Bot at 21:34, 4 November 2022

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{{short description|Bangladeshi politician and former freedom fighter}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Abdul Kader Siddique
| native_name = আবদুল কাদের সিদ্দিকী
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Abdul Kader Siddique cropped).jpg
| caption = Siddique in 2017
| office = Member of Parliament - [[Tangail-8]]
| term_start = 1996
| term_end = 1999
| term_start1 = 2001
| term_end1 = 2008
| predecessor = [[Humayun Khan Panni]]
| successor = [[Shawkat Momen Shahjahan]]
| predecessor1 = [[Shawkat Momen Shahjahan]]
| successor1 = [[Shawkat Momen Shahjahan]]
| party = [[Krishak Sramik Janata League]] {{small|(since 1999)}}
| otherparty = [[Bangladesh Awami League]] {{small|(1996-1999)}}
| branch = [[File:Flag of the Mukti Bahini-DeFacto.svg|25px]]
[[Mukti Bahini]]
| battles = [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]
| awards = [[Bir Uttom]]
| spouse = Nasrin Siddique
| relatives = [[Abdul Latif Siddiqui]] (brother)<ref name=latif>{{Cite news|url=https://bdnews24.com/politics/2015/10/13/kader-siddiques-nomination-cancelled-his-party-calls-tangail-shutdown-for-wednesday|title=Kader Siddique's nomination cancelled, his party calls Tangail shutdown for Wednesday|access-date=2018-08-21}}</ref>
}}

'''Abdul Kader Siddique''' ({{lang-bn|আবদুল কাদের সিদ্দিকী}}) is a Bangladeshi politician. He is popularly known under the title of '''Bangabir'''. He served as a Mukti Bahini member and organizer of the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]]. He fought with an estimated 17,000-strong guerrilla force in the Tangail region against the [[Pakistan Army]].<ref name="May_71">Brian May, "Indian Army Arrests 'Tiger of Tangail' After Dacca Bayoneting", ''The Times'', December 21, 1971, pg. 4.</ref> The army was called ''[[Kaderia Bahini]]'' (Kader's Army). At the end of the war, on 16 December 1971, Siddique's forces entered [[Dhaka]] along with the Indian forces, signaling the end of the war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ahmed |first=Helal Uddin |year=2012 |chapter=Mukti Bahini |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mukti_Bahini |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> He was awarded [[Bir Uttom]] by the [[Government of Bangladesh]]. Since 1999, he has been serving as the leader of his own-formed party [[Krishak Sramik Janata League]].<ref name=obaidul/>

==Career==
During the [[Bangladesh Liberation war]], he formed [[Kader Bahini]] to fight against the Pakistan military. The Kader Bahini, as it is said, had 17 thousand personnel. He was loyal to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bzCOAAAAMAAJ|title=State, development, and political culture: Bangladesh and India|last1=De|first1=Barun|last2=Samāddāra|first2=Raṇabīra|publisher=Har-Anand Publications|year=1997|pages=137|isbn=9788124104552|language=en}}</ref> He and his unit fought mostly in Tangail District.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/country/valour-three-teenage-freedom-fighters-1553341|title=Valour of three teenage freedom fighters|date=2018-03-26|website=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>

After the Independence of Bangladesh, Siddique went back to his home town of [[Tangail]] where he enjoyed considerable patronage from the Awami League, the party of Prime Minister [[Mujibur Rahman]].<ref name="Lifschultz_64">{{cite book|title=Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution|last=Lifschultz|first=Lawrence|date=1979|publisher=Zed Press|isbn=0-905762-07-X|page=64|quote=Kader Siddiqui appalled both Bengalis and foreigners when, in public, shortly after the liberation of Dacca, he personally bayoneted three alleged collaborators to death. The entire incident was filmed from start to finish by foreign film crews whom he had invited to the spectacle. He returned to Tangail after independence and became the recipient of substantial Awami League patronage. Following the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975, Siddiqui and his followers began to offer resistance to the post-coup authorities headed by Khondakar Mustaque. Elements identifying themselves with Siddiqui gradually withdrew to India and, with the active and direct assistance of the Indian Government's Border Security Force, set up training camps in the Assam border area.}}</ref>

After the assassination of Mujibur Rahman in 1975, Siddiqui and his followers organised attacks on the authorities of [[Khondakar Mushtaque]]'s government. Elements loyal to Siddiqui operated from bases in [[Assam]] province in India and were actively supported by India's [[Border Security Force]].<ref name="Lifschultz_64"/> In the insurgency against the military government of Bangladesh 104 rebels were killed and more than 500 were injured. The insurgency lasted more than two years.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.banglainsider.com/feature/3173/Those-who-protested-that-day|title=Those who protested that day|last=Ltd|first=Banglainsider|website=en.banglainsider.com|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref> He was tried by a military court on 24 July 1978 and sentenced to 7 years in jail. He was sentenced to life imprisoned on revolt and murder charges. He was accused of killing a major and a number of soldiers of [[Bangladesh Army]] after the [[Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] following the [[15 August 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6acba38.html|title=Refworld {{!}} Bangladesh: Information on Mr. Abdul Kader Siddiqi (Siddique/Siddiqui)|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|website=Refworld|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref> On 16 December 1990, he returned to Bangladesh from self imposed exile in India. He was arrested in Bangladesh on 17 January 1991.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mDluAAAAMAAJ|title=The Generals of Pakistan and Bangladesh|last=Ahmad|first=Borhanuddin|date=1993-01-01|publisher=Vikas Publishing House|isbn=9780706968590|pages=186|language=en}}</ref>

Siddique was elected member of the parliament of Bangladesh from different constituencies of Tangail.

In 1996, Siddique was elected to Parliament as a Bangladesh Awami League candidate from Tangail-8.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/election/2018/11/26/4-siddique-brothers-to-contest-from-tangail-constituencies|title=4 Siddique brothers to contest from Tangail constituencies|date=2018-11-26|website=Dhaka Tribune|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref> In 1999, Siddique was expelled from Awami League. He then resigned from the parliament and formed his own party [[Krishak Sramik Janata League]].<ref name=obaidul>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/awami-league-secretary-obaidul-quader-holds-talks-with-kader-siddique-nazmul-huda-1611559|title=Quader holds talks with Kader Siddique|date=2018-07-26|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-08-21|language=en}}</ref> This triggered a by-election, which he lost to the Bangladesh Awami League candidate, [[Shawkat Momen Shahjahan|Shawakat Momen Shahjahan]]. Siddique was elected to parliament from Tangail 8 in 2001 Bangladesh General Election as a candidate of Krishak Sramik Janata League.<ref name=":0" /> On 17 October 2006 his rally was attacked by Bangladesh Chhatra League activists leaving 11 injured in [[Jamalpur District]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/2006/10/17/d61017070164.htm|title=Kader Siddiqui's rallies attacked in Jamalpur|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>

A court in Dhaka issued an arrest warrant for Siddique on 11 November 2014 over a defamation case for calling Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir Alamgir, Minister of Home Affairs, a Razzakar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/arrest-warrant-for-kader-siddique-49804|title=Arrest warrant for Kader Siddique|date=2014-11-11|website=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/arrest-warrant-issued-against-kader-siddique-49866|title=Arrest warrant issued against Kader Siddique|date=2014-11-12|website=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>

In 2017, [[Bangladesh High Court]] disqualified Siddique from contesting a by-election from [[Tangail-4]] because he had defaulted on a loan. He tried to contest the [[2018 Bangladeshi general election|2018 Bangladesh General Election]] from Tangail-4 and [[Tangail-8]] but his candidacy was rejected by [[Bangladesh Election Commission]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/election/2018/12/02/kader-siddique-s-nomination-rejected|title=Kader Siddique's candidacy rejected|date=2018-12-02|website=Dhaka Tribune|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref> He, along with his party, joined the Jatiya Oikyafront to contest the election against the Bangladesh Awami League alliance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/kader-siddique-joins-jatiya-oikyafront-bangladesh-1656487|title=Kader joins Oikyafront|date=2018-11-05|website=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/348200|title=Kader Siddique joins Oikya Front|website=Daily Sun|language=en|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref> His daughter, Kuri Siddique, also applied for nomination from Tangail-8 in case his candidacy was rejected.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/election/2018/11/28/kader-siddique-and-daughter-submit-nomination-forms-in-tangail-8|title=Kader Siddique and daughter submit nomination forms in Tangail 8|date=2018-11-28|website=Dhaka Tribune|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref> The Election Commission rejected the appeal filed by Siddique, challenging the cancellation of his nomination on 8 December 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/election/2018/12/08/ec-rejects-kader-siddique-s-appeal|title=EC rejects Kader Siddique's appeal|date=2018-12-08|website=Dhaka Tribune|access-date=2019-01-11}}</ref>

==Controversy==
According to a report in ''[[The Times]]'', Siddique and his guerrillas beat up and subsequently bayoneted and shot to death a group of prisoners (who they claimed were members of the [[Razakars (Bangladesh)|Razakars]]) after a rally held near Dhaka Stadium on 19 December 1971.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mukti Bahini Bayonet Prisoners After Prayers|last=Stanhope|first=Henry|date=December 20, 1971|newspaper=The Times|location=London|page=4|quote=The leader of the Mukti Bahini ... took part, casually beating the prisoners with has swagger stick before borrowing a bayonet to lunge at one of the trussed-up men. The leader, Mr Abdul Qader Siddiqui, ... had only 10 minutes before promised the prisoners a fair trial 'as in any civilized country'. Mr Siddiqui ... had earlier haranged [sic] a crowd of 8,000 for nearly an hour ... The rally ended with Islamic prayers in which the prisoners ... joined their captors in offering praise to Allah ... First [the remains of the crowd] began beating up the prisoners, whom they dubbed razakars and who were bound like chickens ... Mr Saddiqui's Mukti guards ... fixed bayonets and charged at the prisoners ... They stabed [sic] them through the neck, the chest, the stomach. One of the guards, dismayed at having no bayonet, shot one of the prisoners in the stomach with his sten gun.}}</ref> Siddique personally bayoneted three prisoners to death and the entire incident was filmed by foreign film crews whom Siddique invited to witness the spectacle.<ref name="Lifschultz_64" /> Siddique was subsequently arrested by the Indian Army.<ref name="May_71" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/independence-day-special-2017/the-tangail-landings-signal-victory-1381231|title=THE TANGAIL LANDINGS A signal for victory|date=2017-03-26|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-08-20|language=en}}</ref> Siddique discussed his involvement in the murders in an interview with [[Yasmin Saikia]], the author of ''Women, War and Making Bangladesh: Remembering 1971''. After describing an event in which Siddiqui shot a Mukti Bahini soldier for stealing a shawl from a civilian, Saikia states, referring to the Dhaka stadium incident, that 'at the time he did not think of his act as a crime against humanity, being swayed by the Bengali public sentiment for revenge. Today he knows that both...were violent acts, and he is pained by his past'.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YdQaz1ddI-wC&pg=PA257|title=Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971|last=Saikia|first=Yasmin|date=2011|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-5038-5|page=257}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Siddique is married to Nasrin Siddique.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2014/11/13/wanted-kader-siddiqui-waiting-for-police-at-home|title=Wanted Kader Siddiqui waiting for police at home|access-date=2018-08-21|date=2014-11-13|work=bdnews24.com}}</ref> His elder brother [[Abdul Latif Siddiqui]] is also an Awami League politician who served as the member of parliament and the minister of [[Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology|Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology]].<ref name=latif/> He, too, was expelled from the party in 2015.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/latif-expelled-from-al-47261|title=Latif expelled from AL|date=2014-10-25|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-08-21|language=en}}</ref> Their other two younger brothers are Murad Siddiqui and Azad Siddiqui.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-66068|title=Four Siddiqui brothers to run in Tangail-3,4,5,8|date=2008-12-04|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-08-21|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Bir Uttom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddique, Abdul Kader}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Mukti Bahini personnel]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Bir Uttom]]
[[Category:8th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:Awami League politicians]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:7th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:People from Tangail District]]

Abdul Kader Siddique - Revision history

Bot at 21:34, 4 November 2022