Muhammad Ali Bogra

Mohammed Ali Bogra মোহাম্মদ আলী বগুড়া
3rd Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office 17 April 1953 – 12 August 1955
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Malik Ghulam Muhammad
Preceded by	Khawaja Nazimuddin
Succeeded by	Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
2nd Foreign Minister of Pakistan
In office 24 October 1954 – 11 August 1955
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor General	Malik Ghulam Muhammad
Preceded by	Muhammad Zafarullah Khan
Succeeded by	Hamidul Huq Choudhury
Personal details
Born	19 October 1909(1909-10-19) Bogra, British Raj (now Bangladesh)
Died	23 January 1963(1963-01-23) (aged 53) Dacca, Pakistan (now Dhaka, Bangladesh)
Political party	Muslim League
Alma mater	University of Calcutta
Religion	Sunni Islam

Nawabzada Mohammed Ali Bogra (1909 - 1963) (Bengali: মোহাম্মদ আলী বগুড়া; Urdu: محمد علی بوگرہ) was a Pakistani statesman of Bengali origin, who served as the third Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 until 1955 and Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1954 to 1955

Early life

Born at Bogra to a Muslim family descended from the Nawabs of Bengal, he attended the University of Calcutta and followed his education with a career in politics. In 1937 he began to receive prominence when he was elected to the assembly of Bengal. He would move up within the government of Bengal, serving under Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy as the Health Minister and later Finance Minister.

Upon the formation of Pakistan in 1947, Bogra was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan but after disagreement with Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the Governor-General, over the issue of the Bengali Language, he was sent abroad as an Ambassador and served in Burma, Canada, and eventually as a two-time Ambassador to the United States.

Prime minister

In 1953, he was selected by Governor General of Pakistan Ghulam Muhammad to replace Khawaja Nazimuddin as the Prime Minister. Bogra was a relatively unknown personality to the national political scene of that time. He was serving as Ambassador to the US when he was recalled to take the office of Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, he set out to form a constitution.

Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru talks to PM Bogra in his 1953 visit to Karachi.

In order to complete this, he outlined his famous "Bogra Formula" that sought to form a bicameral legislature. An Upper House would have contained 50 seats, 10 from each province, i.e. with 10 from East Pakistan and 40 from West Pakistan. A Lower House would have contained 300 seats. The lower house seats would be determined by population of province, and East Pakistan would have 165 seats, while the four provinces of West Pakistan would have a combined 135 seats, but would be split among the provinces. A provision was also put in place that stated that if the President of Pakistan were from West Pakistan, then the Prime Minister would have to be from East Pakistan, and vice-versa. The plan was very popular, but was killed when Ghulam Muhammad dissolved the Pakistani Assembly later in 1953.

Resignation and Death

Bogra was forced to resign in 1955 by the new Governor General, Iskander Mirza. He returned to his post as ambassador to the United States. In 1962 he became the foreign minister of Pakistan, until his death in 1963. He was buried in the family grave of Nawab Palace in his hometown of Bogra in present day Bangladesh.

See also

• Chronicles Of Pakistan
• List of Prime Ministers of Pakistan
• Politics of Pakistan

Diplomatic posts
Preceded by Mirza Abol Hassan Ispahani	Pakistani Ambassador to the United States 1952–1953	Succeeded by Amjad Ali
Preceded by Amjad Ali	Pakistani Ambassador to the United States 1955–1959	Succeeded by Aziz Ahmed
Political offices
Preceded by Khawaja Nazimuddin	Prime Minister of Pakistan 1953–1955	Succeeded by Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
	Minister of Defence 1953–1954	Succeeded by Ayub Khan
Preceded by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1954–1955	Succeeded by Hamidul Huq Choudhury
Preceded by Manzur Qadir	Minister of Foreign Affairs 1962–1963	Succeeded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto