Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :
If we review the history of contemporary politics in Bangladesh, it will be seen that it is difficult to find another true patriot, self-sacrificing and a humanitarian person like Prof Mozaffar Ahmed. The 102ndbirth anniversary of this patriot leader and NAP founder was celebrated on last 14th April 2024.
Prof Mozaffar Ahmed was born on 14th April, 1922 at Alahabad village of Devidwar, Cumilla. His father Keyam Uddin Bhuiyan was a school teacher and mother Afzarunnesa. Mozaffar Ahmed, a meritorious student of Dhaka University, started his career as a teacher after passing his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree with honors in Economics from Dhaka University.
He taught in various colleges for a long time.
From 1937 he joined politics. It was the regime of British rule. After hearing that Mahatma Gandhi would come to Chandina in Comilla, he came out of the house and on the way he could learn a message from Gandhi.
The message emphasized Hindu Muslims unity and the departure of the British king. From that day, he became a Gandhian devotee, a guide to liberation. He became a member of the Pakistan Students Federation as a student. In 1951, he started teaching at Dhaka University as a Prof of Economics.
In 1952, while teaching at Dhaka University, the first home meeting to organize language movement was held at his house 8/I Azimpur. On December 4, 1953, Awami League, Krishak Prajaparti and Left wing Democratic Party formed the United Front under the leadership of Haque, Bhasani, Suhrawardy.
Prof Mozaffar Ahmed was also involved in the process which gave 21 points. In 1954, he left teaching at Dhaka University and joined active politics and became a United Front candidate in the Provincial Council elections on March 11th of the same year and won the election defeating the influential Muslim League candidate, Education Minister Mofizul Islam from Debidwar in Cumilla by a wide margin of votes.
When Awami League leader Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy said that 98 per cent of East Bengal is needed the autonomy, Prof Mozaffar Ahmed proposed the historic proposal of East Bengal’s autonomy on 3 April 1957 in the East Pakistan Legislative Council, leaving all the powers in the hands of the provinces, handing over the three issues of national defense, foreign policy and currency.
At the time when some political parties did not support Bangabandhu’s six-point proposal, Prof Mozaffar Ahmed strongly supported the six-point proposal. After 25 March 1971, when Bangabandhu was incarcerated in a Pakistani jail, he played an important role in organizing the Liberation War.
In May 1971, Prof Mozaffar Ahmed led the formation of 19,000 guerilla forces of NAP Communist Party and Student Union and provided them with armed training.
To organize the liberation war at the international level, he was able to convince the world leaders that it was not a separatist movement, but a national liberation struggle, by visiting many countries in Eastern Europe including the Soviet Union.
At that time, he published a weekly newspaper called ‘Natun Bangla’ to convey political and liberation war news to the country and abroad. It was probably the first publication during the liberation war.
He had to attend the special session of the United Nations held in September 1971. When the war of liberation started, America and China directly opposed the war and sided with Pakistan. When Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was worried about getting the support of the Soviet Union, Prof Mozaffar Ahmed played a key role in getting one of the world’s superpowers, the Soviet Union, to take a stand in favor of Bangladesh.
The Soviet Union protested the United Nations session three times against the US policy and aggressive role in the war of liberation. And the Soviet Union took a direct stand in favor of our liberation war.
Prof Mozaffar Ahmed has played a unique role in the Indian government and people’s unwavering support for the liberation war, providing shelter to refugees from Bangladesh in India, training freedom fighters, supplying arms, support and cooperation of Congress and CPI.
At that time India’s PN Diplomats like Haksar and DP Dhar were also in touch with him. Immediately after the independence of the country, on December 21, 1971, NAP President Prof Mozaffar Ahmed called a press conference.
There he proposed the formation of an interim national government with the representatives of the political parties actively participating in the freedom struggle with the aim of forming the country and creating a permanent constitution.
During the post-independence period, under his leadership, NAP played a leading role in anti-dictatorship, non-communal and democratic movements. When Hussain Mohammad Ershad came to power in 1982, he had to be imprisoned again. Throughout his life, he was steadfast in the principles of emancipation of the people and the establishment of socialism. He stuck to the same principle till the end of his life. Despite the opportunity, he never accepted political privileges. He was out and out nationalist, secular, democratic, anti-imperialist and struggled to establish socialism.
Prof Mozaffar Ahmed believed in the changes of society through politics. He wanted to establish politics from a multi-dimensional perspective. He always spoke to remove inequality and injustice from society. This personality has come forward again and again to demand the rights of the people, even in the golden period of his life; he did not hesitate to stand by the people. He knew that this path was very difficult. But he had the courage to stand tall in the face of death. Prof Mozaffar Ahmed passed away on Friday 23rd August, 2019 at Apollo Hospital in the capital. He was 97 years old at the time of his death. He will live forever in our hearts.
(The writer is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP).
