Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (Bengali:
মাওলানা ভাসানী; 1880–1976) was a popular political leader in Pakistan and Bangladesh, a rural based self-educated person.
Abdu Hamid Khan Bhashani, born in 1880 in Dhangara, Tangail, Bangladesh), was the son of Haji Sharafat Ali Khan. He gained immense popularity among peasants. Owing to his sympathy for the progressive forces, deemed close to socialists/communists, he was nicknamed as "Red Maulana".
He is regarded as the proponent of secular and left leaning politics in current days Bangladesh.
He was the founder and President of the Pakistan Awami Muslim League which later became Awami League (AL). Later however, owing to differences with the right leaning leaders in the AML, such as Shahid Suhrawardy on the issue of autonomy for East Pakistan, he formed a new progressive party called National Awami Party (NAP). He also differed with Suhrawardhy when he as Prime Minister of Pakistan decided to join the US-led defence pact CENTO and SEATO. The split among the progressive camp into pro-Moscow and pro-Peiking factions eventually led to the break up of NAP into two separate parties; the pro-Moscow faction being led by Prof. Muzaffar Ahmed. After Pakistan's 1965 war with India, he showed some support for Field Marshall Ayub Khan's regime for its China-leaning foreign policy; but later he gave the leadership to mass uprising against the regime in 1968-69 with support from Fatima Jinnah. He played a very critical role in the 1969 movement which eventually led to the collapse of the Ayub regime and the release of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other co-accused in the so-called Agartala conspiracy case against Pakistan. His decision to boycott the 1970 Pakistan general elections due to his mistrust of the West Pakistani leaders, effectively led to the electoral sweep by erstwhile opponent Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. His total efforts raised the sense of a fierce nationality and independence movement spririt amongst all Bangals's of East Pakistan.
After he died on 17 November 1976 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, aged 96, and was buried at Santosh, Tangail.
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