98th birth anniversary of Tajuddin Ahmed today

The 98th birth anniversary of Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed, the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh, is being celebrated on Sunday.

Tajuddin, one of the close associates of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was born on July 23 in 1925 at Dardaria village under Kapasia upazila in Gazipur district, reports BSS.

To mark the day, a discussion titled "Bangataj Tajuddin Ahmed in inspiring youths: checkered life and works" will be held at Abdus Salam auditorium of Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka at 3:30pm. Bangataj Sasthyaseba Sangstha (BTSS) will also be launched on the occasion.

Tajuddin Ahmed's son Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj will join it as the chief guest while BTSS managing board chairman Ershadur Rahman will chair it.

Tajuddin stepped into politics in 1943 by joining the then Pakistan Muslim League (PML). He was one of the founding members of East Pakistan Chhatra League (now Bangladesh Chhatra League), which was born on January 4, 1948.

Tajuddin was also a founding member of East Pakistan Jubo League (now Awami Jubo League) and was a member of its executive committee from 1951 to 1953. Tajuddin joined East Pakistan Awami League (now Bangladesh Awami League) in 1953 and was elected the party's General Secretary thrice.

Tajuddin played the role of Prime Minister of the expatriate Bangladesh government during the 1971 liberation war, which made him the first Prime Minister of Bangladesh. After the liberation war, Tajuddin acted as the Finance Minister of Bangladesh till 1974.

Tajuddin Ahmed was a student of Dhaka University (DU). He obtained a bachelor in Economics from the university in 1950, and passed the L.L.B exams in 1964.

Tajuddin was detained with three other national leaders (AHM Qamaruzzaman, Muhammad Mansur Ali and Sayed Nazrul Islam) after the gruesome killing of Bangabandhu and his family members on August 15, 1975.

He was killed along with the other national leaders in the hands of some unruly military officers inside his prison cell on November 3, 1975.