On this day in 1925, he was born in Dardaria village under Kapasia thana in Gazipur district.

Tajuddin Ahmad will be best remembered and revered for playing a pioneer role against the then West Pakistan by forming the first government of Bangladesh at the most critical moment of the Bangalee nation in 1971 in absence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Involved in politics since his student life, Tajuddin played a key role in the Language Movement of 1952. He had been the general secretary of Dhaka district Awami League (AL) from 1953 to 1957. He was also involved in formulating the historic six-point demand of Awami League in 1966.

After the independence of the country, Tajuddin also served as the finance and planning minister till October 26, 1974.

After the cruel assassination of Bangabandhu along with his family members in 1975, Tajuddin Ahmad was kept in house arrest and later shifted to jail. On November 3, he was brutally killed inside the jail along with three other national leaders of the country--Syed Nazrul Islam, Captain M Mansur Ali and AHM Qamaruzzaman.

"The countrymen always remember Tajuddin Ahmad with gratitude for his great contribution to every event of the country's independence," AL Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed said yesterday while addressing a discussion organised by the Bangabandhu Sanskritik Jote (BSJ) on the eve of Tajuddin's birth anniversary.

Tajuddin Ahmad played an active role in all the historical planning and decisions of Bangabandhu as his closest associate, Tofail asserted at the discussion held at the Liberation War Museum in the city.

"The evil forces killed Tajuddin Ahmad because they believed that killing Bangabandhu was not enough to exterminate the Awami League," Tofail Ahmed viewed.

He called upon general people to be strongly united to free the country from "the clutches of the present failed government" and materialise the dream of a happy Bangladesh envisioned by both Bangabandhu and Tajuddin Ahmad.

Tofail Ahmed also reiterated the AL decision not to go for the next parliamentary elections unless the proposed reforms in the caretaker government system and the Election Commission (EC) are implemented.

"Tajuddin Ahmad governed the country successfully in the toughest time of the country in 1971 in absence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," AL Acting President Zillur Rahman said, adding that Tajuddin's great contributions will always show the countrymen ways to emancipation.

Simin Hossain Rimi, daughter of Tajuddin Ahmad, said the young generation has to give voice to the untold words of the deprived people of the country by following great personalities like Bangabandhu and Tajuddin Ahmad.

Presided over by BSJ President Alamgir Kumkum, the discussion was also addressed by former army chief Major General (retd) KM Shafiullah, former finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit, and Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) President Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury.