1954 East Bengali Legislative Election

Legislative elections were held in East Bengal between 8 and 12 March 1954, the first since Pakistan became an independent country in 1947. The opposition United Front led by the All-Pakistan Awami League and Krishak Sramik Party won a landslide victory with 223 of the 309 seats.Nair, p165 The Muslim League Chief Minister of East Pakistan Nurul Amin was defeated in his own constituency by Khaleque Nawaz Khan by over 7,000 votes, with all the Muslim League ministers losing their seats.Nair, p167

Background

The Bengal Legislative Assembly was elected as part of the provincial elections in 1946 in British Bengal. Following the partition of Bengal, the East Bengal Legislative Assembly was created consisting of all Muslim members and some Hindu members of the former Assembly, alongside representives from Sylhet in the Assam Legislative Assembly (as the region had voted to join Pakistan). Due to delays in implementing the constitution of Pakistan, its term was extended several times, with around 34 seats (reserved for Hindus living in East Bengal) left vacant as the Hindu members elected from East Bengal in 1946 had migrated to West Bengal (where they became the members of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly) to escape the communal riots unleashed by the partition and the 1950 East Pakistan riots, with by-elections not held by the Pakistani administration to replace them.

Electoral system

Under the Government of India Act of 1935, which was the main law of the Dominion of Pakistan until the constitution of Pakistan came into effect in 1956, the East Bengal Legislative Assembly consisted of 309 seats, of which 228 were reserved for Muslims, 36 for scheduled castes, 12 for women (nine Muslims, one Hindu and two scheduled caste), two for Buddhists and one for Christians.Nair, p166 There were also 30 'general' seats for Hindus.

A total of 19,541,563 voters were registered for the elections, of which 9,239,720 were women. Of the total voters, 15,159,825 were able to vote in the Muslim seats, 2,303,578 in the scheduled caste seats, 2,095,355 in the Hindu seats, 136,417 in the Buddhist seats and 43,911 for the Christian seat.

Campaign

The Muslim League published its manifesto on 13 December 1953, calling for Bengali to be made an official state language, reform in agricultural and education and improvements in healthcare, and began its campaign in January 1954. The Awami League published a 41-point manifesto focusing on autonomy, political reform and nationalisation. The Communists published a 22-point manifesto on 2 December, calling for them to be the leading party in a united front against the Muslim League, as well as promoting autonomy and the recognition of Bengali.

Several opposition parties called for a creation of an opposition front, with agreement reached between the Awami League and the Krishak Sramik Party on 4 December. The Front was later joined by the Nizam-e-Islam Party and Ganatantri Dal.

A total of 1,285 candidates contested the elections: 986 for the 228 Muslim seats, 151 for the 36 scheduled caste seats, 103 for the 30 Hindu seats, 37 for the women's seats and twelve for the two Buddhist seats. The Christian seat had only one candidate, as did the Hindu women's seat and one of the scheduled caste seats. Two Hindu seats also had one candidate who was returned unopposed. The Muslim League and United Front ran candidates in all 237 Muslim seats.

Results

The results of the 1954 elections in East Pakistan were conclusive. With 7,344,216 votes being cast, voter turnout was around 37%, with Muslim turnout being around 38% and non-Muslim turnout around 35%. Various causes for such a low output have been suggested, including disenfranchisement of Muslim women by their conservative male family members and poor infrastructure and communications in rural areas. The United Front won 223 of the 237 Muslim seats in the provincial assembly and obtained nearly 64% of the vote. In contrast the Muslim League won only nine seats and secured less than 27% of the vote in the contested constituencies. Among the most exciting aspects of the election was the defeat of several ministers including Nurul Amin, the Muslim League Chief Minister. A. K. Fazlul Huq was elected in two constituencies, forcing a by-election in one of them. The Khilafat-e-Robbani party of AKM Rafiq Ullah Choudhury, which had also participated in the Bengali language movement, won one Muslim seat.

The East Bengal Scheduled Castes Federation (the East Bengal unit of the SCF founded by B. R. Ambedkar) won the most seats reserved for scheduled castes while the Pakistan National Congress (the Pakistani unit of the Indian National Congress) won the most Hindu seats. The Minority United Front, consisting of Pakistan Gana Samiti, Pakistan Socialist Party and Abhay Ashram, contested both scheduled caste and Hindu seats. The Communist Party of Pakistan won four Hindu seats but failed to win any Muslim seats.

The Ganatantri Dal was the only party to win both Hindu and Muslim seats.

Cabinet

Members of the newly elected Legislative Assembly were sworn in on 25 March 1954. The United Front cabinet was initially sworn in 3 April 1954, with the fully expanded cabinet sworn in on 15 May 1954 under the leadership of Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq.

Aftermath

Following the elections, independent Assembly member Fazlal Qadir Chowdhury joined the Muslim League to give them ten seats, allowing the party to form a parliamentary group.

On 15 May 1954, when Haq expanded the cabinet to include members of the Awami League, deadly clashes broke out between the Bengali-speaking Bengali Muslim and Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslim labourers at the Adamjee Jute Mills, leaving around 1,500 dead. The Communist Party of Pakistan was blamed for inciting the violence. On 30 May Haq was put under house arrest, the United Front ministry and the Legislative Assembly were dissolved and East Bengal was put under governor's rule by Governor-General Malik Ghulam Muhammad. 1,600 United Front workers, including 30 MLAs were imprisoned on charges of fermenting dissent.

Legacy

The defeat of Muslim League created an idiom in the Bengali language "Hate Hariken Dhoriye Deya" () as the party's election symbol was the lantern (hariken in Bengali).

Soon after dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, the Pakistani government implemented its One Unit Scheme, under which East Bengal became East Pakistan. This move was not supported by the masses and increased hostility towards the Punjabi-dominated central government.

References

{{Pakistani elections

East Bengal
History of East Pakistan
Elections in East Pakistan
Muslim League (1947–1958)