A. K. Fazlul Huq
Lion of Bengal Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq | |
|---|---|
আবুল কাশেম ফজলুল হক | |
Mayor of Calcutta | |
| 1937–1943 | Prime Minister of Bengal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq 26 October 1873 Mausoleum of three leaders |
| 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 Calcutta University |
| Occupation |
|
Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq (
Born in 1873 to a
Fazlul Huq boycotted titles and a
In 1940, Fazlul Huq had one of his most notable political achievements when he presented the
Fazlul Huq died in
Early life and family
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Fazlul Huq was born on 26 October 1873, in his maternal home, the Mia Bari of
Education
Initially
Civil servant and lawyer
From 1908 to 1912, Fazlul Huq was the Assistant Registrar of Co-operatives. He resigned from the public service and opted for public life and law. Based on advice from Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, he joined the bar council of the Calcutta High Court and started a legal practice.[4] He practised in the Calcutta High Court for 40 years.
Legislator and Indian independence movement
Fazlul Huq became secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League in 1913. After the First Partition of Bengal, Fazlul Huq attended the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference hosted by Sir Khwaja Salimullah in Dacca, the capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam. The conference led to the formation of the All India Muslim League. The annulment of the partition led to the formation of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League, in which Fazlul Huq became secretary. With the patronage of Sir Salimullah and Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury, he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council from the Dacca Division in 1913.
In 1916, Fazlul Huq was elected president of the All India Muslim League. Fazlul Huq was one of those who was instrumental in formulating the
In 1919, Fazlul Huq was chosen as a member of the Punjab Enquiry Committee along with
During the
In 1923, Fazlul Huq served as education minister of Bengal for six months under the dyarchy system.
In 1929, he founded the
Prime Minister of Bengal
First Premiership (1937-1941)
The dyarchy was replaced by provincial autonomy in 1935, with the first general elections held in 1937. Fazlul Huq transformed the All Bengal Tenants Association into the
Cabinet
Fazlul Huq's cabinet included Nalini Ranjan Sarkar (finance), Bijoy Prasad Singh Roy (revenue), Maharaja Srish Chandra Nandy (communications and public works), Prasanna Deb Raikut (forest and excise), Mukunda Behari Mallick (cooperative credit and rural indebtedness), Sir Khwaja Nazimuddin (home), Nawab Khwaja Habibullah (agriculture and industry), Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (commerce and labour), Nawab Musharraf Hussain (judicial and legislative), and Syed Nausher Ali (public health and local self-government).[4]
Debt relief and Permanent Settlement
Under Fazlul Huq, the Bengal government used administrative and legal measures to relieve the debt of millions of tenant farmers under the
Lahore Resolution
A seminal moment in Fazlul Huq's political career was the adoption of the Lahore Resolution. The resolution was passed by the All India Muslim League at its annual session in Lahore on 23 March 1940. When Fazlul Huq arrived at the Lahore meeting, Muhammad Ali Jinnah remarked "When the tiger (Fazlul Huq) arrives, the lamb (Jinnah) must give away".[10] Fazlul Huq formally proposed the resolution at the annual session. The resolution called for Muslim-majority provinces in British India to be grouped into "Independent States in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign".[11] The initial wording of the resolution suggested that the Muslim League wanted multiple states instead of a single state. Fazlul Huq later accused Jinnah of not working hard enough to ensure an undivided Bengal with Calcutta included.[12] There have been varying interpretations of the Lahore Resolution ever since. One interpretation is that the plural spelling of 'states' indicated that Fazlul Huq wanted a separate Muslim-majority state covering Bengal and parts of Assam as early as the 1940s.
Education
Fazlul Huq held the education portfolio in his cabinet. He introduced the Primary Education Bill in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, which was passed into law and made primary education free and compulsory. However, there was a storm of protests from the opposition members and the press when Fazlul Huq introduced the Secondary Education Bill in the assembly as it incorporated 'principles of communal division in the field of education' at the secondary stage. Fazlul Huq was a supporter of affirmative action for Bengali Muslims. Fazlul Huq was associated with the foundation of many educational institutions in Bengal, including Calcutta's Islamia College and Lady Brabourne College, Wajid Memorial Girls' High School and Chakhar College.
Rift with the Muslim League
In 1941, Fazlul Huq joined the
On 2 December 1941, Fazlul Huq resigned and Governor's rule was imposed.
Second Premiership (1941-1943)
The second Fazlul Huq coalition government was formed on 12 December 1941. The coalition was supported by most members in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, except for the Muslim League. Supporters included the secular faction of the Krishak Praja Party led by Shamsuddin Ahmed, the
Cabinet
The cabinet included Nawab Bahadur Khwaja Habibullah, Khan Bahadur Abdul Karim, Khan Bahadur Hashem Ali Khan, Shamsuddin Ahmed, Syama Prasad Mukherjee, Santosh Kumar Bose and Upendranath Barman.[4]
Tensions with the Governor and WWII
Despite Fazlul Huq enjoying the confidence of most of the assembly, he had tense relations with the Governor of Bengal, John Herbert. The governor favoured the provincial Muslim League leaders and patrons, including Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin, the Leader of the Opposition; and the "Calcutta Trio" in the assembly (Abul Hassan Isphani, Khwaja Nooruddin and Abdur Rahman Siddiqui. The focal point of the League's campaign against Fazlul Huq was that he was growing closer to Syama Prasad Mukherjee of the Hindu Mahasabha, who was alleged to be working against the political and religious interests of the Muslims. The League appealed to the governor to dismiss the Fazlul Huq ministry.
The fear of a
On 15 March 1943, the Prime Minister disclosed on the floor of the Assembly that on several occasions, under the guise of discretionary authority, the governor disregarded the advice tendered by the ministry and listed those occasions. The governor did not take those allegations kindly, and, largely due to his initiative, no-confidence motions were voted in the assembly on 24 March and 27 March. On both occasions, the motions were defeated, although by narrow margins. To enforce his writ, the governor asked Fazlul Huq to sign a prepared letter of resignation on 28 March 1943 and assigned himself the responsibility of administering the province under the provision of Section 92 of the constitution. A month later a League-dominated ministry was commissioned with Nazimuddin as the Prime Minister. Fazlul Huq bitterly criticised John Herbert for forcing his resignation and imposing
Fazlul Huq's party won significantly fewer seats during the 1946 Indian provincial elections in which the Muslim League led by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy triumphed.
Political career in Pakistan
Opposition leader and language movement
After the
In government
The
The United Front won a landslide victory during the 1954 election. The Muslim League was routed and reduced to only a few seats in the
Fazlul Huq served as
Writings
A.K. Fazlul Huq wrote a book Bengal Today[18] which was translated into Bengali.[19] He was one of three owner-cum-directors of the well regarded evening daily Nabajug which came often under British-Indian government's proscription because of its anti-imperialist premise. The paper is no longer published.[20]
Notable quotations
Quotes by Fazlul Huq
"Someday sooner or later, they will be humbled to dust even; as tyrants and oppressors of humanity have met their doom in the chequered history of mankind."[3]
— Fazlul Huq's criticism of the British Raj"A Budget, whose figures in cold print, creep through the marrow of our bones till we stand aghast at the national calamity with which we are faced."[3]
— Fazlul Huq's speech on the Bengal famine of 1943 during a budget session of the Bengal Legislative Assembly"I want you to consent to the formation of a Bengali Army of a hundred thousand young Bengalis consisting of Hindu and Muslim youths on a fifty-fifty basis. There is an insistent demand for such a step to be taken at once, and the people of Bengal will not be satisfied with any excuses. It is a national demand which must be immediately conceded."[14]
— Writing to Governor John Herbert regarding demands for forming a Bengal Army during World War II"Administrative measures must be suited to the genius and traditions of the people and not fashioned according to the whims and caprices of hardened bureaucrats, to many of whom autocratic ideas are bound up with the very breath of their lives."[14]
— In a letter to the Governor of Bengal"They were lions in their own days and we have the descendants of the lions of Indian journalism in our midst today. But the difference between the two classes of lions is very significant. Those were lions whose roars used to reverberate from Bengal across the seven seas to the homes of the British nation, but in the case of the present lions they are as docile as lions in a circus show. The roar of the lions of old used to make thrones tremble, but most of the present lions only know how to crouch beneath the throne and wag their tails in approbation of government policy."[14]
— Commenting on critical journalists on the floor of the Bengal Legislative Assembly"Mr Speaker, I can jolly well face the music, but I cannot face a monkey. Mr. Speaker, I never mentioned any honourable member of this House. But if any honourable member thinks that the cap fits him, I withdraw my remark."[14]
— A controversial remark against an opponent in the Bengal Legislative Assembly"I am the living history of Bengal and East Pakistan of the last sixty years. I am the last survivor of that band of unselfish and courageous Muslims who fought fearlessly against terrific odds…"[21]
— On his role in the politics of Bengal (particularly Bangladesh)
Quotes about Fazlul Huq
"Exceptionally brilliant, equipped with a sharp memory, deep knowledge and ability to understand peoples' feelings and characters with sharp wit and speech that provokes Bengali people's emotion."
Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy
"When the tiger arrives, the lamb must give away."[10]
"He who in 1943 had wanted to see Nazimuddin and Suhrawardy bite the dust now shares the same stretch of the 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 Ministers of Pakistan. Fazlul Huq was not. But only he was spoken of as the Royal Bengal Tiger."[21]
Personal life
Fazlul Huq was married three times. His first wife was Khurshid Talat Begum, the granddaughter of Nawab Abdul Latif, with whom he had two daughters. Khurshid left him and obtained a maintenance allowance in court. His second wife was Musammat Jannatunissa Begum, daughter of Ibn Ahmad of Hooghly, but she died without having any children. In 1943, he married Khadija Begum of Meerut, located in the United Provinces. They had one son together, A. K. Faezul Huq,[23] who played an active role in Bangladeshi politics.
Fazlul Huq was fluent in
Legacy
Fazlul Huq founded several educational and technical institutions for Bengali Muslims, including
In Bangladesh, he is revered as one of the most important Bengali statesmen of the 20th century and for his role as a leading voice of Bengali Muslims in British India. Throughout Bangladesh, educational institutions (e.g.,
In Pakistan, he is remembered as one of the country's founding statesmen. One of the main roads in Islamabad, Pakistan A.K. Fazal-ul-Huq Road is named after him.[25]
See also
References
- ^ 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 b c d e f g h "A. K. Fazlul Huq's English Prose". The Daily Star. 1 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "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.
- ISBN 978-0-231-51092-9.
- JSTOR 4415309.
- ^ Rai, Khosalchandra (2000). "পরিশিষ্ট". বৃহত্তর বাকরগঞ্জের ইতিহাস [History of Greater Bakarganj] (in Bengali). Radical Kolkata. p. 363.
- ^ Bulbul, Sayful Ahsan (2012). "সাতুরিয়া মিয়া বাড়ি, রাজাপুর" [Saturia Mia Bari, Rajapur]. বৃহত্তর বরিশালের ঐতিহাসিক নিদর্শন [Historical signs of greater Barisal]. Dhaka: Gatidhara.
- ^ a b "When the tiger appears, the lamb must give way". The Financial Express. Dhaka. 8 August 2017. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017.
- OCLC 8784376.
- ^ "The Tiger of Bengal". The Daily Star. 25 April 2014.
- ISBN 978-81-250-2596-2.
Both Huq and Khan were censored in July 1941 when they agreed to join—without Jinnah's approval—the Viceroy's National Defence Council, which in terms of its membership structure did not recognise the Muslim claim of parity.
- ^ a b c d e Syed Ashraf Ali. "Sher-e-Bangla: A natural leader". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
- ^ "Bangla Academy". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
- ^ Hafez Ahmed. "Mohan Mia, the forgotten child of history". The Financial Express. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
- ISBN 978-81-7648-469-5.
- ^ "Shishu Sahitya Samsad Private Limited". samsadbook.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ বেঙ্গল টুডে – এ কে ফজলুল হক. rokomari.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ "Nabajug, The". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 1 November 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
- ^ a b AK Fazlul Huq Jr (26 April 2014). "Sher-e-Bangla: The Tiger of Bengal". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
- ISBN 978-0195477221.
- ISBN 978-0-88706-196-7.
- ^ "Great Politicians". Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq (Krisak Proja Party). Muktadhara. 9 May 2001. p. 67. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
- ^ "A.K.M. Fazl-ul-Haq Rd · Blue Area, Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan". A.K.M. Fazl-ul-Haq Rd · Blue Area, Islamabad, Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan.
External links
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata
