PriscillaNair10 at 20:47, 27 March 2026

2026-03-27T20:47:31Z

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{{Short description|Bangladeshi lawyer}}
'''Dewan Abdul Basith Choudhury''' ({{langx|bn|দেওয়ান আবদুল বাছিত চৌধুরী}}) was a Bangladeshi lawyer, who was legislative leader of the [[East Pakistan Provincial Assembly]] and provincial minister of [[East Pakistan]].

== Biography ==
Basith was born on 11 October 1911 in [[Sylhet Division|Sylhet District]] of the [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]], British India, into the family of politician Khan Bahadur [[Dewan Abdul Hamid Choudhury]]. After completing his undergraduate studies at the [[University of Calcutta]] in 1936, he studied law at the [[University of Dhaka]]. In 1937, he was made a member of the South Sylhet Local Board of the [[Assam Provincial Muslim League]] (APML), a position he held until 1944. In 1938, he became the organizing secretary of the [[All India Muslim Students Federation]].<ref name=l/> In his early life, he was active as a member of the APML and led the Moulvibazar Subdivisional Muslim League.<ref name=ক/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://arthoniti.com/news/5357|title=মৌলভীবাজার : ইতিহাস-ঐতিহ্যের ধারক|lang=bn|first=Nawab|last=Uddin|date=13 August 2022|newspaper=Arthoniti}}</ref> In 1940, he was appointed an honorary magistrate by the [[Government of Assam|Assamese government]]. Three years later, he became the assistant secretary of the APML. The following year, he was elected general secretary of the APML and a councillor of the [[All-India Muslim League]] (AIML). He was also elected a member of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] the same year as a party nominee. In 1946, he became a member of the [[Assam Legislative Assembly]]. In 1947, during the [[Sylhet referendum]], he served as chairman of the subdivisional referendum committee.<ref name=l/>

In the same year, after the [[independence of Pakistan]], he became a member of the East Bengal Legislative Assembly.<ref name=ক/><ref name=l/> During this period, he also served as a member of the working committee of the [[Bengal Provincial Muslim League|East Pakistan Provincial Muslim League]] (EPPML) and as a councillor of the [[Muslim League (Pakistan)|Pakistan Muslim League]] (PML). In 1950, when Muslim refugees from the Indian states of [[Tripura]] and [[Assam (1947–1963)|Assam]] took shelter in the Pakistani province of [[East Bengal]], the EPPML formed a relief committee, of which he was the chairman. His tenure as a member of the legislative assembly ended before the [[1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election|1954 provincial election]].<ref name=l>{{cite news|title=Life Sketches Of Provincial Ministers|page=3|date=30 March 1965|newspaper=[[The Morning News (Bangladeshi newspaper)|The Morning News]]}}</ref> In 1965, he was nominated as a member of the central parliamentary board of the [[Convention Muslim League]] (PMLC).<ref>{{cite news|title=Conventionists' Parliamentary Board Formed|page=8|date=11 January 1965|newspaper=[[The Bangladesh Observer|The Pakistan Observer]]}}</ref> In the same year, he was appointed Minister of Commerce and Industry of [[East Pakistan]] as a member of the [[Second Monem ministry]].<ref name=ক>{{cite news|title=5-man Provincial Cabinet Sworn In|page=1|date=30 March 1965|newspaper=[[The Bangladesh Observer|The Pakistan Observer]]}}</ref> He was also made the leader of the [[East Pakistan Provincial Assembly]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Basith Leader Of Conventionists|page=8|date=17 June 1965|newspaper=[[The Bangladesh Observer|The Pakistan Observer]]}}</ref> In 1971, during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]], he joined the pro-Pakistani organization [[East Pakistan Central Peace Committee]].<ref>{{cite book|title=বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ|lang=bn|volume=8|year=2020|editor=Harun-ur-Rashid|isbn=9789843492678|chapter=মুক্তিযুদ্ধে মৌলভীবাজার সদর উপজেলা|first=Abdul Hamid|last=Mahbub|publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> His younger son, [[Dewan Shamim Afzal Chowdhury]], is an independent politician.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-37932|title=Dewan Basit's son to run in polls race|date=23 May 2008|newspaper=[[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]]}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:20th-century Bangladeshi lawyers]]
[[Category:Leaders in the Provincial Assembly of East Pakistan]]
[[Category:Provincial ministers of East Pakistan]]
[[Category:People from Rajnagar Upazila]]
[[Category:Politicians from Sylhet Division]]
[[Category:People of the Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:Pakistan Muslim League politicians]]
[[Category:All-India Muslim League politicians]]
[[Category:East Pakistan MLAs 1965–1969]]
[[Category:East Bengal MLAs 1947–1954]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India]]
[[Category:Assam MLAs 1946–1952]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:University of Dhaka alumni]]

Dewan Abdul Basith - Revision history

PriscillaNair10 at 20:47, 27 March 2026