Moinul Hoque Choudhury (13 May 1923 – 13 February 1976) was an Indian politician from

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. A five-time MLA; he was the Minister of Commerce and Industrial Development during

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

regime in 1971. He is also known as the Industrial Reformer of the Barak Valley.

Biography

Moinul Choudhury was born on 13 May 1923 in a well-off

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 Sonabarighat in

Cachar district Cachar district is an administrative districts of Assam, district in the state of Assam in India. After independence, the pre-existing undivided Cachar district was split into four districts: Dima Hasao district, Dima Hasao (formerly North Cachar ...

of Assam. He was born to mother Mona Bibi and father Montajir Ali. His father Montazir Ali was educated, and was always concerned about getting his son well educated. Choudhury took his primary education from ME School of Sonabraighat. He passed Matriculation from Silchar Government HS School and later joined

Cotton College, Guwahati Cotton University also known as CU, is a public state university (India), state university located in Guwahati, Assam, India. It was established in 2017 by the provisions of an Act from the Assam Legislative Assembly which merged Cotton Colleg ...

/ Murari Chand College of

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

and passed +2 in 1942. He graduated with History Honors from Presidency College of

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 ...

in 1944. In the Presidency, he defeated

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 ...

in the college election. He pursued MA in History securing first class first position from

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 1946. This was when he joined Muslim League and took part in the

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 also the general secretary of youth front of Muslim League on the national level. In 1947, he obtained LLB from Aligarh Muslim University. In a meeting with

Mohammed 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 ...

, Moinul Hoque Choudhury represented Barak Valley. Inspired by the ideals of Netaji

Subhas 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 Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hoque joined the freedom struggle. Following India's independence and the partition of India, he joined

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

under the influence of Fakaruddin Ali Ahmed. To start off his career, Moinul Hoque Choudhury joined the

Bar Association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.

Silchar Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the Cachar district of the state of Assam, India. It is second largest city of Assam after Guwahati in terms of population and GDP. It is also administrative capital of Barak Valley division. It is locate ...

in 1948 and later in 1950, he joined active politics as a member of local board in 1950 and was a nominated member of Silchar Municipality in the same year. He became a member of

Assam Legislative Assembly The Assam Legislative Assembly is the unicameral Assam Legislature, legislature of the List of states and union territories of India, Indian state of Assam. It is housed in Dispur, the capital city of Assam, geographically situated in present L ...

in 1952 from East Sonai constituency. Moinul Hoque became a cabinet minister (agriculture) in 1957 after being elected for the second time from the same constituency. On being elected for the third term in 1962, he became the leader of the Congress legislature in the assembly in addition to being a cabinet minister. In 1967. He was elected for the fourth time as MLA from Sonai Constituency, but was abstained from ministerial portfolio following a feud with

Bimala Prasad Chaliha Bimala Prasad Chaliha (26 March 1912 – 25 February 1971) was a Leader of Indian National Congress and a Freedom Fighter who was imprisoned at Jorhat Jail in 1942 for active participation in Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India Movement against the Brit ...

. He was selected as chairman of national Haj Committee in the same year. He entered the national politics in 1971 by returning to the parliament from Dhubri and was offered the ministry of industry under the Government of India. There have been many in Barak valley who have been hugely influenced and inspired by him, particularly the Muslim men. His own younger brother Nurul Hoque also became MLA from Sonai.

Work

The improvement of road and communication system, construction of embankments in Cachar to facilitate agriculture, establishment of All India Radio, Silchar Medical College, Veterinary school, Hindustan Paper Mill at Panchgram, Sugar Mill at Anipur, the Regional Engineering College now upgraded as NIT are his achievements. He was the first person in Cachar to forward the proposal for the construction of Barak Dam. He will be remembered in the valley for the noble attempt he made to usher in a green revolution in the valley through the package program in the sixties when advanced technology, high yielding seeds, scientific manure, pesticides were introduced for the first time in Cachar, and many more.

Timeline

* 13 May 1923: Born in Sonabarighat of Sonai, Silchar * 1940: Passed Matriculation from Silchar Government HS School * 1942: Passed +2 from Cotton College, Gauhati * 1944: Completed graduation in History Honours from Presidency College, Kolkata * 1946: Pursued MA in history from Aligarh Muslim University, joined Muslim League, took part in the freedom struggle of India. * 1947: Obtained LLB from Aligarh Muslim University * 1948: Joined Bar Association of Silchar * 1950: Elected as member of local board * 1951: Joined Indian National Congress * 1952: Elected as MLA from Sonai Constituency, and member of Public Accounts Committee and Text Book * 1957: Elected for the second time MLA from Sonai Constituency, won a ministerial portfolio, agriculture * 1961: Attended UNO General Convention as one of the delegates from India * 1962: Elected for the second time as a minister from Sonai constituency * 1967: Elected for the fourth time as MLA from Sonai Constituency, but unfortunately was abstained from ministerial portfolio * following a feud with Bimala Prasad Chaliha, selected as chairman of national Haj Committee. * 1968: Went on a pilgrimage to holy Mecca and Madina * 1971: Elected as MP from Dhubri constituency in a by-election and won ministerial portfolio of Industrial Development * 1976: Died in AIIMS, Delhi on 13 February aged 52.

References

Fifth Lok Sabha Members Bioprofile
*
Moinul Hoque Choudhury Memorial Science CollegeUnsung Hero of Assam: Mastufa's Blogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choudhury, Moinul Hoque People from Cachar district 1923 births 1976 deaths Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni Indian National Congress politicians from Assam Assam MLAs 1952–1957 Assam MLAs 1957–1962 Assam MLAs 1962–1967 Assam MLAs 1967–1972 State cabinet ministers of Assam All-India Muslim League politicians Commerce and industry ministers of India Cotton College, Guwahati alumni 20th-century Bengalis Murari Chand College alumni India MPs 1971–1977