Tabarak Husain (April 6, 1924 – April 29, 2018) was a former Bangladeshi career

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. He was foreign secretary of Bangladesh from 1975 to 1978. He also held the position of chairman of

Sadharan Bima Corporation Sadharan Bima Corporation (popularly known as SBC) is the one and only state-owned non-life insurer and reinsurer in Bangladesh under the Ministry of Finance, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Both Sadharan Bima Corporation, ...

and

Grameen Bank Grameen Bank ( bn, গ্রামীণ ব্যাংক) is a microfinance organisation and community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It makes small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requi ...

Early life and education

Husain completed his undergraduate degree and post graduation in Economics from

University of Dhaka 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 ...

in 1942. He then obtained his postgraduate degree in International Relations from

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, United Kingdom in 1949.

Personal life

Husain married Uzra Husain (d. 2011), daughter of

Justice Amin Ahmed Amin Ahmed NPk, MBE ( bn, আমিন আহমদ; 1 October 1899 – 5 December 1991) was a jurist and chief justice of the Dacca High Court in Bangladesh. Early life and education Amin Ahmed was born on 1 October 1899 at Ahmadpur vill ...

. Several of Uzra's sisters were married to Pakistani foreign service officers. They had three sons Riaz Husain, Jamil Husain and Taher Husain.

Career

Pakistan period

Husain joined the Pakistan Foreign Service as a member of the first regular batch in 1949. He served in different positions in the Pakistan diplomatic missions in India, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and Thailand. He was acting high commissioner of Pakistan in New Delhi from 1961 to 1964. In 1968, he was appointed as director general in the Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs with Ambassadorial rank. He was appointed as ambassador to Algeria in 1971 but due to Independence movement of Bangladesh, he was detained in Karachi, Pakistan. He accompanied

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...

on a state delegation to Peking (present Beijing) in November 1971.

Bangladesh period

Husain was repatriated from Pakistan in late 1973. Since then he worked in Ministry of Foreign Affairs in various positions. He was reportedly selected to be Bangladesh's ambassador to Cairo before the coup of August 15. He served as

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

, of Government of Bangladesh from 15 November 1975 to 6 September 1978. During the period, he visited summit level meetings in nine countries on bilateral visits. He also visited Moscow twice in November 1975 and 1976 as a single member delegation to discuss bilateral issues. For the period of 1978–1982, He was ambassador of Bangladesh to United States of America. In his tenure, President Ziaur Rahman visited in United States in 1980. Husain signed the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation ...

for Bangladesh on 5 October 1979. Later, he was the chairman of

from 1995 to 1996 and

from 2003 to 2010.

Writing

Husain authored ''Serving the Nation: Reflections of Bangladesh Diplomats'', a compilation of the memoirs of 43 career diplomats.

Awards

Husain was awarded the Sitara-i-Khidmat (Star of Service) honor by

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 ...

in 1968.

Death

Husain died at the age of 94 at his sleep on 29 April 2018 in Rockville near Washington, DC.

References

External links

Interview with Tabarak Hossain
in

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...

Bangla, 21 October 2006.
List of Ambassadors
of Bangladesh in United States of America. {{DEFAULTSORT:Husain, Tabarak 1924 births 2018 deaths University of Dhaka alumni Alumni of the London School of Economics Bangladeshi diplomats Ambassadors of Bangladesh to the United States Ambassadors of Pakistan to Algeria Bangladeshi expatriates in the United States People from Noakhali District Foreign Secretaries of Bangladesh Pakistani expatriates in the United Kingdom Pakistani expatriates in India Pakistani expatriates in Thailand Pakistani expatriates in the Netherlands