Life Sketch of Abul Kalam Azad,
Minister for Information and Cultural Affairs

Abul Kalam Azad comes respectable Muslim family of Kheawarchar Ujan village of Bokshigonj Upazila in Jamalpur district. His birth date is March 01, 1939.

He is the son of late Syedur Rahman and Alhaj Samirunnesa. He is second among eight brothers and four sisters.

He passed Matriculation from Rajendra Kishore High School in 1956 and H.S.C from Ananda Mohon College in 1958. Both the institutions are situated at Mymensingh. He passed BA (Hon’s, 1961) and MA (1963) from Political Science Department of Dhaka University. He also obtained LLB (1972) from Dhaka Central Law College.

He started his career as an officer of the then East Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) in 1963. When WAPDA was divided in 1969 his service was placed under Power Development Board. In 1975 he joined as chief liaison officer at Cholera Research Laboratory, Dhaka. He served as Head of Personnel Management Department and Deputy Chief of Administration till 1977. When the organization got its new shape as International Center for Diarrhoeal Diseases and Research Bangladesh (ICDDRB) he was posted as Head of Personnel Management Department, Public Relations and Information Officer. He took voluntary retirement from ICDDRB on 12 January 1991.

The root of his political career originated as a student of Dhaka University since 1954. As appreciation of active participation in politics with fame and dignity he became the President of renowned Salimullah Muslim Hall unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League in 959-1960. At DUCSU he was elected as representative of Salimullah Muslim Hall Students Union in 1961-1962 and performed his duties as Drama and Entertainment Secretary. He was put under imprisonment in 1962 for active participation in the movement against Hamidur Rahman Education Committee Report. He was also elected as General Secretary of Salimullah Muslim Hall Students Union in 1963.

Abul Kalam Azad became Member of Parliament for the first time in 1991 on Awami League ticket. For the second time he was elected M.P. in 1996. At that time he was elected as Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Information, Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts and Member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Institutions.Apart from this he worked with important responsibilities as Panel Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad. He also successfully participated in programme of internationally reputed organizations as World Public Relations Congress, Mumbai India in 1982, 9th World Public Relations Congress in Amsterdam, Netherlands 1985, International Relations Congress in Australia in 1988,International Parliamentary Seminar organized by National Democratic Institute in Cambodia in 1993.

He visited the United States as an observer of US Presidential Election and role of US Congress under the International Visitors Programme of US Information Agency in 1996. He also attended the meeting of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts at the SAARC Summit in India in 1997.

Abul Kalam Azad is an associate member of the Jatiya Press Club since 1970 and member of Dhaka Club since 1980. He was General Secretary of Bangladesh Public Relations Association from 1984-85 and 1986-87. He was former President of the ICDDRB Staffs Welfare Association, General Secretary of Water and Power Development Board Officers Association and National Coordinator of International Public Relations Association. He visited USA, UK, Australia, Cambodia, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Macao, Bahrain, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and India.

Abul Kalam Azad likes is fond of games and sports. His favorite games are cricket and football. He has made a great contribution to the overall development of his locality, including construction of roads, bridges, culverts, hospitals, schools, colleges and similar social organizations.

His wife Mrs. Anowara was born in a distinguished and respectable family on 03 December 1965 in Doudkandi under Comilla district.

Abul Kalam Azad was elected Member of Parliament from 'Dewangonj and Bokshigonj constituency (No 138 Jamalpur-1) in the ninth parliamentary election. He was appointed Minister for Ministry of Information and Ministry of Cultural Affairs of People's Republic of Bangladesh on January 06, 2009.