Tiger of Bengal Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq | |
|---|---|
আবুল কাশেম ফজলুল হক | |
 | |
| 2nd Governor of East Pakistan | |
| In office 9 March 1956 – 13 April 1958 | |
| President | Iskander Mirza |
| Preceded by | Amiruddin Ahmad |
| Succeeded by | Sultanuddin Ahmad |
| Interior Minister of Pakistan | |
| In office 11 August 1955 – 9 March 1956 | |
| President | Iskander Mirza |
| Prime Minister | Chaudhry Muhammad Ali |
| Preceded by | Iskander Mirza |
| Succeeded by | Abdus Sattar |
| Chief Minister of East Bengal | |
| In office 3 April 1954 – 29 May 1954 | |
| Governor | Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman Iskander Mirza |
| Preceded by | Nurul Amin |
| Succeeded by | Abu Hussain Sarkar |
| 1st Prime Minister of Bengal | |
| In office 1 April 1937 – 29 March 1943 | |
| Monarch | George VI |
| Governor General | Victor Hope |
| Governor | John Anderson Micheal Knatchbull John Herbert |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Khawaja Nazimuddin |
| Pre-independence roles | |
| 1913–1916 | Secretary of Bengal Provincial Muslim League |
| 1916–1921 | President of All India Muslim League |
| 1916–1918 | General Secretary of the Indian National Congress |
| 1924 | Education Minister of Bengal |
| 1935–1936 | Mayor of Calcutta |
| 1947–1952 | Advocate-general of East Bengal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq 26 October 1873 Backergunge District, Bengal Presidency, British India[1] |
| Died | 27 April 1962 (aged 88) Dacca, East Pakistan, Pakistan |
| Resting place | Mausoleum of three leaders, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Nationality |
|
| Political party | Krishak Sramik Party (1953–1958) |
| Other political affiliations |
Indian National Congress (1914–?)
|
| Spouses | Khurshid Talat Begum
(divorced)Jannatunnesa Begum (died)Khadija Begum (m. 1943) |
| Children | 2 daughters and A. K. Faezul Huq |
| Relatives | Razia Banu (granddaughter) |
| Alma mater | Calcutta University |
| Occupation |
|
Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq (Bengali: আবুল কাশেম ফজলুল হক; 26 October 1873 – 27 April 1962),[2] popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla (Lion of Bengal),[3] was a Bengali lawyer and politician who presented the Lahore Resolution which had the objective of creating an independent Pakistan.[4] He also served as the first and longest Prime Minister of Bengal during the British Raj.
Born in 1873 to a Bengali Muslim family in British Bengal, Fazlul Huq held important political offices in the subcontinent, including president of the All India Muslim League (1916–1921), general secretary of the Indian National Congress (1916–1918), education minister of Bengal (1924), mayor of Calcutta (1935), prime minister of Bengal (1937–1943), advocate general of East Bengal (1947–1952), chief minister of East Bengal (1954), home minister of Pakistan (1955–1956) and Governor of East Pakistan (1956–1958). Fazlul Huq was first elected to the Bengal Legislative Council from Dhaka in 1913; and served on the council for 21 years until 1934.[5] Fazlul Huq was a key figure in the Indian independence movement and then the Pakistan movement. In 1919, he had the unique distinction of concurrently serving as president of the All India Muslim League and general secretary of the Indian National Congress. He was also a member of the Congress Party's committee enquiring into the Amritsar massacre. Fazlul Huq was a member of the Central Legislative Assembly from 1934 to 1936.[5] Between 1937 and 1947, he was an elected member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, where he was prime minister and leader of the house for six years.[5] After partition, he was elected to the East Bengal Legislative Assembly, where he was chief minister for 2 months; and to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, where he was home minister for one year during the 1950s.
Fazlul Huq boycotted titles and a knighthood granted by the British government. He was notable for his English oratory during speeches to the Bengali legislature.[6] Fazlul Huq courted the votes of the Bengali middle classes and rural communities. He pushed for land reform and curbing the influence of zamindars.[7] As prime minister, Fazlul Huq used legal and administrative measures to reduce the debt of millions of farmers subjected to tenancy under the Permanent Settlement.[8] Fazlul Huq was considered a leftist and social democrat on the political spectrum. His ministries were marked by intense factional infighting.
In 1940, Fazlul Huq had one of his most notable political achievements when he presented the Lahore Resolution which called for the creation of a sovereign state in the Muslim-majority eastern and northwestern parts of British India. During the Second World War, Fazlul Huq joined the Viceroy of India's Defence Council and supported the Allied war efforts. Under pressure from the governor of Bengal during the Quit India movement and after the withdrawal of the Hindu Mahasabha from his cabinet, Fazlul Huq resigned from the post of premier in March 1943. In the Dominion of Pakistan, Fazlul Huq worked for five years as East Bengal's attorney general and participated in the Bengali Language Movement. He was elected as chief minister, served as a federal minister and was a provincial governor in the 1950s.
Fazlul Huq died in Dacca, East Pakistan on 27 April 1962. He is buried in the Mausoleum of Three Leaders. Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, where the National Parliament is located, is named in honour of Fazlul Huq. His son A. K. Faezul Huq was a Bangladeshi politician.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
birthplacewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Gandhi, Rajmohan (1986). Eight Lives. SUNY Press. pp. 189–190. ISBN 0-88706-196-6.
- ^ "Sher-e-Bangla in Search of a National Soul". The Daily Star. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ^ "A. K. Fazlul Huq's English Prose". The Daily Star. 1 May 2021.
- ^ a b c "Huq, AK Fazlul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ Dharitri Bhattacharjee (13 April 2012). "It's Time Bengal Remembered a Certain Huq". The Wire. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ Rachel Fell McDermott; Leonard A. Gordon; Ainslie T. Embree (2014). Sources of Indian Traditions: Modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Columbia University Press. p. 836. ISBN 978-0-231-51092-9.
- ^ D. Bandyopadhyay (24 July 2004). "Preventable Deaths". Economic and Political Weekly (Commentary). 39 (30): 3347–3348. JSTOR 4415309.