Fazl-i-Hussain

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Sir Mian Fazl-i-Husain, KCSI (14 June 1877 – 9 July 1936) was an influential politician during the British Raj and a founding member of the Unionist Party of the Punjab.

Early life and education

Husain was born in

Government College, Lahore and graduated with a BA in 1897.[4] In 1896, he married Muhammad Nisa, great-granddaughter of Ilahi Bakhsh, the renowned general of the Sikh Khalsa Army.[4]

Fazl-i-Husain travelled to Britain in 1898 to further his education. He was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge in 1899 and graduated with a BA in 1901. He had intended to enter the Indian Civil Service but was unsuccessful in the exams.[5] He studied Oriental languages and law at Cambridge and was called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1901. Husain was elected President of the Cambridge Majlis in January 1901 and assisted in writing a telegram of condolence to Edward VII upon the death of Queen Victoria[5] Husain returned to the Punjab in 1901 and set up a law practice in Sialkot. In 1905 he began practising at the Punjab High Court in Lahore until 1920.

Political career

Husain joined the

Non-cooperation movement.[6] He felt that non-cooperation threatened schools and colleges, and noting the backwardness of educational progress in Punjab, he initially sought to have them excluded from the movement before becoming convinced that Mahatma Gandhi's scheme of setting up national schools and colleges was impracticable and reckless.[4]

Following the

Jat, was named as his successor as president of the Unionist party[7] He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in 1926.[9]

In 1930, he was promoted to the Viceroy's Executive Council in Delhi where he remained until 1935.[7] He became the most important councilor of the Viceroy and used his position to challenge Muhammad Ali Jinnah's claims that he alone represented the interests of the Muslims.[10] He played an important part in organizing the Round Table Conferences and influencing the views of the present Muslim delegates.[11] The Punjabi view of the "Muslim interest" formulated by Husain was a success. The implementation of the Communal Award and Government of India Act 1935, allowed the majority Muslims in Punjab and Bengal to retain their separate electorates yet also granted them more seats than any other community in their respective assemblies. Whilst this allowed Muslim politicians in Punjab to increase their autonomy it brought them into conflict with Muslims in Hindu majority provinces, who would now look to Jinnah and the Muslim League for support.[12] In 1932, he led the Indian delegation to the Indo-South African Conference and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India in 1932.[13][14] On returning to Lahore from Delhi in 1935, Husain sought to prepare the Unionist Party for the forthcoming provincial elections.[7] He made strides in reorganizing, financing, and allotting tickets for his party, and warned Jinnah against meddling with the inter-communal politics of the Punjab.[7] In January 1936, Jinnah offered him the annual presidency of the Muslim League, however before waiting for his response, accepted the position himself and became its President in 1936.[15]

Death

He fell ill on 1 July 1936, and died at Lahore nine days later. He was buried at the family graveyard in Batala.[4]

Family

One of his daughters, Asghari, married

British India into Pakistan and India
.

Sources

  1. ^ Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society - Volume 44 - Page 162
  2. ISBN 978-9-38306-441-0.[permanent dead link
    ]
  3. ^ Husain, Muhammad Azim (1946). Fazl-i-Husain, a Political Biography. Longmans, Green & Co. p. 1.
  4. ^ a b c d e Azim Husain, Fazl i Husain A Political Biography, Longmans, Green & Company, 1946
  5. ^ a b "Fazl-I-Husain | Making Britain". Open.ac.uk.
  6. ^ a b Lionel Knight, Britain in India, 1858–1947, Anthem Press, 2012
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h J. Henry Korson, Contemporary Problems of Pakistan, Brill Archive, 1974
  8. ^ interview with Syed Amjad Ali. Harappa.com (1990-01-15). Retrieved on 2012-12-10.
  9. ^ Viewing Page 2429 of Issue 33148. London-gazette.co.uk (1926-04-06). Retrieved on 2012-12-10.
  10. ^ Rafiq Zakaria, The Man Who Divided India: An Insight Into Jinnah's Leadership and Its Aftermath, Popular Prakashan, 2001
  11. ^ B. R. Nanda, Road to Pakistan: The Life and Times of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Routledge, 3 Jul 2013
  12. ^ Sugata Bose, Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy, Psychology Press, 1998
  13. ^ Viewing Page 3571 of Issue 33831. London-gazette.co.uk (1932-05-31). Retrieved on 2012-12-10.
  14. ^ "Husain, Fazli, Mian, Sir, 1877-1936 - Social Networks and Archival Context". Snaccooperative.org.
  15. ^ Devendra Panigrahi, India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat, Routledge, 19 August 2004

Lahore, partition and freedom. Khushwant Singh

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