He was an eminent educationist, and greatly invested his time and energy in the field of education. He was held in high regard both within and outside the country and brought prestige for the country.

He began his career as a teacher in Calcutta Islamia College in 1936. Later he switched to the inspection wing of the education department. In the mid 50s, he was Educational Attache of the Pakistan Embassy in Washington. Steadily by his sheer merit and hard work, he rose to hold the high positions of DPI, East Pakistan, and Vice Chancellor of Rajshahi and Dhaka Universities. He was Minister of Education during Pakistan time. He was also a visiting scholar at the East-West Centre in Hawaii.

In March 1977, he began a new career when President Ziaur Rahman appointed him first as an Adviser and later Minister for Foreign Affairs. He held the position until March 1982. Professor Huq was fortunate to have three successive Foreign Secretaries, namely, Tabarak Husain, Shah AMS Kibria and Humayun Rasheed Choudhury working with him during his tenure of five years.

As the Director General, South Asia & South East Asia desk of the Foreign Office (1976-79) I worked closely with Professor Huq. Later I worked with him when I became the Deputy High Commissioner in Calcutta and Ambassador of Bangladesh in Nepal. He used to call me to Dhaka very frequently for consultations.

He was a decent man with intellectual rigour and capacity. He instilled confidence and respect among the officers. He was a tireless worker and a perfectionist. He was unfailingly polite, courteous, and a perfect gentleman. He never raised his voice, even if we made mistakes. He was calm but his demeanour registered his thoughts and feelings and we were aware of it.

Professor Huq by nature believed in work backed up by written presentations. He did not approve of haphazard work. He was methodical and always wanted both sides of an issue/argument to be presented before him.

In July 1978, I accompanied him in a helicopter to Chittagong Hill Tracts to see the refugees of Myanmar who had taken shelter in Bangladesh. I became air sick in the helicopter ride and I was touched that he personally attended to my comforts during and after the trip, although it was not necessary for him to do so. There were about 200,000 refugees (Rohingyas) from Myanmar by 1978. As Foreign Minister he thought his duty to visit and speak to the refugees. Later when he returned to Dhaka he held a press conference on the condition of refugees and initiated a proposal to resolve the refugee problem with Myanmar. The repatriation commenced on August 31, 1978. In his book Bangladesh in International Politics (1993), he described, among others, his personal account of the issue of refugees.

During his time as Foreign Minister, he can be credited at least with two most important events in Bangladesh foreign policy.

The first one was his unique contribution to the establishment of Saarc and secondly to the successful election of Bangladesh in the UN Security Council for the year 1979-80, defeating Japan from Asian quota.

When President Zia conceived the idea of Saarc some time in 1977, it was Professor Shamsul Huq who provided the idea with intellectual content in a paper that was later circulated to all the capitals of South Asian countries.

His arguments in the paper were logical, lucid and pragmatic for the setting up of Saarc. He was one of the advocates of Saarc within the region. His tireless work on Saarc became fruitful, when in 1985 in Dhaka hosted its first Saarc Summit.

With regard to the election of the UN Security Council, he scrupulously commenced background work at least 18 months ahead in a systematic and planned way. He was very meticulous and maintained a rigorous schedule. He mobilized a team of officers in the foreign office and assigned each one of them a particular responsibility. He regularly supervised their work and contributed greatly to this work.

Bangladesh joined the UN in 1974. After Professor Huq's sustained campaign, he was truly happy to find that Bangladesh was elected as a member of the Security Council in 1978. It was a great and proud moment for Bangladesh. It was his hard work and devotion that brought such a great honour for Bangladesh in the international arena.

His other contributions are manifold, but I write of a few particular cases which come to mind. In early 1981, a hot political issue with India was the disputed ownership of Talpatty Island. He was able to contain the issue with his diplomatic negotiations with Indian leaders. It was he who again prepared a white paper (official document) on the issue and presented it to the Parliament. This paper I believe is one of the best written presentations of Bangladesh's case for Talpatty Island and it has now become a reference material for the government.

Professor Shamsul Huq during his tenure also witnessed the successful conclusion of the 1977 Ganges Water Agreement, the first agreement between Bangladesh and India on the Ganges.

It was Professor Shamsul Huq who brought a delicate balance in Bangladesh foreign policy at the time of the Cold War. He was immensely respected in neighbouring countries for his integrity and honesty.

In May, 1979, I accompanied him to Myanmar and we had a rare private meeting with General Ne Win, the elusive leader who generally would not meet ministers. It was a two-hour exchange of views between Ne Win and Shamsul Huq. I found Professor Huq providing a rare exposition of his depth and knowledge of history of South and South East Asia to General Ne Win.

Although he immensely contributed to the nation as Foreign Minister, at his heart his love was for education. At one of the meetings with India's Prime Minister Morarji Desai, he was modest enough to introduce himself as a teacher.

From 1989 to 1991, he became one of the three persons on a UN Committee for the award of humanitarian work on behalf of a Japanese humanitarian organization. Every year he used to visit Geneva for this purpose and I again became close to him during those years. Although he was in his eighties, Professor Huq made his mark at the UN and officers at the UN used to often inquire whether the Professor was coming or not. They greatly valued his prudence and judgment.

Professor Shamsul Huq contributed to the country and I was glad of the opportunity to work with him. We offer our deep condolences to his sons, Khaled and Tariq Shams. Professor Huq's wife Tayeba Huq predeceased him. We pray his soul may rest in eternal peace with Almighty Allah.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.