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{{short description|Indian politician and lawyer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = B. Pocker
| image = B. Pocker Sahib (Indian politician).png
| caption = B. Pocker
| birth_date = 1890
| birth_place = [[Tellicherry]], [[Madras Presidency]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1965|7|29|1890}}
| office = Member of Parliament for [[Malappuram (Lok Sabha constituency)|Malappuram]]
| parliament =
| majority =
| term_start = 1952
| term_end = 1957
| predecessor = ''Inaugural Holder''
| successor = ''Himself''
| prior_term =
| office1 = Member of Parliament for [[Malappuram (Lok Sabha constituency)|Manjeri]]
| term_start1 = 1957
| term_end1 = 1962
| predecessor1 = ''Himself''
| successor1 = [[M. Muhammad Ismail]]
| party = *[[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] (till 1947)
* [[Indian Union Muslim League]] (after 1947)
| death_place = India
}}

'''B. Pocker''' (1890 – July 29, 1965), '''Sahib Bahadur''', was an Indian politician and social worker from [[Tellicherry]], north Kerala, [[Madras Presidency]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last=Wright|first=Theodore P.|date=1966|title=The Muslim League in South India since Independence|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/muslim-league-in-south-india-since-independence-a-study-in-minority-group-political-strategies/2EBA3F25D373A0D9BA1DBAA6B9D25C30|journal=American Political Science Review|language=en|volume=60|issue=3|pages=579–599|doi=10.2307/1952972|jstor=1952972|issn=0003-0554}}</ref>

He was the second advocate from the Mappila community ([[Other Backward Class|backward class]] Muslims of [[Malabar District]], [[Madras Presidency]]).

== Early career ==
B. Pocker was born in 1890 at [[Tellicherry]] in [[Malabar District]]. He studied at [[Government Brennen College, Thalassery|Tellicherry Brennen College]] and the [[Madras Christian College]]. He graduated from [[Madras Law College]] in 1915 and started practising as an advocate in [[Madras High Court]] in 1917. He was only the fifth university graduate and second advocate from the Mappila Muslims of Malabar District.

=== Montagu-Chelmsford reforms ===
Pocker, now a senior advocate in the [[Madras High Court|High Court]], entered politics in the late 1910s by arguing for special Muslim constituencies in Malabar District. He famously submitted a memorandum during the introduction of the [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms|Montagu-Chelmsford reforms]] (passed as [[Government of India Act 1919|Government of India Act, 1919]]).

=== Mappila Uprising ===
Pocker was a regional frontman of the [[Khilafat Movement|Caliphate Movement]] (he supported [[Shaukat Ali (politician)|Shaukat Ali]] at Madras by representing the Malabar District). He later led the relief activities for Mappilas, who were affected by the [[Malabar rebellion|Mappila Uprising]] (1921–22). He formed the "Mappila Amelioration Committee" at Madras, which collected and distributed more than two hundred thousand rupees among the Mappilas.

Pocker founded the "South India Muslim Education Society" and "Kerala Muslim Education Association". He served as the Parliament Party Secretary of the United Nationalist Party in the Madras Assembly from 1930 to 1936.

== In the Muslim League ==
B. Pocker was one of earliest leaders of the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] in [[Madras Presidency]] (along with [[K. M. Seethi Sahib|K. M. Seethi Saheb]], [[K. Uppi Saheb]] and [[Muhammad Ismail|M. Mohammed Ismail]]).<ref name=":02" /> He contested from the [[Kurumbranad]]-[[Kozhikkode]] [[Constituency]] (Muslim League). Though he lost the election to the candidate supported by [[Syed Abdurrahiman Bafaki Tangal|Bafaki Tangal]], the election campaign led by [[K. M. Seethi Sahib]] strengthened the Muslim League in Malabar. Eventually, Bafaki Tangal also joined, which spread the acceptance of Muslim League among Mappilas.

=== In the Constituent Assembly ===
{{quote box
| width = 45%
| align = right
| title = Uniform Civil Code (CAD VII, 545)
| border = 2px
| bgcolor = ffffff
| quote = "There are ever so many multitudes of communities following various customs for centuries or thousands of years. By one stroke of the pen you want to annul all that and make them uniform...The standards of which community would be taken as the basis for the uniformity of the code?"
| author = B. Pocker, Sahib Bahadur, from CAD VII, 545 in
| source = ''Making Constitutions in Deeply Divided Societies'' (2011) by Hanna Lerner (page: 138) [https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-constitutions-in-deeply-divided-societies/776188B2504D72B79FA65B8F68347B2C]
| fontsize = 90%
}}
Pocker was elected from the Madras Assembly to the [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]] of India in 1946 (Malabar - Urban Muslim).<ref name=":02" /><ref>[http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/writereaddata/cadebatefiles/C30121948.pdf Constituent Assembly Debates (Proceedings) '''Volume''' '''VII''']</ref>

Following the partition of India (1947), the [[All-India Muslim League]] was virtually disbanded.<ref name=":02" /> It was succeeded by the [[Indian Union Muslim League]] in the Dominion of India (1951).<ref name=":02" /> Even after partition, Pocker and his south Indian League colleagues remained with the League.<ref name=":02" /> Within a month, the [[Constituent Assembly of India|Constituent Assembly]] voted to abolish separate electorates for Muslim.<ref name=":02" /> Pocker and K. T. M. Ahmed Ibrahim moved an amendment to retain the separate electorates.<ref name=":02" /> This motion was defeated in the Constituent Assembly.<ref name=":02" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Constituent Assembly Proceedings|url=http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol4p3.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170716113228/http://parliamentofindia.nic.in/ls/debates/vol4p3.htm|archive-date=16 July 2017|website=Parliament of India}}</ref>

== In Lower House (Lok Sabha) ==
Pocker was elected from Malappuram Constituency to the [[Lok Sabha|Lower House (Lok Sabha)]] in 1952 with Madras Muslim League.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2019-04-06|title=History of Muslim League in Kerala and India|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-the-history-of-muslim-league-in-kerala-and-india-5660839/|website=The Indian Express|location=New Delhi|language=en-IN}}</ref><ref>[http://loksabhaph.nic.in/Members/lokaralpha.aspx?lsno=1&search=P Parliament of India (official website)]</ref> He was elected to the Lower House in 1957 from Manjeri Constituency as an independent candidate.<ref>[http://loksabhaph.nic.in/Members/lokaralpha.aspx?lsno=2&search=P Parliament of India (official website)]</ref>

His efforts helped to win Indian Muslims exemptions from the [[Special Marriage Act, 1954|Special Marriage Act]], 1954. He served as a National Executive Member of the [[Indian Union Muslim League]] and Vice President of Kerala State Committee.
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! colspan="3" |1952 General Elections (Malappuram)
[http://www.indiavotes.com/pc/detail/175/5/1]
|-
!Candidate
!Votes %
!Party
|-
|B. Pocker
|39.0
|[[Madras Muslim League]]
|-
|T. V. Chathukutty Nair
|30.6
|[[Indian National Congress]]
|-
|Kumhali Karikedan
|30.4
|[[Communist Party of India]]
|}

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="3" |1957 General Elections (Manjeri)
[http://www.indiavotes.com/pc/detailsearch?eid=2&pcname=MANJERI&submit=]
|-
!Candidate
!Votes %
!Party
|-
|Pocker Kuttivatha
|43.5
|Independent
|-
|Kunhikoya Palat
|34.4
|[[Indian National Congress]]
|-
|Mohamed Koya K. P.
|22.1
|[[Communist Party of India]]
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocker, B.}}
[[Category:1890 births]]
[[Category:1965 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian lawyers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Indian Union Muslim League politicians]]

B. Pocker - Revision history

imported>TamaraNibbi737: Revised and enhanced article content

->Citation bot: Add: jstor. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:1965 deaths | #UCB_Category 3652/4137