I first came to know Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in the formative years of my education and legal career. Mr Suhrawardy was a mentor, a role model, and an inspiration, both as a lawyer and a politician.

As I began my own legal career, I remember meeting Mr Suhrawardy in 1959 when he visited Dhaka and was appearing in court in political cases for persons who were being victimised by martial law authorities on all kinds of criminal charges.

I believe that there should be more research and writing on Mr Suhrawardy's life and contribution. In the meantime, I would like to share some of my recollections that I had earlier documented.

In the pre-partition period, Mr Suhrawardy's role in combating communalism in politics was particularly significant. His own moving tribute to C. R. Das in his memoirs is a testimony to this: "Deshbandhu C. R. Das … was endowed with a wide vision, he was totally non-communal. I believe with many that had he lived, he would have been able to guide the destiny of India along channels that would have eliminated the causes of conflict and bitterness which had bedevilled the relationship between Hindus and Muslims, and which for want of a just solution, led to the partition of India, and the creation of Pakistan."[…]

In 1937, Mr Suhrawardy became secretary of the Bengal Muslim League, with A. K. Fazlul Huq as its president, and they were easily able to enlist the support of the bulk of the Muslim student community. The Muslim League came to embrace, within it, contradictory elements ranging from traditionalist and conservative 'right' forces to new entrants into the middle class who had 'progressive' attitudes and an urge to promote social change. The latter group began to agitate for the total abolition of rent-receiving interests in land and for the redistribution of cultivable land to the tillers. Suhrawardy stood in the middle of the road.

Even before Pakistan formally came into existence, the non-Bengalis who dominated the Muslim League leadership set about reinforcing and continuing their dominance. They engineered to replace Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, an effective leader with a popular base who had led this party to electoral victory in Bengal, with Khwaja Nazimuddin, who was too weak to threaten or challenge them. […]

I remember meeting Mr Suhrawardy in 1959 when he visited Dhaka and was appearing in court in political cases for persons who were being victimised by martial law authorities on all kinds of criminal charges.

In the post-partition period, within Pakistan, as democratic forces opposing the communal politics of the Muslim League were gaining ground, the central government relied on communal politics to create divisions in East Bengal. It kept deferring the holding of general elections as the powerful interests at the Centre were apprehensive of the outcome. It is noteworthy that Suhrawardy and other political leaders, whose United Front had achieved electoral success in East Bengal in 1954, felt confident that a similar success could be achieved in the next general elections. Under continuing pressure, a general election had been promised in early 1959. This, however, was prevented by the abrogation of the Constitution and a proclamation of martial law in October 1958. The commander-in-chief of the army, General Ayub Khan, who had been actively involved in protecting the interests of the ruling group since the early fifties, now came out into the open. With the abrogation of the 1956 Constitution, even the forms of a federal system were brushed aside. Direct administration by military governors was established. […]

The first demand for people's participation in the political process was made, in this context, in June 1962 when nine leaders of East Pakistan issued a joint statement calling for the restoration of parliamentary democracy. Their attempt to put up a combined opposition to Ayub Khan's authoritarian rule resulted in the formation of the National Democratic Front (NDF) in October. But even before that, the students in the eastern wing had taken to the streets to register their protest against the policies pursued by the regime. The immediate cause was provided by the arrest of H. S. Suhrawardy. Soon after he was released, the students organised a widespread movement to register their rejection of the new education policy introduced by Ayub Khan. The movement was ruthlessly suppressed and several students were killed in the police firing. The challenge it threw down to the regime did not lose significance. […]

I hope that my recollections of the pivotal role that Mr Suhrawardy played at critical junctures of our history, and in shaping the forces in favour of establishing people's participation in politics, democratic practices, and a firm commitment to anti-communal politics, will catalyse others to study the history that led to our independence, and to reflect on the lessons for us as we continue our struggles to establish democracy and grapple with the challenges of building an inclusive society that respects the right of each person to their own identity and political belief.

This article draws on extracts from Kamal Hossain's memoir Quest for Freedom and Justice (University Press Limited, 2013); acknowledgements to Md Shah Jahan for his assistance.

Dr Kamal Hossain is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, an eminent jurist, and one of the principal architects of the Constitution of Bangladesh.