Syed Altaf Hossain ( bn, সৈয়দ আলতাফ হোসেন; 16 March 1923 – 12 November 1992) was a Bangladeshi politician who was a member of Parliament and Minister of Railway.

Early life

Hossain was born on 16 March 1923 to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family claiming to be Syeds in Vishnudia, Kushtia,

Nadia district Nadia () is a district in the state of West Bengal, India. It borders Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Purba Bardhaman to the west, and Murshidabad to the north. Nadia district is highly influenti ...

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. His father was Syed Yad Ali and his mother was Jarina Khatun. He graduated from Hari Narayanpur School in 1939. In 1940 he joined the movement to remove Howel Monument from Kolkata led by Subhas Chandra Bose. He finished in Bachelor of Arts from Islamia College in 1944. He finished his law degree and Masters in History from

Kolkata University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

in 1947.

Career

From 1944 Hossain worked in the news section of the Morning News in Kolkata. He moved to

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 ...

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the 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 Myanmar, wi ...

, after the partition of India. From 1949 he started to work in the Pakistan Observer (today

Bangladesh Observer ''The Bangladesh Observer'', founded by Hamidul Huq Choudhury in 1949, was the oldest, continuously published English-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh until it ceased publication in June 2010. History Since its inception as ''The Pakist ...

). He also worked at the '' Daily Ittehad''. From 1950 to 1953 he worked in the Morning News in Dhaka. In 1954 he was elected to the East Bengal Provincial Assembly from the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

. In 1955 he was arrested after Martial law was declared in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. In 1956 he was the editor of the New Nation. In 1957 he was elected to Central and Provincial executive committee of

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by A ...

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was pop ...

. In 1965 he was elected general secretary of the National Awami Party. He joined the pro-Moscow group of the NAP after it split into two camps, pro- China and Pro-

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. He was elected General Secretary of the fraction. He was arrested again in 1968 and was subsequently released after the

1969 uprising in East Pakistan The 1969 mass uprising in East Pakistan ( bn, ঊনসত্তরের গণঅভ্যুত্থান, lit=69’s Mass uprising) was a democratic political movement in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The uprising consisted of a series of m ...

and the fall of President Ayub Khan. He was defeated in the 1970 national elections. In the Bangladesh Liberation War he helped organize the training of NAP activists, he was incharge of 60 NAP youth camps. He became a central committee member of

BAKSAL Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ কৃষক শ্রমিক আওয়ামী লীগ "Bangladesh Worker-Peasant's People's League"; বাকশাল) was a political front comprising B ...

in 1975. He was the Minister of Railway in the government headed by

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 Bengali politi ...

. After the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, he joined the government of

Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad (also spelled Khandakar Mushtaq Ahmed; – 5 March 1996) was a Bangladeshi politician. He was the President of Bangladesh from 15 August to 6 November 1975, after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was part ...

as the State Minister of Road Communication. In 1978 he helped found the Jatiya Party of General Hussain Muhammad Ershad, becoming the party's first chairman. In 1983 he was arrested after he worked in the movement against general Ershad. In 1986 he was elected convenor of United National Awami Party. In 1986 he was elected to parliament from the Grand Alliance of 15 parties to parliament from Kushtia constituency. In 1990 he was elected President of

Ganatantri Party Ganotantri Party, (Bengali: গণতন্ত্রি পার্টি, English: Democratic Party), is a left-wing political party in Bangladesh. The party is closely aligned with Bangladesh Awami League. Barrister Arosh Ali is the President a ...

. He was also the vice-principal of Dhaka Law College.

Death

Hossain died in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 12 November 1992.

References

National Awami Party politicians 1923 births 1992 deaths State Ministers of Road Transport and Bridges (Bangladesh) Railways ministers of Bangladesh 3rd Jatiya Sangsad members Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League central committee members People from Kushtia District Politicians from Khulna Division {{Bangladesh-politician-stub