People from all walks of life brought out a joyous procession in Pabna district town at ruling party Awami League's nomination of Md Shahabuddin Chuppu, a proud son of the soil, as the 22nd president of Bangladesh.
The nomination leaves only the formality of the retired judge being declared as president on February 19th, the date set for the presidential election, with no other candidates in the fray.
District unit Awami League organised the procession in the morning from the Awami League office which ended at the same place after parading different important places.
They also distributed sweets among the local people including rickshawpullers, van pullers and shopkeepers.
Rezaul Rahim Lal, President of the district unit Awami League, said: “It’s a great day for Pabna residents.”
He also thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for providing a party ticket to Shahabuddin as the next president of the country.
Md Shahabuddin was born in Pabna in 1949 and was one of the first members of Pabna district Chhatra League, Awami League’s student wing. He would eventually become the unit’s president.
In 1971, he was the convenor of the Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Sangram Parishad in Pabna, and took part in the Liberation War.
He became the president of the Pabna district Jubo League in 1974.
He was imprisoned for three years following the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975. He was later appointed as the Law Ministry’s coordinator in the Bangabandhu assassination case.
In 1982, he joined the BCS (Judicial) Department, and in 1995, he was elected General Secretary of the Judicial Service Association.
He served as the chairman of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, which investigated murders, rapes, thefts, and other crimes by BNP-Jamaat alliance’s activists and leaders following the 2001 general election.
He also worked as a District and Sessions Judge and retired in 2006. He was a commissioner at the Anti-Corruption Commission from 2011 to 2016. During this period, he headed the investigation into the alleged 'conspiracy of corruption' surrounding the Padma Bridge, that cleared all government officials of the charges laid on by the World Bank, which pulled out of the project.
During the last National Council of Bangladesh Awami League, held in 2022, he served as the election commissioner.
He earned his LLB from Rajshahi University in 1975, after completing his MSc from the same institution in a different subject.
Md Shahabuddin’s wife Dr Rebecca Sultana, is a former joint secretary of the government. They have one son together.
He obtained SSC from Government Edward College and used to live near Jubilee Tank in Pabna district town.
Since 2017, he has served on the board of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, as an independent director nominated by Chittagong-based JMC Builders, after it completed buying more than 2 percent of the company's shares. He was last serving as vice-chairman of the board, and was part of its Audit Committee.
He was a member of the Awami League's advisory council, and following the death of H.T. Imam, served as chairman of the party's Publicity and Publications Sub-committee.
Source: United News of Bangladesh