Tomorrow 21 October 2022 is the 15th death anniversary of freedom fighter Abdur Rauf Chowdhury, former AL state minister and central leader of the great liberation war. Numerous political and social organizations are organizing prayers and discussions on this occasion.
Abdur Rauf Chowdhury was a well-known personality in the political, social, cultural and sports fields of Dinajpur. He was an active organizer in the language movement and for this he had to be imprisoned. He met Bangabandhu while studying at Dhaka College.
Later, he returned to Dinajpur, led the Dinajpur (Dinajpur-Thakurgaon-Panchgarh) District as General Secretary under the instructions of Bangabandhu.
Apart from serving as the founder general secretary of Dinajpur district Krishak League, he also served as the vice-president of the central committee of Krishak League. His role in the establishment of Bangladesh Cooperative Federation and BRDB is significant.
In 1962, Abdur Rauf Chowdhury was in the first line in the anti-Ayub movement along with the 6-point movement made by Bangabandhu in 1962 against the Hamidur Rahman Education Commission.
During the War of Independence, he served as the envoy of Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad and Kamruzzaman of the Bangladesh government in the eastern zone. Abdur Rauf Chowdhury played an outstanding role in protesting the brutal killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Bangabandhu family in 1975.
In 2002, the BNP-Jamaat police attacked him for keeping the national flag at half-mast on the National Mourning Day and he was arrested and then tortured. He died on October 21, 2007 at his home.
In 1962, he got married to Ramiza Begum, the eldest daughter of late Alhaj Ismail Hossain Sarkar. He left behind his wife, five daughters and his only son.
Rauf Chowdhury was born on December 28, 1937 in Dhantala village of Bochaganj upazila of Dinajpur in a noble Muslim Chowdhury family. His father late Maulvi Khorshes Ali Chowdhury was a prominent social worker and mother Ayesha Khatun Chowdhury was a housewife.
He was the President of Dinajpur District Awami League for 15 years and was also a member of the Central Committee of Awami League for a long time. His contribution to every movement against military rule after 75' in Dinajpur is outstanding.
He was elected chairman of Bochaganj upazila in 1988 upazila elections. Then in 1996, he was elected Member of National Parliament from Dinajpur-1 (Birganj-Kaharol) constituency and served as the State Minister of the Ministry of Posts, Cables and Telecommunications of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.
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