Mohammad Akram Khan ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আকরম খাঁ; 1868 – 18 August 1968) was a Bengali journalist, politician and Islamic scholar. He was the founder of Dhaka's first Bengali newspaper, ''

The Azad ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''. He was among the founders of

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind () is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Fi ...

Early life and education

Khan was born in 1868, to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family in Hakimpur,

24 Parganas 24 Parganas district (''cabbiś pargaṇā jēlā'') is a former district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was split into two districts — North 24 Parganas district and South 24 Parganas district, with effect from 1 March 1 ...

district of

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

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 ...

(in present-day

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

). His father, Alhaj Mawlana Ghazi Abdul Bari Khan, was a disciple of

Syed Ahmad Shaheed 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 participated in the Battle of Balakot. His mother's name was Rabeya Khatun. He did not have a British education but studied at Calcutta Madrasah (now

Aliah University Aliah University (AU; ur, جامعہ عالیہ) is a state government controlled autonomous university in New Town, West Bengal, India. Previously known as Mohammedan College of Calcutta, it was elevated to university in 2008. It offers und ...

). He entered the journalism profession at a very young age before becoming involved in politics.

Career

Journalism

Early in his career, he worked at newspapers ''Ahl-i-Hadith'' and ''Mohammadi Akhbar''. Between 1908 and 1921, he worked as the editor of the ''Mohammadi'' and the ''Al-Islam''. He published the ''Zamana'' and the ''Sebak'' between 1920 and 1922. Sebak was banned and Akram Khan was arrested on the basis that his anti-government editorials supported 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.

and the

Swadeshi movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public in ...

. From October 1936, Akram Khan began publishing the newspaper ''

'', which generated support for 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 ...

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 ...

Political career

Akram Khan was one of the founding members of the Muslim League in 1906. As a member of the

Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Bangala Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Bangala ( bn, আঞ্জুমান-ই-উলামা-ই-বাঙ্গালা ''Assembly of the Scholars of Bengal''), was an association of Muslim religious leaders in British India's Bengal Presidency. It later forme ...

, he was involved in the Khilafat and Non-cooperation Movement from 1918 to 1924. He was elected secretary of the

All India Khilafat Committee 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 ...

at the conference held at

Ahsan Manzil Ahsan Manzil is the erstwhile official residential palace and seat of the Nawab of Dhaka. The building is situated at Kumartoli along the banks of the Buriganga River in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Construction was started in 1859 and was completed 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 ...

in 1920, which was attended by other eminent

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 ...

leaders like

Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Husseini, Hussaini Azad (; 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian Indian independence movement, independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the ...

Maniruzzaman Islamabadi Munīruzzamān Khān Islāmābādī ( bn, মনিরুজ্জামান খাঁন ইসলামাবাদী; 1875-1950), also known by the epithet Biplobi Maulana ( bn, বিপ্লবী মাওলানা, , Revolutionary M ...

and Mujibur Rahman. Akram was responsible for collecting funds for the

Ottoman caliphate The Caliphate of the Ottoman Empire ( ota, خلافت مقامى, hilâfet makamı, office of the caliphate) was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty to be the caliphs of Islam in the late medieval and the early modern era. D ...

. During 1920–1923, he organised public meetings in different parts of Bengal to propagate the cause of the Khilafat and the Non-cooperation Movement. As a believer in Hindu-Muslim amity, Akram Khan supported

Chitta Ranjan 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 ...

's Swaraj Party in Kolkata in 1922, and also the Bengal pact in 1923. But due to the communal riots of 1926–1927 and other contemporary political developments, Akram Khan lost his faith in Indian nationalist politics and left both the

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 ...

and Congress. He co-founded the

, and became a member of its first executive council. From 1929 to 1935, Khan was deeply involved in the

Krishak Praja Party The Krishak Sramik Party ( bn, কৃষক শ্রমিক পার্টি, ''Farmer Labourer Party'') was a major anti-feudal political party in the British Indian province of Bengal and later in the Dominion of Pakistan's East Bengal and ...

. However, he left peasant politics in 1936 and became an activist for the Muslim League. He was a member of the central working committee of the League until 1947. After 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 1947, he opted for

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

and settled in Dhaka. He was the President of Muslim League (East Pakistan) until he retired from politics in 1960. Akram Khan was also involved in the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. He was also a founding member of Pakistan's

Council of Islamic Ideology Council of Islamic Ideology (CII; ( ur, ) is a constitutional body of Pakistan, responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the government and the Parliament. This body was founded in 1962 under the government of Ayub Khan. Func ...

, a constitutional body formed in 1962.

Death

Khan died on 18 August 1968. He was buried at the Ahl-i-Hadith Bangshal mosque at

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka ( bn, পুরান ঢাকা, Puran Dhaka) is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar ( bn, জাহাঙ্গীরনগ� ...

Literary works

* ''Samasya O Samadhan'' * ''Mostafa Charit'' * ''Amparar Tafseer'' * ''Tafser-a-Quran'' * ''Muslim Banglar Samajik Itihas''

Awards

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 ...

(1981)

References

External links

* Akram Khan: Journalist and litterateur
''The New Nation''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Mohammad Akram 1868 births 1968 deaths Pakistani centenarians Men centenarians People from Dhaka Bengali politicians Pakistan Movement activists from Bengal Pakistan Muslim League politicians Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Bengali language movement Recipients of the Independence Day Award Krishak Sramik Party politicians Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 Members of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress Founders of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind 20th-century Bengalis 19th-century Bengalis Bengali activists People from North 24 Parganas district Journalists from West Bengal Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan