Gazi Golam Mostafa


Gazi Golam Mostafa was a Bangladesh Awami League politician and a former member of the East Pakistan provincial assembly. He was nicknamed the "Lord of the Bastis".

Career

Mostafa was a former President and General Secretary of the Dhaka city Awami league. He supported the Janakantha newspaper with annual donations. He was a close associate of Sheikh Mujib, the first president of Bangladesh, and often said to be his right-hand man. He was a former chairman of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and the former president of Awami League's Dhaka city unit. He was known to be very tough, powerful, and free-wheeling.

Major Dalim's Abduction

In 1974, Mostafa kidnapped Major Shariful Haque Dalim and his wife from the Dhaka Ladies Club after an argument. It was Dalim's cousin's wedding reception in the Dhaka Ladies Club. Dalim's only brother-in-law Bappi was attending from Canada. Mostafa's son occupied the chair in the row behind Bappi and pulled Bappi's hair from the back. Bappi scolded the boy for his behavior and told him not to sit on the row behind him anymore. Mostafa's sons and some associates forcefully abducted Dalim, Nimmi, the groom's mother, and two of Dalim's friends in Microbuses owned by the Red Crescent. Mostafa was taking them to the Rakhi Bahini headquarters but later took them to the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Mujib mediated a compromise between them and made Mostafa apologize to Nimmi. When news of the abduction spread, the 1st Bengal Lancers ransacked Mostafa's and took his whole family prisoner. They also set up check posts all over the city searching for Major Dalim and the abductees. Some officers lost their jobs as a result. The officers involved, including Shariful Haque Dalim, were later orchestrators of the coup on 15 August 1975 and the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Imprisonment

He was jailed during the regime of General Ziaur Rahman. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment by a martial law court, and was released on 28 March 1980.

Death

He died on 19 January 1981.