S.M. Abul Kalam
S.M. Abul Kalam is a Bangladeshi Awami League politician and a former ambassador of Bangladesh to Kuwait. He studied at the University of Dhaka.
Kalam ran in the 2001 parliamentary election from Chittagong-10 as an Awami League candidate but lost to Morshed Khan of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He has held several public and business roles, including member of the Chittagong Development Authority, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, director of Argani Bank, and member of the Chittagong Stock Exchange. He is the vice-president of the South Chittagong City Awami League.
He was appointed ambassador to Kuwait on 20 March 2016. His term ended on 19 April 2020, and the government extended it to 31 July 2020. In May 2020, he said the COVID-19 pandemic would likely force thousands of Bangladeshi migrant workers to leave Kuwait.
In January 2019, Kalam said the embassy was attacked and ransacked by migrant workers over unpaid wages. He defended Mohammad Shahid Islam, a Bangladeshi MP who was detained by Kuwaiti authorities on human trafficking allegations, by writing a letter defending Shahid to the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Journalists in Bangladesh reported that Kalam asked Kuwait to deport Bangladeshi journalists or blacklist them to prevent their re-entry. He had Jamuna TV correspondent Ehsanul Haque Khokon detained and deported after reporting on workers’ protests.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen later said Kalam had been unable to inform the government about Shahid’s arrest. Despite serving as ambassador to Kuwait for almost five years, Kalam was not able to provide information about Shahid’s detention and charges.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:07 (CET).