G. W. Choudhury

Golam Wahed Choudhury, also known as G W Choudhury was a Pakistani diplomat and academic of Bangaladeshi origin.^[1] He is regarded as traitor or 'rajakar' in Bangladesh and his citizenship was cancelled by Bangladesh government soon after her independence.

Early life

Golam Wahed Choudhury was born in 1926 at Madaripur, then British India, now Bangladesh. His mother was the daughter of Ibrahim Saber, brother of Begum Rokeya. He obtained his BA (Hons) in 1945 and MA degree in 1946, both in political science from Calcutta University.^[1]

Career

Choudhury joined the Department of International Relations in Dhaka University, then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh as lecturer but in 1948 he moved to Department of Political Science.

In 1956, he obtained his PhD from Columbia University, and continued to serve as a teacher in Dhaka University till 1967 when he joined the Director-General of the Research Division of Pakistan. Choudhury worked on Tashkent Declaration that ended the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965. He then served as Minister of Communications from 1969 to 1971, during this time he outlined plans for establishing a confederation between East and West Pakistan.

On closing days of the Indo-Pakistani War in 1971, G W Choudhury fled the newly created Bangladesh and went on exile to London. He, along with 80 other Pakistani citizens, the new Bangladesh government of Sheikh Mujib had G W Choudhury and his wife's citizenship cancelled.^[2] These times he was teaching on South Asia and Islam in various US and UK universities. He wrote 14 books, including The Last Days of United Pakistan.^[3]

Ghulam Azam, wrote in his autobiography 'Jibone ja deklam, 3rd knodo' that G W Choudhury first informed him on early morning of 15th august, 1975 by telephone that Sheikh Mujib was killed.^[2]

After 15 years of exile, he returned to Dhaka at 1985 but later joined Columbia University, as an adjunct professor from 1988 to 1994.^[3]

Death

Chowdhury died aged 71 on 13 December 1997 at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. He was survived by his wife, Dilara Choudhury, a professor of political science at Jahangirnagar University, Savar and two sons, Golam Mabud of Warren, New Jersey and Golam Sayeed of Baltimore.^[3]

He created Golam Mowla Faima Trust and established a number of charitable institutions in Madaripur district.^[1]

Selected works

Choudhury, G. W. (1963). Democracy in Pakistan. Dhaka: Green Book House. OCLC 862484.
—— (1967). Documents and Speeches on the Constitution of Pakistan. Dhaka: Green Book House. OCLC 1020813.
—— (1968). Pakistan's Relations with India, 1947-1966. Praeger. OCLC 443793.
—— (1974). The Last days of United Pakistan. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-33260-8.
—— (1975). India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Major Powers: Politics of a Divided Subcontinent. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-02-905390-4.
—— (1977). Chinese Perception of the World. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-8191-0527-1.
—— (1982). China in World Affairs: The Foreign Policy of the PRC since 1970. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-86531-329-3.
—— (1983). Islam and the Modern Muslim World. London: Scorpion. ISBN 978-0-905906-43-0.
—— (1988). Pakistan, Transition from Military to Civilian Rule. London: Scorpion. ISBN 978-0-905906-68-3.
—— (1990). Islam and the Contemporary World. London: Indus Thames. ISBN 978-1-85555-000-1.

References

1 2 3 Chowdhury, Dilara (2012). "Choudhury, Golam Wahed". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
1 2 <https://www.pdf-archive.com/2014/04/21/jibone-ja-dekhlam-part-1to3/>
1 2 3 "G. W. Ghoudhury, 71, Teacher, Diplomat. Columbia University Record, January 30, 1998". Columbia.edu. 1998-01-30. Retrieved 2016-06-25.