Shawkat Ali

Col. Shawkat Ali (27 January 193716 November 2020) He was one of the accused in the historic Agartala Conspiracy Case and a freedom fighter in the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

Early life

Ali was born in Shariatpur, British India (now in Bangladesh), to Munshi Mobarak and Maleka Begum. He was the eldest son among nine children. He passed his matriculation from Khepupara High School in 1953. He completed his Intermediate of Commerce from Jaganath College in 1956. While studying at Jaganath College, he joined the Police Directorate as a lower division assistant due to a financial crisis. Later he joined the Secretariat at the same rank. In 1958 he completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Dhaka University. In the same year, he joined the Pakistan Army. Shawkat completed his LL.B. from Comilla Law College under the University of Dhaka in 1958.

He joined the Officers Training School as a cadet of the 7th Officers Training School Course in 1958. He was commissioned in the Ordnance Corps of the Pakistan Army on 24 January 1959. He was first posted to Ordnance Depot Quetta. In 1962 he was posted to Central Ordnance Depot Rawalpindi. Later he served as the commanding officer of the 94th Independent Ammunition Depot in Comilla Cantonment. In February 1967, he was posted to Ordnance School as an Instructor.

Agartala Conspiracy Case

Ali was a captain in 1968 when he was Accused No. 26 of the 35 implicated in the Agartala Conspiracy Case as a conspirator to secede East Pakistan from Pakistan. Initially, he was supposed to be tried before a court-martial, but the government of Pakistan felt they would benefit more from a civil trial.

Time in the Bangladesh Army

After Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan and the war broke out, Ali was reinstated into the army after the formation of the Bangladesh Forces in 1971 to fight the Bangladesh Liberation War. When Speaker Abdul Hamid was acting president and later elected president, Ali was acting speaker of the National Parliament.

During his time as the deputy speaker, Ali chaired many sessions of the parliament when speaker Abdul Hamid was absent.

Personal life

Ali authored two books, one in English and the other in Bangla, both about the Agartala Conspiracy Case.