Abdul Halim Chowdhury

Abdul Halim Chowdhury (1928–1987) was a Bangladesh Nationalist Party politician, Member of Parliament, and government minister. He is a retired captain of Pakistan Army and fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War.[1]

Abdul Halim Chowdhury
Member of Parliament
Personal details
Born(1928-02-01)1 February 1928
Died7 October 1987(1987-10-07) (aged 59)
Political partyBangladesh Nationalist Party

Early life

Chowdhury was born on 1 February 1928 in Elachipur, Shivalaya, Manikganj, East Bengal, British Raj. He graduated from Faridpur Zilla School. He went on to Rajshahi College, finished his BA in economics from Rajshahi University. He started his master's degree at Dhaka University.

Career

Chowdhury joined the Pakistan army in 1950 while still a student. In the army he served as the Adjutant and Quarter Master in the 1st Punjab Regiment. He served as the aide-de-camp to the GOC of the 14th division. He was the commanding officer of University Officers' Training Corps Battalion in East Pakistan. In 1962 he retired from the Army over health reasons. He joined the East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation. He was placed in charged of setting up a sugar mill in Kushtia.

In 1966 he joined the National Awami Party. In the 1970 Pakistani general election he stood as a nominee of the National Awami Party faction led by Muzaffar Ahmed (NAP (M)).[2]

During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 he helped set up the revolutionary committee of Manikganj. He was placed in charge of military operations in Dhaka Sadar and Gazipur. He established the Halim Bahini, a paramilitary force under his command, to fight in the Banlgadesh Liberation war.[3] After the Independence of Bangladesh, he stood again as a NAP (M) candidate in the 1973 Bangladeshi general election.[2] He became the president of United People's Party. In 1979 he was elected to Parliament from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He served in the cabinet of President Ziaur Rahman as the minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative. He later was in the cabinet of President Abdus Sattar as the minister of Food and Relief. He was a member of BNP's National executive committee. He joined General Hussain Muhammad Ershad's Jatiya party after it came to power. He was the minister of Agriculture and Food.

He died on 7 October 1987.[4]

References
  1. "Manikganj, Bogra freed this day". The Daily Star. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  2. Chakravarty, S. R. (1988). Bangladesh, the Nineteen Seventy-nine Elections. New Delhi: South Asian Publishers. p. 122. ISBN 81-7003-088-9. Abdul Halim Chowdhury BNP Contested as NAP (M) candidate in 1970 and 1973 elections.
  3. "The irregular forces of Bangladesh Liberation War". The Daily Star. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  4. Hossain, Abu Md. Delwar (2012). "Chowdhury, Abdul Halim". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
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