Abdul Mannan (died 6 February 2006) was a Bangladeshi religious leader and journalist who served as the Minister for Religious Affairs in the cabinet of

Hussain Muhammad Ershad Lt. Gen. Hussain Muhammad Ershad ( bn, হুসেইন মুহাম্মদ এরশাদ; 1 February 1930 – 14 July 2019) was a Bangladeshi Army Chief politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1983 to 1990, a time ma ...

. He was a key collaborator of the Pakistani Army and was accused of war crimes during the Liberation war of Bangladesh.

Political career

Mannan was a general secretary of the Islamic Advisory Council and Regional Council during the administration of

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

Opposition to the independence of Bangladesh

On 29 September, under the leadership of Mannan, a group of the teachers of

Madrasah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

met Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi. At that meeting, Mannan gave a copy of the Quran to general Niazi and stated that they are ready to support the Pakistan army to preserve the security of Pakistan and the glory of Islam. Mannan was allegedly involved in the abduction and murder of physician

AFM Alim Chowdhury Abul Fayez Mohammad Abdul Alim Chowdhury (1928–1971) was an eye specialist in Bangladesh. He was abducted by the Al-Badr militia as part of a plan to kill the renowned intellectuals of the country and was found dead on December 18, 1971, at Rayer ...

After 1971

After independence, he became the president of the Jamiat-e- Mudarressin Bangladesh, an organisation of madrasah teachers and the founder of the '' Daily Inqilab'', one of the country's highly circulated newspapers. In ''Saptahik Bichitra'' (a weekly magazine), Mannan denied that he had been a member of Peace committee and claimed that he had not issued any statement in favor of

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

and the genocide committed by them. In 1979, he was elected a lawmaker from Chandpur and was appointed minister by President

's cabinet.

Trial and release

Hotel Intercontinental and Holy Family Hospital was declared neutral zones by the government on 11 December 1971. Mannan took shelter in one of these zones. In a report released in March 1994, a People's Inquiry Commission, identified, in addition to

Ghulam Azam Ghulam Azam ( bn, গোলাম আযম; 7 November 192223 October 2014) was a Bangladeshi Islamist politician. He was the former leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. Azam was arrested b ...

, eight others as the collaborators of the

Al-Badr Al Badr is a village in Mecca Province, in western Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making ...

in the atrocities. Mannan was one of those identified collaborators. Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury, wife of the

, alleges that Mannan was responsible for the death of her husband. She filed a case against Mannan.''New Age'', a Daily Newspaper
The absconding Mannan was caught by police from the Azimpur area of the city of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

. Mannan confessed that three members of the

who were his students took away AFM Alim Chowdhury. Mannan was taken to the

Dhaka Central Jail Dhaka Central Jail was the largest jail in Bangladesh, located in the old section of Dhaka, the country's capital. The jail has been used to house criminals as well as political prisoners, especially during the Language Movement of 1952, the 6 P ...

on 27 December. He was released for some unknown reason and went into hiding.

Death

Mannan died on 6 February 2006 at his Banani residence in Dhaka. His funeral was held at the Gausul Azam Mosque Complex in Mohakhali the next day where he was buried.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mannan, Abdul 2006 deaths People from Chandpur District Politicians from Chittagong Division Religious affairs ministries of Bangladesh 2nd Jatiya Sangsad members 3rd Jatiya Sangsad members 4th Jatiya Sangsad members