Mohammad Akram Khan (; 1868 – 18 August 1968) was a Bengali journalist, politician and Islamic scholar. He was the founder of Dhaka's first Bengali newspaper, ''

The Azad ''The Azad'' () was a Bengali-language daily newspaper published from 1936 to 1990s. ''The Azad'' became Dhaka's first daily newspaper. The newspaper while based in Dhaka played an important role during the Bengali Language Movement for its adv ...

''. He was among the founders of

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind ( ) is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Fir ...

Early life and education

Khan was born in 1868, to 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 ...

family in Hakimpur, 24 Parganas district of

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 ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(in present-day

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

). His father, Alhaj Mawlana Ghazi Abdul Bari Khan, was a disciple of Sayyid Ahmad Shahid and participated in the

Battle of Balakot The Battle of Balakot was fought between the forces of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Syed Ahmad Barelvi in Balakot on 6 May 1831. Barelvi had declared ''jihad'' against the Sikhs and established a camp in Balakot along with Shah Ismail Dehlvi and hi ...

. His mother's name was Rabeya Khatun. He did not have a British education but studied at Calcutta Madrasah (now Aliah University). He entered the journalism profession at a very young age before becoming involved in politics.

Career

Journalism

Early in his career, he worked at newspapers ''Ahl-i-Hadith'' and ''Mohammadi Akhbar''. Between 1908 and 1921, he worked as the editor of the ''Mohammadi'' and the ''Al-Islam''. He published the ''Zamana'' and the ''Sebak'' between 1920 and 1922. Sebak was banned and Akram Khan was arrested on the basis that his anti-government editorials supported the

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 ...

and the

Swadeshi movement The Swadeshi movement was a self-sufficiency movement that was part of the Indian independence movement and contributed to the development of Indian nationalism. Before the BML Government's decision for the partition of Bengal was made public i ...

. From October 1936, Akram Khan began publishing the newspaper ''

'', which generated support for the Muslim League in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

Political career

Akram Khan's participated during the formation of All India Muslim League in 1906. As a member of the Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Bangala, he was involved in the Khilafat and Non-cooperation Movement from 1918 to 1924. He was elected secretary of the All India Khilafat Committee at the conference held at Ahsan Manzil 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 ...

in 1920, which was attended by other eminent

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 ...

leaders like

Abul Kalam Azad Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin (11 November 188822 February 1958), better known as Maulana Azad and sometimes referred as Abul Kalam Azad, was an Indian politician, writer and activist of the Indian independence movement. A senior leader of t ...

, Maniruzzaman Islamabadi and Mujibur Rahman. Akram was responsible for collecting funds for 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 ...

. During 1920–1923, he organised public meetings in different parts of Bengal to propagate the cause of the Khilafat and the Non-cooperation Movement. As a believer in Hindu-Muslim amity, Akram Khan supported Chitta Ranjan Das's Swaraj Party in Kolkata in 1922, and also the Bengal pact in 1923. But due to the communal riots of 1926–1927 and other contemporary political developments, Akram Khan lost his faith in Indian nationalist politics and left both the

Swaraj Party The Swaraj Party, established as the Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party, was a political party formed in India on 1 January 1923 after the Gaya annual conference in December 1922. Chauri Chaura The Swaraj Party was formed on 1 January 1923 by Indi ...

and Congress. He co-founded the

, and became a member of its first executive council. From 1929 to 1935, Khan was deeply involved in the

Krishak Praja 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 ...

. However, he left peasant politics in 1936 and became an activist for the Muslim League. He was a member of the central working committee of the League until 1947. After 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 ...

in 1947, he opted for

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

and settled in Dhaka. He was the President of Muslim League (East Pakistan) until he retired from politics in 1960. Akram Khan was also involved in the

Bengali Language Movement The Bengali language movement was a political movement in East Bengal (modern-day Bangladesh) in 1952, advocating the recognition of the Bengali language as a co-lingua franca of the then-Dominion of Pakistan to allow its use in government ...

of 1952. He was also a founding member of Pakistan's

Council of Islamic Ideology Council of Islamic Ideology (CII; () is a constitutional body of Pakistan, responsible for giving legal advice on Islamic issues to the government and the Parliament. This body was founded in 1962 under the government of Ayub Khan. Functions ...

, a constitutional body formed in 1962.

Death

Khan died on 18 August 1968. He was buried at the Ahl-i-Hadith Bangshal mosque at

Old Dhaka Old Dhaka () is a term used to refer to the historic old city of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. It was founded in 1608 as Jahangirabad or Jahangirnagar (), the capital of Bengal Subah, Mughal Province of Bengal and named after the Mughal em ...

Literary works

* ''Samasya O Samadhan'' * ''Mostafa Charit'' * ''Amparar Tafseer'' * ''Tafser-a-Quran'' * ''Muslim Banglar Samajik Itihas''

Awards

Independence Day Award The Independence Award (), formally known as the Independence Day Award or Swadhinata Padak (), is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh. Introduced in 1977 by President Ziaur Rahman, this award is bestowed upon Banglade ...

(1981)

References

External links

* Akram Khan: Journalist and litterateur
''The New Nation''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Mohammad Akram 1868 births 1968 deaths Pakistani men centenarians People from Dhaka Bengali politicians Pakistan Movement activists from Bengal Pakistan Muslim League politicians Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam Bengali language movement Recipients of the Independence Award Krishak Sramik Party politicians Honorary Fellows of Bangla Academy Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 Members of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress Founders of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind 20th-century Bengalis 19th-century Bengalis Bengali activists People from North 24 Parganas district Journalists from West Bengal Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Ahl-i Hadith people