Abul Kalam Azad was a former Member of Parliament representing Jamalpur-1 Constituency. He was also the Minister of Information and Culture of Bangladesh.

From 2009 to 2012, Azad served as the Minister of Information.

In 2009, when Azad was inaugurated as the minister of information, he promised journalists that the government would ensure right to information and freethinking in Bangladesh and sought "constructive criticism" from editors in the print and electronic media. However, in 2010, he changed his stance and ordered that the government would enact a law to curb what he term "yellow journalism". Analysts say such laws were only enacted to curb the freedom of the press and dissident voices. The Press Secretary to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Abul Kalam Azad, said "pornography has spread like a disease in Bangladesh".

In 2015, Azad was sent a show cause order by his own party, the Bangladesh Awami League for working against party policy and supporting a rebel candidate.