Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fifth prime minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957. He previously held the position of prime minister of Bengal between 1946 and 1947. As a leading founding member of Pakistan, he is recognized as a patron of the Two-Nation Theory.

Early life and education

Suhrawardy was born on 8 September 1892 in Midnapore, Bengal. He belonged to the Suhrawardy family, which is considered one of the most illustrious lineages in the Indian subcontinent. His father, Justice Sir Zahid Suhrawardy, served as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court. The family traces its ancestry to the 12th-century Sufi Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi.

He began his studies at the Calcutta Madrasa and later attended St. Xavier's College in Kolkata. After earning a Bachelor of Science degree, he moved to England to study at St Catherine's College, Oxford. He obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law from Oxford and a Master of Arts in Arabic from Calcutta. In 1922–23, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales through Gray's Inn.

Career

Suhrawardy began his political journey in 1923 when he joined the Swaraj Party. He served as the Deputy Mayor of Calcutta from 1924 to 1926. During the 1920s, he acted as a trade union leader in Calcutta and organized 36 unions for workers including sailors and railway employees. He later transitioned toward Indian Muslim nationalism by joining the All-India Muslim League.

After being elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937, he led the Muslim League to victory in the 1946 provincial general election. He served as the last prime minister of Bengal until the province was partitioned in 1947. While in office, he proposed the creation of a united Bengal—a plan supported by the Muslim League but opposed by the Indian National Congress. He is also identified as the mastermind behind Direct Action Day on 16 August 1946.

Following the partition, Suhrawardy moved to Pakistan and split his time between Karachi and Dhaka. In Dhaka, he led the Bengali-dominated Awami League. He formed a coalition government with the Republican Party in 1956 and became the prime minister of Pakistan. During his tenure, he strengthened ties with the United States through SEATO and CENTO. He also became the first Pakistani premier to travel to Communist China.

His premiership lasted for one year. His cabinet included Feroz Khan Noon as foreign minister and Abul Mansur Ahmad as trade minister. In 1962, he founded the National Democratic Front to oppose the military regime of Ayub Khan. He died in Beirut in 1963 due to a heart attack.

Personal life

Suhrawardy married his first wife, Begum Niaz Fatima, who was the daughter of Justice Sir Abdur Rahim. She passed away in 1922. His second wife was Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder, a Russian actress of Polish descent. They had a son named Rashid Suhrawardy, who became a British theatre actor. Rashid is known for his role in the film Jinnah.

His only daughter, Begum Akhtar Sulaiman, worked as a social worker and activist in Pakistan. His brother, Hasan Shaheed Suhrawardy, was a diplomat and an art-critic. Suhrawardy's political protégé was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was arrested by the military government during the 1958 coup, which prevented him from attending the wedding of his niece, Salma Sobhan.