The death of veteran politician ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury came as a great shock and grief to the people in the political arena of Bangladesh.
Mohiuddin was born to Hosen Ahmed Chowdhury and Bedura Begum on December 1, 1944 at Gahira Village, under Raozan upazila of Chittagong district. He passed SSC in 1962, HSC in 1965 and earned a degree in 1967.
He was elected as the mayor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) in 1994, 2000 and 2005.
He was one of the most dynamic and popular mayors the premier port city ever had. Serving as a father figure of the city, Mohiuddin had set a precedent in improving the education system, healthcare services and cleanliness of the city.
Serving as the city mayor for 16 long years, Mohiuddin was known for his innovative ideas and for thinking out of the box.
However, on some occasions, he sparked controversies too.
Preceded by Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury of Jatiyo Party and Mir Mohammed Nasiruddin of BNP, Mohiuddin became the first mayor of CCC in 1994.
Nasiruddin contested the election with the full support from BNP, the then party in power, but lost by around sixteen thousand votes.
The second election was held in January of 2000, which was boycotted by BNP and Mohiuddin was given a walk over victory.
The third one, held in May 2005, was a landslide in the electoral history of Chittagong. BNP nominated mayor candidate Mir Nasir lost the election by 91,000 votes.
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Imbued with the ideology of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Mohiuddin became involved with student politics during his youth. He also heroically took part in the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.
He served as the general secretary of Chittagong city Chattra League in 1968 and 1969.
In 1971, he formed a group ‘Joy Bangla’ and was arrested by the Pakistani forces. Feigning as an insane person, Mohiuddin got released from prison and fled to India.
After 1971, he became involved in labour politics of Chittagong. After the tragic assassination of Bangabandhu, he formed “Mujib Bahini” led by Moulavi Syed to avenge the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
At that time Mohiuddin was accused in “Chittagong Conspiracy Case” and he fled to India and later returned to Chittagong in 1978.
Mohiuddin, along with his other comrades even planned to isolate Chittagong from the rest of Bangladesh to avenge the assassination of Bangabandhu.
During his chequered political career spanning decades, Mohiuddin was incarcerated on several occasions.
He spearheaded the anti-autocracy movement, movement to protect Chittagong Port, non-cooperation movement against the then prime minister Khaleda Zia.
Political analysts say Mohiuddin’s brand of populism resulted in him receiving cross-party support and extremely high popularity in Chittagong, which often put him at odds with his own party leadership.
After serving 24 long years as the general secretary, Mohiuddin was made president of Chittagong city unit of the Awami League on June 27, 2006. He acted as the president of the organization till his death.
Mohiuddin was the first mayor of Bangladesh who established a private university –Premier University– sponsored by Chittagong City Corporation.
After the army-backed government assumed power in 2007, Mohiuddin, along with other politicians, were arrested on March 7 of the same year. He was incarcerated in various prisons across Bangladesh.
When first arrested, unlike other detained politicians, he was taken to a remote prison in Bandarban district.
While in prison, Mohiuddin’s daughter was diagnosed with blood cancer in Thailand. He was detained without trial for 21 months and the then government did not release him from prison to see his dying daughter.
He was finally released from prison on October 8, 2008. Despite his release, the army-backed government seized his passport and refused to grant him a permit to fly to Thailand to see his dying daughter.
The government finally allowed him to fly abroad on October 17, but just minutes after he boarded the plane, his daughter passed away.
Mohiuddin contested in the parliamentary election from the city’s Kotwali constituency back in 1991, but could not win.
The beloved mayor of Chittagong had gathered a following of thousands of admirers, followers and leaders and activists during his long political career.
However, he never displayed a desire to become a central leader of the Awami League.
Unlike many other politicians, he always confined himself to the politics of the port city.
ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury died around 3am on Friday at Max Hospital in Mehedibag area of the port city. He was 73.
Mohiuddin’s son and Awami League central leader Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury Nowfel is currently serving as the central organizing secretary of the Awami League.
