Ghulam Azam

Ghulam Azam ( _bn. গোলাম আযম) (born 1922), is a Bangladeshi political leader. He refused to accept the independence of Bangladesh upon its liberation on December 16th 1971, and was a permanent resident of England until 1978, and maintained Pakistani citizenship until 1994 due to the decision by the Bangladeshi government at the time to refuse him citizenship. In 1994, the Supreme Court upheld the decision to grant him citizenship.

Early political career

Azam entered politics as a student leader at Dhaka University, and in 1947 became the Secretary General of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union. Among his earliest campaigns was participation in The Language Movement during 1950s. He submitted the memorandum to the Pakistan government demanding Bengali as one of the state languages, on behalf of the students of Dhaka University, following the demand made by Dhirendranath Datta in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly in February 1948 and the resulting nationalist uprising in East Bengal. Azam may have distanced himself from the Language Movement when it became clear that it was becoming a rallying call for a secular Bengali nationalist movement rather than one focused on Bengali Muslim activism alone. Since his return to Bangladesh in the 1970s Ghulam Azam has never participated in the official commemorations of the Language Movement and he and his party celebrate that event separately. It may be partly because his party (Jamaat) is considered outcast by other political parties due to its pro-Pakistan role in 1971.

Azam became the secretary of the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh in 1957. Later, he became the "Ameer" (president) of the Jamaat in East Pakistan in 1969. He was also a participant in the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Alliance in 1967.

Years in exile

After the war, the Bangladesh government declared the newly independent country to be secular, and mandated separation of religion from the state, and therefore sought to remove the influence of religious fundamentalists from national life, and therefore religion based parties were banned. In addition, the Jamaat and its leaders, because they were seen as guilty of collaboration with the Pakistan occupation forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War, were similarly restricted from participation in the new country's political scenario. Azam's automatic right to Bangladesh citizenship was revoked as he was one of the singled out alleged collaborators, and he refused an offer of amnesty from the then Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to return to Bangladesh and renounce Jamaat politics, choosing to live in exile in Pakistan and England until 1978, when President Ziaur Rahman legalized all of the previously banned parties and relaxed a prohibition on religion-based politics, and allowed him to return to Bangladesh on a temporary visa. While in Pakistan, he was a leader of what was left of the Pakistani branch of the Jamaat.

Rehabilitation in independent Bangladesh

Azam became the unofficial "Ameer" of the party while remaining in Bangladesh illegally, as he was denied Bangladeshi citizenship and had overstayed his visitors visa on his Pakistani passport. However, no attempt was made to restrain him, and he moved around openly. His citizenship was granted in 1994 by a decision of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, as the panel of Judges agreed that by virtue of his birth he had right to Bangladeshi citizenship. [http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/lang/eng.htm Article 15] , Universal Declaration of Human Rights.]

Though the Jamaat fell out with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the run up to the 1996 elections, it re-established its alliance creating a coalition of 4 parties prior to the 2001 elections. In conjunction with the Islami Oikya Jote and a faction of the Jatiya Party, Jamaat again allied with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the coalition emerged as the winning power. Ghulam Azam was seen as one of the instrumental players in brokering this alliance.

Ghulam Azam announced his retirement from active politics in late 2000. He was succeeded by Motiur Rahman Nizami. [http://www.islamicvoice.com/december.2000/news.htm#peo Prof. Ghulam Azam Retires] , Islamic Voice, December 2006.]

Ghulam Azam's party, Jamaat-e-Islami, has been accused by a section of political parties and secular organizations as a patron of recently (2002-2006) rising militancy and behind a number of terrorist bombings. [http://www.prothom-alo.net/v1/newhtmlnews1/category.php?CategoryID=3&Date=2006-03-26 Prothom Alo] , 26 March 2006.]

Footnotes

ee also

*Bangladesh Liberation War
*Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh
*Jamaat-e-Islami