Parliament mourns for 16 former lawmakers including Tofail Ahmed

The Jatiya Sangsad on Sunday (June 7) paid its respects to 16 former members of parliament — including veteran Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed — as Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed moved a condolence motion at the opening of the second session's first sitting.

The tributes, read out by the Speaker in the afternoon sitting, covered former ministers, state ministers, whips, and constituency representatives drawn from the Awami League, BNP, Jatiya Party, and independent benches — an unusually cross-party roll of honour that underscored the breadth of parliamentary service being commemorated.

Tofail Ahmed, a towering figure in Bangladesh's political history and a member of the Awami League's advisory council, represented the Bhola-1 constituency across multiple tenures. He was among four decorated Liberation War veterans — the others being Shamsudoha, Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, and Abdul Matin — included in the motion, reflecting the passing of an older generation of lawmakers who shaped post-independence Bangladesh.

All 16 Members Named in the Condolence Motion: Former Jatiya Party Member of Parliament Syed Mohammad Kaiser, former BNP Member of Parliament and State Minister Professor M. A. Mannan, former BNP MP G. M. Fazlul Haque, former MP for Manikganj-1 A.B.M. Anwarul Haque, former Technocrat Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed, former MP and Bir Muktijoddha Md. Shamsuddoha, former Jatiya Party MP Abu Nur Mohammad Bahaul Haque, former BNP MP Dewan Shamsul Abedin, former Jatiya Party MP and former Deputy Minister Golam Sarwar Milon, former MP for Mymensingh-4 Moslem Uddin, MP for Chattogram-1 and Bir Muktijoddha Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, former MP for Munshiganj-2 and former State Minister Mizanur Rahman Sinha, former MP for Thakurgaon-2 Md. Dabirul Islam, former MP for Bhola-1 and Bir Muktijoddha Tofail Ahmed, former MP for Moulvibazar-2 and Bir Muktijoddha Md. Abdul Matin, and former MP for Dhaka-11 A.K.M. Rahmat Ullah.

The condolence motion is a formal parliamentary tradition in which the house collectively mourns the passing of sitting or former members. Sunday's motion — the first of the second session — was notable for the number of Liberation War veterans included, with four of the 16 holding the Bir Muktijoddha distinction.