Muhammad Habibur Rahman

Muhammad Habibur Rahman (3 December 1928 – 11 January 2014) was a Bangladeshi jurist and statesman who served as Chief Justice of Bangladesh in 1995. He was chief adviser of the 1996 caretaker government that oversaw the June 1996 Bangladeshi general election. He played a significant role in implementing Bengali in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He wrote Jathashabdo, the first thesaurus in the Bengali language.

Habibur Rahman was awarded the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1984 and the Ekushey Padak in 2007 by the government of Bangladesh. He was a Fellow of the Bangla Academy, the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, and Worcester College, Oxford.

Career Habibur Rahman began his career as a lecturer in history at Dhaka University in 1952. Later he joined the Department of Law, University of Rajshahi, where he subsequently held the office of Dean of the Faculty of Law (1961) and of Reader in History (1962–64). He changed his profession in 1964 when he took to law and joined the Dhaka High Court Bar. In his legal career, he held the offices of assistant advocate general (1969), vice president of the High Court Bar Association (1972), and member of the Bangladesh Bar Council (1972).

Literature Habibur Rahman was an author of seventy books in Bengali on law, language, literature, poetry, and religion and five books in English, including two books of verse. Law of Requisition (1966), Rabindra Prabandhey Sanjna O Parthakya Bichar (1968), Jatha-sabda (1974), Matri-bhashar Sapakshey Rabindranath (1983), Qur'an-sutra (1984), Bachan O Prabachan (1985), Gangariddhi thekey Bangladesh (1985), Rabindra Rachanar Rabindra-byaksha (1986), Rabindra-kabyey Art, Sangeet O Sahitya (1986), Koran-shorif Sorol Banganubad, On Rights and Remedies, Amara ki Jabo-na Tader Kachhey Jara Shudhu Banglai Katha Baley (1996).

Legacy Habibur Rahman made notable contributions to the Language Movement, 21 February 1952 in the then East Pakistan. He was the first person to break Section 144, led the first batch of a procession, and was arrested soon after that. On that day, the police and parliamentary forces resorted to widespread tear gas shelling, beating, and finally shooting. Consequently, several students were killed, hundreds were injured, and thousands were arrested.

Death On 11 January 2014, at the age of 85, Habibur Rahman died at United Hospital, Gulshan, Dhaka.