Tributes pour in for Moudud Ahmed, senior politician and lawyer

Politicians, lawyers, judges and leaders of professionals have paid last respects to Barrister Moudud Ahmed, a member of the BNP’s Standing Committee.

The mortal remains of the veteran politician and lawyer were taken to the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka for people to pay tributes on Friday morning.

Thousands of people participated in the funeral prayers for Moudud at the Supreme Court premises and outside the party headquarters in Naya Paltan.

Moudud, a key figure in Bangladesh’s politics, was one of the founding members of the BNP. He had worked as deputy prime minister during BNP founder General Ziaur Rahman’s rule and then as the vice-president during the tenure of Jatiya Party founder General HM Ershad.

The 81-year-old former minister died at a hospital in Singapore last Tuesday. He was suffering from kidney and lung complications.

The body was flown back on Thursday and taken to his Gulshan home. It was kept at Evercare Hospital mortuary overnight and at the Shaheed Minar premises for an hour until 10am.

His wife Hasna Moudud was there. Tawfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury, an adviser to the prime minister, paid respects to Moudud there. Tawfiq and Moudud are sons-in-law of poet Jasimuddin.

Besides BNP leaders, Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha, Muktijoddha Dal, Doctors Association of Bangladesh paid tributes to Moudud by placing flowers on his coffin.

People irrespective of their political views should pay respects to Moudud because he was among those who helped the wartime government conduct its operations, said Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, trustee of Gonoshasthaya Kendra.

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, judges of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division and High Court Division, and Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim were among the participants of the funeral prayers for Moudud at the Supreme Court premises.

The BNP leaders covered the coffin with the party flag when the coffin was taken to their headquarters for a Namaz-e-Janaza.

Among the leaders of the BNP-led 20-Party Alliance, Mia Golam Parwar of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Mufti Mohiuddin Ekram of the Jamiyate Ulamaye Islam, Abu Taher of the National Democratic Party, Asadur Rahman of the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party and Sheikh Zulfiqer Bulbul Chowdhury of the Muslim League attended the funeral prayers there.

Moudud was a “legend” in Bangladesh’s politics and a “guardian” of the BNP, said Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The body was taken to his ancestral home in Noakhali’s Companyganj for several rounds of funeral prayers. He was buried at their family graveyard.

Born in Companyganj in 1940, Moudud received his bar-at-law degree in London after studying in Dhaka University.

Barrister Moudud was in the legal team that defended Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the Agartala Conspiracy Case. Moudud was made the first postmaster general of Bangladesh after independence.

Later, he joined Bangladesh’s first military ruler Ziaur Rahman’s regime and played a key role in forming the BNP.

After Gen Zia’s assassination, he joined hands with Gen Ershad. Besides vice-president, he worked as minister, deputy prime minister and prime minister at that time.

He remained in the Jatiya Party after Ershad’s ouster from power in 1990 and returned to the BNP after conceding defeat in the 1996 parliamentary elections.

In the 2001-2006 tenure of the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami government, he was law minister.

Elected MP for six times, Moudud penned several books on law and contemporary politics. They include ‘Sayettosashon Theke Swadhinata’, ‘Bangladesh: Sheikh Mujibur Rahmaner Shasonkal, ‘Ganatantra O Unnoyoner Challenge – Prekkhapot: Bangladesher Rajneeti O Samorik Shason’ ‘A Study of the Democratic Regimes’, ‘Karagare Kemon Chhilam’, and ‘Bangladesh: Emergency and Aftermath 2007-2008’.