Abdul Matin Khasru (12 February 1950 – 14 April 2021) was a Bangladeshi lawyer and politician. He was a

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of ...

member representing the Comilla-5 constituency during 1991–1995, 1996–2001 and 2009–2021. He served in the first Hasina cabinet as

Minister of Law and Justice The Minister of Law and Justice is the head of the Ministry of Law and Justice and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India. The first Law and Justice Minister of independent India was B. R. Ambedkar, who served in first Nehru min ...

from 1997 until 2001.

Personal life

Khasru completed his SSC from Madhabpur High School in 1967. He got admitted to

Comilla Victoria Government College Comilla Victoria Government College is a college in Comilla, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest and renowned colleges in Comilla as well as in Chittagong division. The college is located beside of Ranir Dighi on 32 acres of land including its inte ...

and completed graduation in 1970. They were four brothers and three sisters of whom he was the eldest. His father served in the

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 ...

. His son

Munem Wasif Munem Wasif ( bn, মুনেম ওয়াসিফ) (born 11 April 1983) is a photographer from Bangladesh. Biography Munem Wasif is a documentary photographer in Bangladesh. He has been represented by Agence Vu since 2008, and is now teac ...

is a photojournalist who works at

Agence Vu Agence Vu, (stylised as Agence VU and Agence VU') is a photography agency established in 1986 that has headquarters on Rue Saint-Lazare in Paris. It works with both photojournalists Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news ...

photography agency. Khasru was actively involved in politics since his student life. When he was a graduate student, the

Bangladesh Liberation war The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

started. Khasru fought in Burichang in Comilla District during the war.

Career

Khasru started his legal practice at the District and Sessions Judges Court,

Comilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

in 1978. Later he started practicing in the High Court Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court in 1982. He founded a law firm ''Abdul Matin Khasru & Associates'' in Dhaka. Khasru was a senior advocate enrolled at the Bangladesh Bar Council. He was elected chairman of the executive committee of the

Bangladesh Bar Council Bangladesh Bar Council is a statutory autonomous body in Bangladesh, established under the Legal Practitioners and the Bar Council Order. It is the licensing and regulatory body for lawyers in Bangladesh. The bar council can establish tribunals ...

in 2015. On 16 March 2021, he won the ''Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association Election 2021-2022'' as the president from the White Panel backed by the Bangladesh Awami League. He died before taking charge.

Political career

Khasru was first elected to Parliament in 1991 from Comilla-5 on a nomination of Awami League defeating the incumbent, Mohammad Yunus of the Jatiya Party. He was re-elected in 1996. Khasru stood for re-election in 2001 but lost to Mohammad Yunus who had then been nominated by

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

. Khasru was elected to the parliament in 2008 on an Awami League nomination from Comilla-5. He headed the Parliamentarians' Caucus on Disability during the 9th parliamentary sessions. On 23 March 2011, he criticised the use of "vulgar" words by members of parliament in the Jatiya Sangshad. Khasru was re-elected to the parliament in 2014 on an Awami League nomination from Comilla-5. In 2015, he was made the law secretary of Bangladesh Awami League. He became a member of the party's Presidium in 2017. Khasru was re-elected to the parliament in 2018 on an Awami League nomination from Comilla-5. He was the president of the parliamentary standing committee on law. He summoned the Anti-Corruption Commission to parliament over its failure to take action against the former chairperson of BASIC Bank, Sheikh Abdul Hai Bacchu, on loans scams. On 10 April 2020, Mosheur Mahfuz Babu, journalist and owner of Times of Cumilla, was arrested under the

Digital Security Act The Digital Security Act, 2018 is a digital security law in Bangladesh. This act was passed with the aim of preventing the spread of racism; sectarianism; extremism; terrorist propaganda; and hatred against religious or ethnic minorities through soc ...

for spreading "rumours" about Khasru. The website had reported Khasru's death. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, Khasru provided food aid to 5000 families in Comilla in April 2020.

Death

Khasru died on 14 April 2021 after contracting

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was under treatment at the

Combined Military Hospital Combined Military Hospitals ( ur, , abbreviated as CMH) are Pakistan Armed Forces hospitals situated in various cantonments of Pakistan. History During the British Raj, the British Indian Army troops depended for their medical treatment enti ...

. He had a son

and a daughter.

Personal life

Career

Political career

Death

References

Further reading