Veteran Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed passed away at a hospital in the capital on Monday. He was 82.

Tofail Ahmed, a key figure in Bangladesh's Liberation War and the 1969 mass uprising, breathed his last around 4 pm at Square Hospital, according to his family sources.

He was an 8-time Member of Parliament representing the Bhola-1, Bhola-2 and Bakerganj-1 constituencies during 1973–2024.

He also served as the Minister of Commerce and Minister of Industries.

Tofail Ahmed, a member of Awami League Advisory Council, is survived by his only daughter Dr Taslima Ahmed Zaman Munni. His wife Anwara Ahmed died on November 20 last year.

Tofail’s namaz-e-janaza will be held at Dhanmondi's Taqwa Mosque after Maghrib prayers today.

Later, the body will be kept at the morgue of Square Hospital. The body will be taken to Bhola on Tuesday either by a helicopter or in a refrigerated hearse, according to family sources.

After Zuhr prayers on Tuesday, another janaza will be held at the Bhola District School ground  after which he will be laid to rest at the family graveyard.

Tofail Ahmed, born on October 22, 1943, was one of the organizers of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and acted as one of the chiefs of Bangladesh Liberation Front.

Ahmed joined the Awami League (now party activities banned) and in support of the 1966 Six point movement and was involved in the 1969 mass uprising in East Pakistan as a student leader. He was the vice-president of Dhaka University Central Students' Union.

Besides that, after 1975, he spent about five years in jails of Dhaka, Mymensing, Sylhet, Cumilla, Barishal, Kushtia and Rajshahi.

He was a veteran Parliamentarian and earned the love and respect of Parliament Members and people from all walks of life for his speeches in parliamentary debate on various national issues.

He was the Minister for Commerce and Industries from June1996 to December, 1999. He continued as the Minister for Industries up to 2001, Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Industry from 2009-2013. He was also Minister for Housing & Public Works and Industries from November 2013 to January 2014.

He continued as the Minister for Commerce Ministry from January 2014 to December 2018. In 1970, Ahmed was a political secretary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.