Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Encyclopedia
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (Bengali
: হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী, Urdu
: حسین شہید سہروردی; September 8, 1892 - December 5, 1963, Beirut
) was a Pakistani-Bengali
politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan
from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan
, first Prime minister of Pakistan. After his dismissal, Suhrawardy later joined Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani's East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, which later became the Awami League of modern Bangladesh
(East-Pakistan).
Rising to the leadership of the All India Muslim League in the Bengal Presidency
, Suhrawardy was a leading advocate of creating a separate Muslim state of Pakistan
. With Jinnah, he had advocated and played a major role for the success of Pakistan Movement
. Under auspices of Jinnah, Suhrawardy rose to prominence, and became a important ally of Jinnah. Suhrawardy was a populist leader who advocated socialism, Suhrawardy left the ruling Muslim League in 1949, shortly after the death of Jinnah, to join East Pakistan Awami Muslim League of Maulana Bhashani.
Maulana Bhashani's party became one of the leading opposition political parties in Pakistan and Suhrawardy gave all out support. He was appointed to head a coalition government as prime minister of Pakistan in 1956 but his regime was dismissed in 1957 after a year in office. General Ayub Khan had deposed the government of Suhrawardy and exiled him to Lebanon. This was again repeated by General Pervez Musharraf who deposed Prime minister Navaz Sharif
and forcefully exiled him to Saudia Arabia. Later his last days, Suhrawardy was the mentor of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
, who first advocated autonomy for Bangladesh.
, now in West Bengal
. He was the younger son of Justice Sir Zahid Suhrawardy, a prominent judge of the Calcutta High Court and of Khujastha Akhtar Banu (c. 1874–1919) a noted name in Urdu literature and scholar of Persian. Kujastha was the daughter of Maulana Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy
and sister of, amongst others, Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy
, OBE and Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy
.
Suhrawardy had an elder brother Shahid Suhrawardy, the co-founder of Pakistan PEN Miscellenay with Professor Ahmed Ali.
, and completed a masters degree at the University of Calcutta
. Afterwards, he moved to the United Kingdom
to attend St Catherine's College
, Oxford University
from where he obtained a BCL degree. On leaving Oxford, he was called to the bar at Gray's Inn
. He then started his practice at Calcutta High Court.
In 1920, Suhrawardy married Begum Niaz Fatima, daughter of Sir Abdur Rahim
, the then home minister of the Bengal Province of British India and later President of India's Central Legislative Assembly
. Suhrawardy had two children from this marriage; Ahmed Shahab Suhrawardy and Begum Akhtar Sulaiman
(née Akhtar Jahan Suhrawardy). Ahmed Suhrawardy died from pneumonia whilst he was a student in London in 1940. Begum Akhtar Sulaiman was married to Shah Ahmed Sulaiman (son of Justice Sir Shah Sulaiman) and had one child, Shahida Jamil
(who later became the first female Pakistani Federal Minister for Law). Shahida Jamil
has two sons, Zahid Jamil (a lawyer in Pakistan) and Shahid Jamil (a solicitor in London).
His first wife, Begum Niaz Fatima, died in 1922. In 1940 Suhrawardy married Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder
, who, after her conversion to Islam
had changed her name to Begum Noor Jehan. She was a Russian
actress of Polish
descent from the Moscow Art Theatre
and protege of Olga Knipper
. The couple divorced in 1951 and had one child, Rashid Suhrawardy (aka Robert Ashby), who is an actor living in London. Vera later settled in America.
Leonard Mosley, in his book 'The last days of the British Raj' writes [on page 26]: "Mr. Suhrawardy was a party 'boss' of the type who believes that no politician need ever be out of office once his strong-arm squads have gained control of the polling booths; that no minister should ever suffer financially by being in public life; that no relative or political cohort should ever go unrewarded. He loved money, champagne, Polish blondes and dancing the tango in nightclubs, and he was reputed to have made a fortune during the war. He loved Calcutta, including its filthy, festering slums, and it was from the noisome alleyways of Howrah that he picked the goondas who accompanied him everywhere as bodyguards."
in 1921 as a practising barrister of the Calcutta High Court. He became involved in politics in Bengal
. Initially, he joined the Swaraj Party
, a group within the Indian National Congress
, and became an ardent follower of Chittaranjan Das
. He played a major role in signing the Bengal Pact in 1923.
Suhrawardy became the Deputy Mayor of the Calcutta Corporation at the age of 31 in 1924, and the Deputy Leader of the Swaraj Party in the Provincial Assembly. However, following the death of Chittaranjan Das in 1925, he began to disassociate himself with the Swaraj Party and eventually joined Muslim League. He served as Minister of Labour, and Minister of Civil Supplies under Khawaja Nazimuddin
among other positions. In the Bengal Muslim League, Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim
led a progressive line against the conservative stream led by Nazimuddin and Akram Khan
.
In 1946, Suhrawardy established and headed a Muslim League government in Bengal. It was the only Muslim League government in India at that time.
declared August 16, 1946 to be a public holiday following the Direct Action Day
called by Jinnah to protest against the Cabinet Mission plan for the independence of India. Suhrawardy, acting on the advice of R.L. Walker, the then chief secretary of Bengal, requested Governor Burrows to declare a public holiday on that day. Walker made this proposal with the hope that the risk of conflicts, especially those related to picketing, would be minimized if government offices, commercial houses and shops remained closed throughout Calcutta on the 16th.
The most consequential of his life's achievements was his role in the great Calcutta riots of 16 August 1946 - The Muslim League's 'Direct Action' day. He was the Chief minister of the Bengal province - the only province which was ruled by Muslim League. It was therefore no surprise that it was Calcutta that witnessed the massacre of about 10,000 Hindus on the four days from 16 August to 20 August 1946.
The intensity of Direct Action Day was at its worst in the capital Calcutta. Suhrawardy owned up his responsibility [In the presence of Gandhi & before the people of Calcutta during Gandhi's stay at Beliaghata in August 1947 just before independence] for both orchestrating and not taking steps to prevent the carnage and for trying to suppress the news of the same from the media. Suhrawardy ordered the goons of Calcutta to murder any hindu who would dare open his shop/store or come out into the streets disregarding the Muslim league's call for 'Bandh'/'Direct Action'. This was carried out with perfection and soon the skies of Calcutta echoed with the death screams of thousands of Hindus. It was not until when finally the Hindus found that it was a carefully planned murdering campaign, and began retaliating, that Suhrawardy asked the army to 'control' the riot. The Bengal Police, composed mainly of Muslims, was conspicuous by its inaction as Hindus were being butchered in broad daylight. [ Leonard Mosley, the pro-Muslim British journalist, gives a vivid portrayal of Suhrawardy's character when he says "...In Calcutta he [Suhrawardy] could find the night-clubs he loved, the blondes he loved even more; and there was something about the smell, squalor, poverty and even the wickedness of the city which appealed to his temperament..."
, and Suhrawardy stepped down from the Chief Ministership. Unlike other Muslim League stalwarts of India, he did not leave his hometown immediately for the newly established Pakistan. Anticipating revenge of Hindus against Muslims in Calcutta after the transfer of power, Suhrawardy sought help from Gandhi. Gandhi was persuaded to stay and pacify tempers in Calcutta, but he agreed to do so on the condition that Suhrawardy share the same roof with him so that they could appeal to Muslims and Hindus alike to live in peace. "Adversity makes strange bed-fellows," Gandhi remarked in his prayer meeting.
, Suhrawardy maintained his work in politics, continuing to focus on East Bengal as it became after the partition of India. On return to Dhaka he joined Awami Muslim League that Maulana Bhashai formed. In the 1950s, Suhrawardy worked to consolidate political parties in East Pakistan to balance the politics of West Pakistan
. He, along with other leading Bengali leaders A.K. Fazlul Huq and Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
, formed a political alliance in the name of Jukta Front which won a landslide victory in 1954 general election of East Pakistan. Under Muhammad Ali Bogra
, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy would serve as Law Minister and later become the head of opposition parties.
Iskander Mirza after the resignation of Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
. Suhrawardy inherited a political schism that was forming in Pakistan between the Muslim League and newer parties, such as the Republican party
. The schism was fed by the attempt to consolidate the four provinces of West Pakistan
into one province, so as to balance the fact that East Pakistan existed as only one province. The plan was opposed in West Pakistan, and the cause was taken up by the Muslim League and religious parties. Suhrawardy supported the plan, but the vast opposition to it stalled its progress.
In order to divert attention from the controversy over the "One Unit
" plan as it was called, Suhrawardy tried to ease economic differences between East and West Pakistan. However, despite his intentions, these initiatives only led to more political frictions, and was worsened when Suhrawardy tried to give more financial allocations to East Pakistan than West Pakistan from aids and grants. Such moves led to a threat of dismissal looming over Suhrawardy's head, and he resigned in 1957.
His contribution in formulating 1956 constitution of Pakistan was substantial as he played a vital role in incorporating provisions for civil liberties and universal adult franchise in line with his adherence to parliamentary form of liberal democracy.
In the foreign policy arena, he is considered to be one of the pioneers of Pakistan's pro-United States stand. He was also the first Pakistani Prime Minister to visit China in 1956 and the delegation included Professor Ahmed Ali, Pakistan's First Envoy to China (1951–52) who had established the Pakistani embassy in Peking and formed Pak-China friendship and strengthened the official diplomatic friendship between Pakistan and China
(a friendship that Henry Kissinger
would later use to make his now-famous secret trip to China in July 1971).
was suffering from severe energy crises. It was Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy's premiership when Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
(PAEC) was established by a Parliamentary Act of 1956. He also appointed Dr. Nazir Ahmad
, a noted physicist
and scientist
, to be its first Chairman. Under Dr. Nazir Ahmad's direction, Pakistan started its nuclear energy programme. Prime Minister Suhrawardy also allotted PAEC to set up its new pilot-nuclear labs. As premier, he played an important role in establishing of Nuclear
research institute
s in West-Pakistan
. He also laid foundation of the first nuclear power plant in Karachi, when it was recommended by the PAEC. However, after his removal from office, the proposal went into cold storage and severely undermined by a political turmoil in the country. Furthermore, Ayub Khan had also froze the further programmes as he thought Pakistan was too poor to work on this programme. Thus, the nuclear energy programme and academic research was halted by Ayub Khan's military regime for more than a decade.
Disqualified from politics under the military regime of Ayub Khan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy died in Lebanon
in 1963. His death was officially due to complications from heart problems, though some have alleged he was poisoned, gassed or subjected to blunt-trauma in his bedroom. After a befitting funeral attended by a huge crowd, he was buried at Suhrawardy Udyan
in Dhaka
. Khayaban-e-Suhrawardy in Islamabad
is named after him.
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Bengali language
Bengali or Bangla is an eastern Indo-Aryan language. It is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and parts of the Indian states of Tripura and Assam. It is written with the Bengali script...
: হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
: حسین شہید سہروردی; September 8, 1892 - December 5, 1963, Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
) was a Pakistani-Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan
For other people with the same or similar name, see Liaqat Ali Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pakistani statesman who became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Defence minister and Commonwealth, Kashmir Affairs...
, first Prime minister of Pakistan. After his dismissal, Suhrawardy later joined Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani's East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, which later became the Awami League of modern Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
(East-Pakistan).
Rising to the leadership of the All India Muslim League in the Bengal Presidency
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency originally comprising east and west Bengal, was a colonial region of the British Empire in South-Asia and beyond it. It comprised areas which are now within Bangladesh, and the present day Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Meghalaya, Orissa and Tripura.Penang and...
, Suhrawardy was a leading advocate of creating a separate Muslim state of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. With Jinnah, he had advocated and played a major role for the success of Pakistan Movement
Pakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
. Under auspices of Jinnah, Suhrawardy rose to prominence, and became a important ally of Jinnah. Suhrawardy was a populist leader who advocated socialism, Suhrawardy left the ruling Muslim League in 1949, shortly after the death of Jinnah, to join East Pakistan Awami Muslim League of Maulana Bhashani.
Maulana Bhashani's party became one of the leading opposition political parties in Pakistan and Suhrawardy gave all out support. He was appointed to head a coalition government as prime minister of Pakistan in 1956 but his regime was dismissed in 1957 after a year in office. General Ayub Khan had deposed the government of Suhrawardy and exiled him to Lebanon. This was again repeated by General Pervez Musharraf who deposed Prime minister Navaz Sharif
Nawaz Sharif
Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani conservative politician and steel magnate who served as 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan in two non-consecutive terms from November 1990 to July 1993, and from February 1997 to October 12, 1999...
and forcefully exiled him to Saudia Arabia. Later his last days, Suhrawardy was the mentor of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
, who first advocated autonomy for Bangladesh.
Early life and family
Suhrawardy was born on 8 September 1892 to a Muslim family in the town of MidnaporeMidnapore
Midnapore is the district headquarters of Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River . This area had taken a pioneering role in India's freedom struggle...
, now in West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
. He was the younger son of Justice Sir Zahid Suhrawardy, a prominent judge of the Calcutta High Court and of Khujastha Akhtar Banu (c. 1874–1919) a noted name in Urdu literature and scholar of Persian. Kujastha was the daughter of Maulana Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy
Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy
Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy was an educationist and writer, was born in the famous Suhrawardy family of Chitwa in Midnapore, West Bengal.-Marriage and family:...
and sister of, amongst others, Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy
Hassan Suhrawardy
Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy, D.Sc., M.D., D.P.H., F.R.C.S. was a noted surgeon, politician and public servant in India.-Life and family:...
, OBE and Sir Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy
Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy
Allama Sir Abdullah al-Mamun al-Suhrawardy, Barrister-at-Law , M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt. , LL.D., Iftakar-ul-Milla, Kt., Commander of the Order of Medjidie, was an Islamic scholar and academic.-Family:...
.
Suhrawardy had an elder brother Shahid Suhrawardy, the co-founder of Pakistan PEN Miscellenay with Professor Ahmed Ali.
Education and marriage
Suhrawardy completed his undergraduate studies at St. Xavier's CollegeSt. Xavier's College, Calcutta
St. Xavier's College is located in Kolkata, India, and is named after St. Francis Xavier, a Jesuit saint of the 16th century, who travelled to India. It is an autonomous college affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It gained autonomy in July 2006, thus becoming the first autonomous college of...
, and completed a masters degree at the University of Calcutta
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta is a public university located in the city of Kolkata , India, founded on 24 January 1857...
. Afterwards, he moved to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to attend St Catherine's College
St Catherine's College, Oxford
St Catherine's College, often called Catz, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its motto is Nova et Vetera...
, Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
from where he obtained a BCL degree. On leaving Oxford, he was called to the bar at Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
. He then started his practice at Calcutta High Court.
In 1920, Suhrawardy married Begum Niaz Fatima, daughter of Sir Abdur Rahim
Abdur Rahim (judge)
Sir Abdur Rahim, KCSI, Kt , sometimes spelt Abdul Rahim, was a judge and politician in British India, and a leading member of the Muslim League...
, the then home minister of the Bengal Province of British India and later President of India's Central Legislative Assembly
Central Legislative Assembly
The Central Legislative Assembly was a legislature for India created by the Government of India Act 1919 from the former Imperial Legislative Council, implementing the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms...
. Suhrawardy had two children from this marriage; Ahmed Shahab Suhrawardy and Begum Akhtar Sulaiman
Begum Akhtar Sulaiman
Begum Akhtar Sulaiman was a Pakistani social worker, political activist and the daughter of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.-Family:...
(née Akhtar Jahan Suhrawardy). Ahmed Suhrawardy died from pneumonia whilst he was a student in London in 1940. Begum Akhtar Sulaiman was married to Shah Ahmed Sulaiman (son of Justice Sir Shah Sulaiman) and had one child, Shahida Jamil
Shahida Jamil
Shahida Nighat Jamil is a Pakistani lawyer and politician.-Education and Family:She was called to the Bar in 1973. Prior to that she graduated from Sindh Muslim Law College and holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in political science and English literature from Karachi University through St...
(who later became the first female Pakistani Federal Minister for Law). Shahida Jamil
Shahida Jamil
Shahida Nighat Jamil is a Pakistani lawyer and politician.-Education and Family:She was called to the Bar in 1973. Prior to that she graduated from Sindh Muslim Law College and holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in political science and English literature from Karachi University through St...
has two sons, Zahid Jamil (a lawyer in Pakistan) and Shahid Jamil (a solicitor in London).
His first wife, Begum Niaz Fatima, died in 1922. In 1940 Suhrawardy married Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder
Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder
Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko was a Russian actress of Polish descent and member of the Moscow Art Theatre who lived through five revolutions. The 1905 Russian Revolution, the Russian Revolution , the Spanish Civil War, the Great Calcutta Killing & Indian Independence Movement, and the Indo-Pakistani...
, who, after her conversion to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
had changed her name to Begum Noor Jehan. She was a Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
actress of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
descent from the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
and protege of Olga Knipper
Olga Knipper
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova was a Russian stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov.Knipper was among the 39 original members of the Moscow Art Theatre when it was formed by Constantin Stanislavski in 1898...
. The couple divorced in 1951 and had one child, Rashid Suhrawardy (aka Robert Ashby), who is an actor living in London. Vera later settled in America.
Leonard Mosley, in his book 'The last days of the British Raj' writes [on page 26]: "Mr. Suhrawardy was a party 'boss' of the type who believes that no politician need ever be out of office once his strong-arm squads have gained control of the polling booths; that no minister should ever suffer financially by being in public life; that no relative or political cohort should ever go unrewarded. He loved money, champagne, Polish blondes and dancing the tango in nightclubs, and he was reputed to have made a fortune during the war. He loved Calcutta, including its filthy, festering slums, and it was from the noisome alleyways of Howrah that he picked the goondas who accompanied him everywhere as bodyguards."
Return to India
Suhrawardy returned to the subcontinentSubcontinent
A subcontinent is a large, relatively self-contained landmass forming a subdivision of a continent. By dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies "having a certain geographical or political independence" from the rest of the continent, or "a vast and more or less self-contained subdivision...
in 1921 as a practising barrister of the Calcutta High Court. He became involved in politics in Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
. Initially, he joined the Swaraj Party
Swaraj Party
The Swaraj Party, Swarajaya Party or Swarajya Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swarajaya Party, was a political party formed in India in 1922 that sought greater self-government and political freedoms for the Indian people from the British Raj. It was inspired by the concept of Swaraj...
, a group within the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
, and became an ardent follower of Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das was an eminent Bengali lawyer and a major figure in the Indian independence movement.-Personal life:...
. He played a major role in signing the Bengal Pact in 1923.
Suhrawardy became the Deputy Mayor of the Calcutta Corporation at the age of 31 in 1924, and the Deputy Leader of the Swaraj Party in the Provincial Assembly. However, following the death of Chittaranjan Das in 1925, he began to disassociate himself with the Swaraj Party and eventually joined Muslim League. He served as Minister of Labour, and Minister of Civil Supplies under Khawaja Nazimuddin
Khawaja Nazimuddin
Hajji Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin, KCIE , was the second Governor-General of Pakistan, and later the second Prime Minister of Pakistan as well.-Early life:...
among other positions. In the Bengal Muslim League, Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim
Abul Hashim
Abul Hashim was a politician. He was born in the village of Kashiara in Burdwan district of West Bengal.-Early life and political carrier:...
led a progressive line against the conservative stream led by Nazimuddin and Akram Khan
Akram Khan (politician)
Akram Khan is an Indian politician, a leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the current Deputy Speaker of Haryana.He became the Deputy Speaker of Haryana for the first time in March 2010. In the Haryana assembly elections of 2009, he became the lone MLA of BSP in Haryana. Since 1966, he is the...
.
In 1946, Suhrawardy established and headed a Muslim League government in Bengal. It was the only Muslim League government in India at that time.
Direct Action Day
Sir Frederick BurrowsFrederick Burrows
Sir Frederick John Burrows, GCSI, GCIE , was a British politician who served as the last British Governor of Bengal during British Raj in India.He was Governor of Bengal from 19 February 1946 to 14 August 1947.Sir Frederick Burrows was against the partition of Bengal...
declared August 16, 1946 to be a public holiday following the Direct Action Day
Direct Action Day
Direct Action Day , also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter in the city of Calcutta in the Bengal province of British India...
called by Jinnah to protest against the Cabinet Mission plan for the independence of India. Suhrawardy, acting on the advice of R.L. Walker, the then chief secretary of Bengal, requested Governor Burrows to declare a public holiday on that day. Walker made this proposal with the hope that the risk of conflicts, especially those related to picketing, would be minimized if government offices, commercial houses and shops remained closed throughout Calcutta on the 16th.
The most consequential of his life's achievements was his role in the great Calcutta riots of 16 August 1946 - The Muslim League's 'Direct Action' day. He was the Chief minister of the Bengal province - the only province which was ruled by Muslim League. It was therefore no surprise that it was Calcutta that witnessed the massacre of about 10,000 Hindus on the four days from 16 August to 20 August 1946.
The intensity of Direct Action Day was at its worst in the capital Calcutta. Suhrawardy owned up his responsibility [In the presence of Gandhi & before the people of Calcutta during Gandhi's stay at Beliaghata in August 1947 just before independence] for both orchestrating and not taking steps to prevent the carnage and for trying to suppress the news of the same from the media. Suhrawardy ordered the goons of Calcutta to murder any hindu who would dare open his shop/store or come out into the streets disregarding the Muslim league's call for 'Bandh'/'Direct Action'. This was carried out with perfection and soon the skies of Calcutta echoed with the death screams of thousands of Hindus. It was not until when finally the Hindus found that it was a carefully planned murdering campaign, and began retaliating, that Suhrawardy asked the army to 'control' the riot. The Bengal Police, composed mainly of Muslims, was conspicuous by its inaction as Hindus were being butchered in broad daylight. [ Leonard Mosley, the pro-Muslim British journalist, gives a vivid portrayal of Suhrawardy's character when he says "...In Calcutta he [Suhrawardy] could find the night-clubs he loved, the blondes he loved even more; and there was something about the smell, squalor, poverty and even the wickedness of the city which appealed to his temperament..."
Independence
In 1947, the balance of power in Bengal shifted from the Muslim League to the Indian National CongressIndian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
, and Suhrawardy stepped down from the Chief Ministership. Unlike other Muslim League stalwarts of India, he did not leave his hometown immediately for the newly established Pakistan. Anticipating revenge of Hindus against Muslims in Calcutta after the transfer of power, Suhrawardy sought help from Gandhi. Gandhi was persuaded to stay and pacify tempers in Calcutta, but he agreed to do so on the condition that Suhrawardy share the same roof with him so that they could appeal to Muslims and Hindus alike to live in peace. "Adversity makes strange bed-fellows," Gandhi remarked in his prayer meeting.
Political life in East Bengal
Upon the formation of PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Suhrawardy maintained his work in politics, continuing to focus on East Bengal as it became after the partition of India. On return to Dhaka he joined Awami Muslim League that Maulana Bhashai formed. In the 1950s, Suhrawardy worked to consolidate political parties in East Pakistan to balance the politics of West Pakistan
West Pakistan
West Pakistan , common name West-Pakistan , in the period between its establishment on 22 November 1955 to disintegration on December 16, 1971. This period, during which, Pakistan was divided, ended when East-Pakistan was disintegrated and succeeded to become which is now what is known as Bangladesh...
. He, along with other leading Bengali leaders A.K. Fazlul Huq and Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani was a popular political leader in Pakistan and Bangladesh, a rural based self-educated person.Abdu Hamid Khan Bhashani, born in 1880 in Dhangara, Bangladesh), was the son of Haji Sharafat Ali Khan. He gained immense popularity among peasants...
, formed a political alliance in the name of Jukta Front which won a landslide victory in 1954 general election of East Pakistan. Under Muhammad Ali Bogra
Muhammad Ali Bogra
Nawabzada Mohammed Ali Bogra was a Pakistani statesman of Bengali origin, who served as the third Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 until 1955.-Early life:...
, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy would serve as Law Minister and later become the head of opposition parties.
Prime Minister of Pakistan
In 1956, he was made Prime Minister by President of PakistanPresident
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Iskander Mirza after the resignation of Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhry Muhammad Ali (Punjabi, ; (July 15, 1905 - December 2, 1980) was a Pakistani statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956.-Early life:...
. Suhrawardy inherited a political schism that was forming in Pakistan between the Muslim League and newer parties, such as the Republican party
Republican Party (Pakistan)
The Pakistani Republican Party was formed in October 1955, by a break away faction of the Muslim League and other politicians supporting the creation of the West Pakistan province, on the instigation of key leaders in the military and civil service....
. The schism was fed by the attempt to consolidate the four provinces of West Pakistan
West Pakistan
West Pakistan , common name West-Pakistan , in the period between its establishment on 22 November 1955 to disintegration on December 16, 1971. This period, during which, Pakistan was divided, ended when East-Pakistan was disintegrated and succeeded to become which is now what is known as Bangladesh...
into one province, so as to balance the fact that East Pakistan existed as only one province. The plan was opposed in West Pakistan, and the cause was taken up by the Muslim League and religious parties. Suhrawardy supported the plan, but the vast opposition to it stalled its progress.
In order to divert attention from the controversy over the "One Unit
One Unit
One-Unit was the title of a scheme launched by the federal government of Pakistan to merge the four provinces of West Pakistan into one homogenous unit, as a counterbalance against the numerical domination of the ethnic Bengalis of East Pakistan...
" plan as it was called, Suhrawardy tried to ease economic differences between East and West Pakistan. However, despite his intentions, these initiatives only led to more political frictions, and was worsened when Suhrawardy tried to give more financial allocations to East Pakistan than West Pakistan from aids and grants. Such moves led to a threat of dismissal looming over Suhrawardy's head, and he resigned in 1957.
His contribution in formulating 1956 constitution of Pakistan was substantial as he played a vital role in incorporating provisions for civil liberties and universal adult franchise in line with his adherence to parliamentary form of liberal democracy.
In the foreign policy arena, he is considered to be one of the pioneers of Pakistan's pro-United States stand. He was also the first Pakistani Prime Minister to visit China in 1956 and the delegation included Professor Ahmed Ali, Pakistan's First Envoy to China (1951–52) who had established the Pakistani embassy in Peking and formed Pak-China friendship and strengthened the official diplomatic friendship between Pakistan and China
(a friendship that Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
would later use to make his now-famous secret trip to China in July 1971).
Nuclear energy programme
During 1950s, PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
was suffering from severe energy crises. It was Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy's premiership when Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, , is an administrative governmental and autonomous science and technology governmental department of Pakistan, responsible for development of nuclear energy and development of nuclear power sector in Pakistan...
(PAEC) was established by a Parliamentary Act of 1956. He also appointed Dr. Nazir Ahmad
Nazir Ahmed (physicist)
Nazir Ahmed , D.Phil., was a Pakistani experimental physicist and a chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission from 1956 to 1960. He was born in Lahore, British India .-Life:...
, a noted physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
and scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
, to be its first Chairman. Under Dr. Nazir Ahmad's direction, Pakistan started its nuclear energy programme. Prime Minister Suhrawardy also allotted PAEC to set up its new pilot-nuclear labs. As premier, he played an important role in establishing of Nuclear
Nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and interactions of atomic nuclei. The most commonly known applications of nuclear physics are nuclear power generation and nuclear weapons technology, but the research has provided application in many fields, including those...
research institute
Research institute
A research institute is an establishment endowed for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research...
s in West-Pakistan
West Pakistan
West Pakistan , common name West-Pakistan , in the period between its establishment on 22 November 1955 to disintegration on December 16, 1971. This period, during which, Pakistan was divided, ended when East-Pakistan was disintegrated and succeeded to become which is now what is known as Bangladesh...
. He also laid foundation of the first nuclear power plant in Karachi, when it was recommended by the PAEC. However, after his removal from office, the proposal went into cold storage and severely undermined by a political turmoil in the country. Furthermore, Ayub Khan had also froze the further programmes as he thought Pakistan was too poor to work on this programme. Thus, the nuclear energy programme and academic research was halted by Ayub Khan's military regime for more than a decade.
Post-political life and death
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
in 1963. His death was officially due to complications from heart problems, though some have alleged he was poisoned, gassed or subjected to blunt-trauma in his bedroom. After a befitting funeral attended by a huge crowd, he was buried at Suhrawardy Udyan
Suhrawardy Udyan
Suhrawardy Udyan formerly known as Ramna Racecourse ground is a national memorial located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Once known as ‘‘Bagh-e-Badshahi’’ during the Mughal rule, it is named after Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. Originally it served as the military club of the British soldiers stationed in Dhaka...
in Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
. Khayaban-e-Suhrawardy in Islamabad
Islamabad
Islamabad is the capital of Pakistan and the tenth largest city in the country. Located within the Islamabad Capital Territory , the population of the city has grown from 100,000 in 1951 to 1.7 million in 2011...
is named after him.
Further reading
- Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy: A Biography by Begum Shaista Ikramullah (Oxford University Press-1991)
- Freedom at Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins
- Gandhi's Passion by Stanley Wolpert (Oxford University Press)
- Memoirs of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy by Muhammad H R Talukdar (University Press Limited, 1987)
External links
- The Complete Politician, an article published in Time on Suhrawardy on September 24, 1956.
- Suhrawardy in Banglapedia, the national encyclopedia of Bangladesh.
- Suhrawardy Becomes Prime Minister
- Chronicles Of Pakistan
- Glimpses on Suhrawardy, an article published on The Daily Star on 23 June 2009
- Suhrawardy meets Eisenhower, video footage from British Pathé
- Speech by Suhrawardy on Kashmir, video footage from British Pathé
- Commonwealth Ministers at No 10, video footage from British Pathé
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