A. F. K. Jilani: Rohingya Educator, Activist, and Historian (1940–2017)
A. F. K. Jilani was born in January 1940 in Maungdaw, Arakan (Rakhine State, Myanmar), to Mr. Abul Khair, a police officer during the British period. He became President of the Maungdaw Township Anti-Fascist People’s Freedom League (AFPFL) in 1955 and was elected from the Maungdaw South Constituency in the 1956 general election, receiving the highest votes among AFPFL candidates.
He was educated in Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Akyab, Kyaukpyu Intermediate College, and Rangoon University. At Rangoon University, he served as Vice-President of the Rangoon University Muslim Students’ Association (RUMSA), engaging in student advocacy, institutional development, and publication activities. He was a founding member of the Rohingya Students Organization in 1962.
After graduating, A. F. K. Jilani worked as a senior teacher in government high schools in Maungdaw and Pauktaw. He later obtained a Bachelor of Law degree with distinction but withdrew from judicial service training due to religious restrictions. He played a key role in educational and religious development in Arakan, including the establishment of Maungdaw High School and securing a matriculation examination center in Maungdaw in 1958.
A. F. K. Jilani was a founding member and organizer of the Rohingya Independence Force (RIF), established in 1964 to seek autonomy for North Arakan, and served as its emissary to foreign diplomats. He was repeatedly arrested and harassed and participated in the 1988 uprising. He later joined the National League for Democracy (NLD), served on its Arakan State Executive Committee, and contested the 1990 general election.
Forced into exile in 1992, he continued political, advocacy, and scholarly work in Bangladesh and later Malaysia. He served as a Standing Committee member and Senior Vice-President of the Arakan Rohingya National Organization (ARNO), engaged with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and contributed to the Arakan Historical Society. Writing under the name A. F. K. Jilani, he authored and translated several influential works on Rohingya history, culture, and human rights.
A. F. K. Jilani passed away on 27 June 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Source: Mr Aman Ullah, Rohingya Vision And Internet Archives
