Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury

Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury (; 1906 – 15 April 1966) was a politician, journalist, footballer and writer from erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh, who served in the political spheres of British India and Pakistan.

Early life and education Chowdhury was born at Guthuma village in Feni district in 1906. His father, Mohammad Nurullah, was a munsiff. He passed Matriculation in 1922 from Chittagong Municipal School and ISc from Chittagong College in 1924. He then graduated from Calcutta Islamia College in 1928.

Sports administration Bahar moved to East Pakistan after the Partition of India. He served as the president of the Dhaka Sports Association (DSA) shortly after partition. In January 1951, after the DSA was renamed East Pakistan Sports Association (EPSA), he served as its president. On 20 May 1951, he merged the EPSA with the East Pakistan Sports Federation (EPSF) and began serving as the president of the reintroduced EPSF. In 1952, the EPSF successfully hosted the National Football Championship in Dacca, which became Bahar's biggest success as its president.

Career In 1933, Chowdhury took up journalism and along with his sister, Shamsunnahar Mahmud, published the literary journal "Bulbul". Chowdhury actively joined politics as an activist of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League, and was elected a member of its executive committee in 1937. In 1944, he was elected publicity secretary of the League. He was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly from the Parshuram constituency of Feni district. Together they had 4 daughters – Selina Bahar Zaman, Shaheen Westcombe, Nasreen Shams and Tazeen Chowdhury and one son - Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury. Chowdhury's grandfather, Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz, an educationist, had a close relationship with poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.

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