Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Bengali-Pakistani barrister and politician (1892–1963)}}

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| name                = Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy<br />{{lang|bn|হোসেন শহীদ সোহরাওয়ার্দী}}<br />{{Lang|ur|{{Nastaliq|حسین شہید سہروردی|}}}}

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| birth_place        = [[Midnapore]], [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], [[British Rule|British India]] <small>(present-day [[Midnapore]], [[West Bengal]], [[India]])</small>

| death_place        = [[Beirut]], Lebanon

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| citizenship        = [[British Indian Empire|British India]] {{small|(1892–47)}}<br />[[Dominion of India|Indian]] {{small|(1947–49)}}<br />[[Pakistan]]i {{small|(1949–63)}}

| party              = [[All India Muslim League]], [[Bengal Provincial Muslim League]], [[Awami League]]

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'''Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy''' ({{lang-bn|হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী}}; {{lang-ur|{{nq|حسین شہید سہروردی}}}};   8 September 1892{{snd}}5 December 1963) was a [[Bengalis|Bengali]] barrister and politician in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. He held the positions of [[prime minister of Bengal]] (1946–1947) and [[prime minister of Pakistan]] (1956–1957). In [[Pakistan]], Suhrawardy is revered as one of the country's [[List of Pakistan Movement activists|founding statesmen]]. In [[Bangladesh]], Suhrawardy is remembered as the mentor of Bangladesh's founding leader [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]]. In India he is very controversial and held responsible for the [[Direct Action Day|1946 Calcutta Killings]],<ref name="Bhave1995">{{cite book |author=Y.G. Bhave |title=The First Prime Minister of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ye3VUMLhaz8C&pg=PA9 |year=1995 |publisher=Northern Book Centre |isbn=978-81-7211-061-1 |pages=9–}}</ref><ref name="Hyde">{{cite journal |url=https://journals.pan.pl/Content/118024/PDF/ROrient%2073%20z.%202-20%204Flasi%C5%84ski.pdf?handler=pdf |title=Dr. Jekyll, Mr Hyde or Bengali Hamlet? Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy as the last Prime Minister of undivided Bengal* |author=Tomasz Flasinski |journal=Journals PAS}}</ref><ref name="Nayar2014">{{cite book |author=M K K Nayar |title=Story of an Era Told Without Ill-will |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EvGvDQAAQBAJ |access-date=9 August 2021 |date=24 February 2014 |publisher=DC Books |isbn=978-93-81699-33-1 |page=113}}</ref> often referred as the "Butcher of Bengal” in [[West Bengal]],<ref name="ie7Feb2020" /> and for his performance as the Civil supplies minister which handled food during the [[Bengal famine of 1943]].<ref name="Chatterjee2010">{{cite book |author=Pranab Chatterjee |title=A Story of Ambivalent Modernization in Bangladesh and West Bengal: The Rise and Fall of Bengali Elitism in South Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lAR1D0Wi2rsC |access-date=10 August 2021 |year=2010 |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-1-4331-0820-4 |page=219}}</ref><ref name="Dutta2003">{{cite book |author=Krishna Dutta |title=Calcutta: A Cultural and Literary History |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC |access-date=10 August 2021 |year=2003 |publisher=Signal Books |isbn=978-1-902669-59-5 |page=163}}</ref>

The Suhrawardy family are regarded as one of the illustrious families of the [[Indian subcontinent]]. Claiming themselves as descendants of the [[Abu Bakr|first caliph of Islam]],<ref name="Cambridge University Press, 2002">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDNAQcoVqoMC&pg=PA81 |title=Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932–1947 |last=Chatterji |first=Joya |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52328-8 |location=Cambridge, UK |language=en-uk |access-date=30 January 2018}}</ref>{{rp|81}}<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al. 2003 (Bio)">{{Cite web |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/huseyn-shaheed-suhrawardy |title=Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy–Former Prime Minister of Pakistan |date=22 October 2013 |website=Story of Pakistan |publisher=Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust |location=Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |access-date=29 January 2018}}</ref> the Suhrawardy lineage is traced to [[Shihab al-Din 'Umar al-Suhrawardi]], a [[Sufi]] who lived in [[Baghdad]] during the 12th century. The [[Suhrawardiyya]] order is one of the major [[Sunni]] orders of [[Sufism]]. His grandfather, [[Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy]], was a [[Dhaka]]-based Sufi leader of the [[Bengali Renaissance]] and buried beside the [[Lalbagh Fort]].<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/news/the-unforgettable-suhrawardys-bengal-1991705 |title=The Unforgettable Suhrawardys of Bengal |date=9 November 2020 |work=The Daily Star}}</ref> His father Justice Sir [[Zahid Suhrawardy]] was a Judge of the [[Calcutta High Court]]. His brother [[Hasan Shaheed Suhrawardy]] was a linguist, poet, art-critic and diplomat. His uncles included Lieutenant Colonel [[Hassan Suhrawardy]] and Sir [[Abdullah Al-Mamun Suhrawardy]]. His cousin [[Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah]] was one of South Asia's pioneering women in public service. His first wife was Begum Niaz Fatima, the daughter of Justice Sir Abdur Rahim, a member of the Governor's Executive Council and Speaker of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]]. Begum Niaz Fatima died in 1922.<ref name="open.ac.uk">{{Cite web |url=https://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/huseyn-shaheed-suhrawardy |title=Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy &#124; Making Britain |website=www.open.ac.uk}}</ref> His second wife was Begum [[Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder|Veera Suhrawardy]], a Russian actress of Polish descent.

A young Huseyn studied in [[Calcutta Madrasa]] and attended [[St. Xavier's College]] where he earned a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Memoirs of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy with a Brief Account of His Life and Work |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-547722-1 |editor-last=Talukdar |editor-first=Mohammad Habibur Rahman |edition=2nd |page=6 |quote=Later he entered the Calcutta Aliya Madrasah and graduated with honours in science from St Xavier's College. |orig-year=First published 1987}}</ref><ref name="Juned Ahmed Choudhury">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ua3y6g7IHMAC&q=Huseyn+Suhrawardy+St+Xavier&pg=PA90 |title=Abdul Matin Chaudhury (1895–1948): Trusted Lieutenant of Mohammad Ali Jinnah |last=Shibly |first=Atful Hye |date=2011 |publisher=Juned Ahmed Choudhury |isbn=9789843323231 |page=90 |language=en |access-date=29 January 2018}}</ref> Both Huseyn and his elder brother Hasan studied in [[St Catherine's College, Oxford]]. They entertained themselves with [[D. H. Lawrence]], Robert Trevelyn, [[Bertrand Russell]], [[Hugh Kingsmill]], [[Basanta Kumar Mullick]], Kiran Shankar Roy, Apurba Chanda, Sri Prakash, S K Gupta, Surendra Kumar Sen, and Syud Hossain.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> The elder Suhrawardy (Hasan) was in Oxford when Bengali poet [[Rabindranath Tagore]] became the first Asian to win a [[Nobel Prize]] in 1913. His brother Hasan later recounted that "it is difficult now for me to recapture the elation and the ecstasy of those days, but I remember distinctly that look of awe which was in my landlady's eyes when she brought in the breakfast with the morning newspaper containing the scoop".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Suhrawardy obtained further degrees, including a [[Bachelor of Civil Law]] from Oxford and a [[Master of Arts]] in Arabic from Calcutta. Suhrawardy became a [[barrister]]. He was called to the [[Bar of England and Wales]] through [[Gray's Inn]] in 1922–23.<ref name="I.B.Tauris, Chakrabarti, 1990">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDEOwyZazkQC&pg=PA178 |title=Subhas Chandra Bose and Middle Class Radicalism: A Study in Indian Nationalism, 1928–1940 |last=Chakrabarti |first=Bidyut |date=1990 |publisher=I.B.Tauris |isbn=978-1-85043-149-7 |location=New Delhi, India |pages=225 |language=en |access-date=30 January 2018}}</ref>

[[File:Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy.png|thumb|Suhrawardy in lawyer's attire]]

In 1937, Suhrawardy was elected to the newly formed [[Bengal Legislative Assembly]]. He was appointed as Minister of Commerce and Labor in the cabinet of the 1st [[Prime Minister of Bengal]] [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]]. In 1940, the [[Lahore Resolution]] was adopted by Indian Muslim leaders calling for the creation of independent states in eastern and northwestern India; it was unclear if the resolution implied a single state covering the two Muslim-majority regions of India or multiple states. Suhrawardy served as Minister of Civil Supplies in the cabinet of the 2nd Prime Minister of Bengal Sir [[Khawaja Nazimuddin]]. According to author [[Thomas Keneally]], Suhrawardy blamed black marketers and the central government in New Delhi for the [[Bengal famine of 1943]] during [[World War II]], and claimed he worked tirelessly on relief. Viceroy [[Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell|Archibald Wavell]], however, believed that Suhrawardy was corrupt, that he "siphoned money from every project that was undertaken to ease the famine, and awarded to his associates contracts for warehousing, the sale of grain to governments, and transportation."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keneally |first=Thomas |author-link=Thomas Keneally |year=2011 |title=Three Famines: Starvation and Politics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RZ_GOMsGmcC&pg=PA97 |publisher=PublicAffairs |page=97 |isbn=978-1-61039-065-1}}</ref> On the other hand, Indian author, Madhushree Mukherjee, laid major responsibility of this famine to British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] who wanted the ration for war efforts only and had refrained the [[USAID in Bangladesh|U.S. aid to Bengal]].<ref name="Basic Books, Mukerjee, 2011">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnMTgtXQqCkC&pg=PA128 |title=Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II |last=Mukerjee |first=Madhusree |date=2011 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=978-0-465-02481-0 |location=Edington, UK |page=128 |language=en-uk |access-date=30 January 2018}}</ref> Suhrwardy was further accused of practising a [[Scorched-Earth Policy]] to counter the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese Army]]'s [[Burma Campaign|advances in the East]] and supervised to burn thousand fishing boats to block any potential movement of invading Japanese Army troops.<ref name="Penguin Books India, Prasad, 1946">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3FdeGtdlinoC&pg=PA533 |title=Autobiography |last=Prasad |first=Rajendra |publisher=Penguin Books India |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-14-306881-5 |location=Delhi, India |language=en-gb |access-date=30 January 2018 |orig-year=First published 1946}}</ref>{{rp|533–535}} These measures aggravated starvation and famine and the relief was only ordered when [[Lord Wavell]] became the [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy]], using the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] to organise relief.<ref name="Penguin Books India, Prasad, 1946" /> However, by that time, the winter crop had arrived and famine conditions had already eased, after millions had earlier perished.<ref name="Penguin Books India, Prasad, 1946" />{{rp|534}} Calcutta's Hindu-owned newspapers had become very critical of his role and the Bengali Hindus held him directly responsible for the famine.<ref name="Cambridge University Press, Chatterji, 2002">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDNAQcoVqoMC&pg=PA230 |title=Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932–1947 |last=Chatterji |first=Joya |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52328-8 |location=Cambridge, UK |page=230 |language=en-uk |access-date=31 January 2018}}</ref>

Suhrawardy's tenure as premier saw the [[Great Calcutta Killings]] in 1946. The Muslim League called a strike to press its demand for the [[Pakistan|creation of Pakistan]]. The strike degenerated into brutal and widespread Hindu-Muslim riots in which thousands were killed on both sides. The riots were seen as the last nail in the coffin for [[Hindu-Muslim unity]] in British India.

Troubles started on the morning of 16 August. Even before 10 o'clock Police Headquarters at Lalbazar had reported that there was excitement throughout the city, that shops were being forced to close, and that there were many reports of brawls, stabbing and throwing of stones and brickbats. These were mainly concentrated in the North-central parts of the city like Rajabazar, Kelabagan, College Street, Harrison Road, Colootolla and Burrabazar. In these areas the Hindus were in a majority and were also in a superior and powerful economic position. The trouble had assumed the communal character which it was to retain throughout.<ref name="Burrows"/> The League's rally began at [[Ochterlony Monument]] at noon exactly. The gathering was considered as the 'largest ever Muslim assembly in Bengal' at that time.<ref name="Rashid">{{cite book |last=Rashid |first=Harun-or |title=The Foreshadowing of Bangladesh: Bengal Muslim League and Muslim Politics, 1936–1947 |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |year=1987}}</ref>{{page needed|date=September 2017}}

On 20 May 1947, a five-point plan was outlined for a "Free State of Bengal", echoing the legacy of the name of the [[Irish Free State]]. The plan was based on a confessionalist structure with power-sharing between Hindus and Muslims. It mirrored some of the [[Confessionalism (politics)|confessionalist]] practices adopted in [[Greater Lebanon|French Lebanon]] in 1926, where the positions of President and Prime Minister rotated among Muslims and Christians. The five-point plan stated that "On the announcement by [[UK Government|His Majesty's Government]] that the proposal of the Free State of Bengal had been accepted and that Bengal would not be partitioned, the present Bengal Ministry would be dissolved. A new interim Ministry would be brought into being, consisting of an equal number of Muslims and Hindus (including Scheduled Caste Hindus) but excluding the Prime Minister. In this Ministry, the Prime Minister would be a Muslim and the Home Minister a Hindu. Pending the final emergence of a Legislature and a Ministry under the new constitutions, Hindus (including Scheduled Caste Hindus) and Muslims would have an equal share in the Services, including military and police. The Services would be manned by Bengalis. A Constituent Assembly composed of 30 persons, 16 Muslims and 14 non-Muslims, would be elected by Muslim and non-Muslim members of the Legislature respectively, excluding Europeans".<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last1=Misra |first1=Chitta Ranjan |title=United Bengal Movement |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=United_Independent_Bengal_Movement |website=Banglapedia |publisher=Bangladesh Asiatic Society |access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref> The [[British government]] seriously considered of the option of an independent Bengal. British commercial interests in Bengal required safeguards. The [[United States]] was also briefed on the possibility of three countries emerging out of partition, including Pakistan, India, and Bengal. On 2 June 1947, [[British Prime Minister]] [[Clement Attlee]] informed the [[US Ambassador to the United Kingdom]] [[Lewis Williams Douglas]] that there was a "distinct possibility Bengal might decide against partition and against joining either Hindustan or Pakistan".<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1453994/uk-pm-attlee-believed-bengal-may-opt-to-be-a-separate-country |title=UK PM Attlee believed Bengal may opt to be a separate country - Newspaper |date=28 December 2018 |work=Dawn |access-date=2020-03-31}}</ref> Douglas cabled the [[State Department]] about the matter.<ref name="autogenerated1" />

In 1956, the Awami League formed a coalition with Pakistan's [[Republican Party (Pakistan)|Republican Party]] to unseat the previous government. Suhrawardy became the fifth [[Prime Minister of Pakistan]] and the second premier under the [[1956 Constitution of Pakistan]]. Suhrawardy was known as a pro-[[United States|American]] politician. He also cultivated pragmatic ties with [[China|Communist China]]. Suhrawardy supported the American-led [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]] (SEATO) and the [[Central Treaty Organization]] (CENTO). He was not keen on [[Non-Aligned Movement|nonalignment]] which was strongly pursued by neighboring India. Suhrawardy toured the United States, was hosted by [[President Eisenhower]] at the [[White House]], and met with American movie stars in [[Hollywood]]. In domestic policy, Suhrawardy addressed issues of [[nuclear energy in Pakistan|nuclear energy]], foreign aid utilization, food policy, the One Unit framework, and building up the military. His staunchly pro-Western foreign policy was opposed by Bengali radicals led by Maulana Bhashani who caused a split in the Awami League. However, Suhrawardy was elected as President of the Awami League. His cabinet included [[Feroz Khan Noon]] and [[Abul Mansur Ahmed]] among others.

Initially promising to review the [[One Unit]] framework in the 1956 constitution, Prime Minister Suhrwardy later backtracked.<ref name="Jaffrelot2015p214">{{Cite book |last=Jaffrelot |first=Christophe |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |year=2015 |title=The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5GMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA214 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=214 |isbn=978-0-19023-518-5 |quote=Bengalis were not above factional battles motivated by personal interest. Suhrawardy thus backed the One-Unit Scheme to ... become prime minister at the expense of his province's [East Pakistan's] interests ... Suhrawardy thus tried to break free from Mirza's control by seeking a vote of confidence from the Assembly. Mirza, unwilling to acknowledge the Assembly's power to approve and dismiss governments, refused to convoke it.}}</ref> At the [[National Assembly of Pakistan|National Assembly]], Prime Minister Suhrawardy faced pressure from provincialists over the One Unit.<ref name="The One Unit" /> [[West Pakistan]]i provincialists wanted to restore the previous [[Four Provinces (Pakistan)|four provinces]] of [[Sind]], [[Balochistan]], [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]] and the [[North West Frontier Province]]. Large rallies were held in West Pakistan against the One Unit.<ref name="The H.S. Suhrawardy government" /><ref name="The One Unit">{{Cite web |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/west-pakistan-established-as-one-unit/ |title=West Pakistan Established through One Unit |date=June 2003 |website=Story of Pakistan |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref> Prime Minister Suhrawardy, however, did not pay attention to the issue.<ref name="Jaffrelot2015p214" /> While East Pakistanis also objected to the One Unit for renaming East Bengal as East Pakistan, opposition among ethnic groups to the One Unit was stronger in [[West Pakistan]].<ref name="Jaffrelot2015p214" /><ref name="The One Unit" />

Suhrawardy established the [[Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission]] (PAEC). He appointed Dr. [[Nazir Ahmed (physicist)|Nazir Ahmad]] as its chairman.<ref name="Hamid Mir">{{Cite web |url=http://jang.com.pk/jang/jun2011-daily/09-06-2011/col6.htm |title=A Hope is still alive.... |last=Mir |first=Hamid |author-link=Hamid Mir |date=9 June 2011 |website=Hamid Mir.... Penmanship |publisher=Hamid Mir |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611224224/http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/jun2011-daily/09-06-2011/col6.htm |archive-date=11 June 2011 |access-date=9 June 2011}}</ref> Suhrawardy supported the [[Atoms for Peace]] initiative.<ref name="Hamid Mir" /> Suhrawardy also released funds to import a nuclear [[swimming pool reactor]] from America in 1956.<ref name="Hamid Mir" />

The [[Federal government of Pakistan|central government]] led by Suhrawardy focused on the implementation of the [[Five-Year Plans of Pakistan|planned]] economy.<ref name="The H.S. Suhrawardy government" /> His relations with the [[Karachi Stock Exchange|stock exchange]] and the [[Corporate sector of Pakistan|business community]] deteriorated when he announced distribution of the [[United States Dollar|US$]]10 million [[International Cooperation Administration|ICA aid]] between West and East, and establishing the shipping corporation at the expense of West Pakistan's revenues.<ref name="APH Publishing, Ahmed, 2004">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC&pg=PA285 |title=Bangladesh: Past and Present |last=Ahmed |first=Salahuddin |date=2004 |publisher=APH Publishing |isbn=9788176484695 |edition=1st |location=Delhi, India |language=en-uk |access-date=1 February 2018}}</ref>{{rp|149}} Massive labour strikes broke out in West Pakistan against his economic policy in major cities of Pakistan. Eventually leaders of the stock exchange met with President [[Iskandar Mirza|Mirza]] to address their concerns and issues.<ref name="The H.S. Suhrawardy government">{{Cite web |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/h-s-suhrawardy-becomes-prime-minister/ |title=The H.S. Suhrawardy government |date=July 2003 |website=Story of Pakistan |access-date=16 August 2013}}</ref>

{{NPOV section|date=December 2020}}

Suhrawardy is often subjected to criticism by in India for failing to prevent the [[Direct Action Day]] riots. According to them, Suhrawardy and other Muslim League leaders reportedly delivered provocative speeches reminding the Bengali Muslims of the historical Islamic victory and urged them to follow the same way on 16 August. The historian Devendra Panigrahi, in his book ''India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat'',<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JJGRAgAAQBAJ |title=India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat |last=Panigrahi |first=Devendra |publisher=Routledge |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-135-76812-6 |page=300}}</ref> quotes from 13 August 1946 issue of Muslim League mouthpiece ''The Star of India'', "Muslims must remember that ... it was in ''Ramazan'' that the permission for ''jehad'' was granted by Allah. It was in ''Ramazan'' that the Battle of Badr, the first open conflict between Islam and Heathenism, was fought and won by 313 Muslims and again it was in ''Ramazan'' that 10,000 Muslims under the Holy Prophet conquered Mecca and established the kingdom of Heaven and the commonwealth of Islam in Arabia. The Muslim League is fortunate that it is starting its action in this holy month". On 16 August 1946, the [[Direct Action Day|massive bloody riots]] erupted in [[Calcutta]], killings scores of Hindus at the hands of rioters.<ref name="StOI">{{Cite news |title=Programme for Direct Action Day |date=13 August 1946 |work=Star of India}}</ref> However, there is no other claim or evidence have been found. Suhrawardy attempted to control the situation by unsuccessfully calling for peace and deployment of the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]] in Calcutta with no success.<ref name="StOI" /> The riots ended with thousand deaths and the [[Indian newspapers|Indian press]] blaming Suhrawardy of obstructing the police work, which is well documented by several authors and eyewitnesses.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932–1947 |url=https://archive.org/details/bengaldividedhin00chat |url-access=limited |last=Chatterji |first=Joya |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-41128-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bengaldividedhin00chat/page/n257 239] |quote=Hindu culpability was never acknowledged. The Hindu press laid the blame for the violence upon the Suhrawardy Government and the Muslim League.}}</ref><ref name="Sengupta">{{Cite book |title=Turbulence |last=Sengupta |first=Debjani |publisher=The Sarai Programme, Center for the Study of Developing Societies |year=2006 |editor-last=Narula |editor-first=Monica |series=Serai Reader |volume=6 |pages=288–295 |chapter=A City Feeding on Itself: Testimonies and Histories of 'Direct Action' Day |oclc=607413832 |chapter-url=http://archive.sarai.net/files/original/2ed2f960de6596b5ed75501e6de2c774.pdf}}</ref> According to authorities, the riots were instigated by members of the Muslim League and its affiliate Volunteer Corps after listening to the speeches made by [[Khwaja Nazimuddin]] and Suhrawardy,<ref name="Burrows">{{Cite book |title=Report to Viceroy Lord Wavell |last=Burrows |first=Frederick |publisher=The British Library IOR: L/P&J/8/655 f.f. 95, 96–107 |year=1946 |author-link=Frederick Burrows}}</ref><ref name="ASB_BP_Cal">{{cite book |last=Das |first=Suranjan |year=2012 |chapter=Calcutta Riot, 1946 |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Calcutta_Riot,_1946 |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref><ref name="Das">{{cite journal |last=Das |first=Suranjan |date=May 2000 |title=The 1992 Calcutta Riot in Historical Continuum: A Relapse into 'Communal Fury'? |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=281–306 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X0000336X |jstor=313064 |s2cid=144646764}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=Bidyut |year=2004 |title=The Partition of Bengal and Assam, 1932–1947: Contour of Freedom |url=https://archive.org/details/partitionbengala00chak |url-access=limited |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |page=[https://archive.org/details/partitionbengala00chak/page/n109 99] |isbn=978-0-415-32889-0 |quote=The immediate provocation of a mass scale riot was certainly the afternoon League meeting at the Ochterlony Monument ... Major J. Sim of the Eastern Command wrote, 'there must have [been] 100,000 of them ... with green uniform of the Muslim National Guard' ... Suhrawardy appeared to have incited the mob ... As the Governor also mentioned, 'the violence on a wider scale broke out as soon as the meeting was over', and most of those who indulged in attacking Hindus ... were returning from [it].}}</ref> in the city in order to enforce the declaration by the Muslim League that Muslims were to 'suspend all business' to support their demand for an independent Pakistan.<ref name="Burrows" /><ref name="ASB_BP_Cal" /><ref name="Tsugitaka">{{cite book |last=Nariaki |first=Nakazato |year=2000 |chapter=The Politics of a Partition Riot: Calcutta in August 1946 |editor-last=Tsugitaka |editor-first=Sato |title=Muslim Societies: Historical and Comparative Aspects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BKjJi0HgCHoC&pg=PA112 |publisher=Routledge |pages=112–113 |isbn=978-0-415-33254-5}}</ref><ref name="Time">{{Cite magazine |date=26 August 1946 |title=Direct Action |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933559,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114112804/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,933559,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 November 2007 |magazine=Time |page=34 |access-date=10 April 2008 |quote=Moslem League Boss Mohamed Ali Jinnah had picked the 18th day of Ramadan for "Direct Action Day" against Britain's plan for Indian independence (which does not satisfy the Moslems' old demand for a separate Pakistan). |url-access=subscription}}</ref> However, supporters of the Muslim League believed that the Congress Party was behind the violence<ref>{{cite book |last=Chakrabarty |first=Bidyut |year=2004 |title=The Partition of Bengal and Assam, 1932–1947: Contour of Freedom |url=https://archive.org/details/partitionbengala00chak |url-access=limited |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |page=[https://archive.org/details/partitionbengala00chak/page/n115 105] |isbn=978-0-415-32889-0 |quote=Having seen the reports from his own sources, he [Jinnah] was persuaded later, however, to accept that the 'communal riots in Calcutta were mainly started by Hindus and ... were of Hindu origin.'}}</ref> in an effort to weaken the fragile Muslim League government in Bengal, further generating the controversy about the real culprits.<ref name="Burrows" /> Historian Joya Chatterji allocates much of the responsibility to Suhrawardy, for setting up the confrontation and failing to stop the rioting, but points out that Hindu leaders were also culpable.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition, 1932–1947 |url=https://archive.org/details/bengaldividedhin00chat |url-access=limited |last=Chatterji |first=Joya |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-41128-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bengaldividedhin00chat/page/n250 232]–233 |quote=Both sides in the confrontation came well-prepared for it ... Suhrawardy himself bears much of the responsibility for this blood-letting since he issued an open challenge to the Hindus and was grossly negligent ... in his failure to quell the rioting ... But Hindu leaders were also deeply implicated.}}</ref> A senior intelligence operative wrote to a senior British officer based at Fort William after the 'Great Calcutta Killings' after the [[Direct Action Day|Calcutta riots]]: "''There is hardly a person in Calcutta who has a good word for Suhrawardy, respectable Muslims included. For years he has been known as "The king of the goondas" and my own private opinion is that he fully anticipated what was going to happen, and allowed it to work itself up, and probably organised the disturbance with his goonda gangs as this type of individual has to receive compensation every now and again.''"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/wo216-6621.jpg |title=National Archives of the UK}}</ref> According to [[Tathagata Roy, Suhrawardy had pre-planned the riot long back, evident from the fact that demographic changes were being made in the Calcutta Police constabulary.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7sTfDAAAQBAJ&q=The+Life+ |title=The Life & Times of Shyama Prasad Mookerjee |last=Roy |first=Tathagata |date=2014-06-25 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |isbn=9789350488812 |language=en}}</ref> A Bangladeshi historian [[Harun-or-Rashid]], in his book ''The Foreshadowing of Bangladesh: Bengal Muslim League & Muslim Politics: 1906–1947'',<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://uplbooks.com.bd/book/foreshadowing-bangladesh-bengal-muslim-league-and-muslim-politics-1906-1947 |title=The Foreshadowing of Bangladesh: Bengal Muslim League and Muslim Politics: 1906–1947 |website=The University Press Limited |access-date=2018-03-14}}</ref> was also critical of Suhrawardy. Recently, Polish scholar Tomasz Flasiński expressed another opinion about Suhrawardy. His research proved, inter alia, that Suhrawardy's famous speech during the first day of Calcutta Riot urged Muslims to come back to their homes instead of (as it was often suggested) encouraging them to riot, and in fact the Prime Minister asked the British army to intervene against hooligans even before that speech. Making use of recently disclosed or hitherto unused sources, he also revealed that Suhrawardy was at odds with Muslim League's radical fraction also after Noakhali riots; however, in some other cases of the Hindu-Muslim armed fights (primarily in Calcutta during Spring 1947) he did less to stop the acts of violence than he could, what made him - according to Flasiński - guilty by negligence.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Flasiński |first=Tomasz |date=2020 |title=Dr. Jekyll, Mr Hyde, or Bengali Hamlet? Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy as the last Prime Minister of undivided Bengal |url=https://www.academia.edu/44978033 |journal=Rocznik Orientalistyczny |volume=2/2020 |pages= |via=}}</ref>

Suhrawardy died in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]] in 1963 due to a heart attack.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/12/06/archives/huseyn-s-suhrawardy-is-dead-exprime-minister-of-pakistan-holder-of.html |title=Huseyn S. Suhrawardy Is Dead; Ex-Prime Minister of Pakistan; Holder of Post in '56–57 Was Jailed in 1962 as Security Risk—Opposed to Ayub A Link With the West Visited the U.S. Toured With Gandhi |date=1963-12-06 |work=The New York Times |access-date=2019-03-05 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Many Bengalis were - and some still are - convinced that he was killed on Ayub Khan's order, as his popularity may have made him a powerful rival to Ayub in the upcoming presidential elections. He was buried in Dhaka beside Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin and A. K. Fazlul Huq, signifying his towering stature in Bengali politics as one of the three leading Bengali statesmen of the early 20th century.

* [http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=66766 Suhrawardy meets Eisenhower], video footage from British Pathé

* [http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=66345 Speech by Suhrawardy on Kashmir], video footage from British Pathé

* [http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=34467 Commonwealth Ministers at No 10], video footage from British Pathé

[[Category:20th-century lawyers]]