Shamsul Huq (1918–1965) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

politician who led a parliamentary committee in the

Constituent Assembly of Pakistan The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan ( bn, পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ, Pākistān Goṇoporishod; ur, , Aāin Sāz Asimblī) was established in August 1947 to frame a constitution for Pakistan. It also served as its first ...

to advocate for the recognition of the

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...

during the Language movement of the 1950s. He was also the first and third general secretary of the

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

, which played a key role in Bengali nationalist movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Political career

The

was formed on 23 June 1949 and Huq became its first general secretary, and

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 po ...

became its first president. He wrote a pamphlet on this occasion titled "''Main Demands.''" The pamphlet reads

Personal life

Haq was married to Afia Khatun (later Afia Dil). Afia Khatun's childhood friend was Begum Jahanara Khan wife of Yar Mohammad Khan who was a founder (treasurer) of the Awami League and the founder (publisher) of '' The Daily Ittefaq''. She currently lives and works in the United States. She has authored a book – ''Bengali Language Movement and the Creation of Bangladesh'' (2011) – with her husband Anwar S. Dil.

References

1918 births 1965 deaths People from Tangail District Awami League politicians General Secretaries of Awami League Pakistani politicians 20th-century Bengalis {{AwamiLeague-politician-stub