Farhad, Mohammad
Farhad, Mohammad (1938-1987) politician. He was born on 5 July 1938 at village Boda in Panchagarh district. His father Sadaqatul Bari was a teacher and his mother was Taiabunnesa. While a student in Dinajpur Surendranath College, Mohammad Farhad joined left movement. He was the general secretary and later president of college students union. After his graduation from Surendranath College he got himself admitted in Dhaka University. He obtained MA degree in Political Science in 1961.
Mohammad Farhad was involved with the activities of the secret revolutionary party in Dinajpur. After the promulgation of 92A in 1954, the Pakistan government launched a drive to make indiscriminate arrests of the political leaders and activists. Mohammad Farhad was thus arrested and suffered imprisonment for eight months. After his release, Farhad was formally assigned with works for the underground party.
Mohammead Farhad was one of the architects of the anti-Ayub student movement in 1962 and that was the beginning of his rise to national politics. After getting MA degree from the Dhaka University Mohammad Farhad worked for sometime in the Daily Sangbad, but could not settle in the profession of journalism due to his political commitments. He was elected a member of the Dhaka district secretarial board of the secret communist party, and in 1966 elected the organizer of central committee of the Party. Under his leadership, the student forum of the party, Chhatra Union, began to flourish fast. Consequent upon the China-Soviet conflict in the socialist bloc, the left movement in this country, as it happened to most other third world countries, was also divided into two blocs, and in 1965 divisions were also visible in student and mass organisations of every country aspiring to bringing socialist revolutions or transitions. Mohammad Farhad emerged as a leader of the Moscow backed group of the party. He had vital role in preparing the ground for involvement of the communists in the National Liberation Movement led by Bangabandhu sheikh mujibur rahman.
Mohammad Farhad was elected a member of the central secretariat in the first congress of the Communist Party held in October 1968. He played vital role in promoting the student movement and trade union activities under the banner of the party. Mohammad Farhad, in fact, acted as a strong bridge between the dedicated veteran leaders and activists of the new generation of the progressive movement.
During the war of liberation in 1971 Mohammad Farhad was the commander of the combined guerilla force formed of the activists of Communist Party, NAP and Student Union. In the wake of the liberation of Bangladesh, the Communist Party had an opportunity to openly work and conduct their political activities. In the second Congress of the Communist Party held in 1973 Mohammad Farhad was elected the general secretary of the Party. He suffered imprisonment a number of times during the period since the killing of Bangabandhu. In 1977 the government banned the Communist Party and Mohammad Farhad was put behind the bar. In July 1978, he was released under an order of the Supreme Court. In the backdrop of the movement of the lower grade government employees in March 1980, the government arrested him, and began his trial in the special tribunal. He was released again by an order of the Supreme Court in August 1981.
Mohammad Farhad had played vital role in organizing the combined movement of the 15-Party alliance and 7-Party alliance against the autocratic rule of General Ershad in 1987. He was elected a member of the Jatiya Sangsad in 1986 as a candidate of 15-Party alliance. He died on 7 October 1987 while under treatment in Mosco.
Mohammad Farhad wrote a number of political articles, and most of them were under pseudonym. His only work published is titled Unsatturer Gana-Abhyutthan. [Mofidul Huq]
