Abul Mansur Ahmad ( bn, আবুল মনসুর আহমদ; 3 September 1898 – 18 March 1979), born Ahmad Ali Farazi ( bn, আহমদ আলী ফরাজী), was a
Bangladeshi
Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
politician, writer, and journalist.
Ahmad began as an
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...
worker in
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. He participated in the
Khilafat Movement
The Khilafat Movement (1919–24), also known as the Caliphate movement or the Indian Muslim movement, was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajma ...
in his early youth. A strong advocate of peasant rights, disappointed by the Congress's negligence to Muslim peasants, like many other
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
Congress workers of Bengal, he left the Congress and founded the ''Praja Samity'' (later the ''Krishak-Praja Samity''), a peasant welfare organisation and its political arm the ''Krishak-Praja Party (KPP)''. He became a major organiser of the KPP in the greater
Mymensingh district
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is a district in Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya, a state of India and the Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur District, on the east by the districts of Netr ...
region. As the KPP president
A K Fazlul Huq
Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq ( bn, আবুল কাশেম ফজলুল হক, ur, ; 26October 1873 — 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla (''Lion of Bengal''), was a British Indian and Pakistani lawyer and writer who presen ...
took office as the first prime minister of Bengal, after the
1937 provincial elections, Ahmad became one of his closest confidantes. Disheartened by KPP's failure in the government, he inclined towards the thriving
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to:
Political parties Subcontinent
; British India
*All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan.
**Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...
and the
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...
in the early 1940s. He realised that Pakistan is inevitable and urged the KPP workers to join the Muslim League, fearing a feudal elite and clergy domination in its leadership.
Ahmad was dismayed by the Muslim League government in
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
. He joined the
Awami Muslim League (later the Awami League), a dissident offshoot of the Muslim League. He proposed the ''Jukta Front'' coalition for the
1954 provincial elections and also authored its
21-points election manifesto. The Jukta Front won a landslide victory in the election and he was elected to the legislative assembly. He was a major critic of the Pakistan Constitution assembly debate in 1956. He served as the Minister of Commerce and Industry in the Suhrawardy cabinet of the central Government of Pakistan, also occasionally serving as the acting prime minister.
Ahmad was an author of stories, novels, and political satires. He also wrote extensively on politics, culture, and history. He argued that despite sharing the same
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
, Muslims of Bengal, primarily in East Bengal (often referred by him as 'Muslim Bengal'), had developed and cultivated a distinct Perso-Arabic-influenced Bengali Muslim culture in parallel to the Hindu culture cultivated by the Hindus of Bengal. In his writings, he used the East Bengal dialect of Bengali and the Perso-Arabic words used by the Muslims of Bengal, for which he suffered discrimination on occasions. He saw Pakistan as an opportunity for flourishing East Bengal's culture. As a member of the Pakistan Renaissance Society, he provided a vision for East Bengal's literary ideal.
As a journalist and politician, Ahmad observed and was involved in many crucial political events of Bengal and India at large. At different stages of his career, he was a confidante to many leading political figures of Bengal, including
A K Fazlul Huq
Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq ( bn, আবুল কাশেম ফজলুল হক, ur, ; 26October 1873 — 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla (''Lion of Bengal''), was a British Indian and Pakistani lawyer and writer who presen ...
,
Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...
, and
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...
. He was an important intermediary in many political arbitrations. His
magnum opus
A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...
''Amar Dekha Rajneetir Panchash Bachhar'' (Fifty Years of Politics As I Saw It) (1969) is a first-hand chronicle and a critique of the politics of Bengal spanning his career.
He was awarded the
Bangla Academy Literary Award
The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...
in 1960 and the
Independence Day Award
The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...
in 1979 by the
Government of Bangladesh
The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh ( bn, গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ সরকার — ) is the central executive government of Bangladesh. The government was constituted by the Con ...
.
Early life and education
Ahmad was born Ahmad Ali Farazi on 3 September 1898, at Dhanikhola, a village in the
Mymensingh
Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is the capital of Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh. Located on the bank of Brahmaputra River, about north of the national capital Dhaka, it is a major financial center and educational hub of north ...
district of
Bengal Province in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(now in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
), to Abdur Rahim Farazi and Mir Jahan Begum.
[ Before Ahmad's birth, Mymensingh used to be an important centre of the Tariqah-i-Muhammadiya, an early nineteenth-century anti-British movement led by ]Sayyid Ahmad Shahid
Syed Ahmad Barelvi or Sayyid Ahmad Shaheed (1786–1831) was an Indian Islamic revivalist, scholar and military commander from Raebareli, a part of the historical United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (now called Uttar Pradesh). He is considere ...
and Shah Ismail Dehlvi
Shah Ismail Dehlvi (26 April, 1779 – 6 May, 1831) was an Indian Islamic scholar and Salafi-oriented Sufi reformer. He was an active member in the jihad proclaimed by Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareilly with the support of Pashtun tribes against ...
. Both the paternal and maternal sides of his family had strong Ahl-i Hadith
Ahl-i Hadith or Ahl-e-Hadith ( bn, আহলে হাদীছ, hi, एहले हदीस, ur, اہلِ حدیث, ''people of hadith'') is a Salafi reform movement that emerged in North India in the mid-nineteenth century from the teach ...
connections and were among the earliest four families in the region to subscribe to the cause, thus earning the title ''Farazi''. Frequented by the local Wahhabi leaders, his paternal home served as the preaching centre of Wahhabism in that area. His paternal grandfather's brother Ashek Ullah was among the few who volunteered from Bengal to fight against the Sikhs
Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ...
, led by Barelvi, in the North-West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...
(now the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
province in Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
)—also said to had taken part in the infamous Battle of Balakot.
Ahmad developed resentment against the landowners (''zamindars
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...
'') early in his childhood. In Bengal zamindars were predominantly Hindu at that time. He regarded the treatment of Muslim peasants not only by the zamindars but the Hindu community in general as discriminatory.
After his early schooling at nearby schools, in 1913 Ahmad moved to the Mymensingh town (also called Nasirabad), his district headquarter, for further studies. There he entered the Mrityunjay School, from where he matriculated in 1917, securing first division and a scholarship, and moved to Dhaka, the principal town in East Bengal, for further studies. He entered Jagannath College
Jagannath University (JnU) ( bn, জগন্নাথ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় ''Jagannātha biśbabidyālaẏa'', University Acrostic : জবি or JnU) is a state-funded public university at 9–10, Chittaranjan Avenue in Sa ...
and found residence at a house in old Dhaka in an arrangement called '. Inspired by the professor of Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, Umesh Chandra Bhattacharya, he began studying philosophical texts of John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
, Ramendra Sundar Tribedi
Ramendra Sundar Tribedi (22 August 1864 – 6 June 1919) was a renowned Bengali author. He is known for his works in Bengali poems, and stories. He is one of the most popular poets of India.
Life
Ramendra Sundar Tribedi was born at Kandi, Mursh ...
, Hiren Dutta, Brajen Seal, Annie Besant
Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist.
Regarded as a champion of human f ...
, etc. He took the Intermediate exam from there in 1919. Then he completed Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
from Dhaka College
Dhaka College ( bn, ঢাকা কলেজ also known as DC) is the oldest secular educational institution of Bangladesh located in Dhaka. It offers higher secondary education ( HSC). It has Honours and Masters programs as well which are aff ...
in 1921. After a pause in studies, due to his political activism, he entered Ripon College (later renamed to Surendranath College) in Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
, capital of the Bengal province, in 1926 to study Law and passed the BL examination in 1929.
British India
While a student at Dhaka College, in 1920 Ahmad attended the Khilafat Conference, attended by the all-India Khilafat leaders, held in Dhaka, as a volunteer. As the Khilafat Movement
The Khilafat Movement (1919–24), also known as the Caliphate movement or the Indian Muslim movement, was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajma ...
and the Non-cooperation Movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance. joined forces later that year, Ahmad got involved in it. Inspired by the 'back to village' policy of the movement, he and a few of his friends left Dhaka and returned to his village in Mymensingh. They established a village co-operative, a free 'national' high school and a weaving school. He served as the headmaster of the high school and his friend Abul Kalam Shamsuddin
Abul Kalam Shamsuddin (3 November 18974 March 1978) was a journalist, politician and littérateur. He was born at Trishal of Mymensingh.
Early life
Shamsuddin passed HSC from Dhaka College in 1919. Then we went to Ripon College (presently S ...
, who joined him from Kolkata, became its assistant headmaster. However, within a year the movement lost momentum as the leader of the movement, Mohandas Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, terminated Non-cooperation after the Chauri Chaura incident
200px, Chauri Chaura Martyrs Memorial, alt= The Chauri Chaura incident took place on 4 February 1922 ( according to the Indian government's official data ) at Chauri Chaura, in the Gorakhpur district, in the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh ...
. Ahmad left his village and returned to Mymensingh town and took job at a national high school.
Ahmad visited Kolkata in mid-1922 to attend a provincial Khilafat Committee conference and also to find a job in a newspaper. Advised by his friend Shamsuddin, who had returned to Kolkata and was editing the ''Moslem Jagat'', he started publishing articles in the 'Muslim newspapers', mainly in the ''Sultan'' and the ''Mohammadi'', and frequenting their offices. Shamsuddin's Moslem Jagat published his long serial treatise ''Diarchy in Civilisation'', criticising the Government of India Act 1919
The Government of India Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 101) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report of ...
. He caught the attention of Maniruzzaman Islamabadi
Munīruzzamān Khān Islāmābādī ( bn, মনিরুজ্জামান খাঁন ইসলামাবাদী; 1875-1950), also known by the epithet Biplobi Maulana ( bn, বিপ্লবী মাওলানা, , Revolutionary M ...
, owner of the Sultan. Islamabadi offered him a job as assistant editor in his newspaper. Ahmad left Mymensingh and settled in Kolkata to work for the Sultan.
As Ahmad joined Sultan, Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called ''Deshbandhu'' (Friend of the Nation), was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian independence movement and founder-leader of the Swar ...
brought about the Bengal Pact, a scheme for increasing Muslim representation in the public employments by reserving quotas for them. As a result, communal Hindu political and intellectual leaders lampooned Das in speeches and newspaper articles. Ahmad wrote articles in Sultan in defence of the pact. As Islamabadi, a strong supporter of Das and his Swaraj Party
The Swaraj Party, established as the ''Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party'', was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922 of the National Congress, that sought greater self-government and ...
, feared that opponents of the pact may oppose it in the 1924 Congress provincial conference in Sirajganj
Sirajganj ( bn, সিরাজগঞ্জ) is a city in north-western Bangladesh on the right bank of the Jamuna River. It is the administrative headquarters of Sirajganj District, and with a population of 167,200 is the fourteenth most populo ...
, he sent Ahmad to Sirajganj prior to the conference charged with building support for the pact.
Ahmad joined Maulana Akram Khan's ''Mohammadi'' in 1924. In 1926 he was sacked from the Mohammadi. He began editing a new weekly called ''Khadem''.
The Krishak-Praja Party
Ahmad joined the Congress movement under Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...
. However, frustrated with the Congress's negligence to the peasant cause, particularly after Chittaranjan Das's death in 1925, he left the Congress and joined the ''Praja Samity'', founded in 1929 by Maulana Akram Khan and others. He returned to Mymensingh in 1929 to organise the Praja Samity and practice law there until 1938. The Praja Samity eventually became a major political force in Mymensingh, with Ahmad as a leading organiser. It secured 64 out of the 72 seats in the district's ''Local Board'' elections. As contention arose among the senior and youth leadership about choosing the succeeding president, Ahmad sided with the youth faction, supporting A K Fazlul Huq
Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq ( bn, আবুল কাশেম ফজলুল হক, ur, ; 26October 1873 — 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla (''Lion of Bengal''), was a British Indian and Pakistani lawyer and writer who presen ...
. In 1936 A K Fazlul Huq was elected president of Praja Samity and the organisation was renamed to ''Krishak-Praja Samity''.
The Krishak-Praja Samity's political wing the ''Krishak-Praja Party (KPP)'' set out to participate in the 1937 Bengal Legislative Assembly elections. Ahmad drafted the party's 14-point election manifesto. The two other major competitors in the election, the Congress and the Muslim League Muslim League may refer to:
Political parties Subcontinent
; British India
*All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan.
**Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...
had organisation all over India, while the KPP was a provincial party. A delegation, with Ahmad as a member, was charged with forging an electoral alliance between the KPP and the Muslim League prior to the election. The delegation met with Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
, the president of the All-India Muslim League, several times in Kolkata. However, the alliance was unsuccessful as Jinnah refused to accept KPP's demand for abolishing landownership without compensation. He viewed that peasants will benefit only through a strong Muslim unity and personally advised Ahmad: 'take it from me without Muslim solidarity you will never be able to do any good to them (peasants)'.
None of the major parties, the Muslim League, the Congress, and the KPP, won a majority in the election. The KPP sought a coalition with the Congress; the Congress also initially agreed. The Congress election manifesto promised to release the political prisoners. As the governor of the province, appointed by the British government, held right to veto cabinet decisions, the Congress was resolved to resign from the cabinet had he vetoed on this issue. During the negotiations, Ahmad insisted that the cabinet mustn't resign on that occasion as he feared in that case the cabinet would be resigning without fulfilling any KPP commitments to the interest of peasants. Congress refused to compromise on this and the coalition couldn't happen. As a result, the KPP took office in coalition with the Muslim League, dominated by feudal elites and rich merchants. Though the KPP leader Huq became the prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, in the face of Muslim League intrigues, KPP became a minority in the cabinet. With the KPP minister Syed Nausher Ali's resignation within a few months of taking office, the cabinet became bereft of KPP ministers except prime minister Huq.
Ahmad returned to Kolkata in 1938 as the editor of the ''Krishak'', KPP's mouthpiece newspaper. In the cabinet, prime minister Huq was cornered by the Muslim League ministers and the governor. Though his cabinet took many popular measures, like the Bengal Tenancy (Amendment) Act (1938), Money Lenders' Act (1938), reformation of the education system, etc., it couldn't benefit the peasants as expected. Relationship between Huq and the KPP became strained and the party became divided. Huq was also not in good terms with the central Muslim League leadership, including with Jinnah. Ahmad left the ''Krishak'' in July 1941 over a discontent with one of its directors and joined the ''Navayug'', patronised by Huq. Huq, who had realised that Bengal's interest was being harmed by the central Muslim League leadership and was seeking a way out of it, gave Ahmad the express mission to support him in the process through Navayug. Huq instituted a new cabinet called the ''Progressive Coalition'' on 10 December 1941. Huq eventually resigned from the Muslim League.
The Muslim League and the Pakistan Movement
Disheartened by the Huq cabinet's weakness and KPP infighting, Ahmad's political views became perplexed and he briefly endeavoured alternative political ideologies. At that time Subhas Bose, former president of the Congress, was seeking alliance between the Bengal provincial Muslim League and his newly founded Forward Bloc
The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose. The party re-established as an independent political party a ...
. He persuaded Bose to meet the central Muslim League president Jinnah, instead of the provincial Muslim League leaders. Bose hesitated, citing the Lahore Resolution
The Lahore Resolution ( ur, , ''Qarardad-e-Lahore''; Bengali: লাহোর প্রস্তাব, ''Lahor Prostab''), also called Pakistan resolution, was written and prepared by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and was presented by A. K. Fazlul ...
as the impediment. Ahmad cleared Bose's mind about the Lahore Resolution, explaining its true essence. Bose met Jinnah accordingly. However, Bose escaped house arrest and left India in 1941 in a bid to organise an armed resistance against the British rule with foreign help.
With Bose's escape, whom Ahmad regarded as the last hope for Hindu-Muslim unity in Bengal, Ahmad was drawn even more towards the Muslim League and the Pakistan movement
The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...
. He was deeply influenced by B R Ambedkar
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...
's and Mujibur Rahman's treatises on Pakistan. He also regarded the Muslim League president Jinnah as a rational and secular leader. He concluded that Pakistan could be an option for the Muslims of Bengal. However, he feared that peasant and worker class interests might be suppressed in it unless the leadership is captured early by the class. He urged the Krishak-Praja Party workers to join the Pakistan movement and seize its leadership. Bengal Muslim League leader Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...
mediated in an initiative for a KPP-Muslim League front. Though some KPP members, including the Krishak-Praja Samity president Abdullahil Baki, agreed but the KPP legislators refused to accept the Muslim League terms. Ahmad became an active member of the Muslim League in around 1944. Later the KPP leaders joined the Muslim League and the Congress sporadically, effectively disintegrating the KPP.
Ahmad joined the Renaissance Society, founded by Abul Kalam Shamsuddin, editor of the Azad newspaper, and others, devoted to popularise the Pakistan movement.
Pakistan
In August 1946 a great communal riot took place in Kolkata, killing many people. Ahmad observed the horrors of the riot first hand. The riot spurred the partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
. In August 1947 India was partitioned and Pakistan was born. East Bengal joined Pakistan. Leaders like Suhrawardy and Huq were sidelined. In East Pakistan, a government led by the sycophantic Muslim League leaders came into power. Ahmad remained in Kolkata, largely inactive in politics, mainly busy editing the ''Ittehad'', owned by Suhrawardy, starting from January 1947 and practicing law.
The Muslim League government of East Pakistan lost popularity fast, owing to many of its unpopular moves. It sided with Jinnah on the state language question in 1948. A dissident group of the Muslim League, mainly followers of Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim
Abul Hashim (25 January 1905 – 5 October 1974) was a Bangladeshi politician and Islamic thinker in the Indian Subcontinent.
Early life
Hashim was born in a lord family in the village of Kashiara in Purba Bardhaman district of West Bengal. He ...
, formed the Awami Muslim League (literally People's Muslim League) in 1949 in Dhaka. In 1950 Ahmad moved to his home in Mymensingh in East Pakistan and joined the Awami League.
Anti-Muslim League sentiment was rife in East Pakistan. In 1952 several protesters demanding Bangla as a state language of Pakistan died as policed fired in protest. That further alienated the government. Ahmad was the proponent of the Jukta Front coalition between the Awami Muslim League and the ''Krisak-Sramik Party (KSP)'', founded by A K Fazlul Huq, in the 1954 provincial assembly election of Pakistan. He also authored the 21-point program, the election manifesto of the Jukta Front. He contested in the election and was elected member of parliament from the Trishal constituency of the Mymensingh district. He took office as a minister in the extended Jukta Front cabinet on 15 May 1954. However, the cabinet was dismissed within a few months by the central government and governor's rule was imposed.
Suhrawardy became a minister in Chaudhry Mohammad Ali
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (Urdu, pa, ; 15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982), best known as Muhammad Ali, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth prime minister of Pakistan, appointed on 12 August 1955. His government trans ...
cabinet. The Jukta Front coalition was disintegrating due to infighting. On several occasions, Ahmad himself took part in arbitrations to salvage the situation.
Ahmad represented the opposition in the Constitution drafting assembly session in 1956, addressing for seven hours in two days.
He was the provincial education minister in the Awami League coalition cabinet, formed on 6 September 1956, led by Ataur Rahman Khan
Ataur Rahman Khan ( bn, আতাউর রহমান খান; 1 July 1907 – 7 December 1991) was a Bangladeshi lawyer, politician and writer, and served as Chief Minister of East Pakistan from 1 September 1956 – March 1958, and as the P ...
. Only six days later, he took office of the commerce and industries ministry in the central government, led by Prime Minister Suhrawardy, and relocated in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, the then capital of Pakistan. During prime minister Suhrawardy's foreign tours, he served as the acting prime minister too.
As the commerce and industry minister, Ahmad pledged to increase participation of East Pakistan in trade and commerce. He also took a number of steps against corruption in business thus antagonizing a group of influential merchants. During one of his acting prime ministership stints, he recognised the Engineers Institution of Dhaka. The president Iskander Mirza
Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakis ...
often got angry with his acts. The Suhrawardy cabinet resigned on 18 October 1957.
As general Ayub Khan
Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...
seized power in a coup d'état
A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
and declared Martial Law in October 1958, Ahmad was imprisoned with many other Awami League leaders and was released in June 1959. He was arrested again in 1962, the year Ayub Khan imposed a new constitution. The same year he suffered from pleural effusion
A pleural effusion is accumulation of excessive fluid in the pleural space, the potential space that surrounds each lung.
Under normal conditions, pleural fluid is secreted by the parietal pleural capillaries at a rate of 0.6 millilitre per kilog ...
and remained in coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...
for eighteen days. After that he gradually retired from politics.
Ahmad continued publishing political commentaries in newspapers. He ghost wrote the booklet titled ''Our Right to Live'' elaborating the six-points in 1966 for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...
. He also urged the democratic party leaders to take part in the 1970 general election under General Yahya Khan's ''Legal Framework Order (LFO)''.
Family
Ahmad married Akikunnesa on 26 February 1926. Akikunnesa was an author herself. Together they had four sons: Mahbub Anam
Mahbub Anam (March 28, 1931 – July 9, 2001) was a Bangladeshi journalist and writer. He was the editor of The Bangladesh Times.
Early life
Anam's father Abul Mansur Ahmed was a satirist and politician of Bengal. His younger brother Mahfuz A ...
(d. 9 July 2001), Matlub Anam (d. 7 July 2010), Manzur Anam (d. 16 April 2014), and Mahfuz Anam
Mahfuz (or Mohammed) (Harari language, Harari: መሕፉዝ, ar, محفوظ; died July 1517) was a Harari people, Harari Garad, Emir of Harar and Governor of Zeila in the Adal Sultanate.
Life and reign
Mahfuz led raids into the provinces of Et ...
.
Death
Ahmad died on 18 March 1979 in Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...
.
Views and opinions
Politics of Bengal
Ahmad despised the landlord system (''zamindari'') and was vocal for the rights of the Muslim peasants of Bengal. That was his inspiration into politics. He believed that the peasant movement was predominantly a 'Muslim organisation' devoted to ensuring social dignity of the Muslims of East Bengal. Though he joined the Krishak-Praja Samity for the welfare of the landless poor peasants (''bargadars''), he admitted that it was not a peasant organisation in true sense; rather it represented the relatively wealthier peasants ('' jotedars'').
Ahmad criticised the 'fusionist' Hindu-Muslim unity approach, which, according to him, sought to fuse both communities into one, taken by the Hindu political and intellectual leadership. He identified Chittaranjan Das and Sarat Chandra Bose
Sarat Chandra Bose (Bengali: শরৎচন্দ্র বসু) (6 September 1889 – 20 February 1950) was an Indian barrister and independence activist.
Early life
He was born to Janakinath Bose (father) and Prabhabati Devi in Cuttac ...
as the notable exceptions who took the right approach to the problem and as a result made enemy with the central Congress leadership. Ahmad also believed that Bengal's shift from Bengali Nationalism to Indian Nationalism was prompted by a fear of Muslim majority rule under democratic elections.
Ahmad viewed Bengal's politics as distinct from that of India and admired its exponents, such as Chittarajnan Das, Subhas Bose, and Fazlul Huq. He believed that the Congress's refusal to form the coalition cabinet with KPP after the 1937 elections precipitated western dependence in the politics of Bengal. As the Hindu leadership became dependent on the central Congress, Muslims also, by necessity, became dependent on the central Muslim League. Ahmad also believed that despite being a Muslim organisation, with Bengal Congress's support, KPP would probably become a real peasant organisation, which would benefit both Hindu and Muslim landless poor peasants.
Literary works
Novels
*Satya Mithya (1953)
*Jiban Kshudha (1955)
*Ab-e-Hayat (1968)
Satires
* Aina (1936–1937)
* Food Conference (1944)
* Gulliverer Safar Nama
* Asmani Purdah
Reminiscence
* Bangladesher Culture
* Amar Dekha Rajnitir Panchash Bachhar (1969)
* Sher-e-Bangla Hoite Bangabandhu (1972)
* End of a Betrayal Restoration of Lahore Resolution (1975)
* Atmakatha (1978, autobiography)
Awards
* Bangla Academy Literary Award
The Bangla Academy Literary Award ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি সাহিত্য পুরস্কার; ''Bangla Academy Shahitya Puroshkar''), is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius i ...
(1960)
* Independence Day Award
The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...
(1979)
* Nasiruddin Gold Medal
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Abul Mansur
1898 births
1979 deaths
Bangladeshi male writers
Bengali writers
Bengali-language writers
Surendranath College alumni
Dhaka College alumni
University of Calcutta alumni
Recipients of the Independence Day Award
Recipients of Bangla Academy Award
Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958
2nd Jatiya Sangsad members
20th-century Bengalis
People from Mymensingh District