Remembering Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla, the first Premier of Assam Submitted by admin4 on 10 October 2011 - 4:03pm Articles

Indian Muslim By Dr. Syed Ahmed, for TwoCircles.net, Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla was one of the foremost political leaders of modern A ssam and the first Premier (also referred to as Prime Minister or Chief Minister ) of the Assam province, one of the major eight provinces of British India. The family of Saadulla hails from Sibsagar and claims to be the descendant of th e famous Muslim preacher Azan Pir, who came to Assam in the early 17th century t o spread the message of Islam. Syed Md. Tayebbullah, the father of Saadulla, mov ed to Gauhati where he served as a teacher of Arabic and Persian in Cotton Colle giate High School at Gauhati town. Saadulla was born in Gauhati on May 21, 1885. He got his early school education at Sonaram High School at Gauhati. He then jo ined the Cotton College, Gauhati, and took his Post-Graduation degree in Chemist ry from the Presidency College, Calcutta, in 1906. Subsequently he took the Bach elor s Degree in Law from the Earle Law College at Gauhati in 1907. Besides Assamese and Bengali he was also fluent in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Before Saadulla started his legal profession at Gauhati Bar, he served for a sho rt stint as Assistant Lecturer in Chemistry at the Cotton College in 1908. He pr acticed at the Calcutta High Court. Within a short time, he became an eminent la wyer. Then he joined politics and became the member of the first Legislative Council i n 1913. He was re-elected in 1923. Under the system of Diarchy, he served as Min ister of Education and Agriculture from 1924-29. In recognition of his public se rvices, the British government knighted Saadulla in 1928. He, as a member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Assam, also became Minister for Law and Or der and PWD from 1929-30, and again served as Minister for Finance and Law and O rder from 1930-1934. He was also the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee f rom 1933 to 1934. The Government of India Act, 1935 was adopted by the British Parliament on 2nd A ugust, 1935 and was implemented in 1937. The Government of India Act 1935 made p rovisions for a Legislative Assembly in each province. In 1937 Assam Legislative Assembly election was held. In the same year Saadulla formally joined the Musli m League in response to MA Jinnah s appeal. Saadaulla was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly from Kamrup South and se rved as Premier of a coalition government from April 1, 1937 to Sept. 19, 1938. A Congress government led by Gopinath Bordoloi succeeded from Sept. 19, 1938 to Nov. 17, 1939. Saadulla was again re-elected as Premier from Nov. 17, 1939 to De c. 24, 1941. He, for the third time, became the Premier from Aug. 25, 1942 to Fe b. 11, 1946. From 1937-1946 there were 34 Muslim members in the Assam Legislativ e Assembly, out of the total 108 members (For the list of names see Appendix I).

Saadulla, 6th from left (standing) and his daughter Betty (extreme left, sitting ) attending a wedding at Shillong in the 1930s.[Photo courtesy: www.motijan-haza rika-rahman.com] In 1946, he was re-elected to the Legislative Assembly from Kamrup South constit uency and became leader of the Muslim League in the house (See Appendix-II for t he list of Muslim members of Assam Legislative Assembly). He became a member of

the Constituent Drafting Committee. As a member of the committee he helped in gi ving special financial assistance for Assam. He also took keen interest in prote cting the rights of the minority communities. After the dissolution of the Const ituent Assembly or the Provincial Parliament, he retired from public life and se ttled down in Gauhati. Later, the family of Saadulla moved to Kacharihat and est ablished the Syedbari tea estate that is still run by his descendants. Saadulla died on Jan. 8, 1955 at the age of 70. In his later political life, Saadulla was closely associated with the All India Muslim League. He attended the 10th session of the League at Calcutta in Dec. 19 17, and served as a member of the Committee which negotiated the Lucknow Accord between the Muslim League and the Congress. In 1946, he attended demand for Paki stan and favoured Assam s inclusion in Pakistan. He renounced the knighthood in resp onse to the call of the All-India Muslim League in connection with the Direct Actio n call to achieve Pakistan. However, on partition, when Assam opted out of Pakistan , he stayed in Assam and did not migrate to Pakistan. In spite of his impressive political accomplishments Saadulla today remains the least remembered political figure of the state as he was associated with Jinnah s Al l India Muslim League and supported two-nation theory. He was and still today of ten charged with deliberate settlement of Bengali Muslims in Assam through the s cheme, introduced by him, known as the Line System. Thereby, the contributions t hat he had made in building a modern Assam in his capacity as Premier of Assam i s today not acknowledged by the Assamese. An article in Muslim India (Jan. 1987) sums up the contributions of Saadulla thu s: He was an able parliamentarian, an eloquent speaker, an experienced administrato r, moderate and liberal in his approach. Saadulla is regarded as one of the make rs of modern Assam. As head of the Assam Government, he took particular interest in planning and development, in rural uplift, in eradication of unemployment, i n land reform and in promotion of cottage industries. For the development of the low-lying regions of the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys, he favoured and encoura ged immigration of peasants from Bengal and should be given credit for the agric ultural development of Assam, particularly the introduction of jute in the Assam valley. His critics charge him with deliberate settlement of Bengali Muslims in Assam. In another write-up in The Milli Gazette (16-30 Sept. 2002) Saadulla was describ ed thus: Saadulla was well-known for his generosity, honesty and ability. He was a matured, widely respected and accepted political leader of his time. He was a fr iend and guide of the tribal people of North-east India. In his first cabinet it self, he included a tribal leader, J.J.M. Nichols Roy as one of his ministers. H e was regarded as an outstanding personality both on account of his experience, ability and honesty he was in a class different from any other politician in Assam. Appendix-I Muslim members of Assam Legislative Assembly - 1937-46 No. Name of Member Constituency 1.

Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla Kamrup (South) 2. Shams-ul-Ulama Maulana Abu Nasr Muhammad Waheed Sylhet Sadr (Central) 3 Abdul Aziz South Syhlet (Central) 4. Abdul Bari Chaudhury Sunamganj(Smlth) Muhammadan 5 Abdul Hamid Khan Dhubri (South) 6 Khan Bahadur Hazi Abdul Majid Chaudhury Karimganj (Central)Muhammadan. 7 Abdul Matin Choudhury Sylhet Sadar (East) 8 Abdur Rahman

Habiganj (South-East) 9 Sayed Abdul Rouf Barpeta, Muhammadan 10 Md. Abdus Salam Sylhet Sadar (North) 11 Dewan Muhammad Ahbab Choudhury Sunamganj (East) 12 Dawan Ali Raja Habiganj (North-West) 13. Mohammad Amjad Ali Goalpara (East) 14 Mohammad Amiruddin Nowgong Mohhemedan (East) 15. Ashrafuddin Md. Choudhury Habiganj (South East) 16

Badaruddin Ahmed Darrang Muhammedan 17. Khan Bahadur Dewan Eclimur Roza Choudhury Sylhet Sadar (West) 18 Fakaruddin Ali Ahmed Kamrup North 19 Ghyasuddin Ahmed Dhubri (West) 20 Jhanuddin Ahmed Dhubri (North Muhammadan) 21 Khan Bahadur Keramet Ali Sibsagar, Muhammadan 22 Matior Rahman Mia Goalpara (West) 23. Muhammad Maqbul Hussain Choudhury

Sunamganj (West) 24. Khan Bahadur Maulavi Mahamud Ali Sibsagar Muhammadan 25 Mabarak Ali Karimganj (West) Muhammadan 26 Mudabbir Hussain Choudhury. Habiganj (North East) 27 Khan Bahadur Maulavi Mafizur Rahman Sylhet Sadar (South) 28 Munawwar Ali Sunamganj (Central) Muhammadan 29 Muzarrof Ali Laskar Hailakandi Muhammadan 30 Aanwar Ali Barbhuiya Silchar Muhammadan 31

Naziruddin Ahmed South Sylhet (West) 32 Sheik Osman Ali Sadagar Sadagor Muhammadan Constituency. Nowgong. 33 Khan Sahib Maulavi Sayidur Rahman Lakhipur Muhammadan. 34 Muhammad Ali Haidar Khan South-Sylhet (east) Source: assamassembly.gov.in/mla-1937-46.html Appendix-II Muslim Members of Assam Legislative Assembly - 1946-1952 No. Name of Member Constituency 1 Muhammad Abdullah Habiganj(South-East) 2 Khan Bahadur Abdul Majid Ziaosh Shams Dhubri (West)

3 Muhammad Abdul Kasham Dhubri (South) 4 Abdul Bari Choudhury Sunamganj (South) 5 Dewan Abdul Basith South Sylhet (Central) 6 Abdul Hai Kamrup (North) 7 Abdul Hamid Sylhet Sadar (Central) 8 Abdul Khaleque Ahmed Sunamganj (West) 9 Abdul Kuddus Khan Goalpara (East) 10

Md. Abdul Latif Karimganj (Central) 11 Abdul Matin Chaudhuri Darrang 12 Abdul Matlib Mazumdar Halakandi 13 Abdur Rasheed Sylhet Sadar (East) 14 Dewan Abdur Rob Choudhury Sylhet Sadar (South) 15 Syed Abdur Rouf Barpeta 16 Afazuddin Ahmed Nowgong (East) 17 Md. Ali Haidar Khan South Sylhet (East)

18 Emran Hussain Chaudhury Sibsagar 19 Maulana Ibrahim Ali Sylhet, Sadar (North) 20 M. Idris Ali Karimganj (West) 21 Md. Mafiz Choudhury Sunamganj (West) 22 Makabbir Ali Mazumdar Silchar 23 Mayeenud Din Ahamed Choudhury South Sylhet (East) 24 Md. Mased Ali Dhubri (North) 25

Khan Sahib Maulavi Mudabbir Hussain Choudhuri Habiganj, (South- West) 26 Mumtazul Muhaddisin Moulana Md. Mufazzal Hussain Karimganj (South) 27 Munawwar Ali Sunamganj (Central) 28 Nasir-ud-Din Ahmed Habiganj (South-West) 29 Md. Nazmal Haque Goalpara (West) 30 Khan Sahib Nurul Hussain Khan Habiganj (South-West) 31 Khan Bahadur Muhammad Roufique. Nowgong (West). 32 Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla Kamrup (South)

33 Khan Bahadur Sayidur Rahman Lakhimpur 34 Dewan Taimur Raza Choudhury Sylhet Sadar (West) Source: assamassembly.gov.in/mla-1946-52.html