Maulana Muhammad Abdus Sobhan ( bn, মাওলানা মুহাম্মদ আব্দুস সুবহান; 19 February 1936
– 14 February 2020)
was a Bangladeshi
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He was a member of the central working committee of the
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...
. He was a two time elected parliamentarian from
Pabna-5
Pabna-5 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2008 by Golam Faruk Khandakar Prince of the Awami League.
Boundaries
The constituency encompasses Pabna Sadar Upazila
Pabna Sadar ( bn, প ...
constituency, during the elections of 1991 and 2001 respectively.
He went to trial for his relationship with war crimes allegedly committed during the
War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Early life and education
Abdus Sobhan was born on 19 February 1936
in the village of Mominpara,
Sujanagar thana, Pabna district. His father, Late Munshi Nayeem Uddin Ahmed, was an Islamic scholar. In 1965, he moved with his family to Pathortola, Gopalpur, Pabna city, and has resided there permanently.
He enrolled at the Ramchandrapur Maktab. Then he completed his primary education in Manikhaat and Machpara Primary School. In 1941, he enrolled into Ulat Madrassah and studied there till 1947, completing his matriculation. In 1950, he obtained his ''alim'' certification. In 1952, he obtained his ''fazil'' degree from Sirajganj Alia Madrassah. In 1954, he obtained his ''kamil'' degree with distinction from the same madrassah, obtaining 7th position in the first division in the madrassah board.
Career
Teaching
After completion of his ''fazil'' studies, he joined Pabna Aliya Madrasah. After that he taught at Gopalchandra institute, Arifpur Ulat Senior Madrassah and Magura Baroria Fazil Madrasah. His teaching career spanned 10 years from 1952 to 1962.
Politics
Abdus Sobhan was active in politics from his student life. He was secretary of Pabna District for East Pakistan Jamiat Talaba Arabiya. In 1951, he joined
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...
and over time was appointed the Ameer of
Pabna District
Pabna District ( bn, পাবনা জেলা) is a district in central Bangladesh. It is an economically important district in Bangladesh. Its administrative capital is the eponymous Pabna town.
History
Archeologist Cunningham conjectured ...
. He was a member of the Central Majlis-e-Shura, the central working committee and the executive committee of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also a Nayeb-e-Ameer of the party.
Member of Parliament
In 1962 and again in 1965, he was elected as a member of the East Pakistan Constituent Assembly and acted as the senior deputy leader of the opposition in his latter term.
He was a member of parliament elected from Pabna-5 constituency in 1991, and deputy leader of the Jamaat's parliamentary group, securing 47.31% of the votes. In 2001, he was again elected as a member of parliament from Pabna-5 constituency as a candidate of 4-party alliance, securing 56.78% of the votes in his constituency. In 1996, he campaigned on a platform to increase women's education.
Arrest and trial
Abdus Sobhan was arrested on 20 September 2012 from
Bangabandhu Bridge
Bangabandhu Bridge, also known as the Jamuna Multi-purpose Bridge ( bn, যমুনা বহুমুখী সেতু ''Jomuna Bohumukhi Setu'') is a bridge opened in Bangladesh in June 1998. It connects Bhuapur on the Jamuna River's east b ...
area while he was traveling from Dhaka to Pabna. Later, he was taken to Pabna to appear before the court that issued the warrant against him in connection with a case filed in 2003.
A day after his arrest he appeared before the
International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)
The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) (ICT of Bangladesh) is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local col ...
in Dhaka on charges of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. The International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT) framed nine charges of wartime offences against Abdus Sobhan for alleged crimes against humanity in 1971. Sobhan denied the charges brought against him and claimed that he had served as a mole for the
Mukti Bahini
The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary ...
against
Pakistani forces in his time at the
Peace Committee.
Death
Sobhan died on 14 February 2020 at Dhaka Medical College Hospital at the age of 83.
[
Next day 15 February he was buried on Pabna Sadar Arifpur graveyard.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobhan, Abdus
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians
1936 births
2020 deaths
People from Pabna District
Politicians from Rajshahi Division
5th Jatiya Sangsad members
8th Jatiya Sangsad members
Bangladeshi Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
People from Sujanagar Upazila