Abdul Matin Chaudhary

Abdul Matin Chaudhury (; 1895–1948), also known by his daak naam Kola Mia ; and the epithet Jinnar Daain Haat (lit. Jinnah's right hand); (also spelled Abdul Matin Chaudhary in English) was a Pakistani Bengali trade unionist, journalist, politician, and a member of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly as a representative of East Bengal.

Early life and education Chaudhury was born on 13 February 1895 to a Bengali Muslim family in the mahalla of Fatehkhani in Bhadeswar pargana, Golapganj Upazila, Sylhet District, in the then Assam province. His father, Abdul Karim Chaudhury, was a sub-inspector of police, and his mother, Habibunnesa Khatun, was a housewife. The title of Chaudhury was awarded to his ancestor Dost Mohammed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. One of its conclusions was that the quality of quinine, which was used to prevent malaria, was often very poor.

Jinnah and the Simon Commission had recommended that constitutional reforms in India be discussed with the British government, and three Round Table Conferences were held. Chaudhury attended the first of these in London (November 1930 – January 1931) as private secretary to Sir Muhammad Akbar Hydari, who represented Hyderabad. In 1934, he attended the Melbourne Centenary in Australia as the sole representative of the Indian branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association. He travelled by train and boat and wrote a diary that has been published.

In 1937, as a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly, he supported a resolution for the abolition of the Line System, which he called "a system of racial prerogative, a system of economic exploitation for which you won't find a parallel anywhere in India". The more charismatic and 'man of the masses' Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani helped Chaudhury in agitating against the Line System with prominent All-India Muslim League leader Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman of the United Provinces, with Bhashani's invitation, visiting Assam annually between 1941 and 1946 to agitate against the Line System.

After swearing-in of 2nd coalition Saaduluh ministry, February 1938, Standing (l to r) J J M Nichols-Roy, Muhammad Saadulah, Chaudhury. Seated (l to r) Rohini Kumar Chaudhuri, Munawar Ali, Akshay Kumar Das Chaudhury served as a minister for four terms between February 1938 to February 1946 in the Assam provincial government under Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulah as premier (prime minister).

He played a leading role in the establishment of the Assam Muslim League in 1937, along with Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. Between 1936 and 1947, he was a member of the All-India Muslim League working committee. In March 1940 he was one of the twenty sponsors of the Lahore Resolution which proposed the establishment of Pakistan. The sponsors represented Muslims from all the provinces of India. In 1946, Chaudhury was part of a sub-committee of the All-India Muslim League that drafted the Delhi Resolution, which called for the establishment of a unitary Pakistan comprising northwest and northeast India and was moved by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.

In June 1947, the Mountbatten Plan included provisions for the fate of the Sylhet district to be decided by a referendum. Chaudhury was the president of the Sylhet Referendum Board of the Muslim League. The referendum was held in July, and the region subsequently became part of East Bengal after the majority voted for that outcome. He also published an English weekly newspaper titled The Eastern Herald in 1939.

Death Chaudhury died on 28 December 1948. He was buried in the historic Mewa Shah Graveyard in Karachi.