Al-Hajj Abd-Allah Zaheeruddin Moazzem Hossein

Chowdhury Chowdhury (also: Choudhuri, Chaudhuri, Choudhury, Chaudhri, Chaudhary) is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminen ...

(1903 – 1967), popular known as Lalmia, was a

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 ...

politician. He represented

Faridpur District Faridpur District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to the northeast. The district was named for its headquarters, the city of Faridpur, Bangladesh, Faridpur, which its ...

in the

Bengal Legislative Council The Bengal Legislative Council ( was the legislative council of Bengal Presidency. It was the legislature of the Bengal Presidency during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After reforms were adopted in 1937, it served as the upper house of ...

, the

Constituent Assembly of Pakistan The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan was the supreme federal legislature of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was established in August 1947 with the primary tasks of framing Constitution of Pakistan of 1956, a constitution; and serving as an interim ...

, and

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

. He was Pakistan's federal Minister of Health, Social Welfare and Labour in the cabinet of

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

Early life

Lalmia was born in 1903 at the Moez Manzil in Faridpur. He was the eldest son of Chowdhury Moyezuddin Biwshash. His father was a wealthy

merchant and

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 ...

who was engaged in the

Indian freedom struggle 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 ...

. The Bengal Provincial Conference of the Congress Party was held at the Moez Manzil.

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 ...

and

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

both knew the young Lalmia. His father's lawyer Ambica Charan Mazumdar became President of the Indian National Congress during the 31st session of the All India Congress Committee which orchestrated the Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the

All India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim League lat ...

. Lalmia enrolled at

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

in 1918. He married Begum Sayeeda Khatun Chowdhurani, a descendant of

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (, , ''Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu''; 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799) commonly referred to as Sher-e-Mysore or "Tiger of Mysore", was a ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery ...

Political career

British Bengal

While at university, Lalmia got involved in the activities of the Congress Party. He took an active part 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 ...

between 1919 and 1922 in support of the

Ottoman caliphate The Ottoman Caliphate () was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty, rulers of the Ottoman Empire, to be the caliphs of Islam during the Late Middle Ages, late medieval and Early Modern period, early modern era. Ottoman rulers ...

. He was arrested by the British colonial government. Lalmia was elected to the

in 1932. He was a member of the council until the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

. The breakdown of Hindu-Muslim unity caused Lalmia's younger brother to become a leader of the Muslim League. In 1937, his younger brother was elected to 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 ...

as a Muslim League candidate. Lalmia joined the Muslim League in 1943. He attended rallies in Calcutta with

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

and

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 ...

. He played a key role in the Indian provincial elections, 1946 in which the Muslim League achieved a strong performance in Bengal, that ultimately led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947.

Pakistan

Lalmia was a 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 the

. He was the Central Minister of Health, Labour and Social Welfare of Pakistan in 1965. Lalmia was member of the 3rd National Assembly of Pakistan representing Faridpur-1. He was also a member of the 4th National Assembly of Pakistan.

Family

Lalmia's younger brother

Yusuf Ali Chowdhury Yusuf Ali Chowdhury (1905 – 26 November 1971), commonly known as Mohan Mia, was a leading Muslim League politician from Bengal. He campaigned for Bengali Muslim civil rights in British India. Hailing from a prominent landowning clan of Far ...

(Mohan Mia) was the first General Secretary of the East Bengal Muslim League after the partition of India. Mohan Mia was known as the "kingmaker" of Bengali and Pakistani politics because of his coalition forming skills. Lalmia's nephews Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf and Chowdhury Akmal Ibne Yusuf became leaders 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 ...

(BNP). His distant relative

Kamran Hossain Chowdhury Kamran Hossain Chowdhury (; 24 July 1952 – 4 December 2024) was a Bangladeshi politician who was a Member of Parliament from Faridpur District, Faridpur. He was a member of the List of members of the 4th Jatiya Sangsad, 4th Jatiyo Sangshad. He ...

became a Jatiya Party leader. Lalmia's grandson Chowdhury Abd-Allah Quaseed is a prominent media and corporate personality in Bangladesh; he was a participant in the Commonwealth Common Purpose Leadership scheme sponsored by the late

Prince Philip Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

and

Anne Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), Annie a ...

, the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal famil ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mia, Lal 1969 deaths 1903 births Aligarh Muslim University alumni Bengali politicians Indian National Congress politicians All-India Muslim League politicians Pakistani MNAs 1965–1969 Pakistani MNAs 1962–1965 Chowdhury Bishwas family