AKM Mozammel Haque (politician)

AKM Mozammel Haque
আ ক ম মোজাম্মেল হক
Mozammel in 2017
Minister for Liberation War Affairs
In office
5 January 2014 – 6 August 2024
Preceded byShajahan Khan
Succeeded byFaruk-e-Azam (as adviser)
Minister of Religious Affairs
In office
11 December 2018 – 6 January 2019
Succeeded byMotiur Rahman
Member of the Bangladesh Parliament
for Gazipur-1
In office
25 January 2009 – 6 August 2024
Preceded byMd. Rahamat Ali
Personal details
Born (1946-10-01) 1 October 1946 (age 78)
Gazipur District, Bengal Presidency, British India
Political partyBangladesh Awami League

AKM Mozammel Haque (Bengali: আ ক ম মোজাম্মেল হক; born 1 October 1946) is a politician from Bangladesh, representing the Bangladesh Awami League party. He was the Minister for Liberation War Affairs from 2014 to 2024[1][2] and is also a former Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Gazipur-1 constituency.[3][4]

Early life

Haque was born on 1 October 1946 in Dakhina Khan, Gazipur Sadar Upazila, Gazipur District to Anwar Ali and Rabeya Khatun.[5]

Career

Haque was a member of the East Pakistan Chhatra League Central Working Committee. He fought in the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971 and was part of the Mukti Bahini. From 1973 to 1986, he was elected Upazila chairman three times and four times municipal mayor.[citation needed]

He was elected to the parliament from Gazipur-1 in 2008. He was elected unopposed from the same constituency in the 2014 elections which the opposition boycotted citing unfair conditions for the election.[6] He acted as the religious minister of Bangladesh from 2018 to 2019. In 2019, he was appointed the Minister for Liberation War Affairs.[5]

Controversy

In 1974, Mozammel was implicated in the abduction and gang rape of a newlywed housewife, whose driver and husband were killed. Her body was found three days later near a bridge in Tongi. Although arrested by Lance Major Nasser and handed over to the police, Mozammel was released, reportedly due to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's intervention.

Anthony Mascarenhas briefly mentioned Mozammel's involvement in this crime in his 1986 book Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood.[7]

The incident has been also depicted in novel Deyal by Humayun Ahmed.[citation needed]

Role in the Liberation War

During the liberation war of Bangladesh, he fought as a freedom fighter from Gazipur and an organizer of the liberation war in the city. On March 19, 1971, in the first battle in Gazipur, he led the frontline against Brig. Jahan Zeb under the orders of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the convener of the Armed Resistance Committee.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Anisul: Qamrul, Mozammel need not to resign". Dhaka Tribune. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  2. ^ "Mozammel demands Zia's DNA test". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Lack of management mounts sufferings for holidaymakers". Dhaka Tribune. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Shishu Park to be removed from Shahbagh". The Daily Star. 8 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Honorable Minister". molwa.gov.bd. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Bangladesh opposition to boycott elections". Al Jazeera. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  7. ^ Mascarenhas, Anthony (1986). Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood. Hodder and Stoughton. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-340-39420-5.
  8. ^ "Hon'ble Minister - Ministry of Liberation War Affairs - Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh" (in Bengali). 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.