Akku Chowdhury

Akku Chowdhury (Bengali: আক্কু চৌধুরী; born c. 1952) is a Bangladeshi freedom fighter, businessman and museum trustee. He is a founding trustee of the Liberation War Museum in Dhaka. During the Bangladesh Liberation War he served in Sector 9 and took part in the liberation of Satkhira. He later became Head of Operations at Transcom Foods Limited, which introduced KFC and Pizza Hut to Bangladesh.^[1][2]

Bangla Academy conferred upon him an honorary fellowship in 2023 for his significant contribution to the liberation war.^[3]

Chowdhury was a student at Adamjee Cantonment Public School, where he was one of only three Bengali students; Shaheed Rumi was a senior friend.^[4] During the 1971 non-cooperation movement he took part in meetings and processions. Although his family left East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War, he remained in the province.^[1][5]

After independence of Bangladesh, he went to England and later to the United States. In 1972 he studied business management at Pacific States University. While in the United States he visited many museums, an experience that later influenced his involvement with the Liberation War Museum. He returned to Bangladesh in 1981.^[4][5]

In June 1971, Chowdhury and his friend Arif crossed to India's Agartala and then went to Calcutta. In the city, at Subhas Chandra Bose's house on Elgin Road, they joined the Bangladesh Information Bank, where their responsibility was to preserve newspaper reports.^[6] After a week's training under Major Mohammad Bazlul Huda, in November 1971 he joined Sector 9, commanded by Major M. A. Jalil. Chowdhury fought in the Satkhira and Khulna areas. On 4 December 1971, Satkhira was liberated.^[6][2]

After returning to Bangladesh in 1981, Chowdhury opened Snack Junction, a burger shop in Dhanmondi. He later became Head of Operations at Transcom Foods Limited, a company of Transcom Group.^[5] In 2006, Transcom Foods opened the first KFC outlet in Bangladesh, followed later by Pizza Hut.^[7]

In 2011, serving as the managing director and CEO of Transcom Foods Limited, Chowdhury organized a national ceremony to mark the 40th anniversary of Bangladesh's independence, handing over a national flag to mountaineer Muhammad Abdul Mohit which was subsequently hoisted atop Mount Everest.^[8] He later established the GCC Resort & Retreat for Conscience in Kalikastan, Nepal, an eco-tourism venture aimed at promoting cultural and historical reflection.^[9]

Chowdhury was a member of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (lit. 'The Committee to Eliminate the Assassinator-Collaborators of 1971') associated with Jahanara Imam.^[2] After Imam's death, in 1994 he and seven others—Mofidul Hoque, Ali Zaker, Sara Zaker, Asaduzzaman Noor, Rabiul Hussain, Ziauddin Tareq Ali and Sarwar Ali—decided to establish the Liberation War Museum. The museum opened at 5 Segunbagicha, Dhaka, on 22 March 1996. Chowdhury is a member of the museum's trustee board.

In its early years, the museum received visits from Jagjit Singh Aurora and, in December 1998, Amartya Sen. In 2010, 33 commercial banks donated more than 24 crore taka to the museum, although the museum declined a donation from Islami Bank Bangladesh.^[10] A new museum building is planned on 2.5 bighas of land in Agargaon, Dhaka; BRAC Bank is to contribute one crore taka for infrastructure.^[11] Chowdhury has also participated in civic anti-corruption initiatives. During a December 2008 youth rally organized with Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), he advocated for youth involvement in anti-corruption movements, calling it a necessary second struggle for the nation.^[12]

Chowdhury resided in England and the United States following the Liberation War before returning to live in Bangladesh in 1981.^[8] His son, Srijon Chowdhury, is a contemporary painter based in Portland, Oregon.^[13] Now he is settled in Nepal.^[14][15]

• Liberation War Museum official website
• Akku Chowdhury on LinkedIn