Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder :
‘Brave and intelligence’ seem one of the characteristic traits of his leadership. His charisma enabled him to earn tremendous popularity. The way he demonstrated indomitable courage no other Bengali could do it to become the ‘Tiger of Bengal’ . “He was very close to Ashtosh Mukherjee (who was also known as ‘Tiger of Bengal’), father of Shyamaprasad Mukherjee (a Bengali politician who supported him as Prime Minister.
After being alienated from the Congress party where he seprved as its General Secretary in 1916-1918, in 1929, he launched the Nikhil Proja Samiti. “Nazimuddin was so afraid of Haque that he even arranged Grand feasts in several places. A peasant came to that and prayed for Haque. When asked why, he replied “It was Huqsaab who intimidated you, so you are arranging such party, so we are getting this meal.”In this election Abul Kashem Fazlul Huq launched famous slogan still popular: who gives the sweat should get the value. Who holds the plough should own the land’
He served as the Premier of Bengal. “His reign was unstable as it was marred by controversies. In 1938, the Independent Scheduled Castes seceded and the K.P.P. slowly started disintegrating. Following the betrayal by Indian National Congress, he also moved the Lahore Resolution in 1940. In 1941, The Viceroy of India, Lord Linlithglow nominated him to the Defence Council. But the Quaid-i-Azam who headed the All-India Muslim League asked him to resign. He obeyed but, to demonstrate his unhappiness, resigned from the League Working Committee. As a result of Huqs’ reluctance to obey the League ministers resigned. In 1945, he contested elections successfully on two seats. But his party was trounced badly by the All India Muslim League. In 1947, he joined the League campaign to include Calcutta in Pakistan. The other prominent supporters included Husseyn Shaheed Suhrwardy and Sarat Chandra Bose. The opposition of the Congress, however, ensured a partition of the province. Later on he accused Jinnah of not working hard enough for the cause. This time he managed to lead a fragile short lived alliance with Right wing-Hindutwa leader Shyamaprasad Mukherjee.
He was an admirer of Netaji, but he was very angry on him as Netaji started hunger strike on demand of removing Hallwell Monument, and Huq needed stability to discuss the land reform.
In fact, Sher-E-Bangla occupies the foremost place among the leaders ceaselessly fighting for the emancipation of Bengali peasants. Indeed he was matchless and had only a few equals well known in history as humanists and philanthropists. By dint of his extraordinary genius, he created an era. In fact, he was a versatile talent making remarkable marks in public life as politician, peasant leader, teacher, lawyer, administrator, statesman, freedom fighter and a person with incredible physical strength and guts.
He was an well-known Bengali politicians having a large following especially amongst the ordinary masses in East Bengal. “He was one of the tallest leaders of the Krishak Praja Party, a political party which was one of the major three players in the Bengal province of British India (along with the Congress and the Muslim League”.
Fazlul Haque was the prime mover in tabling famous Lahore Rersolution in 1940. It was
written by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and presented by A. K. Fazlul Huq, the Prime Minister of Bengal. Lahore Resolution was a a formal political statement adopted by the All-India Muslim League on the occasion of its three-day general session in Lahore on March 22-24, 1940. The resolution called for independent ‘states’ as seen by the statement:
“That geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of (British) India should be grouped to constitute ‘independent states’ in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign. “Although the name “Pakistan” had been proposed by Choudhary Rahmat Ali in his Pakistan Declaration, it was not until after the resolution that it began to be widely used. This was the moment when Sherebangla , totally transformed himself into a great leader.
According to Wikipedia, there remains a debate on whether the resolution envisaged two sovereign states in the eastern and western parts of British India. Abdul Hashim of the Bengal Muslim League interpreted the text as a demand for two separate countries. In 1946, Prime Minister H. S. Suhrawardy of Bengal, a member of the All India Muslim League, mooted the United Bengal proposal with the support of Muslim and Hindu leaders, as well as the Governor of Bengal. However, it was opposed by Lord Mountbatten, the Muslim League, the Congress and the Hindu Mahasabha.
Although there were and continue to be disagreements on the interpretation of the resolution, it was widely accepted that it called for a separate Muslim state. Opposing opinions focus on the phrase “independent states” claiming this means Muslim majority provinces, i.e. Punjab, Sindh, etc. would be independent of each other. They ignore the phrase “geographically contiguous units.” They also rely on the claims of certain Bengali nationalists who did not agree with one state. They accuse their opponents of diverting the “spirit” of the resolution.
Ultimately, it is the author of the resolution that decides its spirit and the sponsor who decides its legal interpretation. Both the author (Zafarullah Khan) and its sponsor (the Muslim League leadership) contended that it is intended for not only the separation of India but into only 2 states (Muslim majority and Hindu majority). Therefore, it is indeed a statement calling for independence and one Muslim state. Eventually, the name “Pakistan” was used for the envisioned state.
(Dr. Md. Shairul Mashreque, Department of Public Administration, Chittagong University and Dr. M. Abul Kashem Mozumder, Member PSC)
