Former minister and senior Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed has passed away (Inna lillahi wa inna lillahi rajiun). He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the capital’s Square Hospital around 3:30 pm on Monday (June 1). The hospital authorities and his family confirmed the matter to the media. He was 82 years old at the time of his death.
The veteran politician had been suffering from paralysis and other physical problems for a long time. He was admitted to Square Hospital in a serious condition on September 28. He was on life support there. That day, rumors of his death spread on social media. However, doctors later denied the matter and explained it.
Tofail Ahmed’s son-in-law, Dr. Touhiduzzaman Tuhin, told the media that Tofail Ahmed passed away in the hospital today while undergoing treatment.
Family members and close friends said that Tofail Ahmed had been suffering from various complications related to old age for a long time. At the time of his death, he left behind a daughter and numerous well-wishers.
Tofail Ahmed (22 October 1943 – 1 June 2026) was a Bangladeshi politician. He was sworn in as the Minister of Industry and Commerce in the government of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 23 June 1996. He has been elected to the National Assembly nine times. He is a member of the Awami League’s advisory board and served as the Minister of Commerce until 2018.
Tofail Ahmed Life and education
Tofail Ahmed was born on 22 October 1943 in the village of Koralia in Bakerganj District, Bengal Province, British India (now in Dakshin Dighaldi Union of Bhola District, Bangladesh), to Maulvi Azhar Ali and Fatema Begum. He passed his secondary school in 1960 from Bhola Government High School. He passed his higher secondary school in 1962 from Barisal Brajmohan College. Later, he did his MSc in Soil Science from Dhaka University.
Tofail Ahmed Political life
He was the elected Vice-President (VP) of Iqbal Hall (now Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall) of Dhaka University during the 1966-67 term. During the mass uprising and student movement in 1968-69, he served as the VP of DUCSU and the convener of the All-Party Student Struggle Council. As a result of the mass uprising of 1969, the Pakistan government released all the accused in the Agartala Conspiracy Case, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On 23 February of that year, the Central Student Struggle Council organized a meeting in honor of Sheikh Mujib at the Race Course Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka. Sheikh Mujib was awarded the title of “Bangabandhu” at this conference, which was attended by millions of people. Tofail Ahmed announced the conferment of the title.
On 12 August 1969, at a discussion meeting on the education system of Pakistan proposed by the Air Marshal Noor Khan Commission, 1969, at the TSC auditorium of Dhaka University, Islamic student leader Abdul Malek highlighted the need for reforming the education system from an Islamic perspective. After the meeting, Abdul Malek was seriously injured in an ambush led by Tofail Ahmed, a student leader of the Awami League and leftist organizations. He was later admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where Malek died on 15 August 1969.
After the military coup on 15 August 1975 and the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the military administration arrested and detained Tofail Ahmed. His assistant, personal secretary Mintu, was tortured and killed in custody.
Before the February 1996 elections, Tofail Ahmed was arrested under the Special Powers Act.
After the imposition of a state of emergency in the country in 2007, Tofail Ahmed supported the Awami League’s proposed reform plan, which included a proposal to remove Sheikh Hasina as party chief. After the 2008 national elections, the Awami League formed the government, but despite being one of the influential members of the presidium, Tofail Ahmed was removed from the cabinet.
Tofail Ahmed was the chairman of the Standing Committee on the Ministry of Industry of the National Parliament. He is also a member of the Awami League’s Advisory Council. He served as a member of the Presidium of the Bangladesh Awami League for a long time.
Tofail Ahmed won the 1973, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2008, and 2014 national parliamentary elections as a candidate of the Bangladesh Awami League. On 23 June 1996, he became the Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Sheikh Hasina government. He served as the Minister of Commerce from 2014 to 2019. He lost his seat as a member of parliament when President Mohammad Shahabuddin dissolved the National Parliament after the fall of the Awami League government through a student uprising in 2024.
Tofail Ahmed Family life
Tofail Ahmed married Anwara Begum, the eldest daughter of Alhaj Mofizul Haque Talukder, in 1964. He is the father of one daughter in his family. His daughter Taslima Ahmed Zaman Munni is a doctor. His son-in-law, Touhiduzzaman Tuhin, is currently a cardiologist working at Square Hospital.
In addition, after the death of his elder brother, he adopted the younger of his two sons, Mainul Hossain Biplob, and it is said that Biplob was more affectionate towards him than his own daughter Munni and introduced him everywhere as his son.
Mainul Hossain Biplob’s elder brother is Ali Azam Mukul, a three-time former MP from Bhola-2 constituency.
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