Special Correspondent: Tofail Ahmed, one of Bangladesh’s most prominent veteran politicians and a key figure in the 1969 Mass Uprising, passed away at the age of 82 on Monday afternoon. He died at Square Hospital in Dhaka at around 3:30 pm while undergoing treatment for age-related complications, including pneumonia, heart disease and prolonged physical weakness.
Hospital sources said the former minister had been in intensive care since late September last year as his condition gradually worsened.
Born in 1943 in Bhola, Tofail Ahmed rose to national prominence as a student leader in the late 1960s. As vice president of DUCSU from 1967 to 1969, he became a central figure in the anti–military rule movement. His leadership role in the 1969 uprising earned him wide recognition, with contemporary accounts describing him as one of the most influential voices of the movement.
He is also widely known for conferring the title “Bangabandhu” on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during a mass rally in 1969 after Mujib’s release from prison, a moment that became part of Bangladesh’s political history.
Over a long political career spanning more than six decades, Tofail Ahmed served as a Member of Parliament nine times and held several ministerial positions. He remained a senior leader of the Awami League and played roles in both the Liberation War period and subsequent parliamentary politics.
In later years, his political journey saw periods of distance from the inner leadership circle, though he returned to the cabinet as Commerce Minister from 2014 to 2019.
Following his death, discussions have emerged regarding his burial place, with family members expressing a wish to lay him to rest in Bhola, while administrative considerations in Dhaka remain under discussion.
Tofail Ahmed leaves behind a daughter and a legacy as one of the defining political figures of Bangladesh’s modern history.
