\Abdul Jabbar ( October 1919 – February 21, 1952) was a protester who was killed during the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 that took place in the erstwhile East Pakistan (currently Bangladesh). He is considered a martyr in Bangladesh.
Jabbar was born on October 1919 in Panchua under the Gaffargaon, Mymensingh, East Bengal, British Raj. Although he received his primary education in the local educational institution called pathsala (Dhopaghat Krishibazar Primary School), he failed to continue his education owing to poverty.
Jabbar worked with his father farming in his village. He decided to travel to the river port town of Narayanganj by train. He got a job in Burma through an Englishman he met in Narayanganj. He returned home after twelve years of service in Burma. He worked there for 12 years. He was recruited in the British Indian Navy during World War Two but was discharged after being injured during training. He was then working as a tailor. He came to Dhaka, East Pakistan in 1952 with his wife for the medical treatment of his mother-in-law in Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
In 1949, he married Amina Khatun, one of his friends’ sister and settled down. One and a half year after the marriage, Amina had a baby boy, who was named Nurul Islam Badol.
On 21 February 1952 the students in Dhaka bought a procession demanding Bengali be made a state language defying the Section 144 (curfew) imposed by the police. Jabbar joine the rally when it reached Dhaka Medical college. There the police fired on the rally injuring Jabbar. He was admitted to Dhaka Medical College where he died.
The Government of Bangladesh awarded Jabbar the Ekushey Padak in 2000. The Bhasa Shaheed Abdul Jabbar Ansar-VDP School & College school operated by Ansar and Village Defense Party in named after him. Shaheed Rafiq-Jabbar Hall is dorm of Jahangirnagar University is named after him and fellow language activist Rafiq Uddin Ahmed.
