Education
He obtained his Bachelor of Laws from Dhaka University in 1954.
He obtained his Bachelor of Laws from Dhaka University in 1954.
Ali died on 7 June 2015. Born in 1928 in Hitampur village, Paikgacha in Khulna district, he obtained his Master of Arts in Economics from Dhaka University in 1952 and later another Master of Arts in Bengali literature from the same university. Razzak Ali actively participated in the Language Movement of 1952, mass-upsurge of 1969, the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and movement against autocracy during 1982-1990.
Teacher
Journalist
In the early 1950s, he started his career as a journalist briefly working for the then Pakistan Observer as a reporter and as a commercial editor for the Weekly Pakistan Post.
Law
He began his legal practice in the District Judges’ Court of Khulna in 1958 and was enrolled in Dhaka High Court Bar in 1963. He was also elected as the President of Jessore District Bar several terms.
As a lawyer, he became one of the leading practitioners of civil law and was a senior lawyer of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. He founded Khulna City Law College of which he acted as vice-principal.
Later, he was made principal of the college and remained in this post for 25 years.
Politician
He was elected first Vice Chairman of Banque Nationale de Paris in 1992. He was appointed State Minister for law and Justice on 20 March 1991. On the 5th of April 1991, he was elected as Deputy Speaker and was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 5th Parliament on October 12 in 1991, a position he held until 1996.
In June 1992, he attended the 1st Conference of the Speakers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Countries (Colombo, Sri Lanka) and was elected the President of Association of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Speakers and Parliamentarians.
In September of the same year, he presided over the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference held in Stockholm (Sweden) as the Vice-President. He was re-elected in 1996 as the Speaker of the 6th Parliament.
He presided over the session which passed the Caretaker Government Bill on February 15, 1996. In 2006, he resigned from the Banque Nationale de Paris to join the Liberal Democratic Party (Bangladesh) as its Executive President.
He quit politics in 2009.
Diplomat
Razzak Ali was Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom between 2002 and 2003, when he resigned from his position. Razzak Ali was the founding Principal of Khulna City Law College. He also established Sundaban College of Khulna.
He also was one of the founders of Majid Memorial City College, Khulna University, Khulna Medical College, Khulna Mahila Alia Madrasha and Hazi Foyez Uddin Secondary School.
He also founded the City Law College mosque, Hitampur Jamay mosque and Kopilmoni Shah Jafar Awlia mosque.
Razzak Ali was known for his honesty and integrity throughout his political career. After becoming Speaker he relinquished the post of party vice chairman.
He then was elected as the President of Khulna Bar in 1964 and as its General Secretary in 1972 before being elected member of the Bangladesh Bar Council in 1973. He was a founding member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (Banque Nationale de Paris), founding President of Khulna District Banque Nationale de Paris from 1979 to 1991 and also was the Member of the Banque Nationale de Paris Standing Committee. In 1979, he was elected Member of Parliament from Khulna-5 constituency and then from Khulna-2 constituency in 1991 and 1996.
He was the founding trustee of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and a founding member of the Lion’s Club Eye Hospital in Khulna.