Mohammad Mohammadullah ( bn, মোহাম্মদ মুহম্মদুল্লাহ; 21 October 1921 – 12 November 1999) was the President of the People's Republic of
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 ...
. Mohammadullah became the Acting President on 24 December 1973, was elected president on 24 January 1974, and took oath of office on 27 January 1974. He remained President until 25 January 1975.
Birth and education
Mohammadullah was born in Saicha,
Raipur
Raipur ( ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Raipur is also the administrative headquarters of Raipur district and Raipur division, and the largest city of the state. It was a part of Madhya Pradesh before the state of Chh ...
,
Lakshmipur
Lakshmipur ( bn, লক্ষ্মীপুর , Lokkhipur) is a city and headquarter of
Lakshmipur District
Lakshmipur ( bn, লক্ষ্মীপুর, Lokkhipur), also spelt Laxmipur, with an area of 1455.96 km2, is a distric ...
, on 21 October 1921. His father Munshi Abdul Wahab was a social worker. In 1943, he completed his secondary school certificate from
. Mohammadullah earned a bachelor's degree with honours in history from
Dhaka University
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
and obtained
LLB
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the China, People's Republic ...
degree from
Ripon College Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and again from Dhaka University in the same year 1948. In 1950, he became a member of the Dhaka Bar. In 1964, he was enrolled in
Dhaka High Court
The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, হাইকোর্ট ডিভিশন) popularly known as the 'High Court' is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate D ...
as an advocate.
Political life
Mohammadullah was an active member of the East Pakistan
Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people.
The adjective appears in the following proper names:
*Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
*Awami Front, wa ...
from 1950.
He had walked into the Awami League office in Nawabpur and told Sheikh Mujibur Rahman he would like to volunteer for Awami League and started working in office management.
In 1953, he was elected as office secretary of
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 ...
and held the same position till 1972 after being nominated by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
He actively participated in the
six point movement
The six point movement was a movement in East Pakistan, spearheaded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which called for greater autonomy for East Pakistan. The movement's main agenda was to realize the six demands put forward by a coalition of Bengali na ...
in 1966, for which he was jailed for a long time.
Mohammadullah was elected to the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly on the ticket of the Awami League in 1970.
He was appointed as the political advisor to the Acting President
Syed Nazrul Islam
Syed Nazrul Islam ( bn, সৈয়দ নজরুল ইসলাম, Soiyod Nozrul Islam; 1925 – 3 November 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician and a senior leader of the Awami League. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, he was declared a ...
during 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 ...
in 1971.
On 10 April 1972, he was elected as the Deputy Speaker of the
Bangladesh Constituent Assembly
The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was the constituent assembly of Bangladesh. It was the country's provisional parliament between 1971 and 1973. In 1972, it drafted and adopted the Constitution of Bangladesh. The assembly was dominated by th ...
(
Ganoparishad
The Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh was the constituent assembly of Bangladesh. It was the country's provisional parliament between 1971 and 1973. In 1972, it drafted and adopted the Constitution of Bangladesh. The assembly was dominated by th ...
) and the same year he became the acting
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** In ...
. On 12 November 1972, he was elected Speaker. He was elected to the Member of the Parliament (JS) from the Raipur-Lakshmipur constituency, and was re-elected Speaker of the House again in 1973.
He became the Acting President of the Republic on 24 December 1973 and President on 24 January 1974.
In January 1975, the fourth amendment was passed which removed then President Mohammad Mohammadullah from office and made Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman president for a five-year term.
He was made Minister of Land Administration and Land Reforms in the Cabinet of
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...
on 26 January 1975. He was appointed as the Vice President by collaborators of the
Assassination of Sheikh Mujib
The first president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most of his family were killed during the early hours of 15 August 1975 by a group of young Bangladesh Army personnel who invaded his Dhanmondi 32 residence as part of a coup d' ...
on August 1975. Mohammadullah joined the
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 ...
(BNP) in 1980. He was appointed vice president by President
Abdus Sattar ʻAbd al-Sattār (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الستّار) is an Arabic Muslim male given name, built on the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Sattār''. The name means "servant of the Veiler (of sins)".
Because the letter s is a sun lett ...
in March 1982 but the tenure lasted barely a year, because General
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 ...
took over the reins of administration of the country. Mohammadullah was elected a member of the parliament (JS) once again in 1991 on BNP ticket.
Death
Mohammadullah died on 12 November 1999 at the age of 78. He was buried at
Banani graveyard near Naval Headquarters.
Honours
*
King Jigme Singye Investiture Medal (Kingdom of Bhutan, 02/06/1974).
Final Programmes for The Coronation and The Silver Jubilee Celebration
/ref>
References
External links
in bangabhaban.gov.bd
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohammadullah, Mohammad
1921 births
1999 deaths
Surendranath College alumni
Surendranath Law College alumni
Vice presidents of Bangladesh
Speakers of the Jatiya Sangsad
Awami League politicians
Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians
Presidents of Bangladesh
University of Calcutta alumni
University of Dhaka alumni
Burials at Banani Graveyard
1st Jatiya Sangsad members
5th Jatiya Sangsad members
20th-century Bengalis