Yusuf Ali Chowdhury

Yusuf Ali Chowdhury
Yusuf Ali Chowdhury
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Personal details
Born	1905; Faridpur, Bengal, British India
Died	26, November, 1971; Karachi, West Pakistan
Political party	Muslim League, Krishak Praja Party, Pakistan Democratic Party
Spouse	Begum Ferdousi Chowdhurani

Yusuf Ali Chowdhury (1905-1971), or Mohan Mia as he is commonly referred to, was a prominent Bengali Muslim politician in the Indian Subcontinent. He played an active role in the Pakistan movement as a leading figure of the Muslim League in Bengal. He was a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly in the 1930s and 1940s and also became a minister in the provincial government of East Bengal led by Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq in 1950s. Later on he went onto to become a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) of Pakistan. As candidates suggested by him had won almost all the seats in the sweeping election of 1954 which propelled Bengali nationalists into the central government, Pakistan's press proclaimed Mohan Mia "The King Maker of East Pakistan" .

He became a champion of Bengali rights during the early days of Pakistan. In 1954, under the orders of Governor Iskander Mirza, the Pakistani government arrested the two most outspoken leaders of East Bengal at the time- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Yusuf Ali Chowdhury. The arrests led to an outcry across the province and triggered mass protests. In the following days thousands were arrested including university professors, provincial assembly members, and students. The government's tough stand aggravated the already bitter resentment of Bengalis following the Language Movement of 1952.

Mohan Mia however he became highly controversial during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 because of his staunch opposition to the break up of Pakistan. Although he spent most of his political career battling against the West Pakistani elite, Mohan Mia, in sharp contrast to most of his family, stopped short of calling for an independent state for Bengalis. He passed away at the fag end of the liberation war.

Family

Yusuf Ali Chowdhury Mohan Mia was born into an aristocratic Bengali zamindar family which hailed from the district of Faridpur. His father Zamindar Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash, was a patron of the Indian National Congress and one of Bengal's most powerful landlords. His elder brother Chowdhury Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin (Lal Mia) was also a leading political figure across India. Lal Mia was the Chief Whip of the National Assembly of Pakistan in the 1960s and also the Central Cabinet Minister of Pakistan in the 1960s for Health, Social Welfare and Labour. He had also been a member of the Legislative Council of Undivided Bengal from 1936 onwards and had been an Executive Committee member of the All India Congress from early 1920s. Mohan Mia's younger brother Enayet Hossain Chowdhury (Tara Mia) had also became a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in the 1960s. After the creation of Bangladesh, Mohon Mia's sons and relatives began engaging in the political arena. His eldest son Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf was a minister in several Bangladeshi governments and is currently a vice president of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Several other relatives of Mohon Mia became Members of Parliament in Bangladesh. They included Chowdhury Akmal Ibne Yusuf (from the BNP), one of his sons, and Kamran Hossain Chowdhury (from the Jatiya Party), one of his grand nephews.

Political life

When Mohan Mia was at Ishan School, he was one of 25 or 30 Muslim students out of a total of a thousand. Undeterred, he fought and succeeded in establishing their right to hold annual Milad in the school in the same way as the Hindu students observed Saraswati puja. He showed good leadership ability all through school life and held captaincy in all sports teams and school activities.

He always supported his elder brother Lal Mia in all his political activities from an early age and developed an interest in politics. Finally in 1937, on the encouragement of his elder brother and other politicians, he stepped into mainstream politics by contesting in the Legislative Assembly Elections. He gave away his own safe and secure constituency within his zamindari in favour of Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan (the speaker of Pakistan’s first Constituent Assembly), regarded by him as his political guru. He chose for himself the Shibchar-Sadarpur-Bhanga constituency to challenge powerful Zamindar Choudhury Shamsuddin Ahmed, known as Badshah Mia of Duttapara. Mohon Mia won the seat. A.K. Fazlul Huq formed the government in Bengal in coalition with the Muslim League. In the years that followed, Mohon Mia became legendary in the field of politics.

But in 1941 Fazlul Huq severed his ties with the Muslim League and formed a new government in association with the Congress. Mohan Mia stayed on in the League and played a significant role in the party. Fazlul Huq was angry but Mohan Mia did not budge from his stand. Mohon Mia was involved in the meetings where the demand for a new and separate country for Muslims, known as the Pakistan Declaration, had been raised.

After partition of the country, he found the central government to be exploitative and not as cooperative towards the East Pakistan Province as he had hoped. Thus, he joined the Ooposition by becoming an active leader of the Krishok Proja Party and thereby of the Jukta Front coalition. In the decisive election of 1954, Mohon Mia had played a vital role in suggesting and selecting candidates for the Jukta Front across whole of East Pakistan. It so happened that in the election, the candidates of Jukto Front landed a landslide victory winning in almost all the seats but a few. Mohon Mia was largely credited for this success as most of the victors were relatively new to politics as compared to their competitors. So, the fact that they were shortlisted so cleverly, and the accuracy of the winning probability assessment gained Mohon Mia the nickname of the "King Maker of East Pakistan". During this time he also worked closely with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as well. Mohon Mia had also become a Provincial Minister in the coalition Provincial Government at that time. However that unity in the coalition quickly eroded away due to inter party conflicts and that ended up causing embitterment in his relations with Bangabndhu as well. But Mohon Mia continued to remain in the opposition, though not with the mainstream opposition which was gradually being led by the Awami League.

With his close association with A.K. Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Nurul Amin, Mohan Mia could have become a minister in Pakistan but did not due to remaining in the opposition most of the time. He was elected as a Member of the National Assembly in the 1960s.

He also believed strongly in the cause of democracy and was active in the anti-Ayub Khan movement in the late 1960s, from a platform different from that of Awami League. At a later point he had also joined the Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP) of Nurul Amin. He had also campaigned for Fatima Jinnah, sister of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in her bid to defeat Ayub Khan at the presidential elections. However during the 1970 elections, Mohan Mia withdrew his candidacy to allow Obaidur Rahman of the Awami League to easily sail to victory.

Upon assuming the governorship of East Bengal, Iskander Mirza, in 1954 threatened to use substantial force to quell the rising political sentiment against oppression of Bengalis. With the blessings of the Governor-General of Pakistan he arrested the government's fiercest critics in the province- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Yusuf Ali Chowdhury Mohan Mia. The arrests were followed by the detention of 319 East Bengali politicians and intellectuals. Later amind growing public anger and protests the government arrested nearly 1500 people from all walks of life. The arrests of 1954 were seen as the one of the initial repression of Bengali rights in the early days of the new country along with the 1952 language movement.

Criticism

Mohon Mia became criticised in 1971, for not openly supporting the idea of a fully independent Bangladesh. Although he strongly supported the demand for autonomy, Mohan Mia opposed the disintegration of the Muslim nation. This position cost him the immense popularity he usually enjoyed and had also divided his family. He joined the infamous Central Peace Committee along with other prominent pro Pakistani leaders. However, during the later days of the war he lost all faith in a united Pakistan and commented that the break up of Pakistan was inevitable and condemned the atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army.

Death

Yusuf Ali Chowdhury Mohan Mia died on 26 November, 1971 in Karachi, Pakistan. Mohan Mia travelled to Karachi in November 1971 to carry an important letter for the Government of the West, requesting ceasefire and making a final attempt for peace. He had been in deep frustration and depression over the apparent indifference shown by the West Pakistani government towards the East.

Mohon Mia's body was flown back to Dhaka and then taken to Faridpur where he is buried along with his brothers on the grounds of the magnificent Moyez Monzil.

Legacy

Mohan Mia remains renowned for his rare but deep sense of moral and ethical conviction in politics. His popularity at one point and his association with great Bengali leaders could have made him a decorated member of the king's court. However he opted to decorate others for the king's court and keep himself within a simple and humble lifestyle. His sons have continued to engage prominently in Bangladesh's political scene and so has other family members who remain deeply divided over the different political stances and members of different political platforms.