Kazi Zafar Ahmed

Ahmed was born on 1 July 1939, in Kazi Bari, Cheora Chauddagram Upazila, Comilla, British India (now Bangladesh), the son of Cheora Kazi Bari. He passed the entrance examination from Khulna Zilla School in the first division in 1955. He later completed his Higher Secondary education from Rajshahi College in 1957 and went on to earn both his B.A. (Honours) and M.A. degrees in History from the University of Dhaka. Although he completed coursework for an MA in International Relations and an LLB, he could not sit for the final examinations as he was imprisoned. ==Early political career==

East Pakistan Students' Union He started his political career while studying at Rajshahi College by joining the East Pakistan Students' Union (now Bangladesh Students' Union). Later he was elected the Joint Secretary of the Rajshahi District unit of East Pakistan Students' Union. During his college days he also got associated with the Communist Party of East Pakistan. He worked to increase the organizational activity of Rajshahi District East Pakistan Students' Union. He also attended various regional and District Students' conference in North Bengal. During this he met Muhammad Shahidullah in the Ishwardi Students' conference. After his admission in Dhaka University, he was elected the office secretary of the Central Committee of East Pakistan Students' Union in 1958. On 7 October 1958 Martial law was imposed throughout Pakistan and several political leaders were arrested. Zafar was in Khulna at that time. After the Martial law was declared he went in concealment of identity. He went to Comilla and began to teach there in a High School. He stayed there until June 1959. == Political career ==

Ahmed was a Maoist, From 1962 to 1963, he served as the General Secretary of the East Pakistan Students' Union. In 1966, he joined the Maoist Communist Party and became a labour leader, mainly concentrating in organising the workers in Tongi industrial area. He declared that he would form a responsible opposition party. United Peoples' Party He formed the United Peoples' Party (UPP) on 17 November 1974 with Captain Abdul Halim Chowdhury. Ershad on 3 March 1988 made Ahmed the deputy prime minister under Prime Minister Moudud Ahmed. He defended the decision of Ershad to make Islam the state religion of Bangladesh as move against fundamentalism on 6 June 1988. He served in the Ershad Government as Minister of Commerce from 1986 to 1989. In August 1989, he was appointed prime minister replacing Moudud Ahmed who was made vice-president. He served as the prime minister from August 1989 to 6 December 1990. which joined the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Ershad was imprisoned since he lost power and was freed in 1996 after Bangladesh Awami League came to power. Ahmed was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by a Dhaka court in November 1999 on corruption charges related to the misappropriation of funds meant for an orphanage. John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, called an inquiry into how Ahmed was able to secure asylum. Ahmed, the presidium member of Jatiya Party, criticised Ershad for agreeing to join the 2014 Bangladesh election organised by Bangladesh Awami League-led coalition government. On 5 May 2013, he went on the stage at a Hefajat-e Islam rally in Motijheel. Jatiya Party (Zafar) In 2013, amid internal conflict over joining the interim government ahead of the 2014 Bangladeshi general election, he was suspended from Jatiya Party by Ershad and a few hours later, Ahmed tried to expel Ershad from the Jatiya Party, after which he formed his own faction of Jatiya Party. Golam Moshi joined the Ahmed faction of Jatiya Party. In January 2014, he joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led 20-party alliance with his faction of Jatiya Party. == Personal life ==

Ahmed was married to Momtaz Begum. They had three daughters, Kazi Joya Ahmed, Kazi Sonia Ahmed, and Kazi Rona Ahmed. In 1999–2000, he served as a visiting professor at the University of Western Sydney, where he taught South Asian subcontinental politics. ==Books==

• আমার রাজনীতির ৬০ বছর জোয়ার-ভাটার কথন == Death ==

Ahmed died on 27 August 2015 in United Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh. ==References==