Aftab Ali ( bn, আফতাব আলী; 1907–1972) was an early 20th-century
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 ...
social reformer, politician and entrepreneur. His work is recognised to have helped thousands of
British Asian
British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Bri ...
lascar
A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland, or other land east of the Cape of Good Hope, who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the middle of t ...
s to migrate, settle and find employment in Britain. He was a member of the
Bengal Legislative Assembly
The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was established under the Government of India ...
and
National Assembly of Pakistan, and served as the first Minister of Labour for
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
.
Early life
Ali was born into a
Bengali Muslim
Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the se ...
family from the Kathalkhair village of the
Sylhet District
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division.
History
Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pro ...
in the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Q ...
's
North-East Frontier on 20 January 1907.
His father was a merchant on the
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climat ...
-
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comm ...
water route, owning a number of boats. At the age of 18, Ali left Sylhet Government School in class 10 moving to Calcutta where he worked alongside
Bipin Chandra Pal.
Career
In 1923, Ali left Calcutta as a stoker on a ship bound for the United States.
There he jumped ship, seeking employment, education, and experience. He returned to Bengal in 1925, having been exposed to trade unionism and politics in the US, and with first hand experience of the poor working conditions of Indian seamen.
[ This experience led to the foundations of his social work for the rights of South Asian lascars.][
In 1925, Ali joined the Indian Seamen's Union in Calcutta and eventually rose to become the organisation's general secretary. In January 1937, Ali united all of the various unions (namely the Indian Quartermaster's Union, Bengal Mariner's Union, Seamen's Welfare League of India and Karachi Seamen's Union) under one large federation known as the All-India Seamen's Federation.] Ali also joined the Bengal Legislative Assembly
The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It was established under the Government of India ...
in that year, following the 1937 Indian provincial elections.
During a visit to London in 1933 for the Round Table Conference, not only did he represent the interests of Indian seamen but also Indian labourers, film-extras and peddler
A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods.
In England, the term was mostly used f ...
s in the United Kingdom. Ali arrived at the United Kingdom in July 1939, spending a month in the country. He attended Surat Alley's ''Indian Workers' Conference'' in London. Ali appointed Alley as the London representative for his federation. Ali also had a good relationship with Krishna Menon and was invited by Menon to the Glasgow Trades Council meeting on 23 August.
He was also invited to another meeting by Benjamin Francis Bradley in Manchester with some Trade Union executives. Ali was also known to have visited Dundee before proceeding off to Switzerland with Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi:
فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Outsi ...
and Abdul Mannan Chaudhury for the International Labour Conference
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
in Geneva where he put forward the proposal for a 56-hour week at sea and a 48-hour week at port balance for Indian seamen.[ As ]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
approached Britain, Ali, Alley and Tahsil Miya played crucial roles in breaking the deadlock between British ship-owners and Asian lascars. Rallies were organised with lascars striking against their unequal treatment in income and working conditions. Finally reaching an agreement with the British government, Ali called off the strikes. However, the federation continued to campaign in other fields such as the release and re-employment of imprisoned lascars. They lobbied the Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
, Samuel Hoare, and called on the Trades Union Congress
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances O ...
in Glasgow for support.
On his return to Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
, Ali became the vice president of the All-India Trade Union Congress and continued his role in the Bengal Legislative Assembly. He managed to persuade Abdul Motaleb Malik to join the All-India Seamen's Federation in 1936.[ In 1941, he left the All-India Trade Union Congress. The following year, the ]Royal Indian Navy
The Royal Indian Navy (RIN) was the naval force of British India and the Dominion of India. Along with the Presidency armies, later the Indian Army, and from 1932 the Royal Indian Air Force, it was one of the Armed Forces of British India.
F ...
appointed him as honorary lieutenant commander. Ali had close connections with the Indian Seamen's Welfare League led by Shah Abdul Majid Qureshi and Ayub Ali Master.
Following the Partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
in 1947, Ali moved to 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 = Eas ...
in Pakistan and became an independent Member of Parliament. He was not a supporter of partition.[ His social work for British Asian lascars continued, and he encouraged lascars to remain and settle in the United Kingdom. In the 1950s, he founded the Overseas Seamen's Welfare Association,][ which campaigned for distressed seamen and their families to be granted British passports. Ali also played an instrumental role by opening a passport office in his house in Sylhet.][ He was a colleague of ]Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...
.
He attended the International Labour Conference
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...
hosted in Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situ ...
in 1951, and in Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. in 1953. Ali visited Soviet Georgia in 1957. The following year, he visited Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
where he was invited to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) was an international trade union. It came into being on 7 December 1949 following a split within the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and was dissolved on 31 October 2006 when ...
conference. The following year he was part of an Indian Labour delegation to Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
. He became the first Minister of Labour for East Pakistan and member of the 3rd National Assembly of Pakistan. During this time, he lived in Mirboxtula. As part of a Labour delegation, he visited China in 1964.
Death and legacy
Ali died on 22 December 1972 while in London. He was buried in Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...
.[ A housing estate was built in 1995 on Tent Street (off ]Brady Street
Brady Street is a road located in Whitechapel, East London. It runs from Whitechapel Road in the south to Three Colts Lane, near Bethnal Green railway station, in the north. It was formerly known as North Street.
Buildings
Until the 1970s the ...
, East London) and named after him as Aftab Terrace.
See also
* British Shipping (Assistance) Act 1935
The British Shipping (Assistance) Act 1935 was an Act of Parliament which subsidized the British shipping industry during the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the ...
* I'tisam-ud-Din
* All Pakistan Confederation of Labour
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Aftab
1907 births
1972 deaths
Bangladeshi emigrants to England
Bangladeshi politicians
People from Sylhet
20th-century British politicians
English Muslims
20th-century Muslims
Burials at Brookwood Cemetery
Pakistani MNAs 1962–1965
People of East Pakistan
20th-century Bengalis
Bengal MLAs 1937–1945