Ashrafuddin Ahmad Chowdhury (; 1894 – 25 March 1976) was a Bengali politician who had served as general secretary of the Congress Party's Bengal branch, member of the

East Bengal Legislative Assembly The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as the East Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature of East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the ...

and later as the education minister of Pakistan. He was an advocate of

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (8 September 18925 December 1963) was an East Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and before that as the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to ...

United Bengal United Bengal was a proposal to transform Bengal Presidency, Bengal Province into an undivided, sovereign state at the time of the Partition of India in 1947. It sought to prevent the Partition of Bengal (1947), division of Bengal on religious ...

proposal.

Early life

Chowdhury was born in 1894, into a well-reputed

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work./ref> are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest ...

family of

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

s in

Batagram Battagram (, ) is a city and Union Council of Battagram District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan. It is located at 34°41'N 73°1'E and has an altitude of 1038 metres (3408 feet). Climate With a mild and generally warm and temperate ...

, Tipperah District,

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William in Bengal until 1937, later the Bengal Province, was the largest of all three presidencies of British India during Company rule in India, Company rule and later a Provinces o ...

(now

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, () is a district located in southeastern Bangladesh. It lies about southeast of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria District, Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj District, Narayanganj dis ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He was a son of Tofazzal Ahmad Chowdhury, alias Anu Mia, an influential zamindar of that time. Chowdhury moved to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

for his education, where he studied at the

Hare School Hare School is one of the oldest schools in Kolkata, India, teaching grades one to twelve under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education. It is a state government-administered boys ...

and then at the

St. Xavier's Collegiate School St. Xavier's Collegiate School (informally SXCS) is a private Catholic primary and secondary school for boys, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The school was founded in 1860 by the Jesuits under the supervision of Fr. Henri Depelchin S.J. ...

. He completed his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Rajshahi College Rajshahi College (Bengali language, Bengali: রাজশাহী কলেজ) is a public college, public educational institution in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Established in 1873, it is the third oldest college in Bangladesh after Dhaka College a ...

North Bengal North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...

and then completed law school at the

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

in 1919.

Career

Chowdhury was a prominent leader in the anti-British

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

. He was involved in the

Khilafat Movement The Khilafat movement (1919–22) was a political campaign launched by Indian Muslims in British India over British policy against Turkey and the planned dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire after World War I by Allied forces. Leaders particip ...

and

Non-cooperation movement Non-cooperation movement may refer to: * Non-cooperation movement (1919–1922), during the Indian independence movement, led by Mahatma Gandhi against British rule * Non-cooperation movement (1971), a movement in East Pakistan * Non-cooperatio ...

as an activist and the leader of the All India National Congress's Bengal branch. He became a leader of the

Tippera Krishak Samiti Tippera Krishak Samiti (ত্রিপুরা কৃষক সমিতি) is a specially organized peasant organization comprising Greater Comilla, Comilla, Chandpur, Lakshmipur, Noakhali and Brahmanbaria districts. It was founded by Maulvi ...

's moderate side. From 1937 to 1941, he was the general secretary of the Bengal Provincial Congress Committee during the presidency of

Subhash Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

. He was one of the closest allies of Bose and played an instrumental role in organising Bengal Congress at that time. Chowdhury also played a vital role in formation of Forward Bloc with Bose and was a vital member in the founding Working Committee of

All India Forward Bloc The All India Forward Bloc ( AIFB) is a Left-wing nationalism, left-wing nationalist political party in India. It emerged as a Political faction, faction within the Indian National Congress in 1939, led by Subhas Chandra Bose, and was strongest ...

, which was the party's highest forum for whole India. He supported

Indian nationalism Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, Composite nationalism (India), despite their Demographics of India, diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian national ...

and Hindu-Muslim unity. He was also the first non-British chairman of the District Board of Tipperah (Comilla) and was a member of the

Bengal Legislative Assembly The Bengal Legislative Assembly () was the largest legislatures of British India, legislature in British India, serving as the lower chamber of the legislature of Bengal Presidency, Bengal (now Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). It ...

. During 1921- 1947, he served several terms of imprisonment as a political prisoner, opposing the British Raj. In the 1940s, he joined the Nikhil Banga Jamiat-i-Ulama-i-Hind. Chowdhury stood as a candidate of the

Nizam-e-Islam Party The Nizam-e-Islam Party (), is a religious-political party in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The party was founded in the city of Kishoreganj in 1952, by the Islamic scholars of erstwhile East Bengal, Pakistan as an offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Isla ...

as part of the

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

alliance during the

1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly 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 ...

s, in which he gained a seat in his home constituency of Comilla. In 1954, he became the minister of education during the cabinet of

A. K. Fazlul Huq Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq (26 October 1873 – 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla, was a Bengalis, Bengali lawyer and politician who served as the first and longest Prime Minister of Bengal, prime minister of Bengal during the Britis ...

, he became education minister again during the cabinet of

Abu Hussain Sarkar Abu Hussain Sarkar (; ; 1894 – 17 April 1969) was a Pakistani Bengali politician and lawyer. He served as the fourth chief minister of East Pakistan. Under his ministry, the Bangla Academy was inaugurated and 21 February was recognised as '' ...

Death and legacy

Chowdhury died on 25 March 1976 in

. He left behind his wife, Razia Khatun Chowdhurani, a poet and litterateur, and their daughter Rabeya Chowdhury, a prominent politician of the

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (), popularly abbreviated as BNP (), is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. It was founded on 1 September 1978 by President of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman, wit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhury, Ashrafuddin Ahmad 1894 births 1976 deaths People from Comilla District Politicians from Chittagong Division Rajshahi College alumni University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Bengalis Politicians from East Pakistan Hare School alumni Education ministers of Pakistan United Bengal activists Provincial ministers of East Pakistan