Mafizuddin Ahmad was a

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 ...

politician and former government Minister 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 ...

Early life

Ahmad was born in 1891 in Barashalghar village,

Debidwar Upazila Debidwar ( bn, দেবিদ্বার) is an upazila of Comilla District in the Division of Comilla Division, Comilla, Bangladesh. Geography Debidwar is located at . It has 55,619 households and a total area of 238.36 km2. Demographic ...

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to t ...

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 Raj 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 himsel ...

. In 1919, he graduated from

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

in English. He went to law school 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 i ...

. After graduation he started his law practice in Comilla bar, after meeting A. K. Fazlul Huq and

Abul Kashem Mohammad Abul Kashem (known as Principal Abul Kashem, 28 June 1920 – 11 March 1991) is generally considered as a pioneer and the architect of the historic Language Movement of Bangladesh. He was also a politician, author and an eminent educa ...

Career

Ahmad in 1933 joined the

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 subcontin ...

. He was elected joint secretary of the Muslim league in Tripura District. He was elected to the Bengal Legislative assembly in 1938. He was made the parliamentary secretary for education. He was re-elected to the Bengal legislative in 1946. He was given the title

Khan Bahadur Khan Bahadur – a compound of khan ('leader') and bahadur ('brave') – was a formal title of respect and honor, which was conferred exclusively on Muslim and other non-Hindu natives of British India. It was one degree higher than the title of K ...

. After the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

and establishment of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, he became the minister of Relief, Rehabilitation, Registration, and Prisons in

. He was appointed to the Pakistan Planning Commission in 1954. He then served as the Minister for Education in East Pakistan from 1962 to 1965. He was awarded the Sitara-i-Quaid-e-Azam by the Pakistan Government.

Death

Ahmad died in 1979.

References

{{reflist All India Muslim League members Bengali politicians University of Dhaka alumni Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 People from Debidwar Upazila Politicians from Chittagong Division Education Ministers of Pakistan Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan