152-947: The Pakistan Awami League (officially the All-Pakistan Awami League , and before 1955 the All-Pakistan Awami Muslim League and simply Awami League ) was a Pakistani political party founded by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in February 1950. Pir of Manki Sharif and Khan Ghulam Mohammad Khan from the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) joined it soon afterwards. After 1947, the independence of Pakistan , Amin ul-Hasanat , former Muslim League politician in North-West Frontier Province , established Frontier Awami Muslim League . He got this idea from Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy , who advised him this name. Suhrawardy advised
304-551: A Bachelor of Science degree. Both Huseyn and his elder brother Hasan studied in St Catherine's College, Oxford . They entertained themselves with D. H. Lawrence , Robert Trevelyn, Bertrand Russell , Hugh Kingsmill , Basanta Kumar Mullick , Kiran Shankar Roy, Apurba Chanda, Sri Prakash, S K Gupta, Surendra Kumar Sen, and Syud Hossain . The elder Suhrawardy (Hasan) was in Oxford when Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore became
456-555: A Master of Arts in Arabic from Calcutta. Suhrawardy became a barrister . He was called to the Bar of England and Wales through Gray's Inn in 1922–23. His first son Shahab died of pneumonia. His second son Rashid Suhrawardy was a British theatre actor. Rashid starred in the film Jinnah along with Christopher Lee . His granddaughter Shahida Jamil served as Pakistan's law minister. His nieces include Princess Sarvath al-Hassan of
608-507: A presidential republic . Mujib was one of the key leaders to rally opposition to president Ayub Khan who enacted a system of electoral colleges to elect the country's parliament and president under a system known as "Basic Democracy". Universal suffrage was curtailed as part of the Basic Democracy scheme. Mujib supported opposition candidate Fatima Jinnah against Ayub Khan in the 1965 presidential election . Fatima Jinnah,
760-730: A Library and Information Centre of the Bangladesh High Commission in India by the city's Waqf board. The Suhrawardy family are regarded as one of the illustrious families of the Indian subcontinent . Claiming themselves as descendants of the first caliph of Islam , the Suhrawardy lineage is traced to Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi , a Sufi who lived in Baghdad during the 12th century. The Suhrawardiyya order
912-464: A Special Branch Inspector of Calcutta Police at 500,000. The latter figure is impossibly high and the Star of India reporter put it at about 100,000. The main speakers were Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin and Chief Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Khwaja Nazimuddin in his speech preached peacefulness and restraint but spoilt the effect and flared up the tensions by stating that till 11 o'clock that morning all
1064-597: A controversial figure; directly responsible for the 1946 Calcutta Killings , for which he is often referred as the "Butcher of Bengal" in West Bengal . He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and before that as the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to 1947 in British India . In both Pakistan and Bangladesh , Suhrawardy is regarded as a patron of separate homeland for
1216-546: A declaration at a public meeting, held to observe the death anniversary of his mentor Suhrawardy, that henceforth East Pakistan would be called "Bangladesh": There was a time when all efforts were made to erase the word "Bangla" from this land and its map. The existence of the word "Bangla" was found nowhere except in the term Bay of Bengal. I on behalf of Pakistan announce today that this land will be called "Bangladesh" instead of East Pakistan. Mujib's fiery rhetoric ignited Bengali nationalism and pro-independence aspirations among
1368-609: A federal language was successfully implemented in the 1956 constitution , which declared Urdu, Bengali and English as national languages. East Bengal, however, was renamed East Pakistan. In 1957, Mujib visited the People's Republic of China. In 1958, he toured the United States as part of the State Department 's International Visitor Leadership Program . Mujib resigned from the provincial cabinet to work full time for
1520-637: A heart attack. Many Bengalis were - and some still are - convinced that he was killed on Ayub Khan's order, as his popularity may have made him a powerful rival to Ayub in the upcoming presidential elections. He was buried in Dhaka beside Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin and A. K. Fazlul Huq, signifying his towering stature in Bengali politics as one of the three leading Bengali statesmen of the early 20th century. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), popularly known by
1672-485: A heart attack. After his death, the Awami League veered towards Bengali nationalism , the 6-point movement , East Pakistani secession and ultimately Bangladeshi independence in 1971. According to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, "Bengalis had initially failed to appreciate a leader of Mr. Suhrawardy's stature. By the time they learned to value him, they had run out of time". Suhrawardy's only daughter Begum Akhtar Sulaiman
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#17327756729101824-465: A history and tradition of its own. You can change it only after the people have been consulted. If you want to change, we have to go back to Bengal and ask them whether they are ready to accept it. So far as the question of one unit is concerned it can be incorporated in the constitution. Why do you want it to be taken up right now? What about the state language, Bengali? We are prepared to consider one unit with all these things. So, I appeal to my friends on
1976-610: A jail in West Pakistan . After the independence of Bangladesh, Mujib returned to Bangladesh in January 1972 as a hero and the leader of a war-devastated country. In the following years, he played an important role in rebuilding Bangladesh, constructing a secular constitution for the country, transforming Pakistani era state apparatus, bureaucracy, armed forces, and judiciary into an independent state, initiating first general election and normalizing diplomatic ties with most of
2128-421: A job you will find a large number of people from East Bengal coming forward. There are such a large number of M.As. and B. As....... (Interruptions)....... Sir, my time has been spoiled. Mujib later became provincial minister of commerce and industries in the cabinet of Ataur Rahman Khan . These portfolios allowed Mujib to consolidate his popularity among the working class. The Awami League's demand for Bengali as
2280-511: A key role in organising protests by issuing instructions from jail to students and protestors. He played a key role in declaring 21 February 1952 as a strike day. Mujib went on hunger strike from 14 February 1952 in the prelude to the strike day. His own hunger strike lasted 13 days. On 26 February, he was released from jail amid the public outrage over police killings of protestors on 21 February, including Salam , Rafiq , Barkat , and Jabbar . The League teamed up with other parties like
2432-489: A military court opened. During his imprisonment between 1967 and 1969, Mujib began to write his autobiography. In what is widely known as the Agartala Conspiracy Case , Mujib and 34 Bengali military officers were accused by the government of colluding with Indian government agents in a scheme to divide Pakistan and threaten its unity, order and national security. The plot was alleged to have been planned in
2584-401: A nationwide student strike on 17 March 1948. In early January 1950, the Awami League held an anti-famine rally in Dhaka during the visit of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan . Mujib was arrested for instigating the protests. On 26 January 1952, Pakistan's then Bengali Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin reiterated that Urdu will be the only state language. Despite his imprisonment, Mujib played
2736-516: A nuclear swimming pool reactor from America in 1956. In 1956, Prime Minister Suhrawardy halted the National Finance Commission (NFC) programme to allocate taxed revenue equally between East and West Pakistan . A poor harvest led to heavy imports that year, mostly in the form of foreign aid, to meet food shortages. The United States agreed to sell $ 46.4 million in rice, wheat, and other farm products, about 80% of which
2888-475: A smaller budget allocation than West Pakistan. The 1965 war between India and Pakistan ended in stalemate. The Tashkent Declaration was domestically seen as giving away Pakistan's gains to India. Ayub Khan's foreign minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto resigned from the government, formed the Pakistan Peoples Party , and exploited public discontent against the regime. In 1965, Pakistan banned
3040-528: A statement on a largely uneducated audience is construed by some to be an open invitation to disorder indeed, many of the listeners are reported to have started attacking Hindus and looting Hindu shops as soon as they left the meeting. Subsequently, there were reports of lorries (trucks) that came down Harrison Road in Calcutta, carrying hardline Muslim gangsters armed with brickbats and bottles as weapons and attacking Hindu-owned shops. A 6 pm curfew
3192-625: A student activist in the province of Bengal during the final years of the British Raj . He was a member of the All India Muslim League . He supported Muslim nationalism and had a Pakistani establishmentalist outlook in his early political career. In 1949, he was part of a liberal, secular and left-wing faction which later became the Awami League . In the 1950s, he was elected to Pakistan's parliament where he defended
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#17327756729103344-494: Is no other claim or evidence have been found. Suhrawardy attempted to control the situation by unsuccessfully calling for peace and deployment of the Indian Army in Calcutta with no success. The riots ended with thousand deaths and the Indian press blaming Suhrawardy of obstructing the police work, which is well documented by several authors and eyewitnesses. According to authorities, the riots were instigated by members of
3496-793: Is one of the major Sunni orders of Sufism . His grandfather, Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy , was a Dhaka -based Sufi leader of the Bengali Renaissance and buried beside the Lalbagh Fort . His father Justice Sir Zahid Suhrawardy was a Judge of the Calcutta High Court . His brother Hasan Shaheed Suhrawardy was a linguist, poet, art-critic and diplomat. His uncles included Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Suhrawardy and Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy . His cousin Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah
3648-640: Is recognized by UNESCO for its historic value, and was listed in the Memory of the World Register . Many of his diaries and travelogues were published many years after his death and have been translated into several languages. Mujib was born on 17 March 1920 into the Bengali Muslim aristocratic Sheikh family of the village of Tungipara in Gopalganj sub-division of Faridpur district in
3800-546: The six point movement – recognised as the turning point towards East and West Pakistan becoming two nations. Mujib insisted on a federal democracy and obtained broad support from the Bengali population. In 1966, Mujib was elected as President of the Awami League. Tajuddin Ahmad succeeded him as General Secretary. Mujib was arrested by the Pakistan Army and after two years in jail, an official sedition trial in
3952-673: The Bangabandhu was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman, activist and diarist , Who was the founder of Bangladesh . As the leader of Bangladesh, he had held continuous positions either as Bangladesh's president or as its prime minister from April 1971 until his assassination in August 1975. His nationalist ideology, socio-political theories, and political doctrines are collectively known as Mujibism . Born in an aristocratic Muslim family in Tungipara , Mujib emerged as
4104-874: The Calcutta Khilafat Committee during the 1920s amid the dissolution of the Ottoman caliphate and the Turkish War of Independence ; the Bengal Muslim Election Board; the United Muslim Party; and the Independent Muslim Party. In 1937, Suhrawardy was elected to the newly formed Bengal Legislative Assembly . He was appointed as Minister of Commerce and Labor in the cabinet of the 1st Prime Minister of Bengal A. K. Fazlul Huq . In 1940,
4256-669: The Central Treaty Organization (CENTO). He was not keen on nonalignment which was strongly pursued by neighboring India. Suhrawardy toured the United States, was hosted by President Eisenhower at the White House , and met with American movie stars in Hollywood . In domestic policy, Suhrawardy addressed issues of nuclear energy , foreign aid utilization, food policy, the One Unit framework, and building up
4408-769: The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to declare both Urdu and Bengali as national languages, in addition to English. During a conference in Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall , Sheikh Mujib was instrumental in establishing the All-Party State Language Action Committee. He was repeatedly arrested during the movement. When he was released from jail in 1948, he was greeted by a rally of the State Language Struggle Committee . Mujib announced
4560-489: The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan . Later, a separate meeting of legislators from West Bengal decided by 58 votes to 21 that the province should be partitioned and that West Bengal should join the Constituent Assembly of India . In another separate meeting of legislators from East Bengal, it was decided by 106 votes to 35 that the province should not be partitioned and 107 votes to 34 that East Bengal should join Pakistan in
4712-626: The Dominion of Pakistan , with residences in the federal capital Karachi and the provincial capital Dhaka . His cousin Begum Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah called for Pakistan's constituent assembly to convene in Dacca as East Bengal was home to the majority of Pakistan's population. Suhrawardy joined the Awami League , a party formed in 1949 to counter the erstwhile ruling Muslim League. Suhrawardy emerged as
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4864-606: The Great Calcutta Killings in 1946. The Muslim League called a strike to press its demand for the creation of Pakistan . The strike degenerated into brutal and widespread Hindu-Muslim riots in which thousands were killed on both sides. The riots were seen by some as the last nail in the coffin for Hindu-Muslim unity in British India. Troubles started on the morning of 16 August. Even before 10 o'clock Police Headquarters at Lalbazar had reported that there
5016-525: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan ; the late Bangladeshi barrister Salma Sobhan ; and the film-maker Naz Ikramullah. Suhrawardy was credited as a pioneering modern political organizer in Bengal. He created 36 trade unions among sailors, railway employees, jute and cotton mills workers, rickshaw pullers, cart drivers and other working class groups dominated by Bengali Muslims . Suhrawardy joined
5168-413: The Indian subcontinent . Bengalis increasingly referred to him as Bangabandhu . In March 1969, Ayub Khan resigned and Yahya Khan became president. Prior to the scheduled general election for 1970, one of the most powerful cyclones on record devastated East Pakistan, leaving half a million people dead and millions displaced. President Yahya Khan, who was flying back from China after the cyclone, viewed
5320-752: The Krishak Praja Party of A. K. Fazlul Huq to form the United Front coalition. During the East Bengali legislative election, 1954 , Mujib was elected to public office for the first time. He became a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly . This was the first election in East Bengal since the partition of India in 1947. The Awami League-led United Front secured a landslide victory of 223 seats in
5472-537: The Lahore Resolution was adopted by Indian Muslim leaders calling for the creation of independent states in eastern and northwestern India; it was unclear if the resolution implied a single state covering the two Muslim-majority regions of India or multiple states. Suhrawardy served as Minister of Civil Supplies in the cabinet of the 2nd Prime Minister of Bengal Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin . According to author Thomas Keneally , Suhrawardy blamed black marketers and
5624-649: The National Assembly , Prime Minister Suhrawardy faced pressure from provincialists over the One Unit. West Pakistani provincialists wanted to restore the previous four provinces of Sind , Balochistan , Punjab and the North West Frontier Province . Large rallies were held in West Pakistan against the One Unit. Prime Minister Suhrawardy, however, did not pay attention to the issue. While East Pakistanis also objected to
5776-567: The National Awami Party , though Mujib remained loyal to Suhrawardy. Mujib joined the Alpha Insurance Company in 1960. He continued to work in the insurance industry for many years. The 1958 Pakistani military coup ended Pakistan's first era of parliamentary democracy as Muhammad Ayub Khan , the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army , overthrew the Bengali president Iskandar Ali Mirza and abolished
5928-905: The Partition of India . His premiership was notable for his proposal to create a Free State of Bengal and failing to prevent the Great Calcutta Killings . Muhammad Ali Jinnah , leader of the Muslim League, supported an independent Bengal; this was strongly opposed by the Congress Party . In 1947, the Bengal Assembly voted to partition the territory. Suhrawardy briefly remained in India after partition to attend to his ailing father and manage his family's property. He eventually moved to Pakistan and divided his time between Karachi (Pakistan's federal capital) and Dhaka (capital of East Pakistan ). In Dhaka, Suhrawardy emerged as
6080-573: The Rose Garden mansion on K. M. Das Lane in Old Dhaka , which was organized by Yar Mohammad Khan and Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani . Sheikh Mujib was elected as one of its joint secretaries. The term "Muslim" was later dropped from the party's nomenclature. The Awami League sought to represent both Muslims and Pakistan's religious minorities, including Bengali Hindus and Pakistani Christians . Hence, it dropped "Muslim" from its name to appeal to
6232-710: The Swaraj Party led by Bengali Hindu secularist C. R. Das in 1923. He became the Deputy Mayor of Calcutta in 1924. After the death of Das, Suhrawardy turned to Indian Muslim nationalism . He emerged as a leader of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML), the provincial wing of the Muslim League which his father Zahid had earlier helped create in 1912. Suhrawardy formed several Bengali Muslim political groups, including
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6384-698: The US Ambassador to the United Kingdom Lewis Williams Douglas that there was a "distinct possibility Bengal might decide against partition and against joining either Hindustan or Pakistan". Douglas cabled the State Department about the matter. On 20 June 1947, the Bengal Legislative Assembly met to vote on the partition of Bengal. At the preliminary joint session, the assembly decided by 126 votes to 90 that if it remained united it should join
6536-442: The centrist leader of the Awami League; while Maulana Bhashani represented more radical leftist factions. The Awami League was often allied with the centre-left Krishak Praja Party of A. K. Fazlul Huq. Suhrawardy's chief protégé in East Bengal was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman , to whom Suhrawardy delegated political responsibilities. Suhrawardy was appointed law minister in 1953 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra . He
6688-441: The province of Bengal in British India . His father Sheikh Lutfur Rahman was a sheristadar (law clerk) in the courthouse of Gopalganj; Mujib's mother Sheikh Sayera Khatun was a housewife. Mujib's father Sheikh Lutfur Rahman was a Taluqdar in Tungipara , owning landed property, around 100 Bighas of cultivable land. His clan's ancestors were Zamindars of Faridpur Mahakumar , however due to successive turns in
6840-506: The "unimpeachable" President of Bangladesh, effectively for life , which lasted for seven months. On 15 August 1975, he was assassinated with most of his family members in his Dhanmondi 32 residence in a coup d'état . A populist of the 20th century, Mujib was one of the most charismatic leaders of the Third World in the early 1970s. His post-independence legacy remains divisive among Bangladeshis due to his economic mismanagement,
6992-587: The 'Great Calcutta Killings' after the Calcutta riots : " There is hardly a person in Calcutta who has a good word for Suhrawardy, respectable Muslims included. For years he has been known as "The king of the goondas" and my own private opinion is that he fully anticipated what was going to happen, and allowed it to work itself up, and probably organised the disturbance with his goonda gangs as this type of individual has to receive compensation every now and again. " According to Tathagata Roy , Suhrawardy had pre-planned
7144-542: The 1920s as a trade union leader in Calcutta . He was initially associated with the Swaraj Party . He joined the All-India Muslim League and became one of the leaders of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML). Suhrawardy was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937. In 1946, Suhrawardy led the BPML to decisively win the provincial general election . He served as Bengal's last premier until
7296-572: The 1956 constitution. Many politicians were imprisoned and disqualified from holding public office, including Mujib's mentor Suhrawardy. A new constitution was introduced by Ayub Khan which curtailed universal suffrage and empowered electoral colleges to elect the country's parliament. Following Suhrawardy's death in 1963, Mujib became General Secretary of the All Pakistan Awami League with Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan as its titular president. The 1962 constitution introduced
7448-472: The 237 seats of the provincial assembly. Mujib himself won by a margin of 13,000 votes against his Muslim League rival Wahiduzzaman in Gopalganj. A. K. Fazlul Huq became Chief Minister and inducted Mujib into his cabinet. Mujib's initial portfolios were agriculture and forestry. After taking oath on 15 May 1954, Chief Minister Huq travelled with ministers to India and West Pakistan . The coalition government
7600-460: The Awami League as a party organiser. Between 1956 and 1957, Mujib's mentor Suhrawardy served as the 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan . Suhrawardy strengthened Pakistan's relations with the United States and China. Suhrawardy was a strong supporter of Pakistan's membership in SEATO and CENTO . Suhrawardy's pro-Western foreign policy caused Maulana Bhashani to break away from the Awami League to form
7752-426: The Awami League formed a coalition with Pakistan's Republican Party to unseat the previous government. Suhrawardy became the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan and the second premier under the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan . Suhrawardy was known as a pro- American politician. He also cultivated pragmatic ties with Communist China . Suhrawardy supported the American-led Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and
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#17327756729107904-498: The Awami League to end the strike of the chefs at the InterContinental Hotel. Bhutto feared civil war, and sent a secret message to Mujib and his inner circle to arrange a meeting with them. Mubashir Hassan met with Mujib and persuaded him to form a coalition government with Bhutto. They decided that Bhutto would serve as president, with Mujib as Prime Minister. These developments took place secretly and no Pakistan Armed Forces personnel were kept informed. Meanwhile, Bhutto increased
8056-402: The Awami League to win Pakistan's first general election . When the Pakistani military junta refused to transfer power, he gave the 7th March speech and announced an independence movement. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Mujib declared Bangladesh's independence. Bengali nationalists declared him as the head of the Provisional Government of Bangladesh , while he was confined in
8208-428: The Awami League won 167 out of 169 seats belonging to East Pakistan in the National Assembly of Pakistan , as well as a landslide in the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly . The Awami League emerged as the single largest party in the federal parliament of Pakistan. With 167 seats, it was past the halfway mark of 150 seats in the 300 member national assembly and had the right to form a government of its own. Sheikh Mujib
8360-462: The Awami League. Mujib's delegation included the notable lawyer and constitutional expert Kamal Hossain . The Bengali negotiating position is extensively discussed in Kamal Hossain's autobiography Bangladesh: Quest for Freedom and Justice . The Pakistani government was represented by former chief justice Alvin Robert Cornelius . At the InterContinental Dhaka , Bengali chefs refused to cook food for Yahya Khan. Governor Sahabzada Yaqub Khan requested
8512-548: The Bengal Civil Service instead of the pan-Indian civil service. In parliament, Mujib spoke about parity between East and West Pakistan on 4 February 1956 and said the following. It was stated that at the time of partition there was only one I.C.S. officer in East Bengal and there were no Engineers. I say that Bengal with 16 per cent literacy has only such a meagre representation in the service. Sir, this fact must be realised that it costs an individual Rs. 200 to come from East Bengal to this place. If you recruit in East Bengal and give
8664-842: The Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) to a decisive victory. The Muslim League's biggest success was in Bengal where out of 119 seats for Muslims, the BPML won 113. Suhrawardy was supported by the League's chief Muhammad Ali Jinnah to assume the premiership of Bengal. Suhrawardy's cabinet included himself as home minister; Mohammad Ali of Bogra as finance, health and local government minister; Syed Muazzemuddin Hossain as education minister; Ahmed Hossain as agriculture, forest and fisheries minister; Nagendra Nath Roy as judicial and legislative minister; Abul Fazal Muhammad Abdur Rahman as cooperatives and irrigation Minister; Abul Gofran as civil supplies minister; Tarak Nath Mukherjee as waterways minister; Fazlur Rahman as land minister; and Dwarka Nath Barury as works minister. Suhrawardy's tenure as premier saw
8816-440: The Bengali grassroots. He had an uncanny ability to remember people by their first name regardless of whether they were political leaders, workers, or ordinary citizens. Mujib founded the Muslim Students League on 4 January 1948 as the student wing of the Muslim League in East Bengal . This organisation later transformed into the Bangladesh Chhatra League . During the visit of Governor General Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Dhaka , it
8968-488: The British government's plan to partition India's most populous province; he was supported by the Governor of Bengal Frederick Burrows , Sarat Chandra Bose of the Indian National Congress , Kiran Shankar Roy of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Satya Ranjan Bakshi, Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League Abul Hashim , Bengal Finance Minister Mohammad Ali Chaudhury, Bengal Revenue Minister Fazlur Rahman and Tippera politician Ashrafuddin Chowdhury. Suhrawardy stated
9120-402: The Calcutta Police). The version in the former's report was—"He [the Chief Minister] had seen to police and military arrangements who would not interfere". The version of the latter's was—"He had been able to restrain the military and the police". However, the police did not receive any specific order to "hold back". So, whatever Suhrawardy may have meant to convey by this, the impression of such
9272-490: The East Asian country was model to emulate in development. He addressed a joint sitting of the Philippines Congress during which he expressed support for SEATO and continued to call for decolonization. Suhrawardy's short-lived premiership came to an end when he resigned under pressure from President Iskander Mirza in 1957. Suhrawardy was arrested by the martial law government after the 1958 military coup in Pakistan . While in jail, he wrote to his niece Salma Sobhan on
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#17327756729109424-406: The Legislature respectively, excluding Europeans". The British government seriously considered of the option of an independent Bengal. British commercial interests in Bengal required safeguards. The United States was also briefed on the possibility of three countries emerging out of partition, including Pakistan, India, and Bengal. On 2 June 1947, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee informed
9576-423: The Muslim League and its affiliate Volunteer Corps after listening to the speeches made by Khwaja Nazimuddin and Suhrawardy, in the city in order to enforce the declaration by the Muslim League that Muslims were to 'suspend all business' to support their demand for an independent Pakistan. However, supporters of the Muslim League believed that the Congress Party was behind the violence in an effort to weaken
9728-418: The Muslims, especially for Bengali Muslims , for which he is revered as one of the founding statesmen of Pakistan. Suhrawardy was a scion of one of British Bengal's most prominent Muslim families, the Suhrawardy family . His father Sir Zahid Suhrawardy was a judge of the high court in Bengal. Suhrawardy studied law in Oxford . After returning to India, he joined the Indian independence movement during
9880-404: The Nation ) for Chittaranjan Das , and Netaji ( The Leader ) for Subhash Chandra Bose . In 1969, President Ayub Khan convened a Round Table Conference with opposition parties to find a way out of the prevailing political impasse. A few days after his release from prison, Mujib flew to Rawalpindi to attend the Round Table Conference. Mujib sought to bargain for East Pakistan's autonomy. Mujib
10032-429: The One Unit for renaming East Bengal as East Pakistan, opposition among ethnic groups to the One Unit was stronger in West Pakistan . Suhrawardy's one-year tenure was unable to introduce the joint electorate. Since 1932, elections in Pakistan's provinces were held under the "separate electorate" system of dividing seats in parliament among religious groups in accordance with the colonial-era Communal Award . Abolishing
10184-403: The Pakistani government. He was accused of being a secessionist and an agent of India. East Pakistan's Intelligence Branch compiled many secret reports on his movements and political activities. The secret documents have been declassified by the Bangladeshi government. The formerly classified reports have also been published. The All Pakistan Awami Muslim League was founded on 23 June 1949 at
10336-410: The Pakistani government. His political activities were targeted by the government and police. In 1949, Mujib was expelled from Dhaka University on charges of inciting employees against the university. After 61 years, in 2010, the university withdrew its famously politically motivated expulsion order. Mujib emerged as a major opposition figure in Pakistani politics between 1948 and 1971. He represented
10488-549: The Prime Minister asked the British Army to intervene against hooligans even before that speech. Making use of recently disclosed or hitherto unused sources, he also revealed that Suhrawardy was at odds with Muslim League's radical fraction also after Noakhali riots; however, in some other cases of the Hindu-Muslim armed fights (primarily in Calcutta during Spring 1947) he did less to stop the acts of violence than he could, what made him - according to Flasiński - guilty by negligence. Suhrawardy died in Beirut , Lebanon in 1963 due to
10640-495: The Prime Minister. In this Ministry, the Prime Minister would be a Muslim and the Home Minister a Hindu. Pending the final emergence of a Legislature and a Ministry under the new constitutions, Hindus (including Scheduled Caste Hindus) and Muslims would have an equal share in the Services, including military and police. The Services would be manned by Bengalis. A Constituent Assembly composed of 30 persons, 16 Muslims and 14 non-Muslims, would be elected by Muslim and non-Muslim members of
10792-470: 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 four seats. It was also established in Sindh . Subsequently, the East Pakistani party merged with All-Pakistan Awami Muslim League in 1952 and used the name All Pakistan Awami Muslim League . In the 1954 provincial election in Bengal, the party won 143 seats. The United Front of East Pakistan led by Haq, Bhasani and Surahwardhy
10944-775: The Round Table Conference. West Pakistani crowds received him with chants of "Sheikh Saheb Zindabad!" (meaning Long Live the Sheikh!). He was received by huge crowds in Quetta , Baluchistan. He spoke to West Pakistani crowds in a heavily Bengali accent of Urdu , talking about chhey nukati (six points) and hum chhoy dofa mangta sab ke liye . Mujib demanded that Pakistan accept his six-point plan for federal democracy. He wasn't satisfied by Ayub Khan's pledges. When he returned to Dhaka, he declared that East Pakistan should be known as Bangladesh . On 5 December 1969 Mujib made
11096-567: The UN General Assembly in 1974. Mujib's government proved largely unsuccessful in curbing political and economic anarchy and corruption in post-independence Bangladesh, which ultimately gave rise to a left-wing insurgency . To quell the insurgency, he formed Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini , a special paramilitary force similar to Gestapo , which was involved in various human rights abuses , massacres , enforced disappearances , extrajudicial killings and rapes . Mujib's five-year regime
11248-543: The United States and their cause , a policy that was pursued by the successive administrations. On 10 July 1957, Prime Minister Suhrawardy paid an official visit to the United States where he met with President Dwight Eisenhower . Suhrawardy accepted Eisenhower's request to lease a base in Pakistan from which the United States Air Force could gather intelligence about the Soviet Union . In return,
11400-481: The United States distributed $ 2.142 billion in aid to Pakistan, including supersonic F-104 Starfighters and M48 Patton tanks. Suhrawardy's party, the Awami League, split over his signing of the US-Pakistan military pact, with Maulana Bhasani leaving to form the National Awami Party (NAP). The 1960 U-2 incident severely compromised the national security of Pakistan when Soviet Union eventually discovered
11552-431: 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 , in a radio address on the evening of March 26, Yahya Khan , the then president of Pakistan, declared the Awami League treasonous and banned
11704-563: The base through interrogating its pilot . Prime Minister Suhrawardy was invited by the Soviet Union for an informal visit but he declined. In 1956, Prime Minister Suhrawardy became the Pakistan's first Prime Minister to visit China . Suhrawardy's India policy was at times critical. He demanded a fair share of water sharing on transboundary rivers. Suhrawardy visited Afghanistan and pledged to work for regional peace, decolonization and stability. Suhrawardy also visited Japan and felt
11856-512: The central government in New Delhi for the Bengal famine of 1943 during World War II , and claimed he worked tirelessly on relief. Viceroy Lord Wavell , however, believed that Suhrawardy was corrupt, that he "siphoned money from every project that was undertaken to ease the famine, and awarded to his associates contracts for warehousing, the sale of grain to governments, and transportation." On
12008-601: The charges on 22 February 1969 and unconditionally released Mujib the following day. He returned to East Pakistan as a public hero. He was given a mass reception on 23 February, at the Ramna Race Course and conferred with the popular honorary title of Bangabandhu by Tofail Ahmed . The term Bangabandhu means Friend of the Bengal in the Bengali language. Several of Bengal's historic leaders were given similar honorary titles, including Sher-e-Bangla ( Lion of Bengal ) for A. K. Fazlul Huq , Deshbandhu ( Friend of
12160-415: The city of Agartala in the bordering Indian state of Tripura . The outcry and unrest over Mujib's arrest and the charge of sedition against him destabilised East Pakistan amidst large protests and strikes. Various Bengali political and student groups added demands to address the issues of students, workers and the poor, forming a larger "11-point plan". The government caved to the mounting pressure, dropped
12312-417: The communal character which it was to retain throughout. The meeting began around 2 pm though processions of Muslims from all parts of Calcutta had started assembling since the midday prayers . A large number of the participants were reported to have been armed with iron bars and lathis (bamboo sticks). The numbers attending were estimated by a Central Intelligence Officer's reporter at 30,000 and by
12464-498: The custom of the region at that time. They are second cousins. Mujib began showing signs of political leadership around this time. At the Gopalganj Missionary School, Mujib's political passion was noticed by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy , who was visiting the area along with A. K. Fazlul Huq . Mujib passed out from the Gopalganj Missionary School in 1942. Mujib moved to Calcutta for higher education. At
12616-641: The demarcation of the partition. After the partition of India , Mujib was admitted into the Law Department of the University of Dhaka . The university was created in 1921 as a residential university modelled on Oxford and Cambridge where students would be affiliated with colleges; but its residential character was dramatically changed after partition and students became affiliated with departments. Mujib suffered repeated bouts of police detention due to his ability to instigate opposition protests against
12768-630: The devastation from the air. The ruling military junta was slow to respond with relief efforts. Newspapers in East Pakistan accused the federal government of "gross neglect, callous inattention, and bitter indifference". Mujib remarked that "We have a large army but it is left to the British Marines to bury our dead". International aid had to pour in due to the slow response of the Pakistani military regime. Bengalis were outraged at what
12920-497: The event of partition. Communal violence broke out across India, especially in the Punjab and Bengal's Noakhali district . Suhrawardy traveled to Noakhali with Mahatma Gandhi to restore order; Gandhi and Suhrawardy also had deliberations in Calcutta. After the transfer of power on 14–15 August 1947, Suhrawardy continued to remain in India for a few years where he attended to ailing members of his family. He eventually settled down in
13072-563: The family fortune over generations had turned them middle class. The Sheikh clan of Tungipara were of Iraqi Arab descent, being descended from Sheikh Abdul Awal Darwish of Baghdad, who had come to preach Islam in the Mughal era . His lineage is; Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, son of Sheikh Lutfar Rahman, son of Sheikh Abdul Hamid, son of Sheikh Mohammad Zakir, son of Sheikh Ekramullah, son of Sheikh Borhanuddin, son of Sheikh Jan Mahmud, son of Sheikh Zahiruddin, son of Sheikh Abdul Awal Darwish. Mujib
13224-561: The famine of 1974, human rights violations, and authoritarianism . Nevertheless, most Bangladeshis credit him for leading the country to independence in 1971 and restoring the Bengali sovereignty after over two centuries following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, for which he is honoured as Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal). He was voted as the Greatest Bengali of all time in the 2004 BBC opinion poll. His 7 March speech in 1971
13376-593: The fate of the Bengali Muslim-dominated Sylhet District of Assam Province . Sheikh Mujib worked as an organizer and campaigner for inclusion in Pakistan in the Sylhet referendum. He went to Sylhet from Calcutta with about 500 workers. In his autobiography, he expressed his displeasure about the non-adherence of Karimganj to Pakistan despite winning the referendum and the various geographical inadequacies of East Pakistan during
13528-419: The first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in 1913. His brother Hasan later recounted that "it is difficult now for me to recapture the elation and the ecstasy of those days, but I remember distinctly that look of awe which was in my landlady's eyes when she brought in the breakfast with the morning newspaper containing the scoop". Suhrawardy obtained further degrees, including a Bachelor of Civil Law from Oxford and
13680-416: The first Pakistani premier to travel to Communist China . His pro-US foreign policy caused a split in the Awami League in East Pakistan, with Maulana Bhashani forming the break-away pro- Maoist National Awami Party . Suhrawardy's premiership lasted for a year. His central cabinet included figures like Sir Feroz Khan Noon as Foreign Minister and Abul Mansur Ahmad as Trade Minister. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
13832-456: The following:- Let us pause for a moment to consider what Bengal can be if it remains united. It will be a great country, indeed the richest and the most prosperous in India capable of giving to its people a high standard of living, where a great people will be able to rise to the fullest height of their stature, a land that will truly be plentiful. It will be rich in agriculture, rich in industry and commerce and in course of time it will be one of
13984-611: The former Muslim League members in East Bengal to established new political party under similar name too. In East Pakistan, East Pakistan Awami Muslim League was founded by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan on 23 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 1949, Suhrawardy left Muslim League saying that
14136-400: The fragile Muslim League government in Bengal, further generating the controversy about the real culprits. Historian Joya Chatterji allocates much of the responsibility to Suhrawardy, for setting up the confrontation and failing to stop the rioting, but points out that Hindu leaders were also culpable. A senior intelligence operative wrote to a senior British officer based at Fort William after
14288-652: The injured persons were Muslims, and the Muslim community had only retaliated in self-defence. The Special Branch of Calcutta Police had sent only one shorthand reporter to the meeting, with the result that no transcript of the Chief Minister's speech is available. But the Central Intelligence Officer and a reporter, who Frederick Burrows believed was reliable, deputed by the military authorities agree on one statement (not reported at all by
14440-583: The joint electorate was a key demand of the Awami League. At the National Assembly , the Awami League initiated constitutional reforms to restore the joint electorate system but faced opposition from the Muslim League . Suhrawardy established the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). He appointed Dr. Nazir Ahmad as its chairman. Suhrawardy supported the Atoms for Peace initiative. Suhrawardy also released funds to import
14592-644: The leader of the Bengali -dominated Awami League which became the principal opposition party to the Pakistan Muslim League . In 1956, the centre-left Awami League formed a coalition government with the military-backed Republican Party to unseat the Muslim League. Suhrawardy became Prime Minister in the coalition government. He forged stronger ties with the United States by leading Pakistan's diplomacy in SEATO and CENTO . He also became
14744-407: The masses, students, professionals, and intellectuals of East Pakistan. Many observers believed that Bengali nationalism was a rejection of Pakistan's founding two-nation theory but Mujib never phrased his rhetoric in these terms. Mujib was able to galvanise support throughout East Pakistan, which was home to the majority of Pakistan's population. He became one of the most powerful political figures in
14896-489: The massive reallocation of revenue to West Pakistan despite East Pakistan's role in generating most of Pakistan's export income. Rehman Sobhan paraphrased the two-nation theory into the two economies theory. He argued that East and West Pakistan had two fundamentally distinct economies within one country. In 1966, Mujib put forward a 6-point plan at a national conference of opposition parties in Lahore . The city of Lahore
15048-568: The matter is decided. Mujib often called for increased recruitment and affirmative action in East Pakistan. Bengalis were under-represented in the civil and military services despite making up the largest ethnic group in the federation. Mujib felt that Bengalis were being relegated to provincial jobs instead of federal jobs because most Bengalis could not afford to travel outside the province in spite of holding master's degrees and bachelor's degrees. A similar situation also prevailed under British rule when Bengali degree holders were employed mostly in
15200-479: The military. His staunchly pro-Western foreign policy was opposed by Bengali radicals led by Maulana Bhashani who caused a split in the Awami League. However, Suhrawardy was elected as President of the Awami League. His cabinet included Feroz Khan Noon and Abul Mansur Ahmed among others. Initially promising to review the One Unit framework in the 1956 constitution, Prime Minister Suhrwardy later backtracked. At
15352-446: The minority votebanks. Suhrawardy joined the party within a few years and became its main leader. He relied on Sheikh Mujib to organise his political activities in East Bengal. Mujib became Suhrawardy's political protégé. Prior to partition, Suhrawardy mooted the idea of an independent United Bengal . But in Pakistan, Suhrawardy reportedly preferred to preserve the unity of Pakistan in a federal framework; while Mujib supported autonomy and
15504-481: The next government. Bhutto threatened to break the legs of any West Pakistani MP-elect who accepted Mujib's mandate. However, Khan Abdul Wali Khan of the Awami National Party from North West Frontier Province was open to accepting an Awami League government and travelled to Dhaka to meet with Mujib. Many in Pakistan's establishment were opposed to Mujib becoming Pakistan's prime minister. At
15656-546: The occasion of her wedding to Rehman Sobhan , calling Salma "preternaturally transcendentally intelligent". Suhrawardy is often subjected to criticism by in India for failing to prevent the Direct Action Day riots. According to them, Suhrawardy and other Muslim League leaders reportedly delivered provocative speeches reminding the Bengali Muslims of the historical Islamic victory and urged them to follow
15808-633: The other hand, Indian author, Madhushree Mukherjee, laid major responsibility of this famine to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who wanted the ration for war efforts only and had refrained the U.S. aid to Bengal . Suhrawardy was further accused of practising a Scorched-Earth Policy to counter the Japanese Army 's advances in the East and supervised to burn thousand fishing boats to block any potential movement of invading Japanese Army troops. These measures aggravated starvation and famine and
15960-478: The other side to allow the people to give their verdict in any way, in the form of referendum or in the form of plebiscite. Mujib was often a vocal defender of human rights . Speaking on freedom of assembly and freedom of speech , he told Pakistan's parliament the following on 29 November 1955:- For whom are you going to frame the Constitution? Are you going to give freedom of speech, freedom of action to
16112-402: The party became the party of elites and the party distanced itself from people. In the same year, Iftikhar Mamdot was dismissed from the premiership of Punjab and formed a party called Jinnah Muslim League . In 1950, Suhrawardy established All-Pakistan Awami Muslim League in West Pakistan . The two parties merged to form Jinnah Awami Muslim League prior to the provincial elections in 1951. In
16264-409: The party won a total of 223 seats, soundly defeating the Muslim League with 10 seats. 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 (himself a former aide to Suharwardy) and was named the Awami League . After long arduous consultations and negotiations by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with
16416-474: The party. In addition to this, the government seized the bank accounts of the Awami League. Pakistan National Assembly elections East Pakistan Provincial Assembly elections North-West Frontier Province Provincial Assembly elections Punjab Provincial Assembly elections Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( Bengali : হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী ; Urdu : حسین شہید سہروردی ; 8 September 1892 – 5 December 1963)
16568-518: The party. The Awami League veered away from the left-wing extremism of its founding president Maulana Bhashani . Under Suhrawardy and Mujib, the Awami League emerged as a centre-left party. The Awami League strongly backed the Bengali Language Movement. Bengalis argued that the Bengali language deserved to be a federal language on par with Urdu because Bengalis formed the largest ethnic group in Pakistan. The movement appealed to
16720-414: The people of Pakistan? When you do not have any other law under which you can arrest a person, you haul him under this so-called Public Safety Act. This is the blackest Act on the statute book of Pakistan. I do not know how long such an Act will continue. I want to warn you. Sir, that you must do justice to all people without fear or favour. If justice fails, equity fails, fair-play fails, then we will see how
16872-642: The politics of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League , the All India Muslim Students Federation , the Indian independence movement and the Pakistan movement . In 1943, he was elected as a councillor of the Muslim League. In 1944, he was elected as secretary of the Faridpur District Association, a Calcutta-based association of residents from Faridpur. In 1946, at the height of the Pakistan movement, Mujib
17024-532: The positions of President and Prime Minister rotated among Muslims and Christians. The five-point plan stated that "On the announcement by His Majesty's Government that the proposal of the Free State of Bengal had been accepted and that Bengal would not be partitioned, the present Bengal Ministry would be dissolved. A new interim Ministry would be brought into being, consisting of an equal number of Muslims and Hindus (including Scheduled Caste Hindus) but excluding
17176-567: The powerful and progressive states of the world. If Bengal remains united this will be no dream, no fantasy. On 20 May 1947, a five-point plan was outlined for a "Free State of Bengal", echoing the legacy of the name of the Irish Free State . The plan was based on a confessionalist structure with power-sharing between Hindus and Muslims. It mirrored some of the confessionalist practices adopted in French Lebanon in 1926, where
17328-460: The pressure on Yahya Khan to take a stand on dissolving the government. Sheikh Mujib spent 4682 days in prison in his political life. Among them, he spent 7 days in prison during the British raj and the remaining 4,675 days under the government of Pakistan. In 1938, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman went to the house of Gopalganj Hindu Mahasabha president Suren Banerjee when his classmate friend Abdul Malek
17480-556: The relief was only ordered when Lord Wavell became the Viceroy , using the Indian Army to organise relief. However, by that time, the winter crop had arrived and famine conditions had already eased, after millions had earlier perished. Calcutta's Hindu-owned newspapers had become very critical of his role and the Bengali Hindus held him directly responsible for the famine. During the 1946 general election , Suhrawardy led
17632-415: The rights of East Bengal . Mujib served 13 years in prison during the British Raj and Pakistani rule. By the 1960s, Mujib adopted Bengali nationalism and became the undisputed leader of East Pakistan soon. He became popular for opposing political, ethnic and institutional discrimination; leading the six-point autonomy movement ; and challenging the regime of Field Marshal Ayub Khan . In 1970, he led
17784-494: The riot long back, evident from the fact that demographic changes were being made in the Calcutta Police constabulary. Recently, Polish scholar Tomasz Flasiński expressed another opinion about Suhrawardy. His research proved, inter alia, that Suhrawardy's famous speech during the first day of Calcutta Riot urged Muslims to come back to their homes instead of (as it was often suggested) encouraging them to riot, and in fact
17936-580: The same way on 16 August. The historian Devendra Panigrahi, in his book India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat , quotes from 13 August 1946 issue of Muslim League mouthpiece The Star of India , "Muslims must remember that ... it was in Ramazan that the permission for jehad was granted by Allah. It was in Ramazan that the Battle of Badr, the first open conflict between Islam and Heathenism,
18088-461: The same year i.e. 63 days from 25 October to 27 December 1949 and 787 consecutive days from 1 January 1950 to 26 February 1952. Sheikh Mujib had to spend 206 days in prison even after winning the United Front elections in 1954. Sheikh Mujib was arrested again on 11 October 1958 after Ayub Khan imposed martial law. At this time, he had to spend 1 thousand 153 consecutive days in prison. Then he
18240-608: The sister of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, drew huge crowds in East Pakistan during her presidential campaign which was supported by the Combined Opposition Party, including the Awami League. East Pakistan was the hotbed of opposition to the presidency of Ayub Khan. Mujib became popular for voicing the grievances of the Bengali population, including under-representation in the military and central bureaucracy. Despite generating most of Pakistan's export earnings and customs tax revenue, East Pakistan received
18392-404: The stock exchange met with President Mirza to address their concerns and issues. Suhrawardy in 1957 described Pakistan's foreign policy as "friendship towards all and malice towards none", a phrase which was later adopted as Bangladesh's foreign policy. Suhrawardy is also considered to be one of the pioneers of Pakistan's foreign policy aimed, directed, and set towards excessively supporting
18544-508: The third grade of Gopalganj Public School. His parents transferred him to Madaripur Islamia High School after two years. Mujib withdrew from school in 1934 to undergo eye surgery. He returned to formal education after four years owing to the severity of the surgery and slow recovery. Mujib was 18 years old when he was married to eight years old Fazilatunnesa , widely known in Bangladesh as Begum Mujib, in an arranged marriage , according to
18696-420: The time neither Mujib nor the Awami League had explicitly advocated political independence for East Pakistan, but smaller nationalist groups were demanding independence for Bangladesh . After the election victory, Mujib was ornamented as " Sher-e-Pakistan " (Lion of Pakistan) on a newspaper ad published on The Daily Ittefaq on 3 January 1971. Both Bhutto and Yahya Khan travelled to Dhaka for negotiations with
18848-562: The time, Calcutta was the capital of British Bengal and the largest city in undivided India. He studied liberal arts , including political science , at the erstwhile Islamia College of Calcutta and lived in Baker Hostel . Islamia College was one of the leading educational institutions for the Muslims of Bengal. He obtained his bachelor's degree from the college in 1947. During his time in Calcutta, Sheikh Mujib became involved in
19000-451: The vested interests want to divide the people of East and West Pakistan". When asked about the prospect of East Pakistan ruling West Pakistan if the Awami League gained power, Mujib replied that majority rule is important in a democracy but the people of East Pakistan had no intention to discriminate against West Pakistan, and that West Pakistani parties would continue to play an important role. Mujib toured West Pakistani cities by train after
19152-645: The vice-president of the Faridpur district branch of the All Bengal Muslim Chhatra League in 1941. After the establishment of Pakistan, Sheikh Mujib was in jail for five days from 11 March – 15 March 1948. He was arrested on 11 September of the same year and released on 21 January 1949. He spent 132 days in prison during this period. Then on 19 April 1949, he was again taken to jail and was released on 28 June after serving 80 days of imprisonment. At that point he spent 27 days in prison. In
19304-410: The violent days in the run up to partition. In 1947, Sheikh Mujib also joined the "United Bengal Movement" which was organized under the leadership of Suhrawardy, Abul Hashim , Sarat Chandra Bose and others to form an undivided independent Bengal outside the jurisdiction of India and Pakistan. Later, when the creation of the states of India and Pakistan was confirmed, a referendum was held to decide
19456-695: The works of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in state media. Censorship in state media spurred Bengali civil society groups like Chhayanaut to preserve Bengali culture. When Ayub Khan compared Bengalis to beasts, the poet Sufia Kamal retorted that "If the people are beasts then as the President of the Republic, you are the king of the beasts". The Daily Ittefaq led by Tofazzal Hossain voiced growing aspirations for democracy, autonomy, and nationalism. Economists in Dhaka University pointed to
19608-414: The world. His foreign policy during the time was dominated by the principle "friendship to all and malice to none". He remained a close ally to Gandhi 's India and Brezhnev 's Soviet Union , while balancing ties with the United States . He strongly opposed the apartheid policies of South Africa and dispatched an army medical unit during the 1973 Arab-Israeli War . He gave the first Bengali speech to
19760-460: Was a Pakistani Bengali barrister and politician. In Bangladesh , Suhrawardy is remembered as a pioneer of Bengali civil rights movements, later turned into Bangladesh independence movement, and the mentor of Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman . He is also remembered for his performance as the Minister for Civil Supply during the Bengal famine of 1943 . In India, he is seen as
19912-569: Was a forceful orator at the assembly in Karachi. He opposed the government's plan to rename East Bengal as East Pakistan as part of the One Unit scheme. On 25 August 1955, he delivered the following speech. Sir [President of the Constituent Assembly], you will see that they want to use the phrase 'East Pakistan' instead of 'East Bengal'. We have demanded many times that you should use Bengal instead of Pakistan. The word Bengal has
20064-661: Was a social worker and activist in Pakistan; his son, Rashid Suhrawardy , from his second marriage to Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder ; was a British Bangladeshi actor known for his role in the film Jinnah . His brother Hasan Shaheed Suhrawardy was a diplomat, writer and art-critic. Many places in South Asia bear his name, including an avenue in Islamabad ; a large park near his mausoleum in Dhaka; and streets, dormitories and memorials across Bangladesh. The Suhrawardy family home in modern-day Kolkata has been leased as
20216-411: Was arrested again on 6 January 1962 and released on 18 June of that year. He spent 158 days in prison. Then in 1964 and 1965 he was in prison for 665 days in different terms. After making the six-point proposal, he was arrested at the place where he went to hold the rally. At that time, he held 32 public meetings and spent 90 days in prison for different periods. Then he was arrested again on 8 May 1966 and
20368-464: Was beaten up. Sheikh Mujib was arrested for the first time in a case filed by the leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha when the scuffle took place there. After seven days in jail, Sheikh Mujib was released when the case was dropped through settlement. In addition, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was temporarily arrested twice for making a speech and staying at the meeting place during disturbances while being
20520-510: Was chosen because of its symbolism as the place where the Lahore Resolution was adopted by the Muslim League in 1940. The six points called for abolishing the Basic Democracy scheme, restoring universal suffrage, devolving federal power to the provinces of East and West Pakistan, separate fiscal, monetary and trade policies for East and West Pakistan, and increased security spending for East Pakistan. Mujib's points catalysed public support across East Pakistan, launching what historians have termed
20672-494: Was considered Suhrawardy's chief political protégé. Suhrawardy was premier under Pakistan's first republican constitution which ended dominion status and the monarchy of Queen Elizabeth . During the 1958 military coup , Suhrawardy was arrested by the martial law government. He missed the wedding of his niece, Salma Sobhan (Pakistan's first woman barrister), because of his detention. In 1963, Suhrawardy died in Beirut due to
20824-571: Was covered by aid grants or loans. The central government led by Suhrawardy focused on the implementation of the planned economy. His relations with the stock exchange and the business community deteriorated when he announced distribution of the US$ 10 million ICA aid between West and East, and establishing the shipping corporation at the expense of West Pakistan's revenues. Massive labour strikes broke out in West Pakistan against his economic policy in major cities of Pakistan. Eventually leaders of
20976-554: Was declared that Urdu will be the sole national language of Pakistan. This sparked the Bengali Language Movement . Mujib became embroiled in the language movement, as well as left-wing trade unionism among Bengali factions of the Muslim League. Bengali factions eventually split away and formed the Awami Muslim League in 1949. Mujib was arrested many times. His movements were tracked by spies of
21128-500: Was dismissed on 30 May 1954. Mujib was arrested upon his return to Dhaka from Karachi . He was released on 23 December 1954. Governor's rule was imposed in East Bengal. The elected government was eventually restored in 1955. On 5 June 1955, Mujib was elected to a newly reconstituted second Constituent Assembly of Pakistan . The Awami League organised a huge public meeting at Paltan Maidan in Dhaka on 17 June 1955 which outlined 21 points demanding autonomy for Pakistan's provinces. Mujib
21280-567: Was elected as General Secretary of the Islamia College Students Union in Calcutta. His political mentor Suhrawardy led the center-left faction of the Muslim League. Suhrawardy was responsible for creating 36 trade unions in Bengal, including unions for sailors, railway workers, jute and cotton mills workers, rickshaw pullers, cart drivers and other working class groups. Mujib assisted Suhrawardy in these efforts and also worked to ensure protection for Muslim families during
21432-565: Was excitement throughout the city, that shops were being forced to close, and that there were many reports of brawls, stabbing and throwing of stones and brickbats. These were mainly concentrated in the North-central parts of the city like Rajabazar, Kelabagan, College Street, Harrison Road, Colootolla and Burrabazar. In these areas the Hindus were in a majority and were also in a superior and powerful economic position. The trouble had assumed
21584-534: Was fought and won by 313 Muslims and again it was in Ramazan that 10,000 Muslims under the Holy Prophet conquered Mecca and established the kingdom of Heaven and the commonwealth of Islam in Arabia. The Muslim League is fortunate that it is starting its action in this holy month". On 16 August 1946, the massive bloody riots erupted in Calcutta , killings scores of Hindus at the hands of rioters. However, there
21736-527: Was imposed in the parts of the city where there had been rioting. At 8 pm forces were deployed to secure main routes and conduct patrols from those arteries, thereby freeing up police for work in the slums and the other underdeveloped sections. In New Delhi on 27 April 1947, Suhrawardy called a press conference to demand an undivided, independent Bengal . Suhrawardy made an impassioned plea for setting aside religious differences in order to create an "independent, undivided, and sovereign Bengal". He opposed
21888-488: Was in charge of drafting Pakistan's constitution. One of the highlights of Suhrawardy's political career was leading the United Front campaign during the 1954 East Bengali election which booted the Muslim League out of power. At the federal level, Suhrawardy served as Leader of the Opposition in the parliament of Pakistan in 1955. His position was bolstered by the landslide victory in East Bengal in 1954. In 1956,
22040-533: Was not a very good player but still had a good position in the school team. At this time I was not interested in politics." Once the farmers in his village lost their crops and faced a near-famine situation, which had a great impact on Mujib. During these days, he usually used to distribute rice among the poor farmers and students from his own or collecting from others. Mujib was enrolled in Gimadanga Primary School in 1927. In 1929, he entered
22192-664: Was one of South Asia's pioneering women in public service. His first wife was Begum Niaz Fatima, the daughter of Justice Sir Abdur Rahim , a member of the Governor's Executive Council and Speaker of the Central Legislative Assembly . Begum Niaz Fatima died in 1922. His second wife was Begum Veera Suhrawardy , a Russian actress of Polish descent. A young Huseyn studied in Calcutta Madrasa and attended St. Xavier's College, Kolkata where he earned
22344-515: Was open to the idea of East Bengali independence. Mujib reportedly remarked that "[t]he Bengalis had initially failed to appreciate a leader of Mr. Suhrawardy's stature. By the time they learned to value him, they had run out of time". At the federal level, the Awami League was led by Suhrawardy. At the provincial level, the League was led by Sheikh Mujib who was given a free rein over the party's activities by Suhrawardy. Mujib consolidated his control of
22496-413: Was the eldest son and third child in the family of four daughters (Fatima, Achia, Helen, Laili) and two sons (Mujib, Naser ). His parents nicknamed him "Khoka". As a child, Mujib was described as "compassionate and very energetic". Either playing or roaming around. Feeding birds, monkeys and dogs. In his autobiography, Mujib mentions, "I used to play football , volleyball and field hockey . Although I
22648-413: Was the most powerful opposition leader at the Round Table Conference. Ayub Khan shook hands with Mujib, whom Khan previously had imprisoned. Talking to British media, Mujib said "East Pakistan must get full regional autonomy. It must be self-sufficient in all respects. It must get its due share and legitimate share in the central administration. The West Pakistani people support [East Pakistani demands]. Only
22800-410: Was the only socialist period in Bangladesh's history, which was marked with huge economic mismanagement and failure, leading to the high mortality rate in the deadly famine of 1974 . In 1975, he launched Second Revolution , under which he installed a one party regime and abolished all kinds of civil liberties and democratic institutions, by which he "institutionalized autocracy " and made himself
22952-483: Was widely considered to be the Prime Minister-elect , including by President Yahya Khan. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) came in second with 86 seats. The new parliament was scheduled to hold its first sitting in Dhaka, Pakistan's legislative capital under the 1962 constitution. The political crisis emerged when PPP leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto declared that his party would boycott parliament if Mujib formed
23104-434: Was widely considered to be the weak and ineffective response of the federal government to the disaster. Public opinion and political parties in East Pakistan blamed the ruling military junta for the lack of relief efforts. The dissatisfaction led to divisions between East Pakistanis and West Pakistanis within the civil services, police and Pakistani Armed Forces. In the Pakistani general elections held on 7 December 1970 ,
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