Tajuddin Ahmad (Bengali: তাজউদ্দিন আহমেদ) (July 23, 1925 – November 3, 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He was a prominent leader of the Bengali nationalist Awami League party, serving as its General Secretary during the critical period of the Bangladesh independence movement.Ahmad was instrumental in the formation of the Provisional Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, popularly known as the Mujibnagar Government, during the Bangladesh Liberation War. After the independence of Bangladesh, Tajuddin served as Finance Minister till 1974. After the assassination of President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975, Tajuddin was arrested by the military government and was murdered by a group of army officers in Dhaka Central Jail on 4 November 1975.
He is highly regarded by Bangladeshis for his leadership of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in 1971 and for being a staunch secular democrat.
Early life
Tajuddin Ahmad was born in 1925 in the village of Dardaria, Kapasia in the Gazipur District of the province of Bengal (now in Bangladesh). He studied the Quran and memorized it with the guidance from his father Moulavi Muhammad Yasin Khan. He passed his matriculation exam in first division while earning a twelfth position in merit list nationwide in 1944 from St. Gregory's High School, the then best school in Bangladesh. He earned an impressive fourth position in high school examination in 1948 and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in Economics from Dhaka University in 1953. He would also later obtain a law degree. As a student activist, Ahmad became active in the Muslim League and the Pakistan movement. He would later organize the student wing of the Awami Muslim League in 1949, joining Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Political career
Ahmad was an active organizer of protests and other activities during the Language Movement of 1952. He was arrested by police and imprisoned for several months. After his release, he was elected to the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly in 1954 but was arrested following the dismissal of the A. K. Fazlul Huq-led government. He would be arrested again following the imposition of martial law by Ayub Khan in 1958 after taking power in a military coup. Ahmed worked actively in the pro-democracy campaign led by the Awami League and other political parties in Pakistan. He organized protests against the arrest of Mujib in 1966 on charges of sedition. He participated at the round table conference in Rawalpindi convened by Ayub Khan to resolve the crisis between the government and the opposition parties. Following the restoration of democracy, he was elected member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1970.
Following the arrest of Mujib on March 25, 1971 by the Pakistan Army, and as the genocide of the helpless civilians began in the hands of the Pakistan military, Ahmad organized a government-in-exile popularly known as the Mujibnagar government to win his nation freedom. Ahmad named the capital Mujibnagar,after Shaikh Mujibur Rahman.The oath taking ceremony of the first government of Bangladesh took place on the soil of Bangladesh, in Meherpur, Kushtia on April 17, 1971. He presided over the significant Bangladesh Sector Commanders Conference 1971 that created and formed the entire Bangladesh Forces under the command of General M. A. G. Osmani. As the first Prime Minister he led efforts to organize a guerrilla insurgency of Bengali civilians and armed forces and win international support. During this period, Ahmad encountered vehement intra party strifes led by khandokar Mushataq Ahmad who conspired to harm the national struggle for independence through a failed attempt to form a confederacy with Pakistan. Among Ahmad's great diplomatic achievements were to win international support and recognition of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation by the government of India. After the independence of Bangladesh, Ahmad returned to Dhaka on 22 December 1971. In the subsequent cabinet formed under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ahmad was given charge of the ministries of finance and planning. He was also appointed member of the committee in charge of writing the Constitution of Bangladesh. However, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was influenced to question the integrity of Tajuddin for the party and for himself by the parties within the Awami League who were proved redundant during the Liberation war. Tajuddin was widely publicized by them to be a stooge of the neighbouring Indian government probably because of the respect he commanded from Mrs Gandhi, the then prime minister of India and also for his declared gratefulness for the assistance that India gave during the war. The psychophants of Mujib also portrayed Tajuddin as an aspiring next Prime Minister of the country. Khondokar Mushtaque who was the right wing conspirist during the war lead the effort to malign Mr. Tajuddin. He had active support from the student leadership who also had contempt for Tajuddin as they too were restrained by him from taking advantage of the situation during the war. Till today Awami League failed to evaluate Tajuddin Ahmed's role.
Assassination
When Mujib assumed the title of president and banned other political parties in 1975, Ahmad opposed the forming of one party system known as BAKSAL. When Mujib was assassinated by a group of army officers on 15 August 1975, Ahmad was house arrested on the very same day. Later on August 22, he was arrested with other political leaders by the regime of the new president Khondaker Mostaq Ahmed and imprisoned at the Dhaka Central Jail. On November 3, in what became infamously known as the "Jail killings," Ahmad along with Syed Nazrul Islam, A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman and Muhammad Mansur Ali were killed by a group of army officers, by the direct instruction of President Ahmed. The release on March 25, 2007 of a documentary, Tajuddin Ahmad: An Unsung Hero (directed by Tanvir Mokammel), reflects a growing interest in the life and works of Ahmad. On January 6, 2009, Ahmad's son Tanzim Ahmed MP, was appointed Minister of State for Home Affairs, in the Awami League Administration.
