Azizul Haque

A memorial dedicated to Haque at the Azizul Haque College in Bangladesh. Sir Muhammad Azizul Haque, KCSI, CIE (27 November 1892 – 23 March 1947), also known as Muhammad Azizul Huq or Mohammad Azizul Huque, was a Bengali lawyer, writer, educator and public servant. He studied at Presidency College and University Law College in Calcutta. He worked to better the condition of Muslim people, primarily in the rural farmlands. This led him to work with Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Haque, Sir Abdulla Suhrawardy, Sir Salimullah and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He remained friends with many throughout his life.

He served, from 1926, on the Bengal Legislative Council, as Education minister for Bengal (1934–1937), as the speaker of the Bengal Legislative Assembly (1937–1942), as the vice-chancellor of Calcutta University (1938–1942), as the High Commissioner for India in the United Kingdom (December 1941 – May 1943), and as the member in charge, on the Viceroy's Executive Council, of the Department of Commerce, Food, Industries and Civil supplies (May 1943 – 1945).

Early life and education Azizul Haque was born on 27 November 1892, to a Bengali Muslim family in Shantipur, located in the Nadia district of the erstwhile Bengal Presidency. His father, Mohammad Mozammel Huq, is a renowned Bengali poet and author. His grandfather, Nasiruddin Ahmad, and paternal family were originally from the village of Baweegachi, not far from Shantipur town. Haque studied at the Shantipur Muslim School, and passed his matriculation in 1907. He graduated from the University of Calcutta initially with a Bachelor of Arts, and later a Bachelor of Laws degree.

Career He started his career with a government job in 1914, and found employment as a Deputy Magistrate. The following year, he became a lawyer at the Judge Court in Krishnanagar, Nadia. Not long after, he was appointed as the Public Prosecutor of the District of Nadia. In 1926, he became the vice-chairman of the Nadia District Board. In 1928, he was made a fellow of the University of Calcutta and member of the Dacca University Court. He published an article titled A Plea for Separate Electorate in Bengal in protest to the Nehru Report of 1931. In the same year, he was nominated as a member of the Indian Franchise Commission. He became a member of the Bengal Banking Enquiry Commission, Bengal Retrenchment Committee and Bengal Board of Economic Enquiry in 1932. Haque has also been a part of the Railway Advisory Committee and worked with the Public Accounts Committee of the Bengal Legislative Council. He later became the vice-president of the Bengal Board of Industries. knighted in the 1941 New Year Honours List, and appointed a KCSI in the 1946 Birthday Honours List. He subsequently renounced his British honours in protest against the government, on 16 August 1946. The Sword of the Crescent Moon Cultural Contributions of Islam to Indian History A Plea for Separate Electorate in Bengal (1931)