M. Muhammad Ismail (5 June 1896—5 April 1972) was an Indian politician and social worker from

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (, ta, திருநெல்வேலி, translit=Tirunelveli) also known as Nellai ( ta, நெல்லை, translit=Nellai) and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tam ...

, southern

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

. He served as the first President of

Indian Union Muslim League The Indian Union Muslim League (abbreviated as the I. U. M. L. or the League) is an Indian political party primarily based in the Indian state of Kerala. It is recognised as a State Party in Kerala by the Election Commission of India. The firs ...

after the partition of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He was popularly known in

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

as the "Quaid-e-Millat" ("the Leader of the Nation"). Ismail was a member of Madras Legislative Assembly and

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

(1946—52). He was also a member (1948—50) of the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected ...

, the drafting body of the

constitution of India The Constitution of India (IAST: ) is the supreme law of India. The document lays down the framework that demarcates fundamental political code, structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions and sets out fundamental ...

. He was also a member of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, wikisource:Constitution of India/Part V#Article 80, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legisl ...

(1952—58) and

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-pas ...

(3rd, 1962—67, 4th, 1967—70 and 5th, 1971—72).

Life and career

M. Muhammad Ismail was born in Pettai,

, in what is now the Indian state of

, on 5 June 1896 to Maulavi K. T. Miakhan in a

Rowther family. He was educated at C. M. S. College and Hindu College at

and later at St. Joseph's College,

Trichinopoly Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bei ...

and Christian College, Madras. Ismail started the 'Young Muslim Society' in his home town Tirunelveli Pettai in 1909 ( as a 13-year-old). He was also instrumental in establishing 'Majlis ul-Ulama' ('the Council of Islamic Scholars') in 1918. He went into business in the 1920s and became a leader of Madras leather industry and eventually of

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...

commerce. Ismail married Jamal Hameeda Biwi in November 1923. Ismail's brother, K. T. M. Ahmed Ibrahim, was also a principal leader of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcon ...

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including th ...

. Ismail served as Vice President, Muslim Educational Association of Southern India and Anjuman Himayat-e-Islam. He was also a founding member of the Tamil Valarchi Kazhagam, Madras.

Political career

With the All-India Muslim League

Success in

commerce led Ismail into Indian politics. Along with

K. M. Seethi Saheb K. M. Seethi Sahib (1899—1961), born K. M. Seethi, was an Indian politician and community leader from Kerala. He served as the Speaker of Kerala Assembly during 1960-61 ( Pattom A. Thanu Pillai Ministry). Seethi Sahib, born in 1899 in an aff ...

, B. Pocker and

K. Uppi Saheb K. Uppi Saheb, or Kottal Uppi Saheb Bahadur, (1891–1972) was an Indian politician and social worker from Kannur, north Kerala. Kottal Uppi, from an elite Mappila family from north Malabar with a mercantile background, was educated at Telliche ...

, he was one of the principal leaders of

from the mid-1930s. In 1945, he became the President of the

unit of the All-India Muslim League. In the elections to the Madras legislature, the League won all but ten of the reserved seats in 1936 and all in 1946. The League emerged as the second largest party in the Assembly after the 1946 elections and Ismail served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly during 1946–52.

With the Indian Union Muslim League

When British India was partitioned into India and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, the

was virtually disbanded (December, 1947). Ismail, the then President of the Madras Muslim League, was chosen as the Convener of the Indian segment of the League. The Indian members of the League formed the

at Madras (first council in March, 1948 and constitution passed in September, 1951). Ismail was chosen as the first President of Indian Union Muslim League. After partition of India, Muslims were still well represented in the

, the drafting body of the

(almost all of these lawmakers had been elected on League tickets). Only those from

formally adhered to the League. Ismail was elected from the Madras Legislative Assembly to the

in 1948. When the report of the Advisory Committee on Minorities was debated (1949), smail moved a motion for the retention of reserved seats for Muslims and a separate communal electorate. The

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

summarily rejected this motion. Ismail Sahib wanted Tamil to be the Official Language of India.

Attempts for an alliance

In the 1950s, Ismail started negotiating with the stubborn High Command in New Delhi (through the Madras leadership) for an electoral alliance with the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

. Some informal or local alliances with the Madras Congress were realized. The party thereupon suffered a rout in the 1957 General Elections and witnessed a major split in 1961 (instigated by Mohammed Raza Khan, M. S. A. Majeed and K. T. Sheriff). League in due course allied with

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

and

Swatantra Party The Swatantra Party was an Indian classical liberal political party, that existed from 1959 to 1974. It was founded by C. Rajagopalachari in reaction to what he felt was the Jawaharlal Nehru-dominated Indian National Congress's increasingly s ...

. In 1952, Ismail was elected to the

from

with support of the independent candidates endorsed by the League.

As a Member of Parliament from Kerala

When the state of

was formed by the

States Reorganisation Act The States Reorganisation act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States ...

in 1956, Ismail his constituency to northern Kerala. He was elected to the

from Manjeri Parliamentary Constituency three times – in

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wo ...

(Third Lok Sabha),

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establ ...

(Fourth Lok Sabha) and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

(Fifth Lok Sabha) as an

candidate. During the

1962 India-China War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...

, Ismail famously offered to send his son Mian Khan to join the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

to fight against China.

Business career

Ismail went into business in the 1920s and was involved in various commerce committees. He was a noted businessman of the

involved in leather and meat industry. The boards and committees he was a member of include: * Madras Port Trust Board, Madras Board of Industries, Madras Provincial Marketing Board, Madras Excise Licensing Board, and South India Railway Advisory Committee. * Industrial Planning Committee (Government of Madras), South India Chamber of Commerce and Industry (once Vice-President of the Chamber), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and Court of

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. * Indian Council of Agricultural Research (Hides and Skins), Hides Cess Enquiry Committee, Mica Enquiry Committee, Chairman of Leather and Leather Goods Committee, Government of Madras, Honorary Secretary and Vice-President of Southern India Skin and Hide Merchants Association, Madras and President, Madras State Mutton Dealers Chamber.

Legacy

M. Muhammad Ismail died in 1972 (after a prolonged illness).

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British ...

politician

M. Bhaktavatsalam Minjur Bhakthavatsalam (9 October 1897 – 13 February 1987) was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the chief minister of Madras State from 2 October 1963 to 6 March 1967. He was the last Congress chief minister of Ta ...

, former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, paying his tribute, described Ismail as a "a model for all Opposition leaders". * A number of colleges in Tamil Nadu including the Quaid-e-Millat Government College for Women, Chennai and Quaid-e-Millat College, Medavakkam, Chennai have been named after M. Muhammad Ismail. * The Tamil Nadu Government renamed

Nagapattinam District Nagapattinam district is one of the 38 districts (a coastal district) of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. Nagapattinam district was carved out by bifurcating the erstwhile composite Thanjavur district on 19 October 1991. The town of Nagapatt ...

as "Nagai Quaid-e-Millat" District in M. Muhammad Ismail's honour (however, it reverted to its old name in 1997, when all names of individuals were dropped from the names of districts and transport corporations). * In 2003, the Tamil Nadu Government constructed a memorial hall for M. Muhammad Ismail.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismail, Muhammad Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Madras Christian College alumni 1896 births 1972 deaths India MPs 1962–1967 Rajya Sabha members from Tamil Nadu India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1971–1977 People from Tirunelveli district Indian Union Muslim League politicians Lok Sabha members from Kerala Indian Union Muslim League politicians from Tamil Nadu