Veteran politician, former minister and senior Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed, widely known for his role in the 1969 Mass Uprising and the Liberation War in 1971, passed away while undergoing treatment at Square Hospital in the capital on Monday afternoon. He was 82.
He breathed his last at around 330pm, according to family members and hospital authorities.
Confirming the death, his son in law Dr Towhiduzzaman Tuhin said Tofail Ahmed died while receiving treatment at the hospital. Square Hospital, in a statement, said he had been admitted on September 24 last year with pneumonia related respiratory complications, heart disease and age related physical weakness. Despite prolonged treatment under the supervision of senior physicians, including ICU Senior Consultant Dr Raihan Rabbani, he passed away on Monday.
Tofail Ahmed had been suffering from paralysis and other age related health complications for a considerable period. He is survived by his wife Anwara Begum and their only daughter, Dr Taslima Ahmed Zaman Munni.
Born on October 22, 1943, in Koralia village of Dakhin Dighaldi Union in Bhola Sadar Upazila, Tofail Ahmed emerged as a prominent student leader through the Chhatra League. He served as vice president of Iqbal Hall, now Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall, during 1966 and 1967 and later became vice president of Dhaka University Central Students' Union from 1967 to 1969.
As convener of the All Party Student Struggle Council, he played a pivotal role in the 1969 Mass Uprising against Pakistani rule. On February 23, 1969, at a historic rally at Suhrawardy Udyan, then Race Course Maidan, he conferred the title Bangabandhu on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman before a massive public gathering.
In the 1970 general election, he was elected to Pakistan's National Assembly on an Awami League ticket at the age of 27. During the Liberation War, he served as one of the four regional commanders of the Mujib Bahini.
Following independence, he was appointed political secretary to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with the status of state minister on January 14, 1972.
Over a political career spanning more than five decades, Tofail Ahmed was elected to parliament nine times from Bhola and held several important ministerial portfolios. He served as Minister of Industry and Commerce in 1996 and later as Commerce Minister from 2013 to 2018. He was most recently elected from the Bhola 1 constituency and served as a member of the Awami League Advisory Council.
Known as one of the leading figures of the 1969 mass uprising, he also endured lengthy imprisonment for political reasons, including 33 consecutive months following the political changeover in 1975.
Family sources said his body would be taken to Taqwa Mosque in Dhanmondi for funeral rites. The first namaz e janaza is scheduled after Maghrib, while burial is expected to take place in his home district of Bhola on Tuesday.
