Course Title: Legal Environment of Business Course code: GED-123 BBA, Spring-2010 4th Batch, Section H

Focusing on : Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bashani

Submitted to: Fatema Tania Lecturer Faculty of Business ASA University Bangladesh Submitted by: Md.Mokter Hossain ID.082-12-0300

Picture: Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bashani

Alternate name: Date of birth: Place of birth: Date of death: Place of death: Red Maulana 12 December1880 Dhangara, Serajgonj 17 November 1976 Dhaka, Bangladesh Khilafat movement Non-cooperation movement Bengali Language Movement Bangladesh Liberation War Farakka Long March National Awami Party(1957) East Pakistan Awami Muslim league(1949) East Pakistan Awami league(1955) United Front(1950)
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Movement:

Major organizations:

Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani

Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (1880-1976) was a Muslim leader who used nonviolent, mass civil disobedience techniques to promote nationalism in Assam, Bengal, and Bangladesh in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Acatalyst of Muslim nationalism, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani did for the masses of the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent what Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi accomplished for the teeming down-trodden people of north, central, and south India. Unswerving in his belief in God and human dignity, Bhashani crusaded, at times singlehandedly, against the vested interests in Assam, Bengal, and later Bangladesh in favor of the deprivedlandless peasants, workers, and hapless migrants. Like Gandhi, Bhashani succeeded in institutionalizing political dissent and making opposition politics viable and respected. Also like Gandhi, he never accepted any position in government although he was elected to Assam, Bengal, and East Bengal assemblies and was himself the founder of the most effective political parties in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Ideologically, Bhashani was a Marxist and Islamist, at the same time both admiring the People's Republic of China and regretting that the Chinese lacked faith in God. Enigmatic, uncompromising, and candid, Bhashani was a charismatic leader who could motivate ordinary people to join his movement for social and economic justice.

Contents:

1 Early life 2 Political life o 2.1 British period o 2.2 Early Pakistan days o 2.3 Jukta Front o 2.4 Hunger strikes 3 Political philosophy o 3.1 Independent East Pakistan o 3.2 Chinese connection o 3.3 Anti-Indian stance o 3.4 Hukumat-e-Rabbania o 3.5 Politics in Independent Bangladesh o 3.6 Support for post-Mujib era 4 Journalism o 4.1 Weekly Ittefaq o 4.2 Weekly Huq Katha o 4.3 Daily Banaga Barta o 4.4 Farakka Long March, 1976 5 Death

1. Early life
In 1880 Maulana Bhashani was born at village Dhangara in Serajganj, presently a district, formerly a subdivision under Pabna. Bhashani was the son of Haji Sharafat Ali Khan .During 1907-09 he received religious education at the Deoband Madrasah.He did not receive much formal education.He began his career as a primary school teacher at Kagmari in Tangail and then worked in a madrasa at village Kala (Haluaghat) in Mymensingh district.The association of Mahmudul Hasan (Shaikhul Hind) and other famous progressive Islamic thinkers inspired Bhasani against British imperialism. During 1909-13 he worked with the political extremists. In 1914 he revolted against the Christian missionaries in the Netrakona and Sherpur areas of the then East Bengal.

2. Political life

2.1 British period

In 1917, Bhashani was inducted into active politics and joined the Nationalist party led by Desbandhu Chittaranjan Das as an activist.He went to Santosh in Tangail to take up the leadership of the oppressed peasants during the great DEPRESSION period. Inspired by Maulana Mohammed Ali, he joined the Indian National Congress in 1919. In 1920 he was arrested and imprisoned. After being released, he participated in Khilafat movement. In 1921 he participated in Non-Cooperation movement against the British imperialism under the leadership of Deshbandhu C R Das. He suffered imprisonment for some days at that time. From Tangail he moved to Ghagmara in ASSAM in the late 1930s to defined the interests Bangali settlers there.He make his debut as a leader at Bashan Char on the BRAHMAPUTRA where he constructed an embankment with the co-operation of the Bangali settlers,thereby savings the peasants from the scourge of annual inundation.Relieved of the recurring floods the local people fondly started to call him Bashani Saheb,an epithet by which the moulana has been known from then on. The Assam government made a law restricting Bangali settlement beyond a certain geographical line,an arbitary settlemrnt which severely affected the interests of the Bangali coloniesers.Protected by this restrictive law the locals had launched a movement to oust the Bangali settlers across the so-called line.In 1937 Bashani joined the MUSLIM LEAGUE and became president of Assam unit of the party.On the line issue, hostile
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relations developed between the Maulana and the Assam Chief Minister,Sir Mohammad Saidullah.At partition,Maulana Bashani was in Goalpara district(Assam) organizing the farmers against the line system.He was arrested by the government of Assam,and released towards the end of 1947 ofn the condition that he would leave Assam for good Early in 1948 Maulana Bashani came to East Bengal only to find himself brushed away from the provincial leadership set-up.Disheartened,Bashani contested and won a seat in the provincial assembly from south Tangail in a by election defeating Khurram Khan Panni,the Muslim League candidate and ZAMIDER of Karatia.But the provincial governor nullified the results on grounds of foul play in the elections,and disqualified all the candidates from taking part in any election until 1950.Stragely enough,the ban on Panni was lifted in 1949 even though it reminedin force on Bashani.

2.2 Early Pakistan days

After establishment of Pakistan in 1947, through partition of India, Bhashani found his anti-establishment course of action. On June 23, 1949, he founded "East Pakistan Awami Muslim league. Bhasani was elected its president with Shamsul Huq as its General Secretary. On June 24, 1949 he organized the first meeting of Awami League at Armanitola ground of Dhaka.After its second meeting in the same venue on October 11, he and many other leaders of the new party were arrested while heading a procession of hunger strikers moving towards the government secretariat to protest against the famine conditions prevailing in the province.when his life was at risk due to his protracted hunger-strike,Bashani was released from jail in 1950.On 31 January 1952 he formed the "All Party Language movement Committee" at the Dhaka Bar Library. The National Democratic Front was established under his leadership on 4 December 1953. He renamed Awami Muslim League as the Awami League by removing "Muslim" from its official name in the council session of Awami League held on 21-23 October 1955. In course of the famous Kagmari Conference of Awami League held on 8-10 February, 1957, Bhashani said good bye (Assalamu Alaikum) to the West Pakistani authority who was systematically discriminating against East Pakistan and used the occasion to launch a bitter attack on Suhrawardys foreign policy. On 24-25 July 1957 Bhashani convened the conference of All Pakistan Democratic Activists. On July 25 he formed the East Pakistan National Awami Party (NAP). Bhashani was elected the President with Mahmudul Huq Osmani, the General Secretary.From then onwards the Maulana followed left-oriented politics only. Bashani was interned once again when Pakistans army Chief General MOHMMAD AYUB KHAN seized power in 1958.After his release from confinement in 1963,the Maulana went on a visit to China also to Havana in 1964 to attend the World Pease Conference.Bashani bitterly opposed Ayub Khans proposal for creating a selective electorate of basic democrats and for holding all elections on the basis of universal adult
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franchise.In 1967 the socialist world split into pro-Soviet and pro-China blocs.The East Pakistan NAP also split with the Maulana leading the pro-China fraction. In 1967 Bhashani protested against the governmental ban against Tagore. He organized the Cooperative for the Cultivators of East Pakistan on 2-3 January 1968. He was elected the founder Chairman. On 15 June 1968 Bhashani founded the Cooperative for the Provincial Fish Tradesmen at Dhaka Bar library. On 12 October he was arrested by President General Ayub Khan's government from the Mirzapur hospital, Tangail.In 1969 Bhashani launched movement to withdraw the Agartala Conspiracy Case and for the release of Sheikh Mujib and other co-accused persons. He branded the Ayub government as a lackey of imperialist forces and launched a movement to dislodge him from power.In the face of mounting opposition movement,Ayub Khan resigned as President of Pakistan allowing army Chief General AGA MOHAMMAD YAHYA KHAN to step in.To tide over the deepening political crisis,Yahya Khan arranged for holding parliament elections on 7 December 1970. The Maulana boycotted the elections and concentrated on providing relief to the victims of the devastating cyclone that struck the coastal zone of Bangladesh in November.The apathy of the central government towards the cyclone victims made the Maulana call openly for the separation of East Pakistan. When the war of liberation started on 26 March 1971, Maulana Bhasani went to India. He did not return to Bangladesh until its independence.

2.3 Jukta Front

On 21 February 1952 several students taking part in the language movement were killed in a police firing in Dhaka.Bashani strongly condemned the brutality of the government.He was arrested on February 23 from his village home and sent behind the bar.In the politics of East Bengal in the early 1950s Bashani emerged as the most vocal and respected politician of the time.As President of the Awami Muslim League,Bashani played the crucial role in forging a unity among five opposition political parties by forming an alliance called the United Front.Other leader of the front were AK FAZLUL HAQ,HUSEYN SHAHEED SUHRAWARDY,SHEIKH MUJIBUR RAHMAN,HAJI MOHAMMAD DANESH.In the elections held in March 1954 the United Front won 223 seats as against the Muslim Leagues 7 seats. There is reason to believe that frequent contract during prison life with the communists made the Maulana more conscious about socialist ideology with which his personal political outlook and lifestyle were quite in accord.He became president of the Adamjee Jute Mills Mazdoor Union and the East Pakistan Railway Employees League.The Maulana was made to preside over two massive workerssrallies organized by the communists on May day in 1954 in Dhaka and Narayanganj.The same year he was made president of the East Pakistan Peasants Association.Soon after,he was made presidentof
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the East Pakistan chapter of the communists-dominated International Peace Committee.In that capacity,he went stockholmto attend the World Peace Conference in 1954.He visited several Countries of Europe,gaining firsthand knowledge of the socialists movements of the world. At home,the United Front came close to collapsing mainly because of conflicts between the Awami Muslim League and Krishak Sramik Party over the question of power sharing.The Maulana tried his best to overcome the problems of practical politics.But he particularly disappointed at the turn of events under which H S Suhrawardy formed the Awami Coalition government at the centre with himself as prime minister and with ATAUR RAHMAN KHAN as chief minister in East Bengal.Meanwhile serious differences of opinion arose between the Maulana and Suhrawardy on issues concerning the basic principles of the Pakistan constitution then being finalized for promulgation.The Maulana opposed the constitutions provision for separate electorate for the minorities which Suhrawardy supported.He also opposed Suhrawardys proAmerican foreign policy and fovoured closer relations with China.

2.4 Hunger strikes

Bhashani often resorted to hunger strikes as mode of peaceful protest. On one occasion his hunger strike continued for as long as thirty one days.

3. Political philosophy

3.1 Independent East Pakistan

Maulana Bhashani was the first among the politicians to conceive of an independent East Pakistan. In early 1950s he felt that an integrated Pakistan was no longer maintainable with hegemony of West Pakistan. In Kagmari Sommelan, he bid farewell to West Pakistan by saying Assalam alaikum which soon became a reference quote. He declined to participate in the national election of 1970 saying that it will only help perpetuate rule by West Pakistan. Since 1969 his favoirite slogans were Swadhin Bangla Zindabad and Azad Bangla Zindabad. His dream of an independent Purba Bangla (East Bengal) came true when Bangladesh was established as an independent nation-state in 1971.

3.2 Chinese connection

Maulana was known to have a Chinese connection and was the leader of pro-Chinese politicians of East Pakistan. During the 1965 war between Pakistan and India, Maulana was traceless for some days. It is said that he was flown from Panchbibi, Bogra to China, at the behest of president Field Marshall Ayub Khan, to secure support of China for Pakistan.
3.3 Anti-Indian stance

It is said that Maulana Bhasani considered India a 'difficult' neighbor and occasionally took anti-Indian stance. When after the beginning of the war of liberation in 1971 Bhasani took refuge in India like all opposition political leaders, he was not allowed to participate in any activity. In fact he had to spend the entire period of the liberation war in confinement in Delhi. After returning to Dhaka (on 22 January 1972) his first demand was immediate withdrawal Indian troops from the land of Bangladesh.

3.4 Hukumat-e-Rabbania
Towards the end of his life, Bhashani established another organization, styled Hukumate-Rabbania.

3.5 Politics in Independent Bangladesh

Moulana Bhashani wanted to play the role of a responsible opposition. The progressive forces quickly gathered around him and strengthened his NAP with Kazi Zafar Ahmed as its General Secretary. But soon factional differences among the progressive forces emerged and weakened Moulana Bhashani. Unfortunately, the new government of Bangladesh failed to utilize the organizational and public opinion making capacity of Moulana Bhashani. Instead he was always under suspicion, although he provided constructive advices to the government. He was highly critical of the oppressive style of the government and its extrajudicial killings of the leftleaning activists. He was visionary enough to see the seed of the cancer of corruption in society and offered his help to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to build up an anti-corruption movement. Unfortunately that was not heeded. He also warned Sheikh Mujibur Rahman against his move towards a one party state and declaring himself as life-long president. He could not believe that a person like Sheikh Mujib who fought all his life for a multiparty democracy could do that. He saw the destruction of Mujib in this action. Bhashani was deeply shocked at the killing of Mujib, for whom he had a lot of fatherly affection, and his family members. The person who conveyed the news of Mujib's demise described how the Moulana cried and then went to his prayer room to offer prayer.

3.6 Support for post-Mujib era

Life-long president of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed in a military coup d'tat on 15 August 1975. A turbulent political scenario followed as coup and countercoup took place. In 1976, Maulana Bhashani explicitly supported the change of regime when General Ziaur Rahman was given the helmsmanship of the country. He made it clear that his support was for the restoration of a multi-party democracy and should not be construed as a support for the inhuman killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members and the barbaric act of the conspirators. His support was to bring stability to the country's politics and to consolidate democracy. It was an act of necessity.

4. Journalism

4.1 Weekly Ittefaq

Daily Ittefaq has been the most popular Bengali newspaper of Bangladesh since early 1970s. However its precursor is Weekly Ittefaq. After partition of India in 1947, Muslim League emerged as the government political party. Soon opposition movement started and a political party named Awami Muslim League was founded with Bhashani as one of the central figures. In this backdrop Maulana Bhashani started publishing the Weekly Ittefaq in 1949. It was an ardent critique of the Muslim League government. The weekly soon became popular. Legendary journalist Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mian worked as its editor. It remains ambiguous under what circumstances Manik Mian started to use his own name as the owner of the weekly turned a daily.

4.2 Weekly Haq Katha

On February 25 in 1972, Bhashani started publishing a weekly Haq Katha and it soon gained wide circulation. It was outspoken about the irregularities and mis-rule of Awami League government established after independence of Bangladesh. Rampant corruption by Awami League politicians were boldy reported. In consequence the weekly was soon banned by Sheikh Mujib. It was edited by Irfanul Bari, Bhashani's subordinate.

4.3 Daily Banaga Barta

Maulana Bhashani also initiated a national daily titled Dainik Banga Barta. Its publication commenced in 1974 from Dhaka and was discontinued after a few months.

4.4 Farakka Long March, 1976

In May 1976 National Leader of Bangladesh Maulana Bhashani led a massive Long March demanding demolition of the Farakka Barrage constructed by India to divert flow of Ganges waters inside its territory, triggering the drying up of river Padma and desertification of Bangladesh. It was the first popular movement against India demanding a rightful distribution of the Ganges's water. Since then Historic Farakka Long March Day is observed on 16 March every year. The-then government of Bangladesh unofficially supported Bhashani's Farakka Long March. Navy-chief Rear Admiral M. H. Khan in charge of providing logistics. Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life from all over the country gathered in Rajshahi town to participate in the Long March. On the morning of 16 March 1976, he addressed a mammoth gathering of people at the Madrash Miadan, Rajshahi, from where the Long March commenced. Hundreds of thousands of people walked more than 100 kilometers on foot for days. The March continued up to Kansat, a place near the India-Bangladesh border, close to the Farakka barrage. Once again, Moulana Bhashani played a leading role at a critical juncture of the nation's history by raising the awareness about India's hegemonic attitude. His legacy continues with the national resistance against India's other dam projects in the upstrem of common rivers.

5. Death
He died on 17 November 1976 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, aged 96, and was buried at Santosh, Tangail.

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