of President Mostaq.{{cite book |last=Mamoon |first=Muntassir |year=2012 |chapter=Qamaruzzaman, Abul Hasnat Mohammad |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Qamaruzzaman,_Abul_Hasnat_Mohammad |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh}}

Early life

Qamaruzzaman was born on 26 June 1926 in the city of Bagatipara Upazila, Natore in the province of Bengal (now in Bangladesh). He obtained degrees in economics from the University of Calcutta in 1946, and a law degree from the Rajshahi University in 1956. He began practising after his induction in the Rajshahi District bar association. As a student, Qamaruzzaman became active in the Muslim League and worked for the Pakistan movement.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Political career

Qamaruzzaman joined the Awami League in 1956. He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1962, 1965 and again in 1970. He rose to national party leadership posts in the late 1960s. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, Qamaruzzaman served as the minister of relief and rehabilitation in the provisional government of Bangladesh formed at Mujibnagar. After the creation of Bangladesh, he won election to the national parliament from Rajshahi in 1973. He resigned on 18 January 1974, to serve as president of the Awami League. In 1975, Kamaruzzaman was appointed minister of industries and a member of the executive committee of BAKSAL.{{cite web|title=Remembering the Four Leaders|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/remembering-the-four-leaders/|work=The Daily Star|date=8 November 2013|access-date=13 July 2015|archive-date=21 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621172711/http://archive.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/remembering-the-four-leaders/|url-status=dead}}

Death and legacy

After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975, Qamaruzzaman was arrested by the regime of the new president Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad and imprisoned in the Dhaka Central Jail with Tajuddin Ahmed, Syed Nazrul Islam and Mansur Ali. These four senior Awami League politicians were killed on 3 November 1975, by army officers who were responsible for Mujib's death.{{cite web|last1=Manik|first1=Julfikar Ali|title=Freed of stigma, nation mourns|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=150794|work=The Daily Star|date=15 August 2010 |access-date=13 July 2015}} Qamaruzzaman's son, A. H. M. Khairuzzaman Liton, is an Awami League politician and the mayor of Rajshahi City.{{Cite web|url=https://bdnews24.com/politics/2018/07/30/als-liton-leads-bnp-s-bulbul-by-huge-margin-in-rajshahi-mayor-race|title=AL's Liton beats Bulbul of BNP in Rajshahi mayor race by huge margin|website=bdnews24.com|access-date=2020-04-19}}