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Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani

Mozlum Jananeta
Maulana
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani
আবদুল হামিদ খান ভাসানী
Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani in 1965
Member of Parliament of Bangladesh
In office
7 April 1973 – 15 August 1975
1st President of Awami League
In office
1949–1956
General Secretary
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byHuseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Member of Parliament of Pakistan
In office
1954–1955
Member of Assam Legislative Assembly
In office
1936–1946
Succeeded byM. M. Abul Kasem
ConstituencyDhubri (South)
Personal details
Born(1880-12-12)12 December 1880
Sirajganj, Bengal, British India (now Rajshahi, Bangladesh)
Died17 November 1976(1976-11-17) (aged 95)
Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dacca, Bangladesh
Resting placeSantosh, Tangail, Bangladesh[1]
NationalityBritish Indian (1880–1947)
Pakistani (1947–1971)
Bangladeshi (1971–1976)
Political party
Personal life
EducationDarul Uloom Deoband
Religious life
ReligionIslam
DenominationSunni
JurisprudenceHanafi
TeachersAbdul Bari Chishti
Hussain Ahmed Madani
MovementDeobandi
Muslim leader
Disciple ofSayyid Nasir al-Din al-Baghdadi
Influenced by

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani[a] (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani,[2] was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was popularly known by the honorary title Mozlum Jananeta[b] for his lifelong stance advocating for the poor.[3] He gained nationwide mass popularity among the peasants and helped to build the East Pakistan Peasant Association.[4] Owing to his political leaning to the left, often dubbed Islamic Socialism,[5][6] he was also called 'The Red Maulana'.[7][8] He is considered as one of the main pillars of Bangladeshi independence (1971).

An alumnus of Darul Uloom Deoband, and participant in the Khilafat Movement protesting the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, he led the Muslims of Assam in a successful campaign during the 1947 Sylhet Referendum, through which Sylhet chose to become part of the Pakistan national project. He was the founder and President of the Pakistan Awami Muslim League (AML) which later became the Awami League (AL). Later however, owing to differences with the right-leaning leaders in the AML, such as Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, on the issue of autonomy for East Pakistan, he formed a new progressive party called the National Awami Party (NAP). Bhashani also differed with Suhrawardy when the latter as Prime Minister of Pakistan decided to join the US-led defence pacts CENTO and SEATO. He disagreed with Pakistan's growing ties with the United States.[9]

The split of the left-wing camp into pro-Moscow and pro-Beijing factions eventually led to the break-up of NAP into two separate parties; the pro-Moscow faction being led by Muzaffar Ahmed. After Pakistan's 1965 war with India, he showed some support for Field Marshal Ayub Khan's regime for its China-leaning foreign policy; but later he provided leadership to a mass uprising against the regime in 1968–69.[10]

American journalist Dan Coggin, writing for Time, credited Bhashani, "as much as any one man", for instigating the 1969 Mass uprising in East Pakistan that culminated in the collapse of the Ayub Khan regime.[11] and the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the others accused in the Agartala conspiracy case.[12] According to lay author S. Akhtar Ehtisham, Bhashani's decision to boycott the 1970 Pakistan general elections effectively led to the electoral landslide by his erstwhile opponent Mujibur Rahman. The Awami League, without any viable opposition in East Pakistan, won 160 of the 162 seats in the province and thus gained a majority in the Pakistan National Assembly with the help of Nasid Shahriar from Sostitola, Rajshahi.[13]

  1. ^ Haq, Enamul (2012). "Bhasani, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
  2. ^ "From Maulana To Mao-Lana And Beyond: Bhashani's Dream". The Friday Times. 13 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Bhashani's anniversary of death today". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 8 April 2023. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
  4. ^ Uphoff, Norman Thomas; Ilchman, Warren Frederick (1972). The Political Economy of Development: Theoretical and Empirical Contributions. University of California Press. pp. 168. ISBN 978-05200-2062-7.
  5. ^ Khan, Naveeda (2009). Beyond Crisis: Re-evaluating Pakistan. Routledge. p. 255. ISBN 978-1-136-51758-7.
  6. ^ Iqtidar, Humeira (2011). Secularizing Islamists?: Jama'at-e-Islami and Jama'at-ud-Da'wa in Urban Pakistan. University of Chicago Press. p. 81. ISBN 9780226384702.
  7. ^ Uddin, Layli (20 November 2015). "Maulana Bhashani: The Lessons of Freedom". The Daily Star. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  8. ^ Khan, Zeeshan. "Take me to my leader". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. ^ Rahman, Syedur (2010). Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh. Scarecrow Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-0-8108-7453-4.
  10. ^ "Building a Nation | 1958 - 1969 Personalities". Story Of Pakistan. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference time was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Moiz Khan (15 December 2022). "Revisiting The Agartala Conspiracy". Eurasia Review (OpEd). Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  13. ^ Ehtisham, S. Akhtar (2008). A Medical Doctor Examines Life on Three Continents: A Pakistani View. Algora Publishing. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-87586-635-2.


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