Hamidul Huq Chowdhury (, ; 25 August 1901– 18 January 1992) was a Pakistani-Bangladeshi politician. He was the founder of ''The Pakistan Observer'', an English-language newspaper which changed its name to ''

The Bangladesh Observer ''The Bangladesh Observer'', founded by Hamidul Huq Choudhury in 1949, was the oldest continuously published English-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh until it ceased publication in June 2010. History Since its inception as ''The Pakist ...

'' after 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 ...

. He was educated in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

and

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 ...

, and had a career as a lawyer, politician and newspaper proprietor.

Early life

Hamidul Huq Chowdhury was born in Ramnagar village, Daganbhuiyan upazila,

Feni District Feni District () is a coastal Districts of Bangladesh, district situated in the south-east of Bangladesh, within Chittagong Division. One of Bangladesh's smallest districts, it is strategically located along the N1 (Bangladesh), Dhaka–Chittago ...

, (now Bangladesh) during the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in 1901. Hamidul Huq was educated at the Dacca Collegiate School in Dhaka,

Scottish Church Collegiate School The Scottish Church Collegiate School is a school in north Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the ...

and Presidency College in Calcutta and the Law College of the

University of Calcutta 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 ...

. He was admitted as an Advocate before the Calcutta High Court and served for a time as a Crown Prosecutor. Hamidul Huq also served as a Legal Remembrancer for the Calcutta High Court. Following Partition in 1947, he had a long and distinguished legal practice before the

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and subsequently Bangladesh High Courts, and celebrated his Golden Jubilee (50 years) as an advocate and member of the legal profession in 1987, at his residence, Neerala Garden House, Tejgaon, in Dhaka.

Career

Hamidul Huq was elected to 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 ...

in 1937 (serving as Deputy President of the council) and was re-elected to the body in 1946. During his tenure on the council, Hamidul Huq was a member of the Bengal Imperial Agriculture Council, Central Sugarcane Committee, Handloom Board, Textile Control Board and Industrial Development Enquiry Committee, and also a Fellow of Calcutta University. In 1947, Hamidul Huq represented the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties British India *All-India Muslim League, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organization above **Unionist Muslim L ...

before Sir Cyril Radcliffe's Boundary Commission. Following partition in 1947, Hamidul Huq moved with his family to Dhaka,

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 ...

. Hamidul Huq started ''The Pakistan Observer'' on 11 March 1949. He was elected to the Pakistan Constitutional Assembly and was also 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 ...

, during which time he served as the Minister for Finance, Commerce, Labour & Industries (1947–49). Subsequently, Hamidul was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1955 as a leader of the

Krishak Sramik Party The Krishak Sramik Party (, ''Farmer Labourer Party'') was a major anti-feudal political party in the British Indian province of Bengal and later in the Dominion of Pakistan's East Bengal and East Pakistan provinces. It was founded in 1929 as th ...

and served as the

Foreign Minister of Pakistan The Minister for Foreign Affairs (or simply the Foreign Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Pakistan. The minister oversees the federal government's foreign policy and International relations. Their resp ...

Chaudhry Muhammad Ali Chaudhri Muhammad Ali (15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth prime minister of Pakistan from 1955 until his resignation in 1956. His government transitioned Pakistan from a British ...

's cabinet. Hamidul Huq participated in the Round Table Conference of Pakistani government and opposition leaders in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

in 1969. He moved to West Pakistan shortly before the

Independence of Bangladesh The independence of Bangladesh was Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence, declared from Pakistan on 26 March 1971, which is now celebrated as Independence Day (Bangladesh), Independence Day. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March ...

and in 1972, the Government of Bangladesh cancelled his citizenship. He was allowed to return to Bangladesh in 1978 by the Bangladeshi Government led by

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

Personal life

Hamidul Huq was married to Halima Banu. He died in Dhaka on 21 January 1992.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Hamidul Huq 1901 births 1992 deaths Scottish Church Collegiate School alumni University of Calcutta alumni Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958 Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 Ministers for foreign affairs of Pakistan Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Provincial ministers of East Pakistan