Nurul Islam Hasib
Ambassador Syed Muazzem Ali, one of Bangladesh’s ‘brightest’ diplomats who served the nation with ‘deep commitment, loyalty and patriotism’, died on Monday. He was 75 years old. President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed their deep shock and sorrow at the passing away of this seasoned diplomat and former foreign secretary who just returned from New Delhi on December 19 after completing his assignment as the High Commissioner of Bangladesh.
He joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1968. But in 1971 he declared his allegiance to the Bangladesh government in exile and faced defection. He also helped the Bangladesh government in 1999, while serving in Paris as the Permanent Representative of UNESCO, to establish the International Mother Language Day on February 21, the language martyred day.
Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar also expressed his shock and tweeted ‘he was a good friend and a strong partner for so many of us’. The prime minister went to the Combined Military Hospital, where he died at around 12pm due to old-age complicacies, to have her last glimpses. She talked to his wife and consoled them as well.
All Members and Honorary Members of the Association of Former BCS (Foreign Affairs) Ambassadors (AOFA) expressed their sorrow and recalled him as the ‘most respected mentor for several generations of Bangladeshi diplomats, who, today, carry the responsibility of representing the country abroad with great success’.
“We the members of AOFA are truly proud to have been his colleagues, associates and friends,” they said in a statement. Born on July 18 in 1944 in Sylhet, Ambassador Ali obtained Master’s Degree in Science from the University of Dhaka with first class. He actively worked in mobilising support for Bangladesh among influential Americans as well as among the expatriate Bangladeshis in the US in 1971.
As a founding member of the Bangladesh Mission in Washington DC, Ali was active in the lobbying process for political support for Bangladesh’s independence movement. After the independence, he was directly involved in working towards US recognition of Bangladesh as well as the US, World Bank and UN participation in the massive reconstruction efforts in war-ravaged Bangladesh (1971-1975).
Ambassador Ali served in Bangladesh Missions in Warsaw (1977-78), Permanent Mission to the UN in New York (1982-86) and New Delhi (1986-88). He served as Consul General in Jeddah (1988-91), as Ambassador in Bhutan (1991-92), Iran (1995-98, concurrently also to Syria, Lebanon and Turkmenistan), France (1998-2000, concurrently also to Portugal).
In Paris, he was also Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO. In that capacity, he tabled a draft resolution on behalf of Bangladesh for the proclamation of February 21 as the International Mother Language Day. He spearheaded the lobbying efforts and its unanimous adoption by the UNESCO General Conference in 1999.
As Foreign Secretary, Ali worked for the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the South Asian region and beyond. His batch mate Ambassador Mohammed Zamir was overwhelmed to learn his demise. Ambassador Zamir was in Brussels when Ali was in Paris. He recalled how they worked closely to get the international recognition of February 21.
“I knew him for last 50 years. It’s too sudden. We knew each other since 1968. We joined together. Last 51 years we were very close. It’s a great loss for the country,” he told Bangladesh Post. Since Bangladesh was the Chairman of the LDC group at that time, according to AOFA, he coordinated the move that led to duty- and quota-free access of LDC exports to the EU at the Third UN LDC Conference.
He also worked for the emergence of Bangladesh as the largest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping operations. Specialising in multilateral diplomacy, he has represented and led Bangladesh delegations to various Senior Officials’, Ministerial, and Summit-level meetings of the UN, UNESCO, Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), Commonwealth, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Group of 77, and World Bank’s Development Forum (earlier know an Consortium) Meetings.
He also served in many important capacities at the Headquarters at different times and retired as Foreign Secretary in 2001. Subsequently he was recalled to active service and posted as High Commissioner to India from November 2014 to December 2019. “While we are all deeply saddened at his passing, we would like to celebrate his life and cherish and remember with great affection the memories of our long association with this most beloved member of the AOFA family,” AOFA said in its statement.
“Ambassador Syed Muazzem Ali, one of Bangladesh’s brightest diplomats, served the nation with deep commitment loyalty and patriotism.” He attached “high importance to training and mentoring of our young diplomats and devoted considerable effort in this regard.
“We the members of AOFA are truly proud to have been his colleagues, associates and friends. The void left by the passing of Ambassador Syed Muazzem Ali will never be filled. “He will always shine bright in our memories as a constant source of inspiration.” President Abdul Hamid mourned the death and in his message said: “His death is really irreparable for the country . . . The nation will remember him for long with due respect”.
The Prime Minister in a condolence message recalled with ‘gratitude’ the outstanding role of Muazzem Ali to the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971. “Death of such a diplomat is an irreparable loss to the country and the nation,” she added. The Prime Minister prayed for eternal peace of his departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members.
Ali came from a distinguished literary family of Greater Bengal. His father, late Syed Mustafa Ali, and uncle late Syed Murtaza Ali, served in the Assam Civil Service prior to 1947, and also wrote several books and articles. His youngest uncle late Syed Mujtoba Ali is a distinguished writer of Bengali literature. His eldest brother Late SM Ali (Syed Mohammad Ali) was one of the most well-known Bangladeshi journalists in the international arena.
His father-in-law late Chowdhury Imamuzaman served in the Assam Engineering Service prior to 1947. His wife Tuhfa Zaman Ali obtained her MA from Dhaka University and MPhil from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He is survived by two sons and grandchildren. He will be laid to rest on January 1, according to family sources. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam also expressed their condolences at his demise.
