Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani Bengali politician and barrister who served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 to 1957 and before that as the Prime Minister of Bengal from 1946 to 1947 in British India. He was born in a prominent Muslim family and was educated at the Calcutta University and the Oxford University. He joined the Swaraj Party in 1923 and became the Deputy Mayor of Calcutta in 1924. He later joined the Muslim League and became the Health and Finance Minister of Bengal under Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy. He played a controversial role in the Direct Action Day of 1946, when violence erupted between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta. He was also one of the two secretaries of the Partition Council that oversaw the division of assets between India and Pakistan in 1947. He joined the foreign service of Pakistan and served as the ambassador to Burma, Canada, and the United States. He was appointed as the Prime Minister of Pakistan by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad in 1953, after the dismissal of Muhammad Ali Bogra. He faced several challenges during his tenure, such as the One Unit scheme, the language issue, the provincial autonomy, and the opposition from the Muslim League. He drafted the first constitution of Pakistan, which was adopted in 1956 and made Pakistan an Islamic republic. He also improved the relations with China and the Muslim world. He resigned in 1957, after a power struggle with Iskander Mirza and the Republican Party. He was disqualified from politics by Muhammad Ayub Khan and relocated to Lebanon where he died in 1963. He was considered a moderate and pragmatic leader who tried to bridge the gap between the two wings of Pakistan.