A. K. Fazlul Huq

Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq (26 October 1873 – 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla, was a Bengali lawyer and politician who served as the first and longest prime minister of Bengal during the British Raj. He is well-known to present the Lahore Resolution which had the objective of creating an independent Pakistan.

Born in 1873 to a Bengali Muslim family in British Bengal, Huq held important political offices in the subcontinent, including president of the All India Muslim League (1916–1921), general secretary of the Indian National Congress (1916–1918), education minister of Bengal (1924), mayor of Calcutta (1935), prime minister of Bengal (1937–1943), advocate general of East Bengal (1947–1952), chief minister of East Bengal (1954), home minister of Pakistan (1955–1956) and Governor of East Pakistan (1956–1958). He was first elected to the Bengal Legislative Council from Dhaka in 1913; and served on the council for 21 years until 1934.

Huq was a key figure in the Indian independence movement and then the Pakistan movement. In 1919, he had the unique distinction of concurrently serving as president of the All India Muslim League and general secretary of the Indian National Congress. He was also a member of the Congress Party's committee enquiring into the Amritsar massacre. Fazlul Huq was a member of the Central Legislative Assembly from 1934 to 1936. Between 1937 and 1947, he was an elected member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, where he was prime minister and leader of the house for six years. After partition, he was elected to the East Bengal Legislative Assembly, where he was chief minister for 2 months; and to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, where he was home minister for one year during the 1950s.

Huq boycotted titles and a knighthood granted by the British government. He was notable for his English oratory during speeches to the Bengali legislature. He courted the votes of the Bengali middle classes and rural communities. He pushed for land reform and curbing the influence of zamindars. As prime minister, Huq used legal and administrative measures to reduce the debt of millions of farmers subjected to tenancy under the Permanent Settlement. He was considered a leftist and social democrat on the political spectrum. His ministries were marked by intense factional infighting.

In 1940, Huq had one of his most notable political achievements when he presented the Lahore Resolution which called for the creation of a sovereign state in the Muslim-majority eastern and northwestern parts of British India. During the Second World War, Huq joined the Viceroy of India's Defence Council and supported the Allied war efforts. Under pressure from the governor of Bengal during the Quit India movement and after the withdrawal of the Hindu Mahasabha from his cabinet, Huq resigned from the post of premier in March 1943. In the Dominion of Pakistan, Huq worked for five years as East Bengal's attorney general and participated in the Bengali Language Movement. He was elected as chief minister, served as a federal minister and was a provincial governor in the 1950s.

Fazlul Huq died in Dacca, East Pakistan (now Dhaka, Bangladesh) on 27 April 1962. He is buried in the Mausoleum of Three Leaders. Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, where the National Parliament is located, is named in his honour. His son, A. K. Faezul Huq, was a Bangladeshi politician.