Amu was born on 1 January 1940 in Jhalakathi subdivision of Barisal district. His father Mohammad Moazzem Hossain and mother Aklima Khatun. He obtained a BA from Barisal BM College in 1965 and an LLB from Barisal Law College in 1968. He earned a graduation degree in history from the University of Dhaka.[5]
Amu contested the general election in 2001 from Jhalokati-2 as a candidate of the Awami League but lost to Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[6] He had received 54,378 votes while she had received 92,116 votes.[6]
On 23 July 2003, Amu's house in Jhalokati District was vandalized by Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists who destroyed the boundary, door, and windows of the house.[7] In December 2003, he failed to address a rally in Munshiganj district marking the triennial council of the party due to road blocks by activists of the governing Bangladesh Nationalist Party.[8]
Amu was injured in the August 2004 Dhaka grenade attack which was an attempted assassination of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina at a rally of the Awami League.[9]
When party president Sheikh Hasina was exiled by the caretaker government of Bangladesh (2006–08), Amu became one of top leaders who preserved and represented the party in her absence.[10][11] However, he also developed differences with Hasina, criticising her for making a pact with the IslamistKhelafat Majlish party despite the Awami League's policy of secularism, and not discussing it first with other party leaders.[10][11] Sheikh Hasina in turn criticised Amu for appearing supportive of the caretaker government.[10][11] Activists of Awami League opposed to reforms attacked followers of Amu at the party office in September 2007.[12] He was removed from the newly reformed central committee of the Awami League in July 2009.[13]
In 2008, Amu was elected to parliament from Jhalokati-2 as a candidate of the Awami League with 104,444 votes while his nearest rival Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party received 73,851.[14]
Amu was re-elected unopposed in the 2014 general election from Jhalokati-2 after opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, withdrew their candidacies in a boycott of the general election.[15] He was appointed the minister of industries in the third Sheikh Hasina cabinet.[16][17] He was against leasing land of state owned enterprises to private companies.[18]
Amu represented Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the inauguration ceremony of Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, in 2016.[19] In March 2017, a constable of Barisal Metropolitan Police was suspended for taking selfies with Amu while on duty protecting him.[20] In August 2017, he spoke against Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha for his comments against the government in a verdict which scrapped the 16th Amendment to the constitution of Bangladesh.[21]
In 2018, Amu was elected to parliament from Jhalokati-2 as a candidate of the Awami League with 214,937 while his closest rival, Jeba Amina Khan of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, received 5,982.[22] He was not appointed a minister in the fourth Sheikh Hasina cabinet.[23] In July 2020, Amu was appointed coordinator of the Awami League led 14-Party alliance.[24]
In December 2022, Amu presided over a meeting of the Awami League led 14-Party alliance in which left wing parties in the alliance criticised the Awami League for ignoring their input.[25] Amu reported that the government could not remove Islam as the state religion of Bangladesh due to internal opposition in the Awami League.[26] He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Awami League.[27]
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