Tofail Ahmed (politician)

Tofail Ahmed
তোফায়েল আহমেদ
Ahmed in Dhaka, 2019
Minister of Commerce
In office
12 January 2014 – 6 January 2019
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byGM Quader
Succeeded byTipu Munshi
Minister of Industries
In office
14 July 1996 – 13 July 2001
Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina
Preceded byShamsul Islam Khan
Succeeded byRezaul Karim Mannan
Member of Parliament
In office
12 January 2014 – 6 August 2024
Preceded byAndaleeve Rahman
Succeeded byAndaleeve Rahman
ConstituencyBhola-1
In office
5 March 1991 – February 1996
Preceded byNaziur Rahman Manzur
Succeeded byMosharraf Hossain Shahjahan
ConstituencyBhola-1
In office
25 January 2008 – 20 November 2014
Preceded byHafiz Ibrahim
Succeeded byAli Azam
ConstituencyBhola-2
In office
14 July 1996 – 13 July 2001
Preceded byMosharraf Hossain Shahjahan
Succeeded byHafiz Ibrahim
ConstituencyBhola-2
In office
10 July 1986 – 6 December 1988
Succeeded byMohammad Siddiqur Rahman
ConstituencyBhola-2
In office
7 April 1973 – 6 Nov 1975
Succeeded byAKM Akhtaruzzaman Alamgir
ConstituencyBakerganj-1 (now defunct)[1]
Personal details
Born(1943-10-22)22 October 1943
Koralia, Bhola Island, Backergunge District, Bengal Province, British India[a]
Died1 June 2026(2026-06-01) (aged 82)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Party Bangladesh Awami League (1970 – 2026)
Other political
affiliations
 Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (1975)

All-Party Student Action Committee (1967 – 1969)

East Pakistan Students' League (1957 – 1970)
Parent(s)Moulvi Azhar Ali (father)
Fatema Khatun (mother)
Military service
AllegianceBangladesh Bangladesh
Branch/serviceMujib Bahini
Years of service
1970[2]–1972
RankCommander (South-western region)[3]

Tofail Ahmed (22 October 1943 – 1 June 2026) was a Bangladeshi independence activist, Bengali nationalist–Mujibist revolutionary and politician. He played a key role in the 1969 East Pakistan mass uprising and then the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. In independent Bangladesh, he was a close confident of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and then served as full minister for the ministries of Industries and Commerce under Sheikh Hasina. He was a 8-term Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Bhola-1, Bhola-2 and Bakerganj-1 constituencies during 1973–2024.[4]

Early life and education

Ahmed making a speech in the 1969 Mass Uprising in Dhaka

Tofail was born on 22nd October 1943 in the village of Koralia in Bhola Island, then a part of the Backergunge District of the Bengal Presidency, to Bengali Muslim parents Moulvi Azhar Ali and Fatema Khatun, who lived in poverty.[5][6]

He studied at the Bhola Government High School until 1960 and then at the Brojomohun College until 1962. He graduated from the University of Dacca with a Master of Science in Soil science.[7][8]

Career

Mujib addressing at the procession of 1969 mass upsurge, where he was recognized as Bangabandhu by Tofail Ahmed

Tofail joined the Awami League in support of the 1966 Six point movement of then party leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman[9] and was involved in the 1969 mass uprising in East Pakistan as a student leader.[10] He served as the vice-president of Dhaka University Central Students' Union from 1968-1969.[11] In 1970, Ahmed was a political secretary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was a Bangladeshi independence activist and one of the organisers of Mujib Bahini during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.[12] He was appointed political secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with the rank of a Minister in 1972 after the war.[12]

After the 15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état and the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tofail was detained by the ruling military administration.[13] His Assistant Personal Secretary, Mintu, was tortured to death in custody.[13]

In 1996, prior to the controversial February elections, Tofail was arrested along with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah under the Special Powers Act.[14] He served as the Minister of Commerce in the Awami League government from July 1996 to January 2001.[15][16] After winning the controversial 2008 general election, the Awami League formed the government but Tofail was dropped from the cabinet despite being an influential member of the Awami League Presidium.[17][18]

Tofail was chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industries Ministry.[19] He was also a member of the advisory committee of the Awami League. He was elected several times as a member of the Jatiya Sangsad from constituencies in Bhola.[20] He served as the Minister of Commerce again from January 2014 to January 2019.[21] He has faced numerous allegations of corruption while serving as Minister of Commerce from 2014-2019.[22]

Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government, Tofail's home in Bhola was burned down and vandalised in February 2025.[23] Dhaka Divisional Special Judge Shamima Afroz issued an arrest warrant against him in a 24 year old case in May 2026.[12] His lawyers had requested bail on health grounds but the judge had turned it down.[12]

Personal life and death

Ahmed married Anwara Begum (1950–2025), daughter of Mafizul Haq Taluqdar of Dania, in 1964. They had one daughter, Taslima Ahmed Zaman Munni, who is a doctor. Their son-in-law is Tauhiduzzaman Tuhin, a cardiologist at Square Hospital.[7]

Ahmed died at Square Hospital in Dhaka, at 3:30 PM on 1 June 2026. He was 82.[24][25]

He was buried with full state honors. His funeral was attended by the general public including leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Awami League.[26] However, members of his banned political party, the Awami League, attempted to hold processions and marches using party slogans after his funeral but were stopped and detained by police.[27]

The Bangladesh National Parliament expressed condolences on his death.[28]

Notes

  1. ↑ Under present-day Bhola Sadar Upazila, Bhola District, Barishal Division, Bangladesh

References

  1. ↑ "1st Jatiya Sangsad members" (PDF). parliament.gov.bd.
  2. ↑ Ahmad, Mohiuddin (August 2024) [October 2014]. জাসদের উত্থান পতন: অস্থির সময়ের রাজনীতি [The Rise and Fall of Jasad: The Politics of the Turbulent Times] (in Bengali) (10th ed.). Prothoma Publications. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978 984 90747 5 5.
  3. ↑ Ahmad, Mohiuddin (August 2024) [October 2014]. জাসদের উত্থান পতন: অস্থির সময়ের রাজনীতি [The Rise and Fall of Jasad: The Politics of the Turbulent Times] (in Bengali) (10th ed.). Prothoma Publications. p. 49. ISBN 978 984 90747 5 5.
  4. ↑ মাননীয় মন্ত্রিগণ. Government of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 25 April 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  5. ↑ "Constituency 115_11th_En". Bangladesh National Parliament. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "No council for years in AL top brass' districts". The Daily Star. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  7. 1 2 "আজ তোফায়েল আহমেদের জন্মদিন". Jugantor. Retrieved 22 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  8. ↑ "তোফায়েল আহমেদ". Bangladesh National Portal (in Bengali). Retrieved 22 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  9. ↑ Nabī, Nūruna (1 January 2010). Bullets of '71: A Freedom Fighter's Story. AuthorHouse. p. 101. ISBN 9781452043777.
  10. ↑ "Hasina asks BCL men to give priority to learning". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  11. ↑ Rahman, Muhammad Anisur (1 January 2001). My Story of 1971: Through the Holocaust that Created Bangladesh. Liberation War Museum. p. 20.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Arrest warrant issued in decades-old graft case as lawyer claims Tofail Ahmed unfit for trial". Bdnews24.com. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  13. 1 2 Nizam, Naem (10 September 2023). "জাতির পিতার লাশ পড়ে থাকল এলো না কেউ". বাংলাদেশ প্রতিদিন (in Bengali). Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  14. ↑ "Bangladesh Political Violence on All Sides". Human Rights Watch. 8 (6). 1 June 1996. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  15. ↑ Rahman, Syedur (27 April 2010). Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh. Scarecrow Press. p. 335. ISBN 9780810874534.
  16. ↑ India-Bangladesh Relations, Documents, 1971–2002: Commerce, economic, and transport. Geetika Publishers. 1 January 2003. pp. 1725–1775. ISBN 9788190162937.
  17. ↑ "Mukul Bose back in Awami League leadership". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  18. ↑ Al-Mahmood, Syed Zain (5 January 2014). "Contested Bangladesh Vote Fuels Violence". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  19. ↑ "Industries Minister for single digit bank interest to spur industrialisation". The New Nation. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Bhola townspeople get gas". The Daily Star. 29 August 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  21. ↑ "Canadian University of Bangladesh holds education fair". Dhaka Tribune. 30 August 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  22. ↑ "Tofail Ahmed to stand trial on corruption charges". The Financial Express. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  23. ↑ "গাজীপুর, বরিশালসহ ৩৫ জেলায় হামলা, ভাঙচুর ও আগুন". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 7 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  24. ↑ "Tofail Ahmed, veteran politician and Liberation War organiser, dies". The Business Standard. 1 June 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  25. ↑ "আ. লীগ নেতা তোফায়েল আহমেদ মারা গেছেন | আমার দেশ". দৈনিক আমার দেশ (in Bengali). 1 June 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  26. ↑ প্রতিনিধি (2 June 2026). "মা-বাবা ও স্ত্রীর পাশে চিরনিদ্রায় শায়িত প্রবীণ রাজনীতিবিদ তোফায়েল আহমেদ". Prothomalo (in Bengali). Retrieved 3 June 2026.
  27. ↑ Daily Jugantor (1 June 2026). তোফায়েলের জা'না'জা শেষে জয় বাংলা স্লোগান, আ্যাকশনে পুলিশ | Tofail Ahmed | Awami League | Jugantor. Retrieved 5 June 2026 – via YouTube.
  28. ↑ "তোফায়েল আহমেদসহ সাবেক মন্ত্রী ও এমপি এবং পল্লবীর শিশুর মৃত্যুতে সংসদে শোক".
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