Former Speaker Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar Dies
Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar. Photo: Collected
Former Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad and senior member of the BNP Standing Committee, Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar, has died.
He breathed his last at 4:19 am on Sunday. BNP leader Barrister Nasir Uddin Asim confirmed his death.
He had been undergoing treatment at Bangladesh Specialized Hospital in the capital’s Shyamoli area due to age-related illnesses.
Earlier on Saturday night, Deputy Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Barrister Qaiser Kamal visited the hospital and inquired about the health condition of former President and former Speaker Barrister Jamir Uddin Sircar.
Barrister Muhammad Jamir Uddin Sircar was a prominent Bangladeshi lawyer, politician and former speaker. He served as the Speaker of the Eighth Jatiya Sangsad from 2001 to 2009.
Following the resignation of President Professor A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury in 2002, he also served as the acting President of Bangladesh until a new president was elected. He was one of the founding leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and served for many years as a member of the party’s Standing Committee.
Muhammad Jamir Uddin Sircar was born on Dec. 1, 1931, in Nayabari village of Tetulia upazila in the then Jalpaiguri district, now Panchagarh district. His father was Maulvi Ali Box and his mother was Begum Fakhrunnesa.
After earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from the University of Dhaka, he completed his LLB degree. He joined the legal profession in 1960 and went to the United Kingdom in 1961, where he obtained his Barrister-at-Law degree from Lincoln’s Inn in London. After returning home, he practiced constitutional, civil and criminal law at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh with distinction.
In his political career, he was first involved in student politics. Later, he played an active role in the political initiatives of President Ziaur Rahman and became one of the founding members of the BNP and a member of its Standing Committee after the party’s establishment.
He was elected a member of parliament several times and served at different times as minister for important portfolios, including land, education, law, justice and parliamentary affairs.
