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Sher-e-Bangla—the Legendary Hero of Politics

by Prof Roushan Ara Hoque
Twenty-sixth October. 1997 marks the 124th anniversary of birth of the great legendary hero of politics. Sher-e-Bangla A K Fazlul Huq who with his wise statesmanship and great foresight reshaped the political future of millions of Muslims of this sub-continent. He was a great pioneer of Bengali nationalism, an exponent of democracy, and the saviour of millions of oppressed peasants.
Born on 26 October, 1873 in a respectable zaminder family of Saturia in Rajapur Thana of Barisal district Fazlul Huq began his career as a lawyer. But being destined to be the saviour of the oppressed peasants he Joined active politics in 1911. In 1913 he was elected a member of the Bengal Legislative As sembly from Dhaka division. He saved the teeming peasants from the oppression of the za-minders by abolishing the Za mlndary system, the Mahajan! system and the Land Tenancy Act by giving the ownership of land to the farmers. By setting a large number of Deot-Settle-. ment Boards he saved millions of farmers from the exploitation of cruel landlords. Thus he had won the hearts of the poor peasants who in turn, loved and respected him as their most-honoured 'Huq Saheb'. He united them under one political banner and formed the Krishak Proja Party consisting of all peasants. To create awareness emong them about their basic rights he had established thousands of pri- -• schools ana made primary edu-— e” compulsory for them. Thus he laid the foundation of a strong and united middle class Muslim community who in course of time gave leadership to the Liberation War of 1971.
Fazlul Huq was an exponent of Hindu-Muslim unity. He declared that the Hindus and the Muslims were brethren and he himself served for the well-being of both the communities. He first became a member of All India National Congress and after the formation of Muslim League he became Its President. Then he strived hard for the political and economic emancl
pation of both the communities. He was successful In farming the Lucknow Pact in 1916 and forged harmony among them. As a gratitude to him for his contribution the people of Lucknow honoured him with the title 'Sher-e-Bangla'. that is.
Tiger Of Bengal.'
Sher-e-Bangla was a great patron of education, for which the then British DPI called him the Bentham of Bengal'. In 1921 he helped establish the University ofDhaka after the model of the residential university of Ox-
ford. In 1923 he established the Islamia College, the Lady Brabourn College, and the Bethun College of Calcutta He upgraded ihe Anglo-Oriental College of Aligarh into a full-pledged university. He had also established the Eden Girls' College. Central Women's College. City Law College. Tejgaon Agricultural College tn Dhaka and many schools throughout the whole country He had also proposed to estaHish one Medical College at Barisal later on when the Medical School of Barisal was upgraded it was renamed after him For his great patronage for revival of Mus Jims In this part of the world King Abdul Aziz of Saudi Ara bia called him the Kamal Pasha of East Bengal
Incidentally, the greatest contribution of Sher e Bangla Crhapa was that he was the st visionary of the liberation of Bangladesh as an indepen dent state With great foresight he formulated The Lahore Reso-lution of 1940 Including In It the proposal of establishing
separate independent states in different Muslim majority areas of the sub-continent. But subsequently Jinnah changed the word dates' to state' and established only one Muslim state with two wings thousand erf miles apart having different languages, cultures and heritage. However, in the first constitution of Pakistan framed in accordance with the Lahore Resolution, full autonomy was granted to the provinces. But instead of giving autonomy to East Pakistan, when the Pakistani rulers began political domination and economic ex-[iloitation Sher-e-Bangla ormed a United Front with other parties and declared his 21 -point electoral manifesto which brought overwhelming victory for his Front and he became the Chief Minister of East Pakistan on 3rd April. 1954. As a part of implementing the 21 -point Programme he revived the spirit of Bengali nationalism by giving strong impetus to inculcate Bengali language, culture and heritage. Gradually 21st February was declared as Shaheed Dibash Along with Urdu Bangla was declared as one of the state languages of East Pakistan. The construction of the Shaheed Minar began at the site of bloodshed of the martyrs. For further study and research of Bangla the Bangla Academy was established. at Bardwan House To Inculcate Bengali culture more intensively the Bengali New Year's Day started to be observed as Tahela Baishakh AU these steps encouraged the nationalist spirit which ulti mately inspired all to join the war of independence.
The 6 point programme of 1966 framed by Sheikh Mujib, the mass movement of 1969. the overwhelming victory of Awanu League in the election of 1970. the Liberation War and the final victory of December. 1971 can be seem aa subsequent events following the first being taken by the great visionary Sher e Bangla Let us express our gratitude to him for acting for our cherished freedom for which he had dedicated hie whole life.