Syed Badrudduja (; 4 January 1900 – 18 November 1974) was an Indian-Bengali politician, parliamentarian, and activist. He was a member of

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 ...

, member of Indian parliament Lok Sabha and the

Mayor of Calcutta The Mayor of Kolkata is the chief executive of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, one of the civic authorities in the Indian city of Kolkata. He is the ''First Citizen'' of the city of Kolkata. There have been 38 mayors of Kolkata in total ti ...

. He was involved with the anti-colonials movements like

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 ...

and

Civil Disobedience Movement Civil disobedience is the active and professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders, or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". ...

, and was an advocate of

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy (8 September 18925 December 1963) was an East Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and before that as the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to ...

United Bengal United Bengal was a proposal to transform Bengal Presidency, Bengal Province into an undivided, sovereign state at the time of the Partition of India in 1947. It sought to prevent the Partition of Bengal (1947), division of Bengal on religious ...

proposal.

Early life and education

Badrudduja was born on 4 January 1900 in Talibpur village in

Murshidabad district Murshidabad district is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the left bank of the river Ganges, the district is very fertile. Covering an area of and having a population 7.103 million (according to 2011 census), it ...

to Syed Abdul Ghafur. He studied at Calcutta Madrassa,

Presidency College Calcutta Presidency University, formerly Presidency College, is a public state university located in College Street, Kolkata. Established in 1817 as the ''Hindoo College'', it was later renamed ''Presidency College'' in 1855 and functioned as a leadi ...

, and the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, and earned an M.A. and an L.L.B.

Career

Badrudduja joined and served as secretary of Progressive Muslim League. He worked in the Indian independence movement with Bengali leaders like Chitta Ranjan Das,

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

. He was also associated with

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 ...

. Later, he became president of Independent Democratic Party. He also served as secretary of the Progressive Assembly Party, Bengal, and as president of the Progressive Coalition Party, Bengal. He was the

Mayor of Kolkata The Mayor of Kolkata is the chief executive of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, one of the civic authorities in the Indian city of Kolkata. He is the ''First Citizen'' of the city of Kolkata. There have been 38 mayors of Kolkata in total ti ...

from 1943 to 1944. He decided to stay in India after the Partition. He was a member of Bengal Legislative Assembly, 1940–46, Bengal Legislative Council, 1946–47, West Bengal Legislative Assembly, 1948—52 and 1957–62; Member, Third Lok Sabha, 1962—67 and 4th Lok Sabha- 1967-70

Personal life and death

Badrudduja was married to Rakia Khatoon. They had children including Syeda Sakina Islam, Syed Mohammad Ali (d. 2010), Syeda Salma Rahman, Syeda Razia Faiz (1936–2013), Syed Hyder Ali, Syeda Asiya Qadir, Syed Ashraf Ali (1939–2016), Syeda Fatima Islam, Syed Reza Ali and Syeda Zakia Ahsan. He died on 18 November 1974.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badrudduja, Syed 1900 births 1974 deaths Bengali Muslims 20th-century Bengalis 20th-century mayors of places in India Lok Sabha members from West Bengal India MPs 1962–1967 India MPs 1967–1970 West Bengal MLAs 1951–1957 Mayors of Kolkata Indian independence activists from Bengal Presidency University, Kolkata alumni Politicians from Kolkata Politicians from Murshidabad district University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Indian lawyers United Bengal activists