Tofail Ahmed (born 22 October 1943) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is a 7-term

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of ...

member representing the

Bhola-1 Bhola-1 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2014 by Tofail Ahmed of the Awami League. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Bhola Sadar Upazila. History The constituency was crea ...

Bhola-2 Bhola-2 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2014 by Ali Azam of the Awami League. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Burhanuddin and Daulatkhan upazilas. History The constitu ...

and Bakerganj-1 constituencies since 1973. Previously he served as the Minister of Commerce and Minister of Industries of the

Government of Bangladesh The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...

Background

Ahmed was born on 22 October 1943 in

Bhola Bhola ( bn, ভোলা) is a town and district headquarter of Bhola District in the division of Barishal, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most ...

in the then

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 ...

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 ...

. Ahmed joined the

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 ...

and in support of the 1966

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 ...

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 ...

. was involved in the 1969 mass uprising in East Pakistan as a student leader. He was the vice-president of

Dhaka University Central Students' Union Dhaka University Central Students' Union, also known by its acronym DUCSU, is the official students' union of the University of Dhaka. Called the second parliament of Bangladesh, DUCSU represents Dhaka University students in the university's decisi ...

. In 1970, Ahmed was a political secretary of

. He was a Bangladesh independence activist one of the organizers of

Mujib Bahini The Mujib Bahini, also known as Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF), was an armed force formed during the Bangladesh Liberation War to fight against Pakistan in 1971. The force was mainly composed of activists drawn from the Awami League and its st ...

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.

Career

In 1996, prior to the controversial February elections, Ahmed was arrested along with

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 ...

leader

Abdul Quader Mollah Abdul Quader Molla ( bn, আব্দুল কাদের মোল্লা; 14 August 1948 – 12 December 2013) was a Bangladeshi Islamist leader, writer, and politician of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who was convicted of war crimes and ...

under the Special Powers Act. He served as the Minister of Commerce in the Awami League government from July 1996 to January 2001. In 2007, while the country went under emergency rule Ahmed was one of the leaders who proposed a reform proposal of

Bangladesh Awami League 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 ...

which proposed by the military backed caretaker government and the removal of party chief

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina Wazed (''née'' Sheikh Hasina ; ; bn, শেখ হাসিনা ওয়াজেদ, Shēkh Hasinā, , born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Prime Minister ...

. After the 2008 general election Awami League formed the government, but Ahmed was dropped from the cabinet despite being the one of the influential member of Presidium. Ahmed was the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industries Ministry. He is also the member of the advisory committee of the Awami League. Earlier he was one of the influential members of the Awami League presidium. He was elected several times as a member of Jatiya Sangsad from Bhola constituency. He was the

Minister of Commerce A Commerce minister (sometimes business minister, industry minister, trade minister or international trade minister) is a position in many governments that is responsible for regulating external trade and promoting economic growth (commercial polic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Tofail Living people 1943 births Awami League politicians 1st Jatiya Sangsad members 3rd Jatiya Sangsad members 5th Jatiya Sangsad members 7th Jatiya Sangsad members 9th Jatiya Sangsad members 10th Jatiya Sangsad members 11th Jatiya Sangsad members Industries ministers of Bangladesh Commerce ministers of Bangladesh Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League central committee members