QABM Rahman

QABM Rahman was born on 1 February 1935 in Faridpur, in what was then Bengal in British India. In 1945, as a child, he was introduced to the young student leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Bhanga Ghat in Faridpur, when the boat carrying Sheikh Mujib, who was being taken into custody by the British authorities for his anti-colonial activities, stopped there. The Business Standard reported that the encounter inspired in him a lifelong commitment to Bengali nationalism and the struggle for independence.

He chose a career at sea and completed pre-sea training at HMS Conway, the British merchant navy training ship.

Rahman joined British India Shipping as a cadet in the 1950s and went on to earn his Master Mariner's Certificate. He returned to what was then East Pakistan and joined the East Pakistan Shipping Corporation as marine superintendent, and later served as secretary and planning director of the inland water transport authority.

In early 1971 he went to India to join the Mujibnagar government, the provisional government of Bangladesh during the Liberation War. On 18 December 1971 he was one of eight senior officials sent from Calcutta to Dhaka as representatives of the Mujibnagar government, with the task of establishing control over key installations. In that advance party, led by Cabinet Secretary Ruhul Quddus, he served as Director of Ports, Shipping and Inland Waterways. He was first director and later director general of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority.

On his initiative the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation was established in 1972, and he became its first chairman and managing director. Fellow mariners credited him with procuring the corporation's first ship and national flagship, Banglar Doot, with signing a UK and continent liner agreement so that the corporation's ships could earn foreign currency, and with keeping the country's Marine Academy under civilian control after independence.

He later served as regional adviser for Asia and the Pacific at the International Maritime Organization in Bangkok, Thailand. After returning to Bangladesh he was chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation, and for a time he ran a ship chartering business with close associates.

Rahman was a lifelong supporter of the Bengali language and culture movement and a devoted admirer of Rabindranath Tagore. He was known for his poetry recitations and supported Bengali cultural activities, institutions and artists throughout his life, notably as a prominent donor and patron of Chhayanaut and Surer Dhara. He considered promoting Bengali music, poetry, dance and literature among his greatest achievements.

He was survived by his sons, Manzur and Mustafizur, his brother Maqsudur, his sisters Nazma and Nasim, his granddaughter Hashi, and many nephews, nieces, grand-nephews and grand-nieces.

Captain QABM Rahman died on the morning of 1 November 2026, aged 91. His death was reported the same day by The Business Standard in Dhaka. The cause of death and the place of death had not been made public at the time of reporting, and funeral details were not reported.

Rahman is remembered as a pioneer of Bangladesh's maritime sector, one of the officials who set up the first civil administration of the new state in December 1971, and the founding head of the Bangladesh Shipping Corporation. In 2022 the government awarded him the Ekushey Padak in the Liberation War category, recognising both his wartime service and his support for Bengali culture. He also received the Nautical Institute Crest.