Syed Nausher Ali (1891 – 6 April 1972) was an Indian left-leaning politician in

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

and

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

(now India and Bangladesh) during British rule. He was a cabinet member in the first

A. K. Fazlul Huq Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq (26 October 1873 – 27 April 1962), popularly known as Sher-e-Bangla, was a Bengalis, Bengali lawyer and politician who served as the first and longest Prime Minister of Bengal, prime minister of Bengal during the Britis ...

ministry and later the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in the second coalition Ministry. He was renowned for his advocacy of abolition of British imperialism and his support of Hindu-Muslim cooperation in the form of an undivided India.

Early life

Syed Nausher Ali was born in

Narail Narail is a city in the Khulna division of southwestern Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous cou ...

in 1891 in an affluent family. He had his early education in Khulna and later moved to Calcutta for his higher education and obtained his bachelor's degree and a law degree from

Calcutta University 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 ...

. He joined the Calcutta High Court Bar in 1921. Ali was elected as a member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1921 and 1936 he joined the

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 ...

(KPP). In 1937, when

formed a coalition government with the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

, Nausher Ali was the only other KPP representative in the joint cabinet. He served as the Minister of the Health Department and was also responsible for the Local Self-Government Department. During his tenure as a minister, Nausher Ali came under the spotlight for appointing Muslim candidates in the open posts. This led to internal political tensions among the members of the joint cabinet and as a result, when the government was reconstituted after 1938, Ali was left out of the cabinet. In 1939, Ali formally joined 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 ...

. To assist Congress' campaign, Ali organized meetings with peasants in the districts of Khulna and Jessore, attacking the

zamindar A zamindar in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semi-autonomous feudal lord of a ''zamindari'' (feudal estate). The term itself came into use during the Mughal Empire, when Persian was the official language; ''zamindar'' is the ...

s and supporters of British imperialism and organizing means to empower peasants by encouraging them not to pay rent to the government. In 1942 when Fazlul Huq formed the second coalition Ministry, Syed Nausher Ali became the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 1 March 1943 to 14 May 1946.

Later life

In the 1940s, Muslim opinion in Bengal turned in favor of a

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

independent of India. Syed Nausher Ali, however, continued to voice his support for the unity of India. During the election of 1945–46, he was one of the only two Muslim candidates from the Indian National Congress in Bengal. After 1947 he decided to stay in India and became a Muslim politician in West Bengal. He died on 6 April 1972.

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20090619074905/http://legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in/STATISTICAL/wbengal.html * https://archive.today/20081118011715/http://www.ethikana.com/bangladesh/greatpersonality/politicians.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Syed Nausher 1891 births 1972 deaths Bengali politicians People from Narail District University of Calcutta alumni Indian National Congress politicians from West Bengal 20th-century Indian Muslims Krishak Sramik Party politicians People from Khulna Politicians from Khulna Division Bengal MLAs 1937–1945