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Published : 01 Jun 2026, 04:51 PM
Awami League stalwart Tofail Ahmed, a rising star of student politics in the 1960s, a key figure in the 1969 Mass Uprising and the 1971 Liberation War, and a former minister, has died.
He passed away while undergoing treatment at Dhaka’s Square Hospital around 3:30pm on Monday, according to his son-in-law Touhiduzzaman Tuhin and his brother-in-law Mamun Talukder Sheikh.
Square Hospital said the veteran politician had been suffering from different complications related to old age for some time.
He was admitted to the hospital on the afternoon of Sept 24 with pneumonia-related breathing problems, heart disease and physical weakness.
He was under the care of Dr Raihan Rabbani, senior consultant at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
He died at 3:30pm on Monday after receiving treatment at Square Hospital for eight months and eight days.
On behalf of the hospital, Dr Rabbani and Dr Touhiduzzaman, senior consultant at the Interventional Cardiology Department, provided information about his treatment in a media statement.
Born on Oct 22, 1943, in Bhola’s Koralia village in the Sadar Upazila, Tofail studied at Brajamohan College in Barishal before completing his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in soil science at Dhaka University.
A leading figure in student politics in the 1960s, he served as vice-president of the Dhaka University Central Students Union during the turbulent 1968-69 period and convened the All-Party Student Action Committee.
He played a key role in the 1969 Mass Uprising.
Following the movement, the Pakistani regime was forced to release Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all other accused in the Agartala Conspiracy Case.
At a rally at the Racecourse Maidan, now Suhrawardy Udyan, on Feb 23 that year, Sheikh Mujib was conferred the title “Bangabandhu”, which was announced by Tofail.
A nine-time member of parliament, Tofail was elected on an Awami League ticket in 1970 and served as one of the four regional chiefs of the Mujib Bahini during the 1971 Liberation War.
Most recently, he represented the Bhola-1 constituency.
Having served as the Awami League’s organisational secretary for a long time and later as a member of the Presidium, he is currently a member of the party’s Advisory Council.
In 1972, the then prime minister Sheikh Mujib appointed him as his political secretary with the rank of a state minister.
When the Awami League returned to power in 1996, Sheikh Hasina appointed him as the minister for industries and commerce, and he later served as the commerce minister from 2014 to 2019.
