Shawkat Ali (April 20, 1918 – August 18, 1975) was a politician and a leader of the Bengali Language Movement.

[1] Shawkat Ali was born in a prominent Sunni Muslim family in Gandaria, Dhaka, East Bengal, on April 20, 1918.

His father Shamser Ali was a prominent businessman in the area and his mother Meherunnisa Khanam was a housewife.

[1] The first Rastrabhasa Sangram Parishad called "Tomuddin Majlish er Rashtrobhasha sub-committee" was formed under the leadership of Professor Abul Kashem.

[2] Also arrested on that day were Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Khaleque Nawaz Khan, Shamsul Huq, Oli Ahad, Abdul Wahed and others.

All the arrestees were released on the evening of 15 March after signing the Rashtrobhasha Chukti(Language Movement Treaty).

On March 16, 1948, a student meeting was held at the Dhaka University Campus demanding Bengali to be the National Language.

Shawkat Ali, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and others engaged in a heated exchange of words with the MPs and the District Magistrate.

The Language Movement reached its climax in 1952 with the indiscriminate shooting by the police at protesters and killing four young men - Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar.

Shawkat Ali suffered a stroke on August 15, 1975, upon hearing the news of the Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

On 1960, Ali married Rahima Khatun, the vice-principal of Fazlul Haq Mohila College in Dhaka.

In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the Language Movement, with effect from January 17, 2010, Dhaka City Corporation renamed Dhanmondi Road No.