[chottala.com] Re: [khabor.com] Some comments on Suhrawardy's Political Struggle !

My impression of  Mr. H.S. Suhrawardy:

 

(1) Mr. H.S. Suhrawardy was a Political Flip-Flop with weak and feeble commitment to

     liberal democracy.

 

(2)  In his political struggle, his role in 1946 calcutta riot is shadowy and questionable.

     Direct Action Day hartal called by the Muslim League on August 16, 1946

     This protest was followed by massive riots in Calcutta instigated by the Muslim League  

     and led to further riots in the surrounding regions of Bengal. Mr. H. S. Sahrawardy, then  

     Premier of Bengal (1946), said: "Muslim India means business."  How grimly it 'meant

     business' was shown by the Calcutta killing, and was later on shown by Noakhali, N.-W.

     F. P. and the Punjab.

 

     Similar opportunistic attitude problem we saw recently in Gujrati Hindutva Leader

     Norendra Modi [Modi recently said slain Muslims 'got what they deserved' ].

 

(3) Mr. H.S. Suhrawardy a political leader with opportunistic approach towards political

     power vis-a-vis social change.

 

     In 1956,  on becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Suhrawardy declared that East

     Bengal has been granted 98 per cent autonomy. However, nothing substantial was done

     to alter the actual condition of East Bengal. Suhrawardy supported the design of

     Pakistan's elite in joining the US-sponsored military pacts [SEATO, CENTO, Pakistan

     American military pacts].

 

(4)  If H.S. Suhrawardy was alive and continued as a leader of Awami League, struggle for

      independence of Bangladesh would taken a different path [my hypothesis] due to his

      compromising and opportunistic maneauvors. I any case, Mr. H.S. Suhrawardy was

      much more acceptable to elites of Pakistan than that of Sheikh Mujib.

      Most NDF-ponthi Awami leaguers [followers of H.S. Suhrawardy] and other NDF

      leaders including Mahmood Ali [Gonotranti Dal] eventually became collaborators

      of Yahia in 1971.

 

Syed Aslam

 

On 12/7/07, faridsrahman <faridsrahman@yahoo.com> wrote:

The author, Professor M. Waheeduzzaman Manik is Professor and the
Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice/Homeland Security and
Public Management at Austin Peay State University, Clarksville,
Tennessee, USA. He recalls Suhrawardy's political struggle on the
44th anniversary of his death.

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=14212

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy: Glimpses of his political struggle
By M. Waheeduzzaman Manik

Today is the forty-third death anniversary of Huseyn Shaheed
Suhrawardy. Born in Medinipore in the then Bengal (now part of West
Bengal state in India) on September 8, 1892, he breathed his last on
December 5, 1963 in a lonely hotel room in Beirut under mysterious
circumstances. He was buried in Dhaka on December 8, 1963 beside Sher-
e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq's grave, adjacent to the then Race Course
Maidan.

H.S. Suhrawardy had a long political career, spanning a period 43
years, if 1920 is taken as the starting point when he joined the
Khilafat movement. Between 1920 and his death in 1963 he had a
chequered political career, which was essentially characterised by
many momentous events, historic vicissitudes, spectacular successes,
endless controversies, dismal failures, and personal tragedies. It
is, therefore, problematic to attempt an exhaustive description or
analysis of all of the phases of his long political career in a
single article. Rather, the chief intent of this commentary is to
provide glimpses of his political struggle.

H.S. Suhwardy was born in Medinipore on September 8, 1892 in one of
the most distinguished Muslim families of the then Bengal. He
completed his elementary education under the guidance of his
scholarly parents and his meritorious maternal uncle Abdullah Al-
Mamun. From the beginning, he was a meritorious student.

After finishing his education at Calcutta Alia Madrasa he attended
St. Xaviers' College, wherefrom he received a Bachelor of Science
degree with Honours in Sciences. In spite of his specialisation in
science subjects, he was versatile in his quest for knowledge, and he
had a knack for language, literature, and humanities. To fulfill his
mother's earnest request, he also completed an M.A. degree in Arabic
Language and Literature from Calcutta University before his departure
for England in 1913.

He studied Sciences at Oxford University and received a Bachelor
degree with Honours in Science. He also studied Law and Jurisprudence
at Oxford University and received the coveted B.C.L. degree and, at
the age of 26, he completed his Bar-at-Law from Gray's Inn in 1918.
On his return from abroad in 1918, he started his law practice at
Calcutta High Court.

Although H.S. Suhrawardy was born in a family of eminent
personalities of exceptional merit, remarkable scholarship and
profound accomplishments, he made a conscious decision to serve the
people by joining politics. He started his political career as an
avowed Khilafatist in 1920, and soon thereafter he emerged as one of
the most ardent defenders of Muslim interests in Bengal.

During his formative years in politics, H.S. Suhrawardy preferred to
call himself an "independent" or a "nationalist." The Swaraj Party of
Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das (1870-1925) provided a political
platform for him. He quickly realised that C.R. was the most
prominent and charismatic Bengali nationalist leader of his era. He
was one of the proponents of the Bengal Pact. He found C.R. Das to be
a distinguished leader of extraordinary merit and integrity whose
political philosophy and leadership style could be emulated. Like
C.R. Das, he also believed that the independence movement of India
would not succeed in the absence of Hindu-Muslim unity.

H.S. Suhrawardy was elected in 1924 to be the Deputy Mayor of
Calcutta Municipal Corporation (along with C.R. Das as the Mayor),
and he held that position till he resigned in 1927. He worked
tirelessly during the late spring and early summer months of 1926 to
put an end to Hindu-Muslim riots in Calcutta. However, the leaders
and newspapers of the Hindu community in Calcutta made him a target
of their hate campaign for his defense in the Courts of law for the
falsely accused Muslim rioters.

He was markedly vocal about the urgent need for ventilating and
redressing the genuine grievances of the Muslim population in Bengal.
Throughout the 1920s, he emphasised the paramount importance of Hindu-
Muslim unity for wresting freedom from the British colonial rule. He
did not believe that the Congress party could ever be the fair
arbiter of the conflict between Hindus and Muslims.

By the year 1927, he emerged as the most vocal and articulate
defender of Muslim rights in the city of Calcutta; he organised
numerous associations, labour unions, and trade unions in Calcutta.
He was also instrumental in organising the All-India Khilafat
Conference and All-Bengal Muslim Conference in 1928. As one of the
emerging Muslim leaders of India, H.S. Suhrawardy was very critical
about the lopsided recommendations of the Simon Commission Report. He
was also an ardent critic of the Nehru (Motilal) Commission Report.
During 1931-32, he was actively involved in holding of the
Conferences of the All-India Muslim Volunteers.

Although H.S. Suhrawardy was emerging as one of the most respected
Muslim leaders of Bengal, he was not willing to be associated with
the Muslim League till the end of 1936. Along with some of the most
prominent Muslim leaders of Bengal, he had formed the Independent
Muslim Party (IMP) in early 1936, and he was selected to be the
general secretary of this newly formed political party. However, due
to the insistence of the provincial and All-India Muslim League
leaders, the short-lived Independent Muslim Party (IMP) got merged in
the later part of 1936 with the Bengal Provincial Muslim League
(BPML).

As a compromise, H.S. Suhrawardy was selected to be the general
secretary of the BPML. As the general secretary of the BPML from the
end of 1936 through the end of 1943, he performed a yeoman's task in
the process of popularising the moribund Muslim League party and the
concept of Pakistan among the Muslim masses throughout the nooks and
corners of the then Bengal. He was recognised as the most dynamic
leader of the BPML, and his leadership role was crucial in the
process of recruiting a group of dedicated and capable party workers.
He was also personally instrumental in the formation of the Muslim
National Guards under the sponsorship of the BPML.

He was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council in 1921, and
returned to the Council in all of the following consecutive terms. He
was also a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly from 1937
through 1947. He was a seasoned parliamentarian in the truest sense
of the term, and his speeches in the legislative assemblies both
before and after the partition may be considered as classics in
legislative debates.

Doubtless, his relentless fight throughout his post-partition
political life for establishing a federally anchored parliamentary
form of government in Pakistan owed much to the robust legislative
training and experience that he had gained during his pre-partition
political years from 1921 to 1947 in the Bengal Legislative Council
and the Bengal Legislative Assembly.

After the formation of the Muslim League and Proja Party coalition
ministry in Bengal under the leadership A.K. Fazlul Huq, H.S.
Suhrawardy was made the minister in charge of labour. He also held
other important portfolios in Sher-e-Bangla Fazlul Huq's cabinet. He
was also one of the staunchest opponents of the second coalition
ministry of A.K. Fazlul Huq, which was often derided as the Shyma-Huq
ministry. He was the most active member in Khwaja Nazimuddin's
cabinet, which was formed after the collapse of the so-called Shayma-
Huq cabinet in 1943.

H.S. Suhrawardy personally enlisted the support of industrial workers
of Bengal in favour of the Pakistan movement. His popularity among
the students and younger generation had motivated many to be the most
vocal supporters of the Pakistan movement. Both H.S. Suhrawardy and
Abul Hashim had been credited for a landslide victory of the Bengal
Provincial Muslim League during the 1946 elections.

As the Chief Minister of Bengal in 1946, H.S. Suhrawardy shouldered
the responsibility of lending logistic support to the Pakistan
Movement. Being essentially goaded by M.A. Jinnah, he also moved the
controversial Amendment to the original version of the historic 1940
Lahore Resolution at the Delhi Convention of the Muslim League
Legislators in 1946.

H.S. Suhrawardy's proposal for "Sovereign Bengal" did not gain much
ground because of the fact that his reputation as a staunch defender
of the Muslim rights in Bengal and his controversial role before,
during, and after the 1946 riots in Calcutta had seriously eroded his
credibility among the leaders and masses of the Hindu community.

With the exception of Saratchandra Bose, his idea of "Sovereign
United Bengal" as a last minute effort to stop the partition of
Bengal in 1947 was not well received by the religiously imbued
Congress leaders. By that time, the Hindu Mahashabha leaders and the
Congress leadership in Bengal were already committed to the division
of Bengal on communal lines. Therefore, there is little wonder that
the Congress-led champions of "Akhanda Bharat" and Hindu Mahashaba-
led exponents of the "divided" Bengal were not at all willing to lend
any support to his proposal for sovereign Bengal.

As subsequent events proved, the concept of a separate sovereign
Bengal was one of the riskiest political maneuvers of his entire
political life. In fact, after independence was granted in August
1947 to the Dominions of India and Pakistan, the leadership of both
India and Pakistan deliberately shunned him. With the exception of
Mahatma Gandhi, the central leaders in India had no empathy for him.

On the other hand, H.S. Suhrawardy had no immediate prospect of
playing any meaningful leadership role in Pakistan. Instead of
recognising his popularity, political stature, commitment, and
organisational skills, and his contribution to the Pakistan movement
at a critical juncture, M.A. Jinnah consciously patronised Khawaja
Nazimuddin's bid to become the parliamentary leader of the Muslim
League legislators in Bengal on August 5, 1947 (only 9 days before
Pakistan was born!).

With the selection of a reactionary, conservative and discredited
leader of the BPML for assuming the role of the Chief Minister of
East Bengal (East Pakistan) over a progressive and dynamic leader of
H.S. Suhrawardy's caliber and stature, the founding father of the new
nation of Pakistan had tacitly sealed the political fate of the last
prime minister of undivided Bengal.

Once Pakistan was a reality on August 14, 1947, the goal of Khwaja
Nazimuddin and his coterie in the provincial Muslim League was to
keep the doors of the party closed to the most progressive and
dynamic members of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League. The followers
of both H.S. Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim were specifically singled out
to be excluded even from the primary membership of the Muslim League.
H.S. Suhrawardy was literally banished from the political scene of
Pakistan by the Jinnah loyalists, both at the center in Karachi and
in the province of East Bengal.

As the Chief Minister of East Bengal, Khwaja Nazimuddin lost no time
in characterising him as an "Indian agent" and an "enemy of
Pakistan." He was quickly removed from the membership of the
Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. The East Bengal Government had also
prohibited him from entering or addressing public meetings in any
place of East Bengal.

Despite persistent attacks from the reactionary forces of the ruling
Muslim League, H.S. Suhrawardy re-emerged in Pakistan's political
scene as a champion of liberal democracy. He was one of the builders
of opposition politics in the early years of Pakistan. Many of his
followers took an active role in the formation of both the East
Pakistan Student League (EPSL) in early 1948 and East Pakistan Awami
Muslim League (EPAML) in June mid-1949.

These pro-democracy organisations were in the vanguard of all of the
phases (1948-52) of the Bengali Language Movement. In 1953, H.S.
Suhrawrdy, in collaboration with A.K. Fazlul Huq and Maulana Bhasani,
was responsible for forming Jukta Front (United Front). His
organisational skills and personal charisma significantly contributed
to the landslide victory of the United Front over the ruling Muslim
League in the 1954 general election in East Bengal.

H.S. Suhrawardy emerged as the most credible voice in support of
framing a Constitution with the provisions for civil liberties and a
full-blown parliamentary model of liberal democracy in Pakistan.
Aimed at establishing a foothold in the Punjabi and Mohajir dominated
decision-making process of the central government, he became the Law
Minister in Mohammad Ali Bogra's Cabinet, and he held that position
from December 20, 1954, through August, 1955.

He was the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of
Pakistan from August 11, 1955 through September 1,1956. His
contribution to the making of the 1956 Constitution of Pakistan was
substantial. He was also the prime minister of Pakistan from
September 12, 1956 through October 11,1957.

The 1956 Constitution of Pakistan was suspended and Martial Law was
promulgated by President Iskander Mirza (a descendent of Mir Jaffor
Ali Khan) on October 7,1958. The appearance of Ayub Khan as the
president and chief martial law administrator on October 27, 1958 was
undoubtedly a nail in the coffin of the semblance of a moribund
democracy in Pakistan.

The newly installed dictator of Pakistan knew well that H.S.
Suhrawardy was a stumbling block in the design and implementation of
his tailor-made Constitution. Therefore, Ayub Khan, the self-declared
dictator of Pakistan, quietly approached him to cooperate with the
Constitution making process of the military regime. Although the
constitution making and democracy building were his chief concerns
during his political career in Pakistan, he bluntly refused to lend
any stamp of legitimacy to the illegitimate dictatorial regime of
Ayub Khan. As a dedicated champion of genuine parliamentary democracy
in Pakistan, he refused to endorse Ayub Khan's illegal seizure of
state power.

H.S. Suhrawardy was one of the top political leaders in Pakistan who
were banned from politics through the imposition of the infamous
Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (EBDO) on August 7,1959. He
was also falsely accused of the violation of the EBDO in July 1960,
and he was disqualified to be engaged in country's political process.
As if EBDO sanction was not enough of a tool to impede his dauntless
dissenting voice, he was arrested on flimsy charge on January 30,
1962. He was put in a solitary confinement in the Central jail of
Karachi without any trial on concocted charges of "anti-state
activities" under the 1952 Security of Pakistan Act.

Instead of bowing down to Ayub Khan's smearing and torturing tactics,
he decided to challenge the legality of the patently false and
baseless allegations.

Ayub Khan, the self-declared President of Pakistan, promulgated "his"
Constitution of Pakistan on March 1,1962, and pursuant to that tailor-
made Constitution, the "indirect elections" to the National Assembly
of Pakistan and the Provincial Assemblies were held on April 28,1962
and May 6,1962 respectively. The self-declared President of Pakistan
lost no time in inaugurating the impotent legislatures both at the
Center (National Assembly of Pakistan) and the Provinces.

Once the first phase of Ayub Khan's consolidation of state power
through the implementation of the so-called Basic Democracy was
complete, H.S. Suhrawardy was released from jail on August 19,1962.

After his release from jail, he had launched an anti-Ayub movement in
both wings of Pakistan for the restoration of democracy. To him, Ayub
Khan's Basic Democracy was nothing but a mockery in the name of
democracy. Instead of becoming a collaborator of a military dictator,
he decided to be the most authentic dissenting voice against the then
diabolical regime.

He had successfully enlisted support from all pro-democratic forces
of Pakistan, and he formed the National Democratic Front (NDF) in
October 1962 to dislodge the undemocratic regime of a military
dictator. His immediate goal was to re-establish parliamentary
democracy and democratic institutions in Pakistan through the
restoration of the 1956 Constitution. He was not in good health in
those days. Yet he kept on fighting against the autocracy till he
went abroad for treatment. Unfortunately, he died on December 5, 1963
under unusually mysterious circumstances.

Although H.S. Suhrawardy was more than 71 years old when he breathed
his last, and the news of his sudden demise spread a shock wave
throughout Pakistan. He died at a time when the dissenting political
forces in Pakistan were gaining ground toward building-up an
effective opposition against the military dictatorship of Ayub Khan.
The passing away of this political doyen at that critical moment
created a void in the core leadership of the resistance movement
against the autocratic dictatorship in Pakistan.

He was the most articulate voice for introduction of adult franchise
and restoration of parliamentary democracy in Pakistan in an era when
a military dictator was in the process of consolidating his grip over
the political process through the introduction of the so-called basic
democracy.

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