A former President of Bangladesh A former lawyer and historian and pioneer of Bangladeshi independence movement Zillur Rahman made his first public utterance in 1952 in defence of the Bengali language. He had played a crucial role for more than half his lifetime in preserving and uniting the Awami League, the political party, which is associated with the breakaway from Pakistan after the war in 1971. He remained a respected political figure and was elected unopposed in 2009 a largely ceremonial position of president of Bangladesh. Born in Bhairab on the Meghna river, the son of a lawyer, Muhammad Zillur Rahman was educated in Dhaka.