Habibullah Bahar Chowdhury (1906 – 15 April 1966) was a Pakistani politician, journalist, sportsman and writer from erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh, who served in the political spheres of British India and Pakistan.[1]
Chowdhury was born at Guthuma village in Feni district in 1906. His father, Mohammad Nurullah, was a munsiff.[2] He passed Matriculation in 1922 from Chittagong Municipal School and ISc from Chittagong College in 1924. He then graduated from Calcutta Islamia College in 1928.[1]
In 1933, Chowdhury took up journalism and along with his sister, Shamsunnahar Mahmud, published the literary journal "Bulbul".[3] Chowdhury actively joined politics as an activist of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League, and was elected a member of its executive committee in 1937. In 1944, he was elected publicity secretary of the League. He was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly from the Parshuram constituency of Feni district.[1] He was the health minister of the first Muslim League cabinet in East Pakistan.[1]
After suffering a stroke, he resigned from the cabinet position in 1953. Chowdhury started writing books prior to 1947 partition. His works include "Pakistan", "Mohammad Ali Jinnah", "Omar Faruq", and "Ameer Ali".[1]
Chowdhury was married to Anwara Bahar Chowdhury (1919–1987). Anwara was a social activist and writer. She established Habibullah Bahar College in 1969 after Chowdhury's name.[4] Together they had 4 daughters – Selina Bahar Zaman, Shaheen Westcombe, Nasreen Shams and Tazeen Chowdhury and one son - Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury.[5] Chowdhury's grandfather, Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz, an educationist, had a close relationship with poet Kazi Nazrul Islam.[6]