Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir Profile
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been serving as the Secretary General of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) since March 30, 2016. Previously, he served as the party's Acting Secretary General for five years, starting from March 20, 2011. He was nominated as the party's Senior Joint Secretary General during the 5th National Council held on December 8, 2009. In the 8th National Parliamentary Election in 2001, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from his home constituency, Thakurgaon-01, as a BNP-nominated candidate. He served as the State Minister for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism from 2001 to 2006. Additionally, he contested the 9th Parliamentary Election in 2008.
Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir began his political career in the 1960s while studying in the Economics Department at Dhaka University. At that time, he joined the East Pakistan Student Union (EPSU), the student wing of the East Pakistan Communist Party. He was elected Secretary General of the organization's Dhaka University SM Hall unit. During the 1969 mass uprising against President Ayub Khan, Mirza Alamgir became the President of the prestigious Dhaka University unit of the organization. He was arrested and sent to jail for political reasons.
In 1986, he resigned from government service to join active politics. In 1988, he was elected Chairman of Thakurgaon Municipality as an independent candidate. In the early 1990s, amidst the nationwide anti-Ershad movement, he joined the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). In 1992, he again became the President of the Thakurgaon District BNP.
The renowned politician Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was born on January 26, 1948, in Thakurgaon district, Bangladesh. He obtained his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Economics from Dhaka University. After finishing his academic life, he started his professional career in 1972 as a Lecturer at Dhaka College, being a member of the Bangladesh Civil Service (Education Cadre). He served as a teacher in various government colleges. He also worked as a Deputy Director in the Inspection and Audit Directorate of the Bangladesh Government and served in the UNESCO National Commission. In late 1979, he worked as the Private Secretary to the then Deputy Prime Minister S.A. Bari in the administration of President Ziaur Rahman.
In his personal life, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is married to Rahat Ara Begum, who studied at Calcutta University and is currently working at an insurance company in Dhaka. The couple has two daughters, Mirza Shamaruh and Mirza Safaruh. Shamaruh completed her studies at Dhaka University and taught at the same university. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow in Australia. The younger daughter, Mirza Safaruh, also studied at Dhaka University and is currently teaching at a school in Dhaka.
His younger brother, Mirza Faisal Amin, is the General Secretary of Thakurgaon District BNP and an elected Chairman of Thakurgaon Municipality.
His father, Mirza Ruhul Amin, was a prominent lawyer and renowned politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Thakurgaon constituency several times. He also served as the Agriculture Minister of the Government of Bangladesh.
His uncle, Mirza Golam Hafiz, was a BNP politician who served as the Minister for Land (1978-79), Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs (1991-96), and the Speaker of the second National Parliament of Bangladesh (1979-82). Mirza Hafiz was elected as a Member of Parliament from a Dhaka constituency in 1979.
Another uncle of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Wing Commander S.R. Mirza, served in the Mujibnagar Pro-tem Government formed in April 1971. He was nominated as the head of the newly formed Youth Camp Directorate to oversee training facilities for freedom fighters in 1971.
DBTech/PID/IH
