Professor Ghulam Azam is a politician, writer and thinker from Bangladesh. For decades he served as a leading political leader of Bangladesh and authored many books on Islam, politics and social justice.
Having had an active political career until his retirement, became the subject of a sustained propaganda campaign led by the current Awami League government. He was arrested on 11 January 2012 on trumped allegations of war crimes that he has always denied and for which no proof exists. International human rights organisations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the United Nations have condemned the lack of impartiality and failure to follow due process of the tribunal set up to try him. See ‘Factfile’ page for more information and relevant documents relating to his trial, Biography for a more detailed account of his life and politics.
Following a discredited trial replete with flaws and irregularities, Prof Ghulam Azam was convicted on 15 July 2013 and sentenced to imprisonment for 90 years. Appeals procedures were underway to challenge this verdict. However, sadly Prof Ghulam Azam passed away while incarcerated on 23 October 2014, prior to completion of the appeals process.
He passed away peacefully at the Intensive Care Unit of BSMMU Hospital in Dhaka following old age related health complications. His funeral took place on 25 October 2014 (1 Muharram 1436) at the Bangladesh national mosque, Baitul Mokarram, in Dhaka with hundreds of thousands in attendance. The funeral has been described as the largest funeral in the nation’s history. Prof Ghulam Azam was then buried at his family graveyard at Moghbazaar, Dhaka. He was laid to rest next to his beloved father, Maulana Ghulam Kabir.
Funeral of Prof Ghulam Azam taken from outside Baitul Mokarram Mosque, Dhaka.
Professor Ghulam Azam 