Everything about A K Fazlul Huq totally explained
Abul Kashem Fazlul Huq (
Abul Kashem Fozlul Hôk) (
26 October,
1873—
27 April,
1962), often referred to as
Sher-e-Bangla (Bengali: শেরে বাংলা
Shere Bangla, from
Urdu:
Sher-e Banglā "Tiger of Bengal") was a well-known
Bengali statesman in the first half of the 20th century. He held different political posts including those of General Secretary of
Indian National Congress (1918-1919), Education Minister (1924), the first Muslim Mayor of
Calcutta (1935), Chief Minister of undivided
Bengal (1937-1943) and
East Bengal (1954), Home Minister of
Pakistan (1955) and Governor of
East Pakistan (1956-58).
Early life
Huq was born to Kazi Muhammad Wajed, from Chakhar, and his wife Saidunnissa Khatun, in his mother's town of Saturia in
Jhalokati district (present day Bangladesh). His primary education began at a local
Pathshala (informal village school). Later he got admitted to Barisal Zilla School and from there passed the
Entrance examination in 1890 and the FA Examination in 1892 from Kolkata. He then obtained a
BA degree (with triple Honours in Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics) from
Presidency College, Kolkata and an
MA on Mathematics from
Calcutta University . His formal education was completed with a
BL degree in 1897 from the University Law College. He was the second Muslim in the
Indian subcontinent to obtain a law degree .
After obtaining the BL degree Fazlul Huq started legal practice as an apprentice under
Ashutosh Mukherjee. After the death of his father Huq started legal practice in
Barisal town. In 1906 Huq entered government service as a Deputy Magistrate. He took an active part in founding the
All India Muslim League at
Dhaka on
December 30,
1906. Subsequently he resigned from public service and joined the Calcutta High Court for legal practice .
Political career in British India
Fazlul Huq got initiation in politics in the hands of Sir
Khwaja Salimullah and
Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury. With their assistance he entered the Bengal Legislative Council in 1913 as an elected member from the
Dhaka (Dacca) Division. For 1913-1916 Huq served as the Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League and Joint Secretary of the
All India Muslim League. Then he served as the President of the All India Muslim League from 1916 to 1921. He played an instrumental role in formulating the
Lucknow Pact of 1916 between the Congress and the Muslim League. In 1917 Huq became Joint Secretary of the
Indian National Congress and in 1918-1919 he served this organisation as its General Secretary.
In 1919 Fazlul Huq joined the
Khilafat movement. But he'd a difference of opinion about non-cooperation with mainstream Congress leaders. Though he supported the boycott of British goods and titles, he opposed the idea of boycotting of educational institutions, particularly considering the backward condition of the Muslim community. This difference of opinion eventually made him leave Congress .
After alienation from the Congress party, it was up to the Muslims to nominate a mayor in
Calcutta. It was in 1935 that, with the Congress' support, Fazlul Huq was chosen and elected first muslim mayor of Calcutta. Prior to 1937 election, Fazlul Huq reorganized the defunct Proja-Shamiti and renamed it as
Krishak Praja Party (KPP). Many contemporary politicians including
Mohammad Akram Khan stood against it under the umbrella of “United Muslim Party”. But Fazlul Huq won 39 seats and they won 38 seats. Congress claimed majority with 60 seats . Later that year Sher-e-Bangla joined Muslim League and subsequently become the chairman of the Bengal headquarter of the party, Suhrawardy became the secretary . Afterwards he acted as the Chief Minister (also called Premier) of undivided
Bengal between 1937 to 1943. Fazlul Huq drafted and moved the
Lahore Resolution on 23 March, 1940. According to this resolution, North-eastern and Eastern parts of India happened to be formed as sovereign states . It established
Muslim League's demand for a homeland for Muslims, that ultimately resulted in the nation of
Pakistan . However after 1942 Huq actually opposed the
Two-Nation Theory and tried to mobilise non-Muslim League Muslim leaders against
Partition of India .
Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq was the key national leader behind the emergence of
Bengali (especially Muslim) middle class in
British India. He appointed
Comrade Muzaffar Ahmed and
Kazi Nazrul Islam as the editor and assistant editors of the “
Daily Nabojug” (The Daily New Age), a newspaper that he brought out in 1920. Under the editorship of this accomplished duo, the Daily Nabojug became the most progressive newspaper of Bangla voicing the issues and concerns of lower middle and working class people of
Bengal.
Political career in East Pakistan
After the partition of India in August 1947, Huq settled in Dhaka and served as the Advocate General of East Pakistan from 1947 to 1952. He soon got involved in
Bengali Language Movement. Huq was injured when the police lathi charged the demonstrating students. On 27 July 1953, Shere-e-Bangla founded the 'Sramik-Krishak Dal'. Fazlul Huq along with Maulana
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and
Suhrawardy formed the
United Front to contest the election of 1954, in which they'd a landslide victory. Rizwan Huq's charisma was a dominant factor for the victory of the Front . Rejection of West Pakistan's dominance over East Pakistan and the desire for Bengali provincial autonomy were the main ingredients of the coalition's twenty-one-point platform. After the elections A. K. Fazlul Huq became the Chief (or Prime) Minister, once again, but this time of
East Bengal. However, the East Pakistani election and the coalition's victory proved pyrrhic; Bengali factionalism surfaced soon after the election and the United Front fell apart. From 1954 to Ayub's assumption of power in 1958, the Sramik-Krishak Dal led by Huq and the Awami League led by
Suhrawardy were engaged in a ceaseless battle for control of East Pakistan's provincial government. In August 1955, Huq was invited to join the central cabinet as the Home Minister. In 1956, he became the Governor of East Pakistan and was removed from that post in 1958. At that time, it was rumored that Huq had some bitter rivalry against
Muhammad Ali Bogra and
Suhrawardy and finally he decided to retire from active politics .
Criticism
Although Huq was widely respected for his personality and leadership quality, his frequent change of policies has also sometimes been viewed as lack of consistency. interprets the contradictory ingredients manifested through Huq's words and actions as a result of conflicts among his Muslim identity, Bengali identity and Indian identity. While we has worried about the development of backward Muslim community, he was also occupied with the thought of the progress of the entire Bengali nation and at the same time carefully nurtured the dream of united independent India. As a result, it wasn't possible for him to pursue a consistent agenda throughout his long political career. However, Huq didn't consider change in policy as a change of principle. According to him policies were like umbrellas, meant to be held in different directions according to necessity .
observes Huq to be conservative in temperament in his dealings with
Maulana Bhasani after the break-up of the
United Front. He was sometimes criticised for nepotism, though at a very limited level .
Personal life
Fazlul Huq led a very simple personal life . After death of his first wife, with whom he'd one child (Rice Begum), Fazlul Huq married Khadija Begum (November 1919 -
November 6 1992). Their only son,
A. K. Faezul Huq, was a Bangladeshi politician, lawyer, and freelance journalist.
Death
Fazlul Huq died on Friday, April 27, 1962 at 10:20 am at an age of 89 years and 6 months. His dead body was kept at his 27 K. M. Das Lane residence at Tikatuli till 10:30 am of 28th April on a customized ice-bed. Then his
Salat al-Janazah prayer was held at the Paltan Moydan. The funeral of this popular leader drew a crowd of over half a million. All educational institutions of Pakistan were declared closed on 30th April to pay tribute to him.
Sher-e-Bangla was buried in
Dhaka. His tomb is situated at the southern end of the Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, to the west of the
Shishu Academy .
In his historical book "Understanding the Muslim Mind", concluded his account of Fazlul Huq with the following comment:
He who in 1943 had wanted to see Nazimuddin and Suhrawardy bite the dust now shares the same stretch of earth with them. All three are buried, side by side, in the grounds of the Dhaka High Court. For a while, the two of them were called Prime Minister of Pakistan. Fazlul Huq was not. But only he was spoken of as the Royal Bengal Tiger.
Legacy
The greatest contribution of Sher-e-Bangla for the economic emancipation of the poor peasants of Bangladesh was the formation of the Rin Salishi (Debt Review) Board, which helped numerous peasants to get their lands back from the ravenous usurers. To free the peasants from the exploitation of the usurers, he founded nearly 11,000 such boards around the country. He also introduced new laws (Bengali Shop Worker bill) to protect the poor shop (retail) workers ensuring better employment conditions and holiday pay.
Sher-e-Bangla founded several educational and technical institutions for the Bengali Muslims, including: Kolkata Islamia College, Baker Hostel, Carmichael Hostel, Lady Braw Bourne College, Adina Fazlul Huq College in
Rajshahi, Eliot Hostel, Tyler Hostel, Medical College Hostel, Engineering College Hostel, Muslim Institute Building, Dhaka
Eden Girls' College Building, Fazlul Huq College at Chakhar, Fazlul Huq Hall (
Dhaka University), Tejgaon Agriculture College, Bulbul Music Academy and Central Women’s’ College. Sher-e-Bangla also had significant contribution for founding the leading University in Bangladesh -
Dhaka University. During Fazlul Huq's premiership as the Chief Minister,
Bangla Academy was founded and Bengali New Year’s (
Pohela Baishakh) was declared a public holiday.
Throughout Bangladesh, various educational institutions (for example
Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College), roads, neighborhoods (
Sher-e-Bangla Nagor), and stadiums (
Sher-e-Bangla Mirpur Stadium) have been named after him. This depicts the respect of the people for Sher-e-Bangla.
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