Muzaffar Ahmad (known as Kakababu; 5 August 1889 – 18 December 1973) was an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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 ...

i politician, journalist and a co-founder of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

Background

Ahmed was born on 5 August 1889 at Musapur village on Sandwip Island in

Chittagong District Chittagong District (), ( Chatgaiya: Sitang/Chatga), officially Chattogram District, is a district located in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. Due to its geographical location, Chittagong is classified as a s ...

of Bengal Province in the-then

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 Bangladesh) to Mansur Ali. Ahmed received his early education on Sandwip. He passed matriculation from

Noakhali Zilla School Noakhali Zilla School () is a boy's high school located in the Maijdee town of Noakhali, Bangladesh. It is one of the oldest schools in the country. The school was established in 1850.(EIIN NUMBER 107540). History In 1850, Jones, an officer from ...

in 1913. He studied at

Hooghly Mohsin College Hooghly Mohsin College, established in 1836 after the Macaulay Report, is one of the oldest colleges in India. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Arts, Commerce and Sciences. It is affiliated to University of Burdwan. History Ho ...

and then

Bangabasi College Bangabasi College is a Kolkata-based liberal arts, commerce and sciences college. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses of the University of Calcutta. It was founded by Girish Chandra Bose, an educationist, social reformer and agric ...

, but was unsuccessful in the Intermediate in Arts examination and left college.

Career

He participated in political meetings and demonstrations starting in 1916. In 1918, he was appointed assistant secretary of the literary society '' Bangio Musalman Sahitya Samiti'' and took responsibility for producing its monthly journal. In 1920, along with

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengalis, Bengali poet, short story writer, journalist, lyricist and musician. He is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul produced a List of works by Kazi Nazrul Islam, large body of ...

, he started a new magazine, ''

Nabajug ''Nabajug'' () was a Bengali-language daily newspaper published from 1920 to 1944. History The newspaper was founded in Kolkata on 12 July 1920 by A. K. Fazlul Huq. The first editors were Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 ...

''. Later, when another magazine, '' Dhumketu'', was launched by Nazrul in 1922, he contributed to it using the pseudonym "Dwaipayana". Ahmed was one of the founders of the

. In 1922, the ''Bharat Samyatantra Samiti'' was formed in

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 ...

with Ahmed as its secretary. In 1924, he was sentenced to four years in prison because of his role in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case along with S.A. Dange, Nalini Gupta and Shaukat Usmani. He was released due to illness in 1925. In November, 1925 he, along with Kazi Nazrul Islam,

Hemanta Kumar Sarkar Hemanta Kumar Sarkar (1897 – 3 November 1952) was an Indian philologist, author, biographer, editor, publisher, union leader, leader of the Indian freedom movement and an associate of Subhas Chandra Bose. He was a close friend and the first bi ...

, and others, organized the Labour Swaraj Party in Bengal. He was one of the main leaders of CPI in the early 1920s along with

Abdul Halim ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm (ALA-LC romanization of ) is a male Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥalīm'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which gives rise to the Muslim theophori ...

and Abdur Rezzak Khan. On 20 March 1929, the British colonial government arrested 31 labour activists and sent them to

Meerut Meerut (, ISO 15919, ISO: ''Mēraṭh'') is a city in the western region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Located in the Meerut district, it is northeast of the national capital, New Delhi, and is ...

for trial. Ahmed was the chief accused, along with S.A. Dange, Shaukat Usmani,

P.C. Joshi Puran Chand Joshi (14 April 1907 – 9 November 1980) was one of the early leaders of the communist movement in India. He was the general secretary of the Communist Party of India from 1935 to 1947. Early years Joshi was born on 14 April 190 ...

and others, was convicted in this so-called

Meerut Conspiracy Case The Meerut Conspiracy Case was a controversial court case that was initiated in British Raj in March 1929 and decided in 1933. Several trade unionists, including three Englishmen, were arrested for organizing an Indian railway strike. The Briti ...

. He was released in 1936. He had served the longest term in jail as the chief accused in the Meerut trial. Meerut prisoners outside the jail

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, Ahmed moved to

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 Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

rather than staying in

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 ...

(now Bangladesh). On 25 March 1948, the Communist Party of India was banned by the

government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

and Ahmed was imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1951. He was again arrested and incarcerated for two years in 1962, and another time for two years in 1965. He was imprisoned several times in post-Independence India by 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 ...

government.

Personal life

Ahmed had a daughter, Nargis. She was married to the poet

Abdul Quadir Abdul Quadir (1 June 1906 – 19 December 1984) was a Bangladeshi poet, essayist, and journalist. He was the recipient of Bangla Academy Literary Award in 1963 and Ekushey Padak in 1976. Early life and education Abdul Quadir was born in the vil ...

Legacy

* Co-founder of the

, 26 December 1925 * Founder of the National Book Agency, 26 June 1939 * The headquarters of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

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 ...

is named after him. * Ripon Street, a thoroughfare in

, was renamed "Muzaffar Ahmad Street".

Selected works

* ''Qazi Nazrul Islam: Smritikatha'' (in Bengali) * ''Amar Jiban O Bharater Communist Party'' (in Bengali) * ''Krishak Samasya'' (in Bengali) * ''Prabase Bharater Communist Party Gathan'' (in Bengali) * ''Bharater Communist Party Gorar Pratham Jug'' (in Bengali) * ''Nirbachita Prabandha'' (in Bengali)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Muzaffar (politician) 1973 deaths 1889 births People from Sandwip Upazila Politicians from Chittagong Division Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians Indian male journalists Bengali communists 20th-century Indian journalists Hooghly Mohsin College alumni Prisoners and detainees of British India Noakhali Zilla School alumni