Zillur Rahman
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Mohammed Zillur Rahman (9 March 1929 – 20 March 2013) was the
President of Bangladesh The president of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের রাষ্ট্রপতি — ) officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশে ...
from 2009 to 2013. He was also a senior presidium member of the Awami League. He is the third president of Bangladesh, after
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 ...
and
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 ...
, to
die in office A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations. The dea ...
, while being the first to die of natural causes.


Early life

Rahman was born on 9 March 1929 in
Bhairab Upazila Bhairab ( bn, ভৈরব) is a upazila of Kishoreganj District in the Division of Dhaka Division, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Joanshahi was another name of Bhairab. The city centre of this upazila is Bhairab Bazaar. About 118,992 people live in Bhairab ...
,
Kishoreganj District Kishoreganj ( bn, কিশোরগঞ্জ) is a district in Dhaka Division, Bangladesh. Earlier it was a Mohkuma (মহকুমা) under the Mymensingh district. It was taken 2495.07 sq. km of land from Mymensingh district to form pres ...
, his mother's paternal home. His father, Meher Ali Miyan, was a lawyer, the Chairman of the
Mymensingh Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north- ...
Local Board and Member of the District Board. Rahman's early education started at a nearby primary school named Bhairab Model Govt. Primary school. In 1946, he passed Matriculation from Bhairab K. B. High School. He graduated with an Intermediate of Arts (IA) in 1947 from
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 ...
. In 1954, he got his MA with Honours in History and an LL.B. degree from Dhaka University.


Career

Rahman became close with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during the campaign for the
1947 Sylhet referendum The 1947 Sylhet referendum was held in the Sylhet District of the Assam Province of British India to decide whether the district would remain in Undivided Assam and therefore within the post-independence Dominion of India, or leave Assam for Ea ...
. He participated in the Bengali language movement of 1952. He held a student gathering on 19 February 1952 at Dhaka University as part of the language movement. In 1953, he was expelled by the Dhaka University for his role in the language Movement but the order was rescinded in the face of student protests. He was the vice-chairman of election steering committee for the greater Mymensingh region during the 1954 election. He served as the president of the Awami League affiliated East Pakistan Awami Swechchhasebak League. In 1956 he was elected President of the Kishoreganj subdivision unit of Awami League. He served as the General Secretary of Dhaka District Bar Association. Later, as an Awami League candidate, Rahman was elected as a member of parliament in the 1970 national elections of Pakistan. During the Bangladesh Liberation War, Rahman actively participated in the
Government-in-exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a Sovereign state, country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Govern ...
. He was a contributor to the Daily Joy Bangla. After the war, Rahman became the General Secretary of Awami League in 1972. He was elected as a member of the parliament in the 1973 general elections. In 1974, he was elected to the post of General Secretary of the Awami League. In 1975 he was appointed to the Central Committee of Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League and made its secretary. After the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Rahman was arrested by the army junta, and spent four years in prison. In 1981, he served as a Presidium Member of Awami League. he was elected to the parliament in 1986 and was imprisoned the same year. In 1992, he was made the general secretary of Awami League. Rahman served as a Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives and the deputy leader of parliament in the Awami League government between 1996 and 2001. He was re-elected General Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League in 1997. He was re-elected to Parliament in 2001. His wife, Ivy Rahman, was killed the
2004 Dhaka grenade attack The 2004 Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004. The attack left 24 dead and more than 500 injured. The attack was carried out at 5:22 pm after Sheikh Has ...
. She was a leader of Bangladesh Awami League and its women's front the Mohila League. He served as the temporary President 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 ...
during the 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis when President of Bangladesh Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, was imprisoned by the military backed caretaker government. He was re-elected to Parliament in 2008.


Presidency

Rahman was sworn in as the 19th president of Bangladesh on 12 February 2009. He was elected president of Bangladesh uncontested. In May 2009 in a meeting with the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he called for caution over the global recession and emphasized the importance of globalization. He was the Chief Scout of Bangladesh and expressed happiness over Bangladesh becoming the 5th largest scout country in the world during his term. As President he was the Supreme Commander of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. He had called for the modernizing of the Armed Forces. He called for improving ties between the Air Forces of South Asian countries. On 27 September 2010, Rahman appointed Justice A. B. M. Khairul Haque to be the 19th
chief justice of Bangladesh The chief justice of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধান বিচারপতি — ) is the chief amongst the judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and also head of the whole judicial establishments, inclu ...
. He called for their training to be improved to facilitate the modernization. In 2012, he asked the Organisation of Islamic Conference countries to pressure Myanmar to take back the Rohingya refugees. He called for expanding trade and diplomatic ties with Cuba after the Cuban ambassador to Bangladesh presented his credentials on 10 February 2012. On 28 January 2013, he criticised Bangladesh Nationalist Party, then the opposition party, for not participating in the parliament and carrying out their duties.


Clemency power exercised by Rahman

Rahman exercised his power to grant clemency to as many as 21 individuals while he was in office. In contrast, only four pardons were granted by his predecessors between 1972 and 2008. Among the people for whom Rahman exercised his clemency power is A H M Biplob who was convicted in the case of murdering a lawyer. The Sessions Court awarded Biplob, son of Awami League leader and Mayor of Laxmipur municipality Abu Taher, the death penalty for the murder in absentia. Following applications from Biplob's mother Rahman, the then President pardoned Biplob in the murder case of the lawyer in July 2011 and, then in February 2012, remitted the two other life imprisonments to ten years imprisonments.


Personal life

Rahman was married to fellow Awami League politician Ivy Rahman, the party's secretary for women's affairs. Ivy was killed in the
2004 Dhaka grenade attack The 2004 Dhaka grenade attack took place at an anti-terrorism rally organised by Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue on 21 August 2004. The attack left 24 dead and more than 500 injured. The attack was carried out at 5:22 pm after Sheikh Has ...
. Together they had one son – Nazmul Hassan Papon – and two daughters – Tania Bakht and Tanima Bakht. Papon is the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, managing director of Beximco Pharma and an MP. Ivy's nephew is married to Sheikh Rehana.


Illness and death

Rahman died at
Mount Elizabeth Hospital Mount Elizabeth Hospital, known colloquially as Mount E, is a 345-bed private hospital in Singapore operated by Parkway Health. Construction began in 1976 and the hospital officially opened on 8 December 1979. The hospital specialises in cardi ...
in Singapore aged 84 on 20 March 2013 after he was flown to the country by an
air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...
for critical lung infection on 10 March. It followed his admission to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) at Dhaka cantonment the previous day, which was his 84th birthday. In Singapore, he had been undergoing treatment for kidney and respiratory problems since 11 March. Bangladesh's High Commissioner in Singapore Mahbub Uz Zaman announced: "The president died at a hospital here in Singapore at 6:47 pm local time." At the time of his death his children were with him. In his absence, Parliamentary Speaker
Abdul Hamid ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الحميد) is a Muslim male given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥamīd'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which gave rise t ...
was appointed as acting president on 14 March. A presidential spokesman later announced that Hamid has declared three days of
national mourning A national day of mourning is a day or days marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of ...
. He was buried in Dhaka's Banani graveyard. In reaction to his death, Prime Minister
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 since January 2 ...
's immediate response was to express profound shock and that the death was "an irreparable loss to the country and its people," according to her Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad. In 2013, Hasina declared that the Mirpur-Airport Road Flyover will be named after him.


References


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Zillur 1929 births 2013 deaths Awami League politicians General Secretaries of Awami League Presidents of Bangladesh 7th Jatiya Sangsad members 8th Jatiya Sangsad members Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives ministers Burials at Banani Graveyard People from Kishoreganj District Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League executive committee members Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League central committee members