Awami League ( ur, ; bn, আওয়ামী লীগ) was a Pakistani political party founded by

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 ...

in February 1950.

Pir of Manki Sharif Amin ul-Hasanat (1 February 1922 – 5 January 1960), better known as the Pir of Manki Sharif, was the son of Pir Abdul Rauf and an Islamic religious leader in the North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955), North-West Frontier Province (NW ...

and Khan Ghulam Mohammad Khan from 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. Followi ...

(NWFP) joined it soon afterwards.

History

In East Pakistan, East Pakistan Awami Muslim League ( bn, পূর্ব পাকিস্তান আওয়ামী মুসলিম লীগ) was founded by

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was pop ...

and

Yar Mohammad Khan Yar Mohammad Khan (September 9, 1920 – August 29, 1981) was one of the founders of the Bangladesh Awami League. He was the founder treasurer of the Awami League. His residence at 18, Karkun Bari Lane, Dhaka was the first party office of the Ba ...

in June 1949. It was established as the Bengali alternative to the Urdu dominated Muslim League in Pakistan and over centralization of the government. The party quickly gained massive popular support in East Bengal. In the 1954 provincial election in Bengal, the party won 143 seats. The United Front of East Pakistan led by Haq, Bhasani and Surahwardhy the party won a total of 223 seats, soundly defeating the Muslim League with 10 seats. In 1950, Iftikhar Mamdot, who was dismissed from the premiership of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, formed a party called Jinnah Muslim League. The two parties merged to form Jinnah Awami Muslim League prior to the provincial elections in 1951. In the Punjab provincial election in 1951, the Jinnah Awami Muslim League polled 18.3 percent votes and won 32 seats. In the NWFP, it won 4 seats. Subsequently, the two parties merged in 1959 and used the name ''All Pakistan Awami Muslim League''. The party later dropped All Pakistan and named the party Awami Muslim League in East Pakistan. Later, the party evolved under the leadership of

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 Bengali politi ...

(himself a former aide to Suharwardy) and was named the Awami League .Abu Zafar Shamsddin, Atmasriti (Self-memories) -1st part, Dhaka, 2011. After long arduous consultations and negotiations by

with the west Pakistan establishment of remaining united as a single nation without bloodshed eventually led the forces of Bangladesh nationalism in the struggle against West Pakistan's military, socio economic and political control, and the civil establishment. After

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was the codename for a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the opera ...

, In a radio address on the evening of March 26,

Yahya Khan General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his p ...

, the then president of Pakistan, declared the Awami League treasonous and banned the party. In addition to this, the government seized the bank accounts of the Awami League.

President

General Secretary

State leaders

Electoral history

Pakistan National Assembly elections East Pakistan Provincial Assembly elections

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{Bangladesh Awami League Bangladesh Awami League Muslim League breakaway groups 1949 establishments in Pakistan Political parties established in 1949 Political parties disestablished in 1971 Defunct political parties in Pakistan