Kazi Abdul Kader

Kazi Abdul Kader (1916–2002) was a Bangladeshi politician. In addition to serving as a member of the Jatiya Sangsad, he served as a minister of East Pakistan and a member of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly during the Pakistan period.

Early life Kader was born in 1916 in Shaulmari, Rangpur District, Bengal Presidency, British India (in the present-day Jaldhaka Upazila, Nilphamari District, Bangladesh). He received his education at Rangpur's Carmichael College. Alongside serving as an adviser to the Jute Committee of the Bengal Government, he also served as a director of the Provincial Cooperative Bank. He founded a school in Kaimari. He joined the Pakistan Movement in support of the demand for Pakistan. After the partition of India in 1947, he became a director of the East Pakistan Cooperative Jute Mills. He also served as vice-chairman of the Central Jute Committee and chairman of the East Pakistan Fisheries Development Corporation.

Political career Kader contested the 1962 provincial election and was elected as a member of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly.

In the new cabinet formed in 1965, he was appointed to the same position. In 1966, a case was filed against him on charges of corruption during his tenure as a minister. He later joined the Qayyum Muslim League (PMLQ) and served as the chief organiser of its East Pakistan branch. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he helped organize the anti-Bangladesh Razakar forces in Jaldhaka. He openly supported and assisted the Pakistan Army during the war. Following the independence of Bangladesh, the government of Bangladesh revoked his citizenship. He later joined the Bangladesh Muslim League (BML), founded in 1976, and was elected its president. Later, a faction under his leadership split from the BML and formed a separate political party.