Mohammad Toaha (2 January 1922 – 29 November 1987) was a language activist of the 1952 language movement and a prominent left-wing politician from Bangladesh.

Early life and education

Toaha was born on 2 January 1922 at Hajirhat village in Ramgati of

Lakshmipur District Lakshmipur ( bn, লক্ষ্মীপুর, Lokkhipur), also spelt Laxmipur, with an area of 1455.96 km2, is a district of Bangladesh. It is bordered by Chandpur to the north, Bhola and Noakhali districts to the south, Noakhali to th ...

. He finished his matriculation under

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

in 1939. Later he received his MA in political science in 1948.

Political career

Toaha participated as an activist in

Sylhet Referendum The 1947 Sylhet referendum was held in the Sylhet District of the Assam Province of British India to decide whether the district would remain in Undivided Assam and therefore within the post-independence Dominion of India, or leave Assam for E ...

under

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), often shortened as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bengali politician. His political tenure spanned the British colonial India, Pakistan and Bangladesh periods. Maulana Bhashani was pop ...

in 1946. In 1947 he launched the East Pakistan Students Federation, the earliest

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

student organisation in

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. He was associated with the floating of Awami Muslim League in 1949.

Bengali Language Movement

Toaha was first active during the initial stages of the Bengali language movement. On 11 March 1948, when a team led by Toaha went to Secretariat to give

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to ha ...

a memorandum, police arrested him. Later he was tortured by them and had to spend a week in the hospital for recovery. As one of the leaders of the Rashtrabhasha Shangram Committee (State Language Committee of Action), Toaha was used to take part in all the meeting with the government. He was also the VP of the Fazlul Haque Hall of Dhaka University. When Muhammad Ali Jinnah went there, Toaha submitted a memorandum to him about their language demand. He was also vocal at the government's attempt to write Bengali in Arabic script. He was the correspondent of

Jubo League The Bangladesh Awami Jubo League ( bn, বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী যুবলীগ) commonly known as the Jubo League, is the first youth organization of Bangladesh founded by Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani. It is the youth wing o ...

at Shorbodolio Kendrio Rashtrabhasha Kormoporishod (All-party Central Language Committee of Action). Later part of 1952, he was arrested for attachments in student politics.Ahmed, Monwar, "Bhasha Andoloner Shochitro Dolil", pp. 29.

1954–1970

After his release in 1954, he took part in the election that the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

won. There he was elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly. In 1956 he floated a labour organization styled as Purba Pakistan Majdur Federation and was elected its president. In 1957, Toaha was associated with the

National Awami Party The National Awami Party (NAP), translated from Urdu to English as National People's Party, was the major left-wing political party in East and West Pakistan. It was founded in 1957 in Dhaka, erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), by A ...

and was later elected its general secretary. With the promulgation of martial law by Ayub Khan in 1958, Toaha receded to underground politics. In 1969 he became one of the organizers of the anti-Ayub movement.

Bangladesh Liberation War

Toaha along with

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

Sukhendu Dastider and Abdul Haq of the East Pakistan Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist) refused to participate in the liberation war for Bangladesh.

Post-liberation politics

After the independence of Bangladesh, a warrant was issued against him and he went into hiding. After the withdrawal of warrant in 1976 he came back to open politics. He was elected a member of the

Jatiya Sangsad The Jatiya Sangsad ( bn, জাতীয় সংসদ, lit=National Parliament, translit=Jatiyô Sôngsôd), often referred to simply as the ''Sangsad'' or JS and also known as the House of the Nation, is the supreme legislative body of B ...

in 1979. In 1986, Toaha contested in the Jatiya Sangsad election as a nominee of 8-Party alliance.

Death

Toaha died on 29 November 1987 at his native village of Hajirhat, Lakshmipur District.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toaha, Mohammed 1922 births 1987 deaths University of Calcutta alumni Bangladeshi politicians Pakistani politicians