Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury (1906 – 15 April 1966) was a politician, journalist, sportsman and writer from erstwhile

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

, now

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, who served in the political spheres of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

and Pakistan.

Early life and education

Chowdhury was born at Guthuma village in

Feni district Feni is a district located in southeastern Bangladesh. It was a part of the Greater Noakhali, Comilla, Chittagong and Tripura. , the district's estimated population stood at 1,437,371, making it the ninth-most populous district in Chittagong Divis ...

in 1906. His father, Mohammad Nurullah, was a munsiff. He passed Matriculation in 1922 from Chittagong Municipal School and ISc from

Chittagong College Chittagong College is a government college in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is the second college established in Bangladesh after Dhaka College. It offers higher secondary education (HSC), bachelor's degree and master's degree. History Having begun ...

in 1924. He then graduated from Calcutta Islamia College in 1928.

Career

In 1933, Chowdhury took up journalism and along with his sister,

Shamsunnahar Mahmud Shamsunnahar Mahmud (c. 1908 — April 10, 1964) was a writer, politician and educator in Bengal during the early 20th century. She was a leader of the women's rights movement in Bengal pioneered by Begum Rokeya. Shamsunnahar Hall of the Unive ...

, published the literary journal ''"Bulbul"''. Chowdhury actively joined politics as an activist of the

Bengal Provincial Muslim League The Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) was the branch of the All India Muslim League in the British Indian province of Bengal. It was established in Dacca on 2 March 1912. Its official language was Bengali. The party played an important role i ...

, and was elected a member of its executive committee in 1937. In 1944, he was elected publicity secretary of the League. He was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly from the Parshuram constituency of Feni district. He was the health minister of the first Muslim League cabinet in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...

Works

After suffering a stroke, he resigned from the cabinet position in 1953. Chowdhury started writing books prior to 1947 partition. His works include ''"Pakistan"'', ''"Mohammad Ali Jinnah"'', ''"Omar Faruq"'', and ''"Ameer Ali"''.

Personal life

Chowdhury was married to

Anwara Bahar Chowdhury Anwara Bahar Chowdhury (13 February 1919 – 27 October 1987) was a Bangladeshi social activist and writer. Background and education Chowdhury was admitted to Sakhawat Memorial Govt. Girls' High School, Sakhawat Memorial Girls' High School, est ...

(1919–1987). Anwara was a social activist and writer. She established

Habibullah Bahar College Habibullah Bahar College ( bn, হাবীবুল্লাহ বাহার কলেজ) is a college in Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, a ...

in 1969 after Chowdhury's name. Together they had 4 daughters – Selina Bahar Zaman, Shaheen Westcombe, Nasreen Shams and Tazeen Chowdhury and one son -

Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury Iqbal Bahar Choudhury (born 1940) is a Bangladeshi news presenter, Orator, elocutionist and voice actor. He served as the head of the Bangla Service, Voice of America during 1972–2010. Family background and early life Choudhury was born in 194 ...

. Chowdhury's grandfather, Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz, an educationist, had a close relationship with poet

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam ( bn, কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম, ; 24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, Bengali literature, writer, Bangladeshi music, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Habibullah Bahar 1906 births 1966 deaths Bengali writers Maulana Azad College alumni Date of birth missing Place of death missing People from Feni District University of Calcutta alumni Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan