Pramatha Ranjan Thakur (1902 – 28 December 1990) was an Indian politician elected as a member of the

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paścimabaṅga Vidhānasabhā'') is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal, located in eastern India. It consists of 294 members directly elected from single-seat ...

from the Hanskhali constituency in the

1962 elections The following elections occurred in 1962. Africa * 1962 Algerian independence referendum, Algerian independence referendum * 1962 Chadian parliamentary election * 1962 Gambian legislative election, Gambian legislative election * 1962 Northern ...

as a candidate of the

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 ...

. The seat was reserved for candidates from the Scheduled Castes.

Early life

Thakur was born at village of Orakandi in

Faridpur District Faridpur District () is a district in south-central Bangladesh. It is a part of Dhaka Division. It is bounded by the Padma River to the northeast. The district was named for its headquarters, the city of Faridpur, Bangladesh, Faridpur, which its ...

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 ...

(now in Bangladesh). His father name is Shashi Bhushan Thakur. He passed Bar at Law from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and was called to the bar from

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in June 1929. Thakur was the first barrister from the Namasudra community. In 1933, he married Binapani Devi Thakur.

Career

Thakur was a prominent member of the Namasudra community, whose great-grandfather,

Harichand Thakur Harichand Thakur (11 March 1812 – 5 March 1878), was a social reformer who worked among the untouchable people of the Bengal Presidency. He founded the Matua sect of Hinduism. Life Harichand Thakur was born into a Vaishnavite Namashudra p ...

(1811/12-1878), had founded the Hindu religious sect called

Matua Mahasangha The Matuaism () is a Hindu reform movement that originated around 1860 AD in modern-day Bangladesh. Today, it has a considerable number of adherents both in Bangladesh and in West Bengal, India. The Matua movement originated among the Namas ...

. The sect, which was further developed by Pramatha's grandfather, Guruchand Thakur, became a focal point for the Namasudra community's efforts for social upliftment and by the 1930s Pramatha had become its head. The Namasudras had been historically considered an untouchable community. He became the Minister of State for Tribal Development of West Bengal in 1963.

References

{{reflist 1902 births 1990 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal Matua people Members of Lincoln's Inn People from Gopalganj District, Bangladesh Bengal MLAs 1937–1945 Bengal MLAs 1946–1947 West Bengal MLAs 1947–1951 West Bengal MLAs 1962–1967