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Tajuddin Ahmad ( bn, তাজউদ্দীন আহমদ; ; 23 July 1925 – 3 November 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman. He led the
Provisional Government of Bangladesh The Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, was established following the declaration of independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh on 10 April 1971. Headed by prime minis ...
as its prime minister 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 and is regarded as one of the most instrumental figures in the birth of Bangladesh. Tajuddin began as a
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the orga ...
youth worker in
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 ...
. He belonged to the Dhaka-based pro-democracy, secular Muslim League faction, which broke with the Muslim League's reactionary party line after the partition of India and the birth of Pakistan. As a member of the short-lived youth organisation the
Jubo League The Bangladesh Awami Jubo League ( bn, বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী যুবলীগ) commonly known as the Jubo League, is the first youth organization of Bangladesh founded by Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani. It is the youth wing ...
, he actively participated in the Language Movement in 1952. In 1953, he joined the Awami Muslim League (later the Awami League), a dissident offshoot of the Muslim League. The following year, he was elected a member of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly. As a close confidante, he assisted Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in revitalising the Awami League into a secular political party during
Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced ...
's regime in the late 1960s. As the General Secretary of the Awami League from 1966, Tajuddin coordinated the party during the tumultuous late 1960s and early 1970s, suffering imprisonment on several occasions. He formulated the early draft of the historic six-points demand that would eventually lead to the birth 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 ...
. He coordinated the Awami League's election campaign for the
1970 Pakistani general election General elections were held in Pakistan on 7 December 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly. They were the first general elections since the independence of Pakistan and ultimately the only ones held prior to the independence of Bangla ...
, in which the League gained a historic parliamentary majority. He also coordinated the non-cooperation movement of March 1971 precipitated by President
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 ...
's delay in transferring power to the elected legislators. Tajuddin was among Sheikh Mujib's delegation in the Mujib-Yahya talks to settle the constitutional disputes between East and West Pakistan and transfer power to the elected National Assembly. Following the Pakistani army's crackdown on the Bangladeshi population on 25 March 1971, Tajudddin escaped to India. In the absence of Sheikh Mujib, he initiated the set up of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in 1971 and headed it, operating in exile in India, as its prime minister. In independent Bangladesh, Tajuddin served as the Minister of Finance and Planning in Sheikh Mujib's Cabinet from 1972 to 1974. He was also a member of the committee drafting the Constitution of Bangladesh. He resigned from the cabinet in 1974 to live a quiet life. Following Sheikh Mujib's
assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
in a coup d'état, Tajuddin was arrested and
assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
on 3 November 1975, along with three senior Awami League leaders in prison.


Early life

Tajuddin Ahmad Khan was born on 23 July 1925 at Dardaria, a village in the
Dhaka district Dhaka District ( bn, ঢাকা জেলা, Dhaka jela) is a district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and rests on the eastern banks o ...
of the
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 ...
, in
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 ...
(now Gazipur District in
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 ...
), to Maulavi Muhammad Yasin Khan and Meherunnesa Khanam in a conservative, middle class Muslim family. He was the eldest of nine siblings—three brothers and six sisters. The
Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predo ...
province, the eastern frontier of India, consisted of two conceptual regions: the ''West Bengal'' had a Hindu majority population and housed the provincial capital Kolkata, a thriving centre of trade and culture; ''East Bengal'', Tajuddin's home, was an impoverished hinterland of West Bengal, with a mostly poor peasant Muslim population. During Tajuddin's formative years, British rule in India was nearing its end and Bengal was battered by famines, communal tensions and other problems. It was a hotbed of anti-British activism. Against this backdrop, his political activism began at a very early age, sometimes interrupting his studies. The anti-British activists of Bengal were his earliest political inspiration. After attending a few schools in Gazipur, Tajuddin moved to Dhaka, his district headquarter and the principal town in East Bengal, for further studies. In Dhaka, he went to Saint Gregory's High School, where he
matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...
in 1944, securing 12th position in undivided Bengal. After matriculation, Tajuddin briefly lost interest in formal education because of his activism, pausing his studies for three years. At his mother's insistence, he resumed his studies and was admitted to
Dhaka College Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...
. There he attended classes irregularly because of his activism. As a result, he could not take the Intermediate of Arts examination from there; instead, he took it from a private college as an irregular student in 1948 and passed, securing fourth position in
East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...
. He obtained a BA with honours in Economics from the University of Dhaka. Tajuddin lost his father at age twenty-two and took over the family responsibilities.


Late British India

With
British rule in India The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was hims ...
nearing its end and Hindu-Muslim tensions on the rise, in 1940 the political party
All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subconti ...
brought about the
Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a List of historical separatist movements, political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslims, Muslim-majority a ...
, which demanded a separate state for the Muslims of India. Founded in 1906, in Dhaka, the Muslim League's leadership came mostly from the feudal elites. Headquartered in Kolkata, the Bengal Provincial Muslim League, had had little grassroots organisation or activity in Bengal for a long time.
Abul Hashim Abul Hashim (25 January 1905 – 5 October 1974) was a Bangladeshi politician and Islamic thinker in the Indian Subcontinent. Early life Hashim was born in a lord family in the village of Kashiara in Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal. He ...
succeeded
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 ...
as the general secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League in 1943. Tajuddin, still a school student in Dhaka, joined the Muslim League in the same year. Hashim envisioned the creation of a 'leftist' faction within the Muslim League against the prevailing leadership. He set out to reform the Muslim League organisation in Bengal. As part of this reform, in 1944, Hashim helped found the Muslim League party office in Dhaka at 150 Moghultuli Lane. The office became a haunt for the party's progressive young dissidents, including Tajuddin, led by
Kamruddin Ahmed Kamruddin Ahmed (1912-1982) was a Bangladeshi diplomat, lawyer and politician. Early life Ahmed was born on 8 September 1912 in Sholaghar, Sreenagar Upazila, Munshiganj District, Bengal Presidency, British India. He graduated from Barisal Zilla Sc ...
, a schoolteacher and later a lawyer. As one of the four 'full-time' party workers, Tajuddin helped Kamruddin publish the party newspaper. Traditionally, the Muslim League in Dhaka and East Bengal at large was dominated by the Nawab family of Dhaka; many of its members held high offices in the party. Their residential palace,
Ahsan Manzil Ahsan Manzil is the erstwhile official residential palace and seat of the Nawab of Dhaka. The building is situated at Kumartoli along the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Construction was started in 1859 and was completed in ...
, served as the de facto party headquarters. A rift developed between the Ahsan Manzil group and the 150 Moghultuli (Muslim League) group.
Khwaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to ha ...
and his brother
Khwaja Shahabuddin Khawaja Shahabuddin (31 May 1898 – 9 February 1977) was a politician of Kashmiri-Bengali descent from East Pakistan who was a minister in the Government of Pakistan and member of the Dhaka Nawab family. He was the younger brother of Khawaja N ...
led the Ahsan Manzil group; both held high offices in the provincial government and in the party. Their propaganda, aided by ''The Azad'' newspaper, the Muslim League's mouthpiece, labelled Hashim and his followers as communists in disguise. Both groups contested elections in district party committees. In the 1944 Dhaka district committee elections, Tajuddin helped Kamruddin and the Moghultli group win a surprising victory against Shahabuddin's intrigues. The Pakistan Movement intensified after the Second World War and the Hindu-Muslim communal riots in Bengal in 1946. In August 1947, India was partitioned, and Pakistan was born as a result, causing mass migration and violence. Pakistan consisted of two geographically non-contiguous ''wings'', thousands of miles apart. The far larger West Wing (current Pakistan), adjacent to the western border of India, comprised four provinces, and only East Bengal constituted the much smaller East Wing (current Bangladesh), adjacent to the eastern edge of India. Abul Hashim and Shaheed Suhrawardy opposed the partition of Bengal and did not migrate to Pakistan immediately. Even though it was leading the Pakistan cause, the Muslim League's inadequacy to lead Pakistan as a nation was apparent to factions within it. A faction of the 150 Moghultuli Lane-based Muslim League skeptics, led by Kamruddin Ahmed, formed the Gano Azadi League, a civil rights organisation with a small following, in July 1947, a month before the partition of India. In contrast to the Muslim League, the organisation took progressive views on many issues, like the economy, culture, and education. Apart from Tajuddin, other founding members of the Gano Azadi League included
Oli Ahad Oli Ahad ( – 20 October 2012) was a Bangladeshi politician and language activist of the Language Movement. He was awarded Independence Day Award in 2004 by the Government of Bangladesh. Early life Ahad was born in the Islampur village of Bra ...
and
Mohammad Toaha Mohammad Toaha (2 January 1922 – 29 November 1987) was a language activist of the 1952 language movement and a prominent left-wing politician from Bangladesh. Early life and education Toaha was born on 2 January 1922 at Hajirhat village in ...
.


East Pakistan


Early activism

In the newly independent Pakistan, Tajuddin was a resident student of
Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall is one of the oldest residential halls of Dhaka University. History Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall was established in 1940 and named after A. K. Fazlul Huq, former prime minister of undivided Bengal. Fazlul Huq played a major part ...
in
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 it ...
. The political atmosphere was grim in East Bengal. From the beginning, tensions developed between East and West Pakistan over various issues. The ruling
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the orga ...
provincial government, led by the chief minister Khwaja Nazimuddin, mostly sided with West Pakistan on various issues. The university became an important centre of political activism; as usual Tajuddin became an enthusiastic participant in them. Many Kolkata-based pro-Hashim workers migrated to Dhaka after the Partition and joined the 150 Moghultuli group. Among them Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had enrolled in Dhaka University and a few others, founded the
East Pakistan Muslim Students' League The East Pakistan Muslim Students League was founded in 1948 following the independence of Pakistan to support the political activities and campaigns of the Muslim League in electoral politics. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn ...
(popularly called the Students' League) on 4 January 1948. Tajuddin joined the party as a founding member. At the same time, as a frequenter of Dhaka's political circles, Tajuddin was drawn increasingly towards the national political arena. He witnessed the marginalization of his 150 Moghultuli faction of the Muslim League at their leader Hashim and Suhrawardy's absence in the political scene of East Bengal and the Ahsan Manzil group's rise. In 1949, the 150 Moghultuli faction cut ties with the Muslim League and founded the Awami Muslim League (later the Awami League) with
Maulana 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 po ...
, a Muslim cleric turned politician, as its president. Tajuddin admired Maulana Bhashani but showed little interest in his party initially. He and his disillusioned former Muslim League fellows kept meeting regularly at their haunts, speculating on the characteristics and the future of Pakistan, envisioning new political parties. Members of that group, notably Oli Ahad and Mohammad Toaha, founded the Jubo League, a youth organisation, at a youth convention that took place in March 1951. Tajuddin was elected a member of the Jubo League executive committee at its first annual council later that year. East and West Pakistan came into a major conflict over the state language question within a month of Pakistan's independence in 1947. West Pakistan leaders, including Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, advocated for Urdu as the only state language of multilingual Pakistan. In response to protests from various intellectual and political bodies of
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
-speaking East Bengal, the state language decision was postponed for a while. However, as authorities continued efforts to push Urdu in various guises, the simmering dispute resurged in 1951. The ruling Muslim League provincial government, led by Nurul Amin, who succeeded Nazimuddin as the chief minister in 1948, again sided with West Pakistan. Tajuddin, as a Jubo League worker and an early participant of the movement, was elected a member of the University State Language Action Committee to advance Bengali as a state language, set up the in early 1951 by the students of the Dhaka University. The
movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
got its spark on 27 January 1952 as Prime Minister Khwaja Nazimudduin of Pakistan declared that 'the state language of Pakistan shall be Urdu and no other language'. On 21 February 1952, police opened fire on protest processions at various places, killing several protesters. Police raided the Jubo League's office on 21 and 22 February; Tajuddin, who was residing in the office at that time, barely avoided arrest. As a result of the movement, the government conceded and granted Bengali status as a state language. Despite its critical role in the Language Movement, the Jubo League was unsuccessful as a mainstream political party. Its members made their way into other established political parties. Many of them joined the Awami Muslim League, which after the Language Movement of 1952, emerged as East Pakistan's most promising political party.


Awami League

Leaving his studies unfinished, Tajuddin left Dhaka in 1951 to work as a master at a school in
Sreepur Sreepur ( bn, শ্রীপুর) is a city in central Bangladesh, located in Gazipur District in the division of Dhaka. It is the administrative and urban centre of Sreepur Upazila. About 126,249 people live here which makes this city ...
, close to his home in Gazipur. The school was in poor condition. During his visits to Dhaka at that time, besides taking part in political activism, he often lobbied for managing government aid for the school. After a year and three months, he returned to Dhaka and resumed his studies for his BA in economics in late 1952. With the Provincial Assembly elections due next year, Tajuddin joined the Awami Muslim League in 1953, his Jubo League comrade Oli Ahad followed; the same year, he was elected as the general secretary of the
Dhaka District Dhaka District ( bn, ঢাকা জেলা, Dhaka jela) is a district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and rests on the eastern banks o ...
chapter of the party. The Awami Muslim League participated in the election in a coalition with some other parties (called the Jukta Front), with their joint 21-point election manifesto, embodying many popular demands. Tajuddin, running on the Jukta Front ticket, was elected from his constituency, defeating the general secretary of the East Pakistan Muslim League, Fakir Abdul Mannan, by an overwhelming three to one proportion of the vote. At his twenty-nine, he became one of the youngest elected legislators of the assembly. The Jukta Front won a majority in the election, ending the Muslim League's dominance in East Pakistan. However, within months of taking office, the central government dissolved the Jukta Front cabinet on the pretext of conspiring to secede by its chief minister
A. K. Fazlul Huq Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq ( bn, আবুল কাশেম ফজলুল হক, ur, ; 26October 1873 — 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla (''Lion of Bengal''), was a British Indian and Pakistani lawyer and writer who present ...
. Tajuddin was arrested following the dismissal of the cabinet. He took the law examination from prison and earned a BA degree in
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
. After his return from prison, he was elected as the social welfare and cultural secretary of Awami League in 1955. Pakistan framed its Constitution in 1956, more than eight years after its independence, under which a general election was supposed to be held in early 1958. In 1958, however, a military junta, led by
General Ayub Khan Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country's h ...
, the then minister of defence, seized power in a coup d'état. Ayub Khan declared himself president and chief martial law administrator. Four years later, in 1962, he instituted a new constitution, abrogating the old one, legitimising his junta's rule. He also reformed the election process in his favour and brutally suppressed democratic activities. Tajuddin was arrested in 1958, just after Ayub Khan took over and was imprisoned for a year. Under Ayub's rule, the suffering and deprivation in East Pakistan increased. West Pakistan dominated politics, administration, commerce, industry, and education; West Pakistan's cities, like Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, became centres of decision making, thrived as centres of trade, commerce and opportunity. The East Pakistan capital, Dhaka, was relegated to near obscurity. West Pakistani business persons dominated major East Pakistan businesses involved in jute and tea, for example. Since the mid-1950s, the Awami Muslim League had been turning towards secularism; it dropped 'Muslim' from its name in 1955, becoming known as the Awami League. It became vocal over the economic disparity between East and West Pakistan and began gaining popularity among the masses. In the Awami League, Tajuddin became close to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, one of the founders of the party. Since 1962, following party President Suhrawardy's policy, the Awami League joined a front of democratic parties, called the National Democratic Front (NDF), against Ayub's military regime and ceased functioning as an individual party. In 1964, after Suhrawardy's death, Mujib, the general secretary of the Awami League, revived it as a party in the face of opposition by some senior leaders. Mujib's influence in the Awami League only increased with Tajuddin as his 'right-hand man'.


Six points and the 1969 uprising

The
1965 India-Pakistan War The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 or the Second Kashmir War was a culmination of skirmishes that took place between April 1965 and September 1965 between Pakistan and India. The conflict began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was d ...
severely damaged the Ayub regime's prestige. The opposition parties of Pakistan sought to exploit the situation by negotiating with the junta for more democratisation; they called for a conference in Lahore on 3 February 1966 and invited rising Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to win the league's support. Meanwhile, just before the conference, President Ayub Khan visited Dhaka at the end of January 1966 and invited East Pakistani political leaders, including Sheikh Mujib, to a talk. Mujib wanted to seize the opportunity to put forward a few demands, highlighting East Pakistan's interests to the president. Prior to the meeting, Tajuddin, a close confidante of Mujib by then, drafted the demands as a number of specific points, a precursor of the historic six-points demand. However, the demands did not make it to Ayub Khan on that occasion. Sheikh Mujib and Tajuddin attended the Lahore Conference and put forward the revised version of those points as the six-point demand to the committee. They called for a new constitution, ensuring autonomy of provinces on key matters like monetary policy and defence instead of the prevalent absolute central governance. West Pakistani leaders present there received the six points with absolute disappointment; they viewed it as a secessionist proposal and refused to raise it in the conference. In the party council of the Awami League on 14–15 March 1966, Sheikh Mujib was elected president and Tajuddin its general secretary. Promulgated by the Awami League, six points became the voice of the East Pakistani people, their charter of emancipation, while getting little support in West Pakistan. The military junta and the West Pakistani political parties viewed six points as a threat to Pakistan's unity. The Ayub Administration was determined to suppress six points by any means. Awami League workers, already being brutally oppressed, came under even greater persecution. Tajuddin himself was arrested in 1966, as were many other senior Awami League leaders. In 1968, while Tajuddin was still in prison, Sheikh Mujib and some others, mostly East Pakistani military officials, were arrested on charges of high treason in the infamous
Agartala Conspiracy Case The Agartala Conspiracy Case was a sedition case in Pakistan during the rule of Ayub Khan against Awami League, brought by the government of Pakistan in 1968 against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then leader of the Awami League and East Pakistan, ...
. In the face of the mass popular uprising of 1969, the Ayub regime began showing signs of compromise. On 1 February 1969, Ayub Khan announced a conference (popularly known as the Round Table Conference or RTC), in Rawalpindi, on 17 February 1969 with the opposition parties, including the Awami League. The Awami League declared the RTC would not gain credibility with their president, Mujib, imprisoned and refused to attend the conference. Ayub Khan rejected the opposition party forum's plea for Mujib's release citing legal difficulties. A legal battle ensued between the Awami League and the junta over Mujib's release. Faced with popular pressure, the conference was postponed. On 17 February 1969, Tajuddin, just released from imprisonment, joined his two Awami League comrades, lawyers Kamal Hossain and Amir-ul Islam, who were already leading the legal proceedings, on their flight to Rawalpindi to negotiate Mujib's release. Despite its initial objections, the Ayub government eventually conceded and agreed to release Mujib unconditionally so that he could attend the Round Table Conference. Finally, authorities released Sheikh Mujib, the unanimous leader of East Pakistan, from prison on 23 February 1969. Tajuddin attended the Round Table Conference as part of the Awami League delegation led by Mujib. At this conference, the Awami League's six points again came under strong opposition from the West Pakistani politicians. On 13 March, in the concluding session, Ayub Khan approved the federation proposal, however, he refused to comment on the autonomy of the provinces as the six points demanded, citing it as a matter that only elected legislators could decide. This effectively postponed it until a general election could take place. President Ayub Khan resigned shortly after the conference, ending his 11-year rule; his commander-in-chief of the army,
General 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 pr ...
, who reportedly had been pulling the strings of the Round Table Conference from behind the scenes, took over as president. Yahya immediately abrogated the Constitution, imposed martial law, and promised a general election.


The 1970 general election

The 1970 general election, the first of its kind in Pakistan after years of military rule, was held on 7 December 1970. Of the 300 parliamentary seats of the National Assembly, East Pakistan and West Pakistan constituted 162 and 138 seats respectively. The Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, secured 160 out of 162 seats in East Pakistan and none in West Pakistan, still becoming the majority. Its closest contender, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, won 81 seats in West Pakistan and appointed no candidates in East Pakistan. Tajuddin ran and was elected from his constituency. With the elections concluded, the president was to inaugurate the National Assembly, and the elected legislators were to draft a new constitution. With the Awami League being in the majority in the assembly, there remained no obstacle to writing a constitution that complied with the six points demand. The Awami League quickly embarked on drafting a constitution proposal accordingly before the assembly is inaugurated. Sheikh Mujib and the senior Awami League leaders, including Tajuddin, met intensely with a group of legal and economic experts for about a month at a house on the banks of the river
Buriganga The Buriganga River ( bn, বুড়িগঙ্গা, ''Buŗigônga'', ) is a river in Bangladesh which flows past the southwest outskirts of the capital city, Dhaka. Its average depth is and its maximum depth is . It ranks among the most p ...
on which Dhaka stands. From those discussions, in which Tajuddin played a key role, an unofficial constitution draft came out. Meanwhile, the Awami League's victory soared the anxiety among the West Pakistani opposition parties and the military junta alike. The PPP desired for a coalition between the two. After the election, on 20 December in Lahore the PPP leader Bhutto described Punjab and Sindh as 'bastions of power in Pakistan', two states where his party had won a sweeping majority. So, he asserted, no central government can function without his party's support. To which Tajuddin, as the general secretary of the Awami League, replied in an official statement: Unable to secure any compromise on six-points from the Awami League leadership in the previous months, on 1 March, Yahya Khan postponed the inaugural session of the National Assembly on 3 March, indefinitely. Sheikh Mujib immediately called for non-cooperation by his people, effectively taking control of East Pakistan. Mujib kept issuing regular directives to people and party workers. Tajuddin, Kamal Hossain, and Amir-ul Islam were put in charge of drafting the directives. Non-cooperation was an immediate success; people spontaneously defied a curfew imposed by the Army. On 7 March 1971, however, in a historical speech in front of a massive gathering, Sheikh Mujib called for an indefinite general strike, asking his people to be prepared for any emergency and issued an ultimatum to the military junta. On 15 March, Tajuddin, as the general secretary of Awami League, issued 35 directives to the people. On the same day, Yahya Khan arrived in Dhaka and a series of meetings took place between them until late March. Mujib assured Yahya that his party would not harm West Pakistan's interests. He also pressed Yahya to withdraw the declaration of martial law immediately; Yahya refused, claiming legal difficulties with that. Mujib offered his assistants, Tajuddin and Kamal Hossain, to meet Khan's legal experts to sort out the difficulties. Yahya accepted the offer, and Kamal Hossain and Tajuddin met his experts and made some progress. Troops and arms were being concentrated from West Pakistan. Mujib urged Yahya to stop the reinforcements, warning him of the consequences. The Awami League leadership expected that on 24 March final negotiations would take place, however, that day passed with no meeting. On 25 March they learned that Yahya's delegation had secretly left Dhaka, leaving the discussions unfinished, killing any hope for a peaceful settlement.


Bangladesh Liberation War

Though Yahya Khan promised to resume talks on 25 March, everybody was apprehensive that an armed conflict was imminent. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman kept ordering his workers to escape to safety. Despite Tajuddin's and others' repeated insistence, Mujib refused to escape until 25 March, fearing it would be used as a pretext to massacre innocent Pakistanis. Tajuddin also remained in Dhaka until 25 March, the night Yahya secretly left Dhaka and the Pakistan Army cracked down on the Bangladeshi population there, killing thousands of people. Like the entire nation, the Awami League's leadership was taken by surprise; they scattered, each busy finding their own path to safety, and losing contact with one another for a few days. On the night of 25 March, Tajuddin and his trusted long-time comrade Amir-ul Islam left their homes and families and went into hiding. They secretly left Dhaka on 27 March for neighbouring India. Tajuddin came to learn days later that Sheikh Mujib had been arrested on the night of 25 March. Before his arrest, he broadcast the independence of Bangladesh in a radio message. After a perilous journey, mostly on foot through Kushtia and
Chuadanga Chuadanga ( bn, চুয়াডাঙ্গা) is a prosperous city in the western part of Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of Chuadanga Sadar Upazila and Chuadanga District Chuadanga ( bn, চুয়াডাঙ্গা, tʃuaɖaŋg ...
, Tajuddin and Amir-ul Islam crossed the Indian border on 30 March. At the border outpost the regional head of the Indian border security force ( BSF), Golok Majumdar received them. Majudmar immediately transported them to Kolkata with him. There, on the night of 30 March and the next day, Tajuddin and Islam had discussions with BSF chief Rustamji, who had come from Delhi after learning of their arrival. On 1 April, Tajuddin and Islam, accompanied by Majumdar, left for Delhi aboard a military cargo plane.


Formation of Bangladesh Government in Exile

In Delhi, Tajuddin met with India's Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on 4 April. At their second meeting the following day, Gandhi informed him that Sheikh Mujib had been arrested and transported to Pakistan though Pakistan had not made this official yet. Asked about the Bangladesh government, he replied, having consulted with Amir-ul Islam the day before, that a provisional government had been formed with Sheikh Mujib as its president with the senior Awami League leaders who had attended the Mujib-Yahya talks as cabinet members. Tajuddin presented himself as the prime minister. Except for Sheikh Mujib, the whereabouts of the other members was unknown. Two crucial resolutions were reached in that meeting: India opened its borders to Bangladeshi refugees saving millions of lives in the upcoming days when Pakistani aggression reached outside major cities, and India allowed the Bangladesh Government to operate within Indian territory. The Indian government also promised to help the Bangladeshi liberation war by any means possible. While Tajuddin was in Delhi, part of the Awami League leadership congregated in Kolkata. Many of them, notably the youth and student leaders, viewed Tajuddin's meeting with the Indian prime minister as an outrageous act sidelining them. On returning to Kolkata, on 8 April, Tajuddin found and met the group of leaders, including A H M Qamaruzzaman, and informed them of the Delhi meeting's outcomes, including the provisional government. Some of the leadership present there questioned Tajuddin's legitimacy as prime minister. The youth leader Sheikh Mani rejected the idea of the cabinet outright. Instead, he proposed setting up a revolutionary council dedicated to conducting armed resistance only. Amir-ul Islam explained the inadequacy of the revolutionary council and the necessity of a legal government. After this, and following Qamaruzzaman's mediation, most of the leadership at the meeting accepted Tajuddin's proposal. Tajuddin remained committed to the idea of a provisional government, believing only a legitimate government could muster the international support necessary for the liberation war. On 10 April, accompanied by Amir-ul Islam, Sheikh Mani and others, he boarded an old
Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota ...
plane borrowed from the Indian government and set off in search of other cabinet members scattered around the borders. Flying at low altitudes, the plane stopped at various airstrips at the borders, most of them built by the British Army during the Second World War. After picking up cabinet members Muhammad Mansur Ali, Abdul Mannan, and Syed Nazrul Islam from various places on the way, on 11 April, the entourage arrived in
Agartala Agartala () is the capital city of the Indian state of Tripura, and is one of the largest cities in northeast India. The city is governed by the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The city is the seat of the Government of Tripura. It is located o ...
, capital of the Indian state of
Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the east ...
, where many other Awami League leaders had taken refuge, including Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad and Colonel M A G Osmani. Before reaching Agartala, during Tajuddin and his group's stop in
Shiliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as the ' ...
on 10 April, Golok Majumdar arranged the broadcast of Tajuddin's first radio speech as the prime minister of Bangladesh from a clandestine radio station. The speech was recorded in Delhi from a draft prepared by Islam and
Rehman Sobhan Rehman Sobhan ( bn, রেহমান সোবহান; born 12 March 1935) is a Bangladeshi economist. Regarded as one of the country's top public thinkers, he is the founder of the Centre for Policy Dialogue. Sobhan is an icon of the Bangl ...
, an Awami League economist who also escaped Dhaka after the 25 March crackdown and made it to Delhi. In his speech, Tajuddin informed the people of Bangladesh of the formation of the government and the war's progress. He praised the spontaneous armed resistances taking place at the various parts of the country and recognized their leaders. He also gave instructions to the people on the conduct of the war. Describing the Pakistani army's onslaught, Tajuddin asked the international community to express solidarity with the freedom struggle of Bangladesh. The speech was broadcast again the next day on Akashvani Kolkata, the regional service of the Indian state radio, for a broader audience. Reunited in Agartala, the Awami League leadership pondered the cabinet agenda and distributing cabinet offices. In the absence of President Sheikh Mujib, Syed Nazrul Islam served as acting president, Khondaker Mostaq took the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qamarauzzaman was given the State Minister's office, Mansur Ali the Finance Minister's, and Colonel Osmani, a retired veteran of the Pakistan army turned Awami League politician, was appointed commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The entire cabinet returned to Kolkata on 13 April, set to take oath at some yet unoccupied place in Bangladesh. The oath taking ceremony took place on 17 April 1971, at a village along the India-Bangladesh border, called
Baidyanathtala Mujibnagar ( bn, মুজিবনগর), formerly known as Baidyanathtala (Boiddonathtola) and Bhoborpara, is a town in the Mujibnagar Upazila of Bangladesh. The Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed on 10 April 1971, however, swo ...
, in Kushtia district (currently
Meherpur Meherpur ( bn, মেহেরপুর, pron: ''meɦeɾpuɾ'') is the northwestern district of Khulna Division in southwestern Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian state of West Bengal to the west, and by the Bangladeshi districts of Kushtia a ...
district), on Bangladeshi soil. Professor Yusuf Ali read the proclamation of independence, drafted by Amir-ul Islam and reviewed by Subrata Roy Chowdhury, a lawyer at the
Calcutta High Court The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court buildi ...
, retroactively in effect from 10 April. Answering a journalist during the ceremony, Tajuddin named the place
Mujibnagar Mujibnagar ( bn, মুজিবনগর), formerly known as Baidyanathtala (Boiddonathtola) and Bhoborpara, is a town in the Mujibnagar Upazila of Bangladesh. The Provisional Government of Bangladesh was formed on 10 April 1971, however, sw ...
, after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Later the government-in-exile came to be popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government. Mujibnagar was abandoned quickly after the oath ceremony as participants feared a raid by Pakistani forces. The government settled in Kolkata, in exile, for the rest of the war—briefly at a house on Ballyganj Circular Road and then at 8 Theatre Road. On 15 April, Tajuddin secretly met Hossain Ali, the deputy high commissioner of Pakistan, in Kolkata. Tajuddin persuaded Ali, along with his Bengali staff, to switch allegiance to the Bangladesh government the day after the cabinet took their oaths. As promised, Ali and 70 employees at the Deputy High Commission swore allegiance to the Bangladesh Government, turning the Pakistan High Commission on 9 Circus Avenue into the Bangladesh Mission in Kolkata for good. The mission came to house part of the government's offices, most importantly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


Organising the Liberation War

Starting in Dhaka and other major cities on 25 March, Pakistani forces occupied most of Bangladesh by late April, creating an influx of refugees into the bordering states of India, most notably in West Bengal and Tripura. The number of refugees would eventually reach ten million. As the war broke out, Bengali soldiers serving in various Pakistani battalions revolted and put up armed resistance against Pakistani forces all over Bangladesh. Rebel commanders of these battalions, unaware of the establishment of a provisional government, met along with Colonel M A G Osmani on 4 April. At that meeting, the
Bangladesh Forces 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 ...
(BDF, popularly called ''Mukti Bahini'') was formed, with Osmani as its commander-in-chief. Young people at various locations put up armed resistance. Unable to overcome the Pakistani forces' onslaught, owing mainly to lack of heavy arms and manpower, both soon retreated into Indian territory. As Pakistani forces spread around the country, thousands of youths from occupied Bangladesh crossed the border into India, seeking arms and training to join the fight against the Pakistani occupation force. Among the Tajuddin Government's top priorities was coordinating those ongoing war efforts. In mid-July (10 to 15) the sector commanders of the BDF met at a conference at the Bangladesh Government's headquarters on Theatre Road in Kolkata. The conference set a course for the conduct of the war in the coming months. The irregular guerrilla warriors were named ''Gono Bahini'' (popularly called ''Muktijoddha'' or "Freedom Fighter") and the regular force was named "Regular Force" (popularly called ''Mukti Fouj''). Under Tajuddin's premiership, many Bengali bureaucrats, diplomats and military officers serving Pakistan defected to the new Government of Bangladesh. The Government soon established a capable civil administration. On 27 July, Tajuddin, as the prime minister, issued an order (GA/810/345) that divided occupied Bangladesh into nine administrative zones, called Zonal Administrative Councils, for administrative convenience. On another order, issued on 18 September, the number was increased to eleven. Each zonal council was chaired by an elected legislator and several administrative officers were appointed by the Government under him. Amidst occasional pressures from within his party, Tajuddin played a key role in keeping the administration from becoming politicised. Tajuddin employed a number of capable diplomats in his government. In early April, he commissioned economist Rehman Sobhan to stop the economic advisor to Pakistani president Yahya Khan, economist M M Ahmad, from acquiring fresh foreign aid for Pakistan and persuade Bangladeshi officials serving at Pakistani foreign missions to switch allegiance to Bangladesh. Apart from organising the liberation war, over the nine months, Tajuddin had to deal with various problems originating from within his party. As Sheikh Mujib did not explicitly name his successor in his absence, a faction within the Awami League denounced his premiership from the beginning; they continued with their relentless efforts to discredit him. A lack of coordination among various government bodies arose on occasion. The
Chhatra League The Bangladesh Chhatra League ( bn, বাংলাদেশ ছাত্রলীগ; translation: Bangladesh Students' League; BSL), formerly known as the East Pakistan Student League, often simply called the Chhatra League, is a students' po ...
, the student wing of the Awami League, workers united under a separate force, initially called the Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF) and later
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 ...
. Though initially commissioned by Osmani to recruit youths for the regular Bangladesh Forces, they eventually emerged as an independent armed force, under the auspices of the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Mujib Bahini clashed with the regular forces at various places. Sector Commanders of the regular forces and Osmani urged the government to bring them under the same command. Tajuddin himself expressed his concern about Mujib Bahini to Indian officials on occasion and to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at their meeting on 22 October. The situation, however, never improved. By August, Minister of Foreign Affairs Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad and his cohorts at his ministry secretly established a liaison with the United States, a key ally of Pakistan, without the Government's knowledge. With Sheikh Mujib on trial in Pakistan for high treason, the same group was also spreading the 'either freedom or Mujib' doctrine. Indian intelligence agencies had discovered the fact just before Mostaq was scheduled to lead the Bangladesh delegation to the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
. Tajuddin removed Mostaq from the UN delegation and sacked him later in December, after the war. In September, 40 members of the national and provincial assemblies of the South Zone, issued a statement expressing dissatisfaction on Tajuddin's performance as prime minister and demanded his resignation from the cabinet and Awami League.


Post-independence career

After nine months of war, the Pakistani occupation forces in Bangladesh surrendered at Dhaka on 16 December 1971. Tajuddin and his cabinet returned from Kolkata to Dhaka, now the capital of the newly independent Bangladesh, on 22 December 1971. In an address at the Dhaka airport that day and at the Dhaka Secretariate the following day, Tajuddin declared Bangladesh would be built upon the principles of socialism, democracy and
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
. On 23 December, recognising the sacrifice of the freedom fighters and their tremendous potential in building the newborn nation, the Tajuddin government declared that all enlisted and non-enlisted freedom fighters would be inducted into a National Militia. His administration quickly embarked on the immediate task of restoring law and order in the newly independent country. Released from nine months of imprisonment in Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to Dhaka on 10 January 1972. Tajuddin and Mujib met privately on 11 January to decide the future leadership. As was the popular wish, Tajuddin happily agreed to transfer the prime minister's office to Mujib. Though Mujib initially proposed a presidential government, at Tajuddin's insistence, he accepted a parliamentary system. In the reformed cabinet, with Sheikh Mujib as prime minister, Tajuddin was put in charge of the Ministry of Finance and Planning. He was also appointed a member of the committee in charge of drafting the
Constitution of Bangladesh The Constitution of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের সংবিধান — ), officially the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশের ...
. As minister of finance, Tajuddin strongly resented foreign aid, particularly from the United States. He regarded the World Bank as an instrument of United States' domination. During World Bank president Robert McNamara's visit to Bangladesh in 1972, Tajuddin's response was cold, and their meeting ended bearing no fruit. According to the 1970 election manifesto spirit, in the first Bangladesh National Budget in 1972, Tajuddin declared the nationalisation of industries. This came under strong criticism. One of the major arguments against it was that nationalised industries would be unable to find enough skilled manpower to run them. Tajuddin and his fellow planning commission member Nurul Islam argued that if private enterprises can find manpower within the country the same must be the case for public enterprises and imposed their policies accordingly. In the newly independent country, Mujib government struggled to address numerous problems. A dissident group of Chhatra League, Awami League's student wing, emerged as a political party called
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal ( bn, জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল, 'National Socialist Party of Bangladesh', JSD or 'জাসদ', JASAD) is a political party in Bangladesh. The party was founded by Serajul ...
(JSD) in late 1972. The ongoing economic crisis led to a famine in 1974. Anti-Awami League sentiment was on the rise. In the new Awami League, and in the new cabinet, Tajuddin found himself increasingly cornered by rival factions. His was growing distant from Mujib; they differed on a number of issues: the National Militia scheme, consisting of freedom fighters, proposed by Tajuddin was abandoned; instead a paramilitary force called the
Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini The Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini ( bn, জাতীয় রক্ষী বাহিনী, lit=National Defense Force) was a Bangladeshi para-military force formed in 1972 by the Sheikh Mujibur Rahman government. Initially formed to curb the insur ...
, dominated by the members of the Mujib Bahini, was formed. His frustration with government and his party was rising quickly; rumours of Tajuddin's desire to resign from the cabinet were circulating. Sensing his frustration, the burgeoning, newly formed political party Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, desperately in search of a prominent face, approached him. He declined their offer. By September 1974, he had resolved to resign from cabinet after a month-long state tour. However, his intention to resign somehow reached the top of the government before he could act, and within days of his return from the tour in October, the prime minister ordered him to resign. On 26 October 1974, Tajuddin resigned from the cabinet. After his resignation, he remained largely inactive in politics. From early 1975, Sheikh Mujib began a radical reform of the government and its administration. The Constitution was amended on 25 January 1975 to introduce a presidential form of government, declaring Mujib president. On 24 February 1975 President Mujib banned all political parties except one national party, called the Bangladesh Krishak Sromik Awami League (BAKSAL). Tajuddin declined to join it and fell out with Mujib. Despite their political differences, Tajuddin remained loyal to Mujib and in July 1975, having heard rumours of plots against Mujib rushed to warn him. Mujib did not take the threat seriously.


Assassination

Capitalising on the growing unpopularity of the Sheikh Mujib government, a faction of the army staged a coup and killed Sheikh Mujib and a large part of his extended family on 15 August 1975. Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, who held office in Sheikh Mujib's cabinet and was complicit in the conspiracy, immediately ascended to the presidency and imposed martial law. Following these assassinations, Tajuddin was immediately placed under house arrest. On 22 August, he was arrested along with fellow Awami League leaders Syed Nazrul Islam, A H M Qamaruzzaman, and Muhammad Mansur Ali and imprisoned at the
Dhaka Central Jail Dhaka Central Jail was the largest jail in Bangladesh, located in the old section of Dhaka, the country's capital. The jail has been used to house criminals as well as political prisoners, especially during the Language Movement of 1952, the 6 P ...
. On 3 November, amidst the chaos of a second coup staged by another faction of the army to overthrow the Mostaq regime, in what became infamously known as the " Jail Killing Day", Tajuddin along with the other three imprisoned leaders was killed inside the jail by a group of army officers on the instruction of President Mostaq.


Family

On 26 April 1959, Tajuddin married Syeda Zohra Khatun (died 20 December 2013)) a daughter of a professor. They had four children, three daughters—Sharmin Ahmad (Reepi),
Simeen Hussain Rimi Simeen Hussain Rimi (born 19 August 1961) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician and the incumbent Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Gazipur-4 constituency. She was elected in the 10th Parliamentary Elections held on 5 January 2014 and in ...
, and Mahjabin Ahmad (Mimi), and one son,
Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj ( bn, তানজিম আহমদ সোহেল তাজ, ; born 5 January 1970), better known as just Sohel Taj, is a fitness and health activist, body-builder and retired Bangladesh Awami League politician and fo ...
. Zohra was highly supportive of Tajuddin's political activism but had no involvement in politics during his lifetime. After the assassinations of
Sheikh Mujib Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, shaik and Shaikh, shak—is an honorific title in the Arabic language. It commonly designates a chief of a ...
and Tajuddin, she reorganised and led the Awami League from 1975 to 1981. Tajuddin's first daughter Sharmin Ahmad is an author and activist. His son Sohel Taj is a health and fitness activist and was minister of state for
Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
in Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's cabinet in 2009. His second daughter Simeen Hussain was elected as a member of parliament for the Awami League in 2012.


Historical evaluation

Though Tajuddin and Sheikh Mujib were men of different dispositions, they developed a highly fruitful political rapport between themselves, which proved to be crucial for the birth of Bangladesh. Mujib's biographer S A Karim contrasts between the two: Mujib deferred to Tajuddin on many critical matters. As the PPP leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto called for a public debate on the six points, which never took place, Mujib nominated Tajuddin to defend his case. During the constitution drafting discussions, after the 1970 elections, Mujib considered sending Tajuddin or Syed Nazrul Islam to lead the central government if such necessity would arise. Sheikh Mujib used to be the key figure in the Awami League; most major decisions came from him. His arrest in the beginning of the liberation war created a critical leadership void that put Tajuddin in a difficult position. However, Tajuddin quickly earned Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and her officials' trust. P N Haksar, Gandhi's secretary and adviser to her on Bangladesh affair in the early months of the war, explains the reason behind Indian government's preference to Tajuddin over other Awami League leaders as prime minister: India's unwillingness in recognising Bangladesh as a state and no direct military intervention in the early months caused frustration among the Awami League leadership; Tajuddin appreciated the difficulties involved in the matter. D P Dhar, who later replaced Haksar, remarks that Tajuddin was the only capable leader to lead the war: Tajuddin's initiative for a joint front of political parties, training the leftist youths as guerrillas, refusals to politicise the administration made him unpopular in his party. His vocal stance against the Mujib Bahini made him unpopular among the youths. The split between Mujib and Tajuddin started just after Mujib's return to Bangladesh after independence. S A Karim maintains that the enemies Tajuddin had earned during the war caused his downfall. Tajuddin's distance with Mujib frustrated him deeply. Economist Nurul Islam who had been the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh with Tajuddin as its chairman describes their split as 'a great tragedy and bode ill for the future'. He observes:


Legacy

After his rise to the senior ranks of the Awami League leadership, Tajuddin had been involved in most major party and government policy decisions. He was an important bridge between the political leadership and the technocrats supporting them. His prominent collaborators include economists Nurul Islam and Rehman Sobhan; lawyers Kamal Hossain and Amir-ul Islam; author
Anisuzzaman Anisuzzaman (18 February 1937 – 14 May 2020) was a Bangladeshi academic of Bengali literature. He was an activist who took part in the Language Movement (1952), participated in Mass Uprising (1969), and took part in the Bangladesh Liberation ...
and journalist Muyeedul Hasan. Economist Nurul Islam said of him: Economist professor Rehman Sobhan, recalls his experience of working with Tajuddin in drafting the constitution after the 1970 election: Just after independence, '' Time'' described him: Tajuddin used to be a regular and meticulous diarist. An active participant of the Bengali language movement, his diaries during the late 1940s and early 1950s chronicled first-hand accounts of the political activities and events of that time. Those diaries provided material for later researchers on the movement. The documentary film ''Tajuddin Ahmad: An Unsung Hero'', directed by
Tanvir Mokammel Tanvir Mokammel (born 8 March 1955) is a Bangladeshi filmmaker and writer. He is the recipient of Ekushey Padak in 2017. He won Bangladesh National Film Awards total ten times for the films '' Nodir Naam Modhumoti'' (1995), '' Chitra Nodir Pare'' ( ...
, released on 25 March 2007, features Tajuddin's life and work. Shahid Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College in Gazipur is named after Tajuddin.


See also

* List of prime ministers of Bangladesh


Notes


References


Sources


Late British India and Pakistan

* * * * *


Bangladesh Liberation War

* * * * * * * * *


Post-independence career

* *


Others

* * * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Tajuddin 1925 births 1975 deaths Awami League politicians Bangladeshi Muslims Bangladeshi people who died in prison custody University of Dhaka alumni Prime Ministers of Bangladesh Prisoners who died in Bangladeshi detention Recipients of the Independence Day Award Bengali independence activists Heads of government who were later imprisoned 20th-century Bengalis People from Kapasia Upazila St. Gregory's High School and College alumni