Serajul Alam Khan
সিরাজুল আলম খান
General Secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League
In office
1965–1967
Succeeded byAbdur Razzaq
Personal details
Born
Nizam Mohammad Serajul Alam Khan

(1941-01-06)6 January 1941
Begumganj, Noakhali, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died9 June 2023(2023-06-09) (aged 82)
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Citizenship
Political party
EducationKhulna Zilla School
Alma materUniversity of Dhaka
Nicknames
  • Dada
  • Dadabhai
Military service
AllegianceBangladesh Liberation Force
Branch/serviceInfantry
RankCommander

Nizam Mohammad Serajul Alam Khan (6 January 1941 – 9 June 2023), commonly known as Serajul Alam Khan (Bengali: সিরাজুল আলম খান), also called as Dada, Dadabhai and by his initials SAK, was a Bangladeshi politician, political analyst, philosopher and writer who spearheaded the Bangladesh liberation movement under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman but also became one of the controlling forces of political polarization in post-independence Bangladesh.

Serajul Alam Khan joined politics in the 1950s–60s as a student and quickly rose to the helm of Chhatra League, the student wing of the Bengali nationalist Awami League in Pakistan. He, along with others, founded the Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Parishad (which came to be known as 'Nucleus'), a secret organization whose existence is not directly documented but strongly supported by popular hearsay and conventional history. The organization played a significant role in the Bangladesh Liberation War.[1] He along with Tofael Ahmed, Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni and Abdur Razzaq formed and commanded the Mujib Bahini (a.k.a. Bangladesh Liberation Force).[2]

Early life

Khan was born on 6 January 1941 in Noakhali District in the then Bengal Presidency, British India.[3] His father, Khorshed Alam Khan, was a government officer who retired in 1959 as the Deputy Director of Public Instruction.[3][4] He graduated from Khulna Zilla School in 1956 and Dhaka College in 1958.[3] He studied mathematics at the University of Dhaka from 1958 to 1962.[3]

Career

Khan as a student of the University of Dhaka created the Nucleus whose aim was the Independence of East Pakistan along with Kazi Aref Ahmed and Abdur Razzaq.[4] The Nucleus helped launch the Six point movement, Eleven Points Programme, designed the flag of independent Bangladesh, picked the national anthem, and the national slogan Joy Bangla.[4] It gave the title of Bangabandhu to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[4]

Khan served as the general secretary of the student political organization East Pakistan Chhatra League from 1963 to 1965.[5][6]

Together with other members of the Nucleus, Khan created the Bangladesh Liberation Force and an armed wing called the Joy Bangla Bahini which would be present throughout East Pakistan by 1970.[4] At the urging of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the command structure was expanded to include Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, and Tofail Ahmed.[4] During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Bangladesh Liberation Force would be renamed to Mujib Bahini after Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.[4]

Soon after returning to free the country from dissension within the pro-liberation mainstream power base, Khan became conspicuous between left-of-centre leadership and simmering far-left young radicals.[7] He was involved in a political struggle with Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani.[8] He developed an ideological difference from Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani, due to the former's advocacy of scientific socialism, thus forming the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal.[9] In 1975, Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani urged him to join BaKSAL, but he refused.[10]

After the 7 November 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état, Khan along with other leaders of Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal were arrested.[4] Khan was in jail from 26 July 1976 to 1 May 1981.[4] After being released from jail, he started the publication of Ganakantha newspaper.[4]

The government of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia prevented Khan from holding meetings at the government owned Hotel Sheraton.[4]

Illness and death

In 2006, he was hospitalised in London and underwent a bypass operation.[11]

Khan died from respiratory failure at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on 9 June 2023. He was 82.[12]

References

  1. ^ "The NUCLEUS issue : ABDUR RAZZAK in Tritiomatra". Youtube. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  2. ^ "Mujib Bahini – Banglapedia". en.banglapedia.org. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Serajul Alam Khan – BIOGRAPHY". Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Serajul Alam Khan: Who was the mystery man in Bangladesh's politics?". www.dhakatribune.com. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  5. ^ বিগত কমিটি সমূহ [Past Committees]. Bangladesh Chhatra League (in Bengali).
  6. ^ "Serajul Alam Khan improves, tests negative for COVID-19". New Age. 17 January 2021.
  7. ^ "Democracy In Bangladesh: Reality Vs. Utopia". EBangladesh. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  8. ^ Sofa, Ahmad (16 April 2015) [Excerpt of book first published 1993]. "JSD: Sofa's sentimental evaluation". Probe. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  9. ^ Hossain, Kazi Mobarak (13 March 2016). "Hasanul Haq Inu's JaSoD splits as he names Shirin general secretary". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  10. ^ Hossain, M. Sanjeeb (3 November 2012). "Know your friends and foes". Bdnews24.com (Opinion). Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  11. ^ "Sirajul Alam Khan hospitalised". The Daily Star. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Serajul Alam Khan no more". www.dhakatribune.com. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.

Further reading

External links

Bangladesh Liberation War
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