DHAKA, Jun 1: Veteran politician Tofail Ahmed, one of the key organisers of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, died on Monday after a prolonged illness. He was 82.
Ahmed was one of the senior leaders of the now disbanded Awami League of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
The former minister was admitted to a hospital with respiratory and cardiac complications on September 24, 2025.
“He (Ahmed) was suffering from multiple age-related complications. He breathed his last at 3.30 PM,” the hospital said in a statement.
Ahmed served as the Vice President of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union from 1967 to 1969. He gained nationwide prominence by playing a central role in the 1969 mass uprising.
After Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, he served as a close aide to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In the 1970 elections, Ahmed was elected a lawmaker at the age of 27. He was elected as an MP nine times. He also served as a minister on multiple occasions.
Ahmed, who is survived by a daughter, will be buried on Tuesday at his ancestral home in Bhola district.
In June 2021, Ahmed donated all his property for the welfare of poor people.
After the ouster of the Hasina government in 2024, Ahmed was tried in absentia in an alleged corruption case. (PTI )
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