Mirza Nurul Huda (1 August 1919 – 22 December 1991) was an economist and academic who served as the 3rd

Vice President of Bangladesh The vice-president of Bangladesh was formerly the second highest constitutional office in Bangladesh, when the country was governed under a presidential system. The Vice-President was the first person in the presidential line of succession, in t ...

. He served as the governor of East Pakistan and the finance minister of Bangladesh.

Early life

Huda was born in Jangalia village,

Tangail Tangail ( bn, টাঙ্গাইল, ), is a major city within the Dhaka Division in central Bangladesh. It sits on the bank of the Louhajang River, north-west of Dhaka, the nation's capital. It is considered to be the main urban area of ...

, British India (now

Delduar Upazila Delduar ( bn, দেলদুয়ার) is an upazila of Tangail District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Geography Delduar is located at . It has 32696 households and total area 184.54 km2. Demographics As of the 2011 Bangladesh ce ...

, Bangladesh) on 1 August 1919. He studied at the Bindubashini High School in Tangail. He completed his bachelor's and master's from the

University of Dhaka 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 graduated in 1940 and 1941 respectively. In 1949, he completed his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. The same year he joined the economics faculty at the University of Dhaka. In late 1952, the

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 Augus ...

, Dhaka had arranged debates with Huda as the moderator. He went to London for a year as a Nuffield Fellow in 1955.

Career

From 1962 to 1965, he was the member of the planning commission of Pakistan. He protested against the economic discrimination of East Pakistan. He was the Ministry of Planning and Finance of East Pakistan from 1965 to 1969. On 23 March 1969, he replaced

Abdul Monem Khan Abdul Monem Khan (28 July 1899 – 13 October 1971) was a Pakistani politician who was the longest serving governor of East Pakistan during 1962–1969. Early life and education Khan was born in Humayunpur village of Bajitpur Upazila, Kishoreg ...

as the governor of East Pakistan but he had to resign from the position a day after upon the declaration of martial law in Pakistan by

Yahya Khan General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his p ...

. He went back to his teaching profession and in 1969, he was made the chairman of the economics department of the University of Dhaka. Huda was appointed a member of the council of advisers of government of Bangladesh on 26 November 1975 and held the charge of the ministries of agriculture, commerce, finance, industries and planning. In 1979, President

Ziaur Rahman Lt. General Ziaur Rahman (19 January 1936 – 30 May 1981), was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 to 1981. He was assassinated on 30 May 1981 in Chittagong in an army coup d ...

appointed him the minister of finance of Bangladesh. He was made vice president by Justice

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 ...

on 24 November 1981 and served until 23 March 1982.

Works

Huda had about twenty research publications to his credit. He edited the book titled "The Test of Time: My Life and Days" written by

Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan (M. T. Khan; March 1889 – 19 August 1963) was the Speaker of Pakistan's Constituent Assembly from 1948 to 1954 and National Assembly of Pakistan between 1962 and 1963. Early life Khan was born to a farmer with only thre ...

Personal life and death

Huda was married to Kulsum Huda, a daughter of Speaker of Pakistan's National Assembly

. Kulsum was one of the founders and vice chancellors of

Central Women's University Central Women's University is one of the first private university in Bangladesh, established in 1993. It was the first university in Bangladesh established exclusively for the purpose of female education. Beggzadi Mahmuda Nasir served as the fo ...

. Their daughter Simeen Mahmud (d. 2018) was a demographer at the

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ উন্নয়ন গবেষণা প্রতিষ্ঠান (বিআইডিএস)) is an autonomous multi-disciplinary public research organi ...

. Simeen was married to the economist Wahiduddin Mahmud. Their eldest son Mirza Najmul Huda is an economist. Another daughter is Zareen Huda Ahmed. Huda died on 22 December 1991 in

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 i ...

, Bangladesh.

References

1919 births 1991 deaths People from Tangail District Cornell University alumni Vice presidents of Bangladesh Finance ministers of Bangladesh University of Dhaka alumni University of Dhaka faculty Governors of East Pakistan Bangladesh Nationalist Party politicians Pakistani expatriates in the United States 20th-century Bengalis {{BangladeshNationalistParty-politician-stub