Mirza Fakhrul: From left-leaning activist to Bangladesh President

Bangladesh's parliament today (20 August) elected veteran politician Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir as the 23rd President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh who made his debut in politics more than five decades ago as a left-leaning activist.

Ahead of his election to the country's highest office, largely a ceremonial post in a parliamentary form of government, 78-year-old Alamgir was serving as the LGRD and cooperatives minister alongside discharging his role as the secretary general of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Ahead of formally joining the centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Alamgir, however, served as a teacher of economics as a member of civil service's education cadre and worked for government in other capacities as an official from 1972 to 1986.

During his student life in premier Dhaka University, Alamgir joined the left-leaning East Pakistan Students Union (EPSU) and eventually became the president of its university unit during the 1969 mass upsurge against then Pakistani junta.

Alamgir studied in Dhaka College at the higher secondary level before his enrolment in Dhaka University's economics department while he completed his primary and secondary education in Thakurgaon.

 His activism led him in the arena of national politics briefly through his affiliation with Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani's National Awami Party (NAP).

The 1969 upsurge eventually led the nation towards its 1971 Liberation War when he emerged as a prominent organizer of left-leaning freedom fighters, taking refuge in India.

After the independence, Alamgir joined the teaching profession in 1972 and taught at different government colleges including his Alma mater Dhaka College while his official job required him serve as the deputy director of Directorate of Inspection and Audit.

He also served as the private secretary to the then deputy prime minister S A Bari under Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman and worked for UNESCO National Commission.

He quit the government job in 1986 to join the mainstream politics and two years later was elected as the municipal chairman, now called mayor, of his hometown Thakurgaon in northwestern Bangladesh as an independent candidate ahead of joining BNP in early 1990s.

Alamgir was born on 26 January, 1948 in Kalibari area of Thakurgaon, a northern district of Bangladesh.

Son of a prominent leader of the then Muslim League and member of erstwhile East Pakistan Provincial Assembly Mirza Ruhul Amin, Alamgir joined BNP when a mass upheaval reached its peak against autocratic regime of then president Hussain Muhammad Ershad.

Alamgir was named acting secretary general of the BNP by then party chief and former prime minister late Begum Khaleda Zia in 2011 and later was given the permanent charge of the position in 30 March, 2016.

His service in this assignment made him the longest serving secretary general of BNP, founded in 1978, until his election as the President of the republic, which required him to sever ties with the party in line with Bangladesh's Constitution.

But his assumption to position coincided with most difficult time in the party's history which saw he prolonged rule of hostile Awami League, exposing BNP to widespread repression and political hardship including imprisonment of elderly party Chairperson Begum Zia, who later became ill.

Her son and incumbent Premier Tarique Rahman was earlier forced into exile by the previous military-backed interim government called 1/11 regime in 2008.

In such a situation, Alamgir became the main visible leader on the forefront to steer the party under the guidance of then acting BNP chairman from London, despite his own imprisonment thrice. 

Ahead of becoming the secretary general, he exhausted various stages of BNP's organisational structure which previously made a member of the party's executive committee and later its senior joint secretary general.  He served as the first vice-president and president of the party's farmers' front Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal for a long time.

He was elected to parliament thrice, first in 2001 election which brought BNP to power when he became the state minister for agriculture and later the state minister for civil aviation and tourism.

Alamgir won for the second time as a lawmaker in controversial 2018 elections from a Bogra constituency under the then Awami League government.

But in line with a party decision he declined to take the oath as an MP though BNP allowed the five other party lawmakers to join the parliament and served as MPs until 2022 when they too resigned as asked by the party.

Alamgir became the LGRD and Cooperatives Minister in the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman after the February 2026 polls when BNP won two thirds majority.

His election to the highest office required Alamgir to severe his ties with BNP in line with the Constitution at an emotion choked ceremony joined as well by BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman.

Alamgir is married to Rahat Ara Begum, who studied in Calcutta University and later worked for private insurance companies, while the couple has two daughters, both involved in teaching profession at home and abroad.

His elder daughter works as a postdoctoral fellow in Sydney of Australia while the younger one teaches at an English medium school in Dhaka.

During his long career, Alamgir earned the repute of being a moderate and decent politician to be privately praised even by political opponents including Awami League leaders and activists.

Political analysts and politicians including BNP leaders welcomed his election to the highest constitutional post recalling his long-standing role during the party's difficult times and his inclusive political attitude and liberal mindset.