The All-Pakistan Awami League (before 1955 the All-Pakistan Awami Muslim League), or simply Awami League, was a Pakistani political party founded by

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 ...

in February 1950. Pir of Manki Sharif and Khan Ghulam Mohammad Khan from the

North-West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November ...

(NWFP) joined it soon afterwards.

History

After 1947, the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation th ...

, Amin ul-Hasanat, former Muslim League politician in

, established Jinnah Awami Muslim League. He got this idea from

, who advised him this name. In 1949, Suhrawardy advised Shawkat Ali to leave Muslim League and form another political party. Later, Ali discussed with Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, another League politician, to form new party. Then East Pakistan Awami Muslim League was founded by

Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (12 December 1880 – 17 November 1976), also known reverentially as Maulana Bhashani, was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman who was one of the founder of the Awami League, the oldest and main political party in B ...

on 23 June 1949. In 1949, Suhrawardy left Muslim League saying that the party became the party of elites and the party distanced itself from people. In the same year, Iftikhar Mamdot was dismissed from the premiership of

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

and formed a party called Jinnah Muslim League. In 1950, Suhrawardy established All-Pakistan Awami Muslim League in Western Pakistan. The new parties decided to form an alliance named Jinnah Awami Muslim League prior to the provincial elections in 1951. It was also established in

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

. Subsequently, the member parties merged in 1952 and used the name ''All-Pakistan Awami Muslim League''. In 1958, the party was banned with all other parties when military rule was started. In 1962, the legal permission was given to revive political parties, but its founder and leader Suhrawardy was arrested and released later. He didn’t want to revive his party, instead he established National Democratic Front. In 1963, Suhrawardy died and on 11 January 1964, politicians of the party's western wing met and revived the West Pakistan Awami League, the western branch of the All-Pakistan Awami League. On 25 January 1964, the party was fully revived with the reformation of its eastern wing named East Pakistan Awami League. In 1965, the party joined Combined Opposition Parties and supported

Fatima Jinnah Fatima Jinnah (31 July 18939 July 1967) was a Pakistani politician, stateswoman, author, and Activism, activist. She was the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the List of Pakistan Movement activists, founder and first governor-general of ...

as a candidate for

1965 Pakistani presidential election Pakistan's first presidential elections were held on 2 January 1965. The voting was to be indirect, as the President had to be elected by the 80,000 "basic democrats", who made up the Electoral College. These Basic Democrats were democratically ...

. In 1966, the party proposed Six point resolution, calling for greater economy for

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. In 1967, the party was split into two faction. The supporters of the

Pakistan Democratic Movement The Pakistan Democratic Movement (; PDM) was a coalition of List of political parties in Pakistan, political parties in Pakistan. It was founded in September 2020 as a political movement, opposition movement against Imran Khan, accusing his I ...

formed a faction under

Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan () (13 November 1916 – 27 September 2003) was a statesman in British India and later Pakistan. He was also a prominent Urdu poet. He was the only West Pakistani to have served as the leader of the Awami League. Early ...

. The other faction, led by

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), also known by the honorific Bangabandhu, was a Bangladeshi politician, revolutionary, statesman and activist who was the founding president of Bangladesh. As the leader of Bangl ...

, was supporter of the Six point resolution. The second faction decided to reform the party without the opposite faction. In 1968, the party suffered devastatingly as its many important leaders were in jail for

Agartala Conspiracy Case The Agartala Conspiracy Case was a sedition case in Pakistan during the rule of Ayub Khan (general), Ayub Khan against Awami League, brought by the government of Pakistan in 1968 against Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then leader of the Awami Lea ...

. From its revival to the fall of Ayub government, the party's council hasn’t' met. The Anti-Ayub uprising gave the party overwhelming popularity in East Pakistan. In 1969, Nasrullah's faction merged in

Pakistan Democratic Party The Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP) was a political party in Pakistan, founded by Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan in June 1967. Nawbzada Nasrullah Khan led the party until his death in 2003. After Nawab's death, the party's leadership was later taken ...

and the Mujib's faction became the only Awami League. After

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was a military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the operation on the basis of ant ...

, in a radio address on the evening of March 26,

Yahya Khan Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan (4 February 191710 August 1980) was a Pakistani army officer who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the fifth Commander-in-Chief, Pakistan, commander-in-chief of the Pakistan ...

, the then president of Pakistan, declared the Awami League treasonous and banned the party. In addition to this, the government seized the bank accounts of the Awami League. On 6 July 1971, during the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

, the party was dissolved at Siliguri Conference and the provincial branch in East Pakistan succeeded as

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

Officials

President

General Secretary

State leaders

Electoral history

Pakistan National Assembly elections East Pakistan Provincial Assembly elections North-West Frontier Province Provincial Assembly elections Punjab Provincial Assembly elections

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Bangladesh Awami League Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Muslim League breakaway groups Politics of East Pakistan Banned secessionist parties Defunct political parties in Pakistan Independence of Bangladesh History of the Awami League 1950 establishments in Pakistan Political parties established in 1950 Political parties disestablished in 1971 Anti-fascism in Pakistan