View source for Fazl-i-Hussain

{{Short description|Muslim Indian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
'''Sir Fazli Hussain''', [[Order of the Star of India|KCSI]] (14 June 1877 – 9 July 1936) was a politician during the [[British Raj]] and a founding member of the [[Unionist Party (Punjab)|Unionist Party of the Punjab]].

== Early life and education ==
Husain was born in [[Peshawar]] to a [[Bhatti]] [[Muslim Rajputs|Rajput]]<ref>''Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society'' - Volume 44 - Page 162</ref> family of [[Punjabi Muslims|Punjabi]] origins hailing from [[Gurdaspur]] in 1877.<ref>{{cite book |title=Punjab: A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten |first=Rajmohan |last=Gandhi |author-link=Rajmohan Gandhi |publisher=Aleph Book Company PVT Ltd |year=2013 |isbn=978-9-38306-441-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ifs9AQAAQBAJ&amp;q=khattar%20jat%20%22khattar%20jat%22&amp;pg=PT275 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> His Rajput ancestors moved to Punjab from [[Bikaner]] and [[Jaisalmer]] in modern-day [[Rajasthan]] around the year 1500, having converted to Islam and entered the civil administration and the military forces of the [[Mughal Empire]] from [[Babur]] onward.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Husain |first=Muhammad Azim |title=Fazl-i-Husain, a Political Biography |publisher=Longmans, Green &amp; Co |year=1946 |pages=1}}</ref> His father Mian Husain Bakhsh was at the time serving as Extra Assistant Commissioner in Peshawar. At the age of sixteen he entered [[Government College University (Lahore)|Government College, Lahore]] and graduated with a BA in 1897.<ref name="auto">Azim Husain, Fazl i Husain A Political Biography, Longmans, Green & Company, 1946</ref> In 1896, he married Muhammad Nisa, great-granddaughter of [[Ilahi Bakhsh]], the renowned general of the [[Sikh Khalsa Army]].<ref name="auto"/>

Fazl-i-Husain travelled to [[United Kingdom|Britain]] in 1898 to further his education. He was admitted to [[Christ's College, Cambridge]] in 1899 and graduated with a BA in 1901. He had intended to enter the [[Indian Civil Service]] but was unsuccessful in the exams.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/fazl-i-husain|title=Fazl-I-Husain &amp;#124; Making Britain|website=Open.ac.uk}}</ref> He studied Oriental languages and law at Cambridge and was [[call to the bar|called to the Bar]] at [[Gray's Inn]] in 1901. Husain was elected President of the Cambridge Majlis in January 1901 and assisted in writing a telegram of condolence to [[Edward VII]] upon the death of [[Queen Victoria]]<ref name="auto2"/> Husain returned to the Punjab in 1901 and set up a law practice in [[Sialkot]]. In 1905 he began practising at the Punjab High Court in [[Lahore]] until 1920.

== Political career ==
Husain joined the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1905 and in 1916 he was elected election to the [[Punjab Legislative Assembly (British India)|Punjab Legislative Council]] in the seat reserved for the [[University of the Punjab]]. He immediately regarded Punjab as being in a state of political apathy and sought to engage Punjabis with the affairs of the government and align the interests of the Punjabi electorate with that of the wider Congress agenda.<ref name="auto"/> He left the Congress party in 1920 over their support for the [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–22)|Non-cooperation movement]].<ref name="auto3">Lionel Knight, Britain in India, 1858–1947, Anthem Press, 2012</ref> He felt that non-cooperation threatened schools and colleges, and noting the backwardness of educational progress in Punjab, he initially sought to have them excluded from the movement before becoming convinced that [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s scheme of setting up national schools and colleges was impracticable and reckless.<ref name="auto"/>

Following the [[Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms]] he was re-elected to the Punjab Legislative Council in 1920 representing a Muslim landowner seat.<ref name="auto1">J. Henry Korson, Contemporary Problems of Pakistan, Brill Archive, 1974</ref> At the outset of the first Council in 1921, having risen to become one of the pre-eminent politicians in the province, he was one of two ministers appointed by the [[List of governors of Punjab (British India)|Governor of Punjab]], the other being Lala Harikishan Lal, and served as the minister for education, health, and local government.<ref name="auto1"/> During this time he spearheaded a rural bloc of [[Muslim]]s, [[Hindu]]s and [[Sikh]]s, which in 1923 formally organised itself into the [[Unionist Party (Punjab)|Unionist Party]] and intended to be a mass organization of Punjab's peasant proprietors.<ref name="auto1"/> Whilst the party succeeded in gaining support from only the rural Hindu and Sikhs, it also successfully attracted the support of the bulk of urban Muslims.<ref name="auto1"/> In 1923, Husain extended separate electorates to local bodies and educational institutions seeking to raise Muslim representation to the level of the Muslim proportion of the population, which in turn created tensions between Muslim and Hindu.<ref name="auto3"/> In his role as education minister he is credited with having been the main engineer of the scheme to establish employment quotas for Muslims in the Indian civil service.<ref>[http://www.harappa.com/amjad_ali/amjadali_interview_pf.html interview with Syed Amjad Ali]. Harappa.com (1990-01-15). Retrieved on 2012-12-10.</ref> In January 1924, he was re-elected to the Council and remained as a minister until January 1926 when he left the Punjab Assembly upon being appointed Revenue Member. [[Chhotu Ram]], a Hindu [[Jat people|Jat]], was named as his successor as president of the Unionist party<ref name="auto1"/> He was made a [[Order of the Indian Empire|Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]] in 1926.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/33148/pages/2429 Viewing Page 2429 of Issue 33148]. London-gazette.co.uk (1926-04-06). Retrieved on 2012-12-10.</ref>

In 1930, he was promoted to the [[Viceroy's Executive Council]] in [[Delhi]] where he remained until 1935.<ref name="auto1"/> He became the most important councilor of the Viceroy and used his position to challenge [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]'s claims that he alone represented the interests of the Muslims.<ref>Rafiq Zakaria, The Man Who Divided India: An Insight Into Jinnah's Leadership and Its Aftermath, Popular Prakashan, 2001</ref> He played an important part in organizing the [[Round Table Conferences (India)|Round Table Conferences]] and influencing the views of the present Muslim delegates.<ref>B. R. Nanda, Road to Pakistan: The Life and Times of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Routledge, 3 Jul 2013</ref> The Punjabi view of the "Muslim interest" formulated by Husain was a success. The implementation of the [[Communal Award]] and [[Government of India Act 1935]], allowed the majority Muslims in Punjab and Bengal to retain their separate electorates yet also granted them more seats than any other community in their respective assemblies. Whilst this allowed Muslim politicians in Punjab to increase their autonomy it brought them into conflict with Muslims in Hindu majority provinces, who would now look to Jinnah and the [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] for support.<ref>Sugata Bose, Ayesha Jalal, Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy, Psychology Press, 1998</ref> In 1932, he led the Indian delegation to the Indo-South African Conference and was appointed a [[Order of the Star of India|Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India]] in 1932.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/33831/supplements/3571 Viewing Page 3571 of Issue 33831]. London-gazette.co.uk (1932-05-31). Retrieved on 2012-12-10.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w69d7bb1|title=Husain, Fazli, Mian, Sir, 1877-1936 - Social Networks and Archival Context|website=Snaccooperative.org}}</ref> On returning to Lahore from Delhi in 1935, Husain sought to prepare the Unionist Party for the forthcoming provincial elections.<ref name="auto1"/> He made strides in reorganizing, financing, and allotting tickets for his party, and warned Jinnah against meddling with the inter-communal politics of the Punjab.<ref name="auto1"/> In January 1936, Jinnah offered him the annual presidency of the Muslim League, however before waiting for his response, accepted the position himself and became its President in 1936.<ref>Devendra Panigrahi, ''India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat'', Routledge, 19 August 2004</ref>

== Death ==
He fell ill on 1 July 1936, and died at [[Lahore]] nine days later. He was buried at the family graveyard in [[Batala]].<ref name="auto"/>

==Family==
One of his daughters, Asghari, married [[Manzur Qadir]]. This was her second marriage. She was initially married to a Hoti nawab Mardan. She gave birth to a daughter from the first marriage and after the death of the daughter she got divorced and afterwards married to Manzur Qadir. His paternal half-brother Mian [[Muhammad Afzal Husain]] served as the Vice Chancellor of the [[University of the Punjab, Lahore]] for two terms, one term before (1938–44) and one term after (1954–65) the partition of [[British India]] into [[Pakistan]] and [[India]].

==Sources==
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[[Category:1877 births]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Bachelor]]
[[Category:Pakistani knights]]
[[Category:Politicians from Punjab, India]]
[[Category:Members of the Council of the Governor General of India]]
[[Category:Politicians from British India]]
Lahore, partition and freedom. Khushwant Singh