Moinul Hoque Choudhury (13 May 1923 – 13 February 1976) was an Indian politician from

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. A five-time MLA; he was the Minister of Commerce and Industrial Development during

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

regime in 1971. He is also known as the Industrial Reformer of the Barak Valley.

Biography

Moinul Choudhury was born on 13 May 1923 in a well-off

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 of Sonabarighat in

Cachar district Cachar district is an administrative districts of Assam, district in the state of Assam in India. After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into four districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills), Cacha ...

of Assam. He was born to mother Mona Bibi and father Montajir Ali. His father Montazir Ali was educated, and was always concerned about getting his son well educated. Choudhury took his primary education from ME School of Sonabraighat. He passed Matriculation from Silchar Government HS School and later joined

Cotton College, Guwahati Cotton University (formerly known as ''Cotton College'') is a public state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established in 2017 by the provisions of an Act from the Assam Legislative Assembly which merged Cotton College Sta ...

Murari Chand College Murari Chand College ( bn, মুরারিচাঁদ কলেজ) (usually referred to as MC College) was the first college in the Sylhet Division. It was established in 1892, making it the seventh oldest college in Bangladesh. Since then i ...

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...

and passed +2 in 1942. He graduated with History Honors from Presidency College of

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

in 1944. In the Presidency, he defeated

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 ...

in the college election. He pursued MA in History securing first class first position from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

in 1946. This was when he joined

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 took part in the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. He was also the general secretary of youth front of Muslim League on the national level. In 1947, he obtained LLB from Aligarh Muslim University. In a meeting with

Mohammed 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 ...

, Moinul Hoque Choudhury represented Barak Valley. Inspired by the ideals of Netaji

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 Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hoque joined the freedom struggle. Following India's independence and the partition of India, he joined

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 ...

under the influence of

Fakaruddin Ali Ahmed Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the fifth president of India from 1974 to 1977. Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the I ...

. To start off his career, Moinul Hoque Choudhury joined the

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

Silchar Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the Cachar district of the state of Assam, India. It is located south east of Guwahati. It was founded by Captain Thomas Fisher in 1832 when he shifted the headquarters of Cachar to Janiganj in Silchar. ...

in 1948 and later in 1950, he joined active politics as a member of local board in 1950 and was a nominated member of Silchar Municipality in the same year. He became a member of

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Guwahati, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present Western Assam region. The Legislative Assembly comprises 126 Me ...

in 1952 from East Sonai constituency. Moninul Hoque became a cabinet minister (agriculture) in 1957 after being elected for the second time from the same constituency. On being elected for the third term in 1962, he became the leader of the Congress legislature in the assembly in addition to being a cabinet minister. In 1967. He was elected for the fourth time as MLA from Sonai Constituency, but was abstained from ministerial portfolio following a feud with

Bimala Prasad Chaliha Bimala Prasad Chaliha (26 March 1912 – 25 February 1971) was a Leader of Indian National Congress and a Freedom Fighter who was imprisoned at Jorhat Jail in 1942 for active participation in Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India Movement against the Briti ...

. He was selected as chairman of national Haj Committee in the same year. He entered the national politics in 1971 by returning to the parliament from Dhubri and was offered the ministry of industry under the Government of India.

Work

The improvement of road and communication system, construction of embankments in Cachar to facilitate agriculture, establishment of All India Radio, Silchar Medical College, Veterinary school, Hindustan Paper Mill at Panchgram, Sugar Mill at Anipur, the Regional Engineering College now upgraded as NIT are his achievements. He was the first person in Cachar to forward the proposal for the construction of Barak Dam. He will be remembered in the valley for the noble attempt he made to usher in a green revolution in the valley through the package program in the sixties when advanced technology, high yielding seeds, scientific manure, pesticides were introduced for the first time in Cachar, and many more.

Timeline

* 13 May 1923: Born in Sonabarighat of Sonai, Silchar * 1940: Passed Matriculation from Silchar Government HS School * 1942: Passed +2 from Cotton College, Gauhati * 1944: Completed graduation in History Honours from Presidency College, Kolkata * 1946: Pursued MA in history from Aligarh Muslim University, joined Muslim League, took part in the freedom struggle of India. * 1947: Obtained LLB from Aligarh Muslim University * 1948: Joined Bar Association of Silchar * 1950: Elected as member of local board * 1951: Joined Indian National Congress * 1952: Elected as MLA from Sonai Constituency, and member of Public Accounts Committee and Text Book * 1957: Elected for the second time MLA from Sonai Constituency, won a ministerial portfolio, agriculture * 1961: Attended UNO General Convention as one of the delegates from India * 1962: Elected for the second time as a minister from Sonai constituency * 1967: Elected for the fourth time as MLA from Sonai Constituency, but unfortunately was abstained from ministerial portfolio * following a feud with Bimala Prasad Chaliha, selected as chairman of national Haj Committee. * 1968: Went on a pilgrimage to holy Mecca and Madina * 1971: Elected as MP from Dhubri constituency in a by-election and won ministerial portfolio of Industrial Development * 1976: Died in AIIMS, Delhi on 13 February aged 52.

References

Fifth Lok Sabha Members BioprofileUnishe May: Moinul Haque Choudhury (1923-1976)Moinul Hoque Choudhury Memorial Science CollegeUnsung Hero of Assam: Mastufa's Blogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Moinul Hoque People from Cachar district 1923 births 1976 deaths Assam politicians Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni Indian National Congress politicians from Assam Assam MLAs 1952–1957 Assam MLAs 1957–1962 Assam MLAs 1962–1967 Assam MLAs 1967–1972 State cabinet ministers of Assam All India Muslim League members Commerce and Industry Ministers of India Cotton College, Guwahati alumni 20th-century Bengalis Murari Chand College alumni