United States Awami League and various organizations supporting the Liberation War mourn the death of Bangabandhu's close friend Tofail Ahmed.

Hakikul Islam Khokan

A close companion of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, veteran politician, legend of Bangladesh politics, one of the organizers of the liberation war, member of the Advisory Council of Bangladesh Awami League, famous politician, national figure, former presidium member and senior leader of Bangladesh Awami League, elected member of parliament and former minister, hero of the 1979 mass uprising and one of the organizers of the great liberation war. Freedom fighter Tofail Ahmed, the shining star of student politics in the 60s, the pioneer of the 1970s mass uprising and the liberation war of 1971, the once influential leader and former minister of Awami League, Tofail Ahmed has passed away. He was 83 years old.

Last Monday, June 1, 2026, at around 3:30 p.m., he passed away while undergoing treatment at Square Hospital, Tofail's son-in-law Touhiduzzaman Tuhin and his wife's elder brother Mamun Talukder Sheikh told Ibn News.

According to a press release of Square Hospital, senior politician Tofail was suffering from various complications related to old age for a long time. On the afternoon of September 24, he was admitted to the hospital with respiratory problems, heart problems and physical weakness due to pneumonia. He is the senior consultant of intensive care center (ICU). Raihan was undergoing treatment under the supervision of Rabbani.
He died at 3:30 on Monday after being under treatment for eight months and eight days at Square Hospital. Dr. on behalf of the hospital. Raihan Rabbani and Senior Consultant of Interventional Cardiology Department Dr. Touhiduzzaman in a press release highlighted the details of his treatment.
Tofail Ahmed witnessed the various turns of Awami League politics in his college life.This politician who emerged from Trinamool was in the advisory council till the last days of his life after serving in the presidium of Awami League. Tofail was born in Kodalia village of Dakshin Dighaldi Union of Bhola Sadar, Dwip district. On October 22, 1943, he came to the house of Azhar Ali and Fatema Khanum in that village. After passing matriculation from Bhola Government High School in 1960, he was admitted to Barisal Brajmohan College. From there he completed ISC in 1962 and BSc in 1964. That year he tied the knot with Anwara Begum of Bhola city. Their only child Taslima Ahmed Zaman Munni is a doctor by profession.
After graduating from Brajmohan College, Tofail enrolled in Dhaka University; Graduated from Department of Soil Science. During his university life, he was elected the Sports Secretary of the then Iqbal Hall (Martyr Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall) Student Council in 1964, the Vice President of the Soil Science Department the following year and the Vice President (VP) of the Iqbal Hall Student Council in the academic year 1966-67.
From 1967 to 1969, when he was the VP of Daksur, he formed the 'Sarbadliya Chhatra Sangam Parishad' by combining four student organizations and led the popular uprising of 1979 by incorporating Bangabandhu's 6-point program into 11 points.
In the face of the coup, dictator Ayub Khan was forced to release all the prisoners including Bangabandhu on February 22, 1969. The next day at the Race Course Maidan (Sohrawardy Udyan) Tofail gave the title of 'Bangabandhu' to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the President of the All-party Chhatra Sangram Parishad. Ayub Khan was overthrown in the popular uprising, and the basic democratic system ended. Tofail Ahmed said in an interview given to the media in 2016, recalling that time, "In 1966, he (Bangabandhu) told us with 6 points,I gave the form. I will cross this barrier and reach freedom one day. Really 6 points were our liberation certificate. What is point 6 - Ayyub Khan realized this and wanted to hang him as an accused in the Agartala case. Tofail Ahmed was elected president of Bangladesh Chhatra League in 1979. During his residence hall and Daksur VP, he came in the company of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation. On June 2 of the following year, Tofail officially started the politics of Awami League on the instructions of Sheikh Mujib. That year, he was elected as a member of the Pakistan National Assembly at the age of 27 from the Daulatkhan-Tajumuddin-Manpura constituency in Bhola.
Tofail was one of the four regional chiefs of 'Mujib Bahini' in the War of Liberation. He was in charge of the western region consisting of Barisal, Patuakhali, Khulna, Faridpur, Jessore, Kushtia and Pabna. Tofail, one of the organizers of the establishment of the Mujibnagar government, actively participated in the drafting of the constitution after independence. On January 14, 1972, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman appointed him as the Prime Minister's Political Secretary at the rank of State Minister. He remained in this position till January 25, 1975.
In 1973, he was elected Member of National Parliament from Bhola. Tofail was appointed 'Special Assistant to the President' at the rank of State Minister after the announcement of the President-ruled government in the country on January 25, 1975. In the same year, when the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League or Bakshal was formed, he was elected as the general secretary of its youth organization National Jubo League. Tofail was put under house arrest on August 15, 1975, immediately after the assassination of Bangabandhu. Later the police control room and radio office were subjected to inhumane torture. He was arrested on September 6 of the same year, kept in the Condem cell of Mymensingh Jail. Later he was transferred to Kushtia Jail. He was in prison for 33 months.
In 1978, Tofail was elected the organizing secretary of Awami League while in Kushtia prison. He played a role in the anti-military democratic movement by organizing the Awami League.When Awami League came to power in 1996 after the assassination of Bangabandhu's family, Tofail Ahmed served as the Minister of Industry and Commerce and from 2014 to 2019. Tofail Ahmed was elected 12 times with the boat symbol. This politician, who won the first vote at the age of 27, has seen victory at the age of 80. He won the 12th parliamentary election in 2024 with the boat symbol. In total, he has been a member of Parliament nine times, including - 1970 Pakistan National Assembly, 1973, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2024 elections. Tofail was elected as a member of the presidium of the Awami League in 1992, a position he served for 18 years. He was vocal in demanding the removal of the 'Indemnity Ordinance', the trial of Bangabandhu's murder and the trial of war criminals against humanity. Tofail became a member of the Awami League Advisory Council in 2010, a position he held until his death. Awami League president Bangabandhu daughter Jannetri Deshratna and five-time former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and general secretary Obaidul Quader and Tofail Ahmed on behalf of the US diaspora expressed deep grief and condolence in a joint statement among expatriate leaders Dr. Nooran Nabi, MA Salam, Dr. Pradeep Randhan Kar, Haji Shafiqul Alam, Dr. Baman Das Bose, senior journalist Hakikul Islam. Khokon, Ramesh Nath, Akhtar Hossain, Syed Basarat Ali, Mahbubur Rahman, Dr. Mohammad Ali Manik, Mahbubur Rahman Milan, Osman Gani, Bishwajit Saha, Suhas Barua Hasu, Journalist Helal Mahmud, Dewan Bazlur Chowdhury, Engineer Mohammad Ali Siddiqui, Advocate Shah Md. Bakhtiar Ali, Rana Hasan Mahmud, Agriculturist Ashrafuzzaman, Jalal Uddin Rumi, Jahangir Hossain, Dr. Aref Chowdhury Rubel, Islam Uddin Pongki, Nurul Islam Bangali, Abdus Shahid Nannu, Nur Alam Chowdhury, Shirin Akter Diba, Mahbubur Rahman Tuku, MA Karim Jahangir, Farid Alam, Shahid Hasan, Dr. Abdul Baten, Mohiuddin Dewan, Abdul Hasib Mamun, Abdur Rahim Badshah, Chandan Dutt, Misbah Ahmed, Advocate Abdur Rahman Mamun, Kazi Qais Ahmed, Abul Mansoor Khan, Deni Chowdhury, Hindal Kadir Bappa, Ohidur Rahman Mukta,Sharaf Sarkar, Alamgir Bhuiyan, Mujibul Mawla, Mostafa Kamal Pasha, Azizur Rahman Sabu, Asaf Masook, Ataul Gani Asad, Ali Hossain Ghaznavi, Samsul Abedin, Aktar Ahmed Chowdhury, Kamal Uddin, Aminul Islam Collins, Yusuf Pishtu, Feroz Ahmed Kallol, Mohammad Mainuddin, Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Noor Nabi Chowdhury, Shahan Chowdhury, Harun Ahmed, Rafiqul Islam Patwari, Alauddin Jahangir, Mir Nizamul Haque, Mainul Hossain, Nurul Afsar Sentu, Nurul Amin Kotwal, Noore Alam Chowdhury, Shamima Tarafdar Suiti, Khorshed Khandkar, Gazi Md. Ali Litu, Azharul Islam Liton, Iqbal Kabir, Abdul Malek, Mohsin Ripon, Rafiqul Islam Khanja, freedom fighter Ali Hossain, Kaykobad Khan, Sujan Ahmed Saju, M Anwar, Hossain Sohail Rana, Kazi Azizul Haque Khokon, Jewel Ahmed, MA Alam Biplab, Tauhid Ruhel Chowdhury, Abul Kashem, Titu Rahman, Rina Abedin, Anwar Hossain, poet ABM Salehuddin Md Nasir, Heroic freedom fighter Abdul Mukit Cheidhuri, Chairman Mohammad Nazrul, Heroic freedom fighter Golam Mostafa Khan Miraj, Heroic freedom fighter Shaukat Akbar Ritchie, Heroic freedom fighter Ismail Khan Ansari, Heroic freedom fighter Khurshid Anwar Bablu, Heroic freedom fighter Farooq Hossain, Heroic freedom fighter Maqbul Hossain Talukdar, Heroic freedom fighter Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, Hero freedom fighter Sirajul Islam Sarkar, Hero freedom fighter Jewel Mohammad Jamal, Hero freedom fighter Munsi Bashir Uddin, Aktar Hossain, Jamal Hossain, Shahidul Islam, Khandaker Zahidul Islam, Ilyar Rahman, Subal Debnath, Hero freedom fighter Jalaluddin Jalil, Hero freedom fighter Zakir Hossain Hiru Bhuia, Ashraf Uddin, Molla. Masud, Eng: Mizanul Hasan, Delwar Hossain Molla, T Molla, Utfat Molla, Jasmine Akhtar Kohnoor, Ayesha Akhtar Ruby, Shakhawat Ali, Subrata Talukder, Abdul Mosabir, Dewan Saheed Chowdhury, Noore Alam Ziku, Haji Anwar Hossain Liton, Sibul Mia, Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury, Nader Ali Master, Rahimuzzaman Sumon, Rintu Lal Das, Farida RV, Ataur Rahman Talukder, Helemuddin, Ifzal Chowdhury, Jamal Bask, Alimuddin, Sharmin Talukder, Rahimul Huda, Rumana Akhtar, Eng: Hasan, Manzoor Chowdhury, Sheikh Jamal Hossain, Mo: Mainuddin, Mizanur Chowdhury, Humayon Ahmed Chowdhury, Arifur Rahman. Arif, Fazlul Kader Chowdhury Adar,Kamal Hossain Mithu, Delwar Manik, Jahangir Kabir, Golam Farooq, Tarekul Haider Chowdhury, Md Nazer, Nazim Uddin, Nabi Chowdhury, Shahjahan Chowdhury, Ershad Wares, Md Furkan. Masud Siraji, Mahiuddin Khokon, Yasmin Fattah Jharna and Rumo Chowdhury, senior journalist and editor Md Pappu Chowdhury and others. Various political, social, cultural, professional journalists, poets,Columnists are common people.