Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish

Khandakar Abdur Rashid , better known as Abdur Rashid Tarkabagish (; 27 November 1900 – 20 August 1986) was a Bangladeshi politician and Islamic scholar. His career spans from the anti-colonial independence movement to the establishment of both Pakistan and Bangladesh. Tarkabagish was the second president of the All Pakistan Awami Muslim League, and served as a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan and later the Parliament of Bangladesh. Despite being a member of the treasury bench, he opposed what he considered to be the repressive mentality of the Nurul Amin government towards the Bengali language movement. His father, Sayed Abu Ishaq Khandakar, traces his lineage to Shah Darwish Dewan Sayed Mahmud, a Sufi Muslim figure claimed to be descended from Imam Husayn through his son Imam Zayn Al Abedin, who had arrived in the region from Baghdad during 1303 AD, he was a follower of the Tariqah of Sayed Abdul Qadir Jilani.

From an early age, he developed a sense of patriotism. At the age of thirteen, he assembled helpless milk sellers against the local zamindars and mahajans and demanded that they pay them a fair price for milk. By the age of twenty-one, he was leading marchers in a non-violent protest for independence at the Salanga bazaar in Raiganj, when the crowd was fired upon, killing hundreds of people. The events of 27 January 1922 are now referred to as the Salanga massacre in Bangladesh, and memorialised by "Salanga Day" annually.

He later decided to pursue higher Islamic studies, and thus entered the United Provinces and Lahore, where was educated in Deobandi institutions such as Darul Uloom Deoband and Mazahir Uloom. He received his degree in logic and reasoning (tarka) and was honoured with the title of Tarkabagish (master of reasoning).

Political career Tarkabagish joined the Muslim League in 1936. From the party he participated in the election and earned his place in the Bengal Legislative Assembly in 1937 and in 1946. At the budget session of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly on 21 February 1952, Tarkabagish heavily criticized the killing of several protesters near Dhaka Medical College.

Tarkabagish asked the leader of the house, Nurul Amin, to formulate an inquiry and to visit to the wounded students before proceeding the session. But as Amin refused the proposal, he walked out of the assembly and subsequently retired from Muslim League Parliamentary Party on 23 February 1952. He also expressed gratitude to the dead and wounded activists of the movement.

Tarkabagish protested the police firing on and killing of students on 21 February 1952, in the assembly. He also made his speech in Bengali to respect his mother tongue and martyrs of the language movement. He was arrested on 23 February and kept in jail until 1 June.

After the independence of Bangladesh Tarkabagish presided over at the first session of the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh in 1972. He was again elected a member from Awami League in 1973.