East Pakistan Legislative Assembly পূর্ব পাকিস্তান প্রাদেশিক পরিষদ Purba Pakistan Pradeshik Parishad | |
|---|---|
| 5th Provincial Assembly of East Pakistan | |
.svg) | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 20 June 1947 (1947-06-20) |
| Disbanded | 17 April 1971 (1971-04-17) |
| Preceded by | Bengal Legislative Council Bengal Legislative Assembly |
| Succeeded by | Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 310 (1971)[1] |
 | |
Political groups |
|
| Elections | |
First election | 1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election |
Last election | 1970 East Pakistan Provincial Assembly election |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Assembly House,Dacca | |
TheEast Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as theEast Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature ofEast Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the provincial name was changed. The legislature was a successor to theBengal Legislative Council and theBengal Legislative Assembly, which were divided between East Bengal andWest Bengal during thepartition of Bengal in 1947. It was the largest provincial legislature in Pakistan. Elections were held only twice in 1954 and 1970.
During the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971, most Bengali members elected to thePakistani National Assembly and the East Pakistani provincial assembly became members of theConstituent Assembly of Bangladesh.[citation needed]
On 20 June 1947, 141 East Bengali legislators from theBengal Legislative Assembly voted on the partition of Bengal, with 107 supporting joining Pakistan'sConstituent Assembly if Bengal were partitioned.[2] TheSylhet region inAssamvoted in a referendum to join Pakistan. After the creation of theDominion of Pakistan, those 141 legislators, in addition to legislators from Sylhet of the Assam Legislative Assembly, formed the East Bengal Legislative Assembly. TheMuslim League'sSir Khawaja Nazimuddin became the first chief minister. He was succeeded byNurul Amin in 1948. The assembly was housed inJagannath Hall,[3] within the vicinity of theUniversity of Dacca and theHigh Court of Dacca. The area was the center of theBengali Language Movement in 1952. All 34 Hindu legislators fled away following the1950 East Pakistan riots, prominent among them beingJogendranath Mandal.
The assembly passed theEast Bengal State Acquisition and Tenancy Act of 1950. The act repealed the earlier laws and regulations which formed thepermanent settlement during British rule.
TheUnited Front coalition, led by theKrishak Praja Party and theAwami League, routed the Muslim League during theprovincial general election in 1954. The Farmer and Labour Party leaderA. K. Fazlul Huq became chief minister for six weeks. The United Front called for complete autonomy in East Bengal, except in defence and foreign policy; and the recognition of Bengali as a federal language.[4] The East Bengal Legislative Assembly passed a law for the establishment of theBengali Academy. However, Huq's government was dismissed within two months, following deadly clashes betweenBengali speaking Bengali Muslims &Urdu-speakingBihari Muslim labourers at theAdamjee Jute Mills,[5] with the government being accused of mismanagement. Huq was placed under house arrest.[6] After a period ofGovernor General's rule,Abu Hussain Sarkar became chief minister in 1955.
As a result of theOne Unit scheme, the assembly was renamed as theEast Pakistan Provincial Assembly in 1955. Pakistan became arepublic under theConstitution of Pakistan of 1956, in which Bengali was recognized as a federal language as a concession to East Pakistan.
In 1957, the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly adopted a unanimous resolution demanding full autonomy.[7]Ataur Rahman Khan became chief minister in 1956.
In 1958, a brawl broke out between political factions in the assembly, resulting in the deputy speakerShahed Ali Patwary being injured. Patwary later died. The confrontation was used as a pretext by President Iskander Mirza to declaremartial law on 7 October 1958.[8][9] The chief of army staffAyub Khan was appointedChief Martial Law Administrator. Khan later assumed the presidency by replacing Mirza. All provincial assemblies, including in East Pakistan, were disbanded. Numerous political leaders and journalists were arrested. The Elected Bodies Disqualification Order barred 75 politicians from holding public office for eight years (until 1966).[10]
TheConstitution of Pakistan of 1962 abolished the parliamentary system and introduced apresidential andgubernatorial system at the federal and provincial levels respectively. The most important feature of the system was dubbed "Basic Democracy", in whichelectoral colleges would be responsible for electing thePresident of Pakistan andGovernors of East andWest Pakistan.
In 1962, Dacca was declared Pakistan's legislative capital.[11] During the 1960s, the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly was housed in Parliament House inTejgaon. TheNational Assembly of Pakistan would periodically convene in the same building. The building is now the Prime Minister's Office of Bangladesh.
In 1966, thesix points of the Awami League demanded a federal parliamentary democracy.
In 1969, President Ayub Khan was deposed by the army chiefYahya Khan. The1969 uprising in East Pakistan played a role in the overthrow of President Ayub Khan. The new ruler Yahya Khan organizedgeneral elections in 1970 based onuniversal suffrage (the first in Pakistan's history), in which the Awami League won 288 of the 300 seats in East Pakistan's provincial assembly.[12] The refusal of the Pakistani military junta to transfer power led to theBangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
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Following the Pakistani military crackdown in East Pakistan that began on 25 March 1971, most members of the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly and the Bengali members of the National Assembly of Pakistan convened in Boiddonathtala, Meherpur on 17 April 1971, where they signed the Proclamation of Bangladesh Independence that was declared on 26 March and rebroadcast on 27 March.
The 1954 election in East Bengal was the first election since Pakistan was created. It was held on the basis ofseparate electorates, with reserved seats including 228 for theMuslim electorate, 30 for the Hindu electorate, 36 for thescheduled caste electorate, 1 for thePakistan Christian electorate, 12 for thewomen's electorate and 1 for theBuddhist electorate.
| Awami League | Krishak Sramik Party | Nizam-e-Islam | Gonotantri Party | Khilafat-e-Rabbani | Muslim League | Pakistan National Congress | Minority United Front | Scheduled Caste Federation | Communist Party of Pakistan | Christian | Buddhist | Independent Caste (Hindu) | Independents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 143 | 48 | 19 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 10 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
The Awami League emerged as the single largest party. However, in response to popular demands, the United Front Legislative Party elected Krishak Sramik Party leader A K Fazlul Huq, a formerPrime Minister of Bengal, as Leader of the House. Huq was invited by the governor on 3 April 1954 to form the government. The election ended the dominance of the Muslim League in the politics of East Bengal.[13] It heralded a younger generation of legislators from thevernacular middle class.[14] But verdict had little impact on Pakistan's central leadership and bureaucracy.[13]
The 1970 general election broke with the tradition of separate electorates and was organized on the basis ofuniversal adult franchise. The results are given in the following,[15]
| Awami League | Pakistan Democratic Party | National Awami Party | Jamaat-e-Islami | Others | Independents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 288 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
The newly elected assembly could not convene due to the Pakistani military crackdown in East Pakistan. During the Bangladesh War of Independence, theProclamation of Bangladeshi Independence was signed by most of its members, which transformed the assembly into a part of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh, alongside Bengali members of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
A total of five ministries (parliamentary governments) were formed bychief ministers in the assembly.
Political Party
| # | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Political Party | Governor | Governor-General/ President | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term Start | Term End | Time in Office | ||||||
| 1 |  | Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (1894 – 1964) | August 15, 1947 | September 4, 1948 | 1 year, 20 days | Muslim League | Sir Frederick Chalmers Bourne | Muhammad Ali Jinnah |
| 2 |  | Nurul Amin (1893 – 1974) | September 14, 1948 | April 3, 1954 | 5 years, 201 days | Muslim League | Sir Feroz Khan Noon | |
| 3 |  | Sher-e-Bangla A. K. Fazlul Huq (1873 - 1962) | April 3, 1954 | May 29, 1954 | 56 days | United Front | Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman | Malik Ghulam Muhammad |
| [-] |  | Vacant (Governor's rule) | May 29, 1954 | June 20, 1955 | 1 year, 22 days | N/A | - | |
| 4 |  | Abu Hussain Sarkar (1894 - 1969) | June 20, 1955 | August 30, 1956 | 1 year, 71 days | Krishak Sramik Party | Sir Thomas Hobart Ellis (Acting) Muhammad Shahabuddin (Acting) | |
| 5 |  | Ataur Rahman Khan (1907 - 1991) | September 1, 1956 | March 31, 1958 | 1 year, 211 days | Awami League | Amiruddin Ahmad (Acting) | Iskander Mirza |
| (4) | | Abu Hussain Sarkar (1894 - 1969) | March 31, 1958 | April 1, 1958 | 1 day | Krishak Sramik Party | Muhammad Hamid Ali (Acting) | |
| (5) | | Ataur Rahman Khan (1907 - 1991) | April 1, 1958 | June 18, 1958 | 78 days | Awami League | Muhammad Hamid Ali (Acting) | |
| (4) | | Abu Hussain Sarkar (1894 - 1969) | June 18, 1958 | June 22, 1958 | 4 days | Krishak Sramik Party | Sultanuddin Ahmad | Ayub Khan |
| [-] | | Vacant (Governor's rule) | June 22, 1958 | August 25, 1958 | 64 days | N/A | - | |
| (5) | | Ataur Rahman Khan (1907 - 1991) | August 25, 1958 | October 7, 1958 | 43 days | Awami League | Sultanuddin Ahmad | |
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| National | |
