Former foreign minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali passes away

Former finance, foreign affairs and relief minister and former member of the Parliament for Dinajpur-4 constituency Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali has passed away.

He breathed his last while undergoing treatment at BIRDEM Hospital in Dhaka on Thursday (November 6) evening. Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun.

According to family sources, he was admitted to the ICU of BIRDEM Hospital in Dhaka 13 days ago due to kidney disease. His namaz-e-janaza will be held in front of his house in Dhanmondi on Thursday night and he will be buried at the capital's Banani graveyard tonight.

Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali was born on June 2, 1943, in Khamar Bishnuganj village of Bherbheri Union in Khansama Upazila of Dinajpur. He completed his studies as an economics student from Dhaka University in 1963 and joined it as a teacher. He was a lecturer in economics at Dhaka University from 1964 to 1966. Later in 1966, he joined the then Pakistan Foreign Service (PFS).

In 1968, he was appointed as the Vice-Consul of Pakistan in New York. Soon after moving to New York, he began organizing the Bengali community in the United States for independence. In April 1971, he joined the Bangladesh independence movement and in May of the same year, he was appointed as the representative of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh in Mujibnagar in the United States.

He played a significant role in garnering support for the liberation war worldwide, including in the United States, Canada, and the United Nations.

He is a politician and diplomat who served as the last Finance Minister of the Awami League government. He served as the Foreign Minister from February 2014 to January 2019.

He was last elected as a member of parliament in the 2024 national election and served as the Finance Minister. He lost his seat as a member of parliament when the National Parliament was dissolved after the fall of the Awami League government through a student-public uprising in 2024.