The genesis of the disintegration of Pakistan was conditioned, to a great extent, by Mohammad Ali Jinnah's quest for installing the anti-Bengali collaborators and rightist Muslim Leaguers in both the party apparatus and the governmental structure of East Bengal. Indeed, the seed of colonial mode of governance in East Bengal was also planted by the Founding Father of Pakistan. A deliberate policy was quickly initiated for packing the East Bengal (East Pakistan) branch of Muslim League with their loyalists. Most of the celebrated Bengali Muslim League leaders were kept out of the newly revamped provincial branch of the Muslim League. Thus the chief intent of the Punjabi-Mohajir dominated Pakistani rulers was to perpetuate their colonial policy in the then eastern province of Pakistan through the use of the loyalist Muslim League government. Both Khwaja Nazimuddin and Nurul Amin regimes had willingly initiated and enthusiastically implemented various repressive and discriminatory measures in East Bengal for furthering and sustaining the colonial interests of the Karachi-anchored non-Bengali central government of Pakistan.

For instance, H.S. Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim, widely recognized as the stalwarts of Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML), were in the vanguard of Pakistan movement. Maulana Bhasani was the legendary figure in Assam politics, and as the President of Assam Provincial Muslim League, he had spearheaded the Pakistan movement in Assam. Yet, after independence, there was hardly any leadership roles for these dedicated and charismatic leaders in the newly installed government or in the provincial Muslim League. The followers of both H.S. Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim were specifically excluded even from the primary membership of the ruling party. Maulana Bhasani was also deliberately discredited and maligned by the ruling coterie immediately after his return to East Bengal from Assam. On his return to the then East Bengal in later part of 1947, he had won an assembly seat (through an uncontested bye-election) in East Bengal Provincial Legislative Assembly (EBLA) from South Tangail constituency. However, the provincial ruling coterie had hatched a conspiracy out to dislodge him from the Provincial Assembly. His election to the Assembly was declared null and void on flimsy grounds.ÊAbove all, Maulana Bhasani was declared disqualified by the provincial governor to run for re-election or for holding any public office!

Maulana Bhasani had courageously confronted and challenged the Muslim League leadership in the then East Bengal through the formation of a viable political organization. Being essentially goaded and aided by the more liberal factions of the ruling Muslim League, various groups of dissidents, and other progressive forces of the province, he had formed the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League [EPAML] on June 23, 1949 (the word 'Muslim' was formally rescinded from the nomenclature of the party in 1955). There is no doubt that the establishment of this opposition party was a milestone at a critical juncture of the new nation of Pakistan. The EPAML, under the charismatic leadership of Maulana Bhasani emerged as the most effective opposition party in the early years of Pakistan. Maulana Bhasani was the President of the Awami League for eight long years (1949 through 1957), and during those turbulent years he sincerely tried to build-up this party as the most effective political instrument for ventilating and articulating the genuine grievances and demands of the people of the eastern province of Pakistan. Both Maulana Bhasani and the EPAML had played pivotal roles in articulating Pakistan's Bengla speaking people's cherished desire and quest for autonomy and self-determination. Maulana Bhasani and his party had undeniably played the most defining role in all of the progressive movements in the then East Bengal during the early years of Pakistan.

Notwithstanding the deliberate distortions of Bangladesh's political history, it is a matter of fact that Maulana Bhasani was the most authentic founder of the Awami League. Many credible writers attest to the fact that he was the driving force behind the establishment of the EPAML in an era which was invariably dominated by the Muslim Leaguers. For instance, in his seminal assessment of the role of the Awami League in the political development of the then Pakistan, Dr. M. Rashiduzzaman underscored the central role of Maulana Bhasani in building-up a sustainable opposition in the then East Bengal during the early years of Pakistan: "If any one man should be given credit for the rise of an opposition in East Pakistan, it is Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani. Maulana Bhasani became a popular figure in the 1930's when he organized the peasant movement in East Bengal and Assam. Later, in the 1940s he gave his support to the Pakistan movement led by the Muslim League. Maulana Bhasani was frustrated by the closed-door policy of the Muslim League in Pakistan, however, and eventually, it was under his leadership that the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League [EPAML] was born at Dacca, on June 23, 1949" (M. Rashiduzzaman, "The Role of Awami League in the Political Development of Pakistan," Asian Survey, July, 1970).

Dr. Talukder Maniruzzaman has succinctly observed that the 1948-phase of the Bengali language movement had "spearheaded the formation of the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (EPAML), representing both genuine social protest and the political ambitions of the frustrated Muslim Leaguers. Maulana Bhasani was elected President of the party and (H.S.) Suhrawardy soon after became convener of the All-Pakistan Committee of the new party" (Talukder Maniruzzaman, Bangldesh Revolution and Its Aftermath, UPL, 1988, pp. 20-21).

According to Dr. M.B. Nair, "Maulana Bhasani was primarily responsible for the growth of the Party [EPAML]. He united the various opposition groups and pitted them against the ruling Muslim League. Though Suhrawardy's contribution to the formation of the [East Pakistan] Awami Muslim League was much less than that of Bhasani, his followers who were the best party workers of the undivided Bengal [Provincial] Muslim League [BPML], constituted the core of the party." M.B. Nair also attests further about Maulana Bhasani's dominant role in the formation of the Awami League: "The Awami League, the first Muslim opposition party in Pakistan, was founded by the dissident Muslim Leaguers. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani was rightfully considered as the founder and guiding genius behind the organized opposition to the Muslim League government in East Pakistan" (M.B. Nair, Politics in Bangladesh: A Study of Awami League, 1949-'58, New Delhi: Northern Book Centre, 1990, p. 61 and pp. 248-249).

There were many instances where the Awami League-sponsored public meetings and processions were disturbed or dispersed by the "hired goondas" of the ruling Muslim League. As the principal founder as well as the first President of the EPAM, Maulana Bhasani and scores of his party loyalists and progressive forces had to face stiff resistance from the Muslim Leaguers, and they were also the victims of repressive measurers of both the central government of Pakistan and the reactionary provincial government of East Bengal. The hostile political environment of the then East Bengal is well reflected in the words of Dr. M. Rashiduzzamman: "The political climate for an opposition party was not favorable in Pakistan at that time. Only a few months after it [EPAML] came into being, an Awami League procession and meeting was lathi (baton) charged and teargased by the police. After this incident, nineteen Awami League leaders, including Maulana Bhasani, were arrested. In 1951, the Awami League public meeting scheduled to be addressed by Suhrawardy could not be held as the government imposed Section 144… in certain parts of the city. This repressive policy towards the opposition was the natural consequence of an attitude typified by a statement of Liaquat Ali Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, at Mymensingh, East Pakistan, in December 1950: 'Pakistan has been achieved by the Muslim league. As long as I am alive no other political party will be allowed to work here.' "[M. Rashiduzzaman, "The Role of Awami League in the Political Development of Pakistan," Asian Survey, July, 1970.].

Immediately after the formation of the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, Maulana Bhasani started organizing and addressing hundreds of mass meetings throughout the province in order to arouse an awareness among the public about the ineptness of the repressive Muslim League government. He had also addressed many meetings in the city of Dhaka. For example, on June 24, 1949, in the first public meeting of the EPAML, held at Dhaka's Armanitola Maidan, Maulana Bhasani vehemently criticized the provincial government for its blatant failures in translating the pre-partition campaign promises into realistic and pragmatic public policies and programmes. He also stressed that the ruling party has miserably failed to fulfill the minimum demands of the people. In another public meeting, organized by the East Pakistan Muslim Student League (EPMSL) on September 11, 1949, he had earnestly appealed to the people to dislodge the repressive provincial government and the anti-Bengali central government of Pakistan. He urged the people to build-up resistance movement against the ruling coterie of Pakistan. In a mammoth public meeting on October 11, 1949 at Armanitola Maidan, Maulana Bhasani had forcefully demanded the immediate resignation of the then provincial government for exhibiting its ineptness in dealing with the food crisis. In defiance of the Section 144, Maulana Bhasani also led the 'hunger march' to press for redressing the food crisis in the province. Of course, the police force had lathi-charged the procession in which several dozen hunger marchers were injured. Maulana Bhasani was arrested under the Special Powers Act on October 13, 1949. However, his illegal detention was protested by spontaneous demonstrations throughout the province. He was kept in jail till he was released on December 10, 1950. In fact, the East Bengal government was compelled to release him from detention after he started a prolonged fasting inside the jail.

The Awami League leaders had vehemently opposed the anti-Bengali recommendations of the infamous Basic Principles Committee (BPC) Report. Although the anti-BPC movement was short-lived, it provided a golden opportunity for the Awami League to arouse an awareness among the masses throughout the province about the anti-Bengali constitutional design of the non-Bengali-Mohajir dominated central government of Pakistan. The anti-BPC movement took place in two phases, first one started immediately after the "Report of the BPC of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (CAP) with regard to the future Constitution of Pakistan" was published in the national dailies on September 29, 1950." There was a chorus of condemnation of the BPC report throughout East Bengal, and Awami League leaders spearheaded this movement. Awami League leaders and other opponents of this Report had clearly demanded that any future Constitution of Pakistan must ensure "full regional autonomy for East Bengal" and "recognition of Bengali as one of the State languages of Pakistan."

Although Maulana Bhasani was in jail when the anti-BPC movement started, he joined the movement immediately after his release. While addressing a public meeting at Armanitola Maidan on December 24, 1950, he demanded immediate withdrawal of all anti-Bengali policies of both the central and provincial governments. On his sarcastic queries, the attendees in the meeting had expressed votes of no confidence in the central government of Pakistan and the East Bengal government. Neither Liaquat Ali Khan, the prime minister of Pakistan, nor Nurul Amin, the chief minister of East Bengal, had reason to feel amused or elated with such popular votes of no confidence in their governments on a day when the new nation of Pakistan was celebrating the Seventy Sixth Birth Anniversary of its founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah! Characterizing the BPC Report as both "un-Islamic" and "un-democratic," Maulana Bhasani, in a pamphlet on January 1, 1951, directed his party workers to mobilize public opinion against the evil design of the ruling coterie of Pakistan. The stiff resistance from all quarters of people of the province had compelled Liaquat Ali Khan to announce "the postponement of any discussion" on the BPC Report.

The second phase of the anti-BPC movement started soon after the Second draft of the BPC report was tabled in the central legislature on December 22, 1952 by Khwaja Nazimuddin, the then prime minister of Pakistan. There was hardly any substantive modification of the BPC report excepting Nazimuddin's new ploy of introducing the so-called parity-principle between the two wings of Pakistan. Maulana Bhasani and other leaders of his party were also in the vanguard of this phase of the anti-BPC movement. The patriotic people of the then East Bengal quickly rejected Khwaja Nazimuddin's perverted version of the BPC Report. In observance of the Anti-BPC Protest Day, the All-party anti-BPC movement organized a large public meeting at Paltan Maidan on December 11, 1953. Maulana Bhasani had the honor of presiding over that historic meeting.

For his direct involvement in the 1952-phase of the Language Movement, Maulana Bhasani was arrested on April 10, 1952, and he put behind bar without trial till April 21, 1953. However, he did not deviate from his commitment toward making Bengla one of the state languages of Pakistan when the first council meeting of EPAML was held on November 14-15, 1953. The newly adopted party manifesto, adopted by the EPAML council meeting, demanded that "Bengla" should be recognized as one of the state languages of Pakistan. Nor did he compromise on the state language issue when the Jukta Front (United Front) was formed on December 4, 1953.

The United Front was formed in December 1953 as an electoral alliance of several political parties that included East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (EPAML), Krishak-Sramik Party, Nezam-e Islam Party, Gonotontree Dal, and Khilafat-e Rabbani Party. Maulana Bhasani, of course in collaboration with Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Haque and H.S. Suhrawardy, was instrumental in the formation of the United Front (UF). Given the fact that the EPAML was the largest political party of this historic electoral alliance, the 21-point election manifesto of the Front reflected most of the popular demands that were thus far articulated by Maulana Bhasani and other progressive forces of the then East Pakistan. A great deal of credit was also due to his charisma, his relentlessness, and his oratory and organizational skills for the landslide victory of Front in 1954 election in which the ruling Muslim League was virtually routed out from the political scene of the then East Bengal. He had also vehemently criticized the central government of Pakistan for illegally dismantling Sher-e-Bangla's United Front government in East Bengal. He was dismayed when both Sher-e-Bangla and H.S. Suhrawardy joined the central government of Pakistan as ministers in Mohammad Ali Bogora's Cabinet without showing any regard for the pre-election pledges of the United Front.

Although the Awami League, as a political party, had vacillated or moderated its stand on the issue of "provincial autonomy" when Suhrawardy became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Maulana Bhasani had never shelved or compromised his commitment to "full-fledged regional autonomy for East Bengal." On a matter of principle, he had sharply disagreed with Suhrawardy's version or interpretation of East Pakistan's demand for full autonomy. He also openly criticized Suhrawardy's advocacy for adopting the so-called "One Unit" plan for uniting or centralizing the western regions of Pakistan. Maulana Bhasani vehemently opposed Suhrwardy's support for "Parity Principle," an "anti-Bengalee" policy deliberately crafted into the 1956 Constitution in order to deny the numerical majority of Bangalees in the central legislature and the central services of Pakistan. Being totally disgusted with the deplorable state of political affairs in mid-1950s, it was Maulana Bhasani who had started demanding complete separation of East Pakistan from the rest of Pakistan, and his oft-quoted "Assalamalaikum" to West Pakistan was early warning for subsequent separation of East Pakistan from the rest of Pakistan.

Born in 1886 in the village of Dhangora of Sirajganj subdivision of the then Pabna District, Maulana Bhasani breathed his last at Dhaka Medical College Hospital at 8:20 p.m. on November 17, 1976, and he was buried at Santoosh, Tangail on November 18, 1976 with state honour. His stature as one of the greatest heroes of Bangladesh's history comes not from a single action or accomplishment but from his lifelong commitment toward establishing or accruing social justice through political activism. He espoused a genuine cause for protecting, articulating, and enhancing the interests of the people of the then eastern province of Pakistan. Underneath the flowing beard, Maulana Bhasani was a serious man with a deep sense of compassion for the disadvantaged segments of the society. It is understood from whatever limited literature is available on the early phase of his life that he had learnt to be compassionate in his youth by doing compassionate acts for the underdogs of the society, and he cared for them even more as he grew older. He had remained a dedicated fighter till he breathed his last for accruing social justice for those people who were unjustly dispossessed, disinherited, abandoned, and humiliated. Maulana Bhasani's action orientation and his lifelong commitment to social justice was the determining factor for his spectacular emergence as the most authentic planter and organizer of politics of opposition and agitation in the then East Bengal in the formative years of Pakistan.

Dr. M. Waheeduzzaman Manik is a Professor and the Chairman of the Department of Public Management at Austin Peay State University, Tennessee, USA.