Former president Badruddoza Chowdhury passes away

Former president Professor AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, popularly known as B Chowdhury, has passed away at a hospital in Dhaka in the early hours of Saturday (October 5).

He was 94.

The former president breathed his last while undergoing treatment at Medical College for Women and Hospital in Uttara around 3:30am.

His son, Mahi B Chowdhury, confirmed the news to the media this morning.

He said, “B Chowdhury had been suffering from old-age complications for long. He was admitted to Medical College for Women and Hospital in Uttara on the morning of October 2 due to a lung infection.”

Born on October 11, 1930, B Chowdhury served as the 14th President of Bangladesh from November 14, 2001, until his resignation on June 21, 2002.

He was elected as a member of parliament from the Sreenagar constituency in Munshiganj multiple times—1979, 1991, 1996, and 2001—representing Bangladesh Nationalist Party. During Khaleda Zia’s government, he held the positions of minister of education and minister of foreign affairs.

In 1996, while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was in opposition, he served as deputy leader of the opposition in parliament.

B Chowdhury entered politics in 1978 at the invitation of former President Ziaur Rahman, transitioning from a medical career to join the BNP, where he became the founding secretary general and later served as deputy prime minister.

After parting ways with the BNP, he established a new political party, Bikalpodhara Bangladesh, on May 8, 2004, and remained its president until his passing.

B Chowdhury’s father, Kafiluddin Chowdhury, was the general secretary of the United Front serving as a minister in the United Front provincial cabinet of the then East Pakistan and an Awami League leader.

Hailing from Cumilla, Badruddoza completed his MBBS degree from the Dhaka Medical College. In his personal life, he is the husband of Hasina Warda Chowdhury, and father of three children - elder daughter lawyer Muna Chowdhury, younger daughter Shayla Chowdhury and son Mahi B Chowdhury, who is a politician and former MP.