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{{short description|Anti-feudal political party in British Indian Bengal and then in Pakistan's East Bengal and East Pakistan provinces (1929-1958)}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Krishak Sramik Party
| logo =
| colorcode = {{party color|Krishak Sramik Party}}
| leader = [[A.K. Fazlul Huq]]
| president = [[Abdur Rahim (judge)]] (1929–1934),
[[A.K. Fazlul Haque]] (1935–1958)
| chairman =
| spokesperson =
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1929}}
| ideology = [[Antifeudalism|Anti-feudalism]]<br /> [[Agrarianism|Agriculturalism]]<br />[[Progressivism]]<br />[[Populism]]<br />[[Social democracy]]
| headquarters =
| international =
| website =
| country = [[India]], [[East Pakistan]]
| native_name =
| _subheader = Former provincial party
| chairperson =
| leader1_title =
| leader1_name =
| dissolution = 1958
| merger =
| split =
| predecessor =
| merged =
| successor =
| position = [[Centre-left]]
| national =
| student_wing =
| youth_wing =
| membership =
| membership_year =
| colours =
| colors =
| blank1_title =
| blank1 =
| blank2_title =
| blank2 =
| seats1_title = Seats in the [[Bengal Legislative Assembly]]
| seats1 =
| seats2_title = Seats in the [[East Bengal Legislative Assembly]]
| seats2 =
| seats3_title = Seats in [[East Pakistan Provincial Assembly]]
| seats3 =
| state =
| parties_dab1 =
| elections_dab1=
| footnotes =
}}
[[File:British Raj Red Ensign.svg|thumb|The party's lifetime was mostly in the period of the [[British Raj]]]]
The '''Krishak Sramik Party''' ({{lang-bn|কৃষক শ্রমিক পার্টি}}, ''Farmer Labourer Party'') was a major anti-feudal political party in the [[British India]]n province of [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]] and later in the [[Dominion of Pakistan]]'s [[East Bengal]] and [[East Pakistan]] provinces. It was founded in 1929 as the [[Nikhil Banga Praja Samiti]] to represent the interests of [[tenant farmer]]s in Bengal's [[zamindar|landed gentry]] estates. Sir [[Abdur Rahim (judge)]] was its first leader. [[A.K. Fazlul Huq]] was elected leader in 1935 when the former was appointed as the president of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] of India. In 1936, it took the name of '''Krishak Praja Party''' ({{lang-bn|কৃষক প্রজা পার্টি}} ''Farmer Tenant Party'') and contested the [[1937 Indian provincial elections|1937 election]]. The party formed the first government in the [[Bengal Legislative Assembly]]. After the [[partition of British India]], it was reorganized as the Krishak Sramik Party (Farmer-Labour Party) to contest the [[1954 East Bengali legislative election|1954 election]], as part of the [[United Front (East Pakistan)|United Front]]. The coalition won the election and formed the provincial government in the [[East Bengal Legislative Assembly]].

The party's politics played an important role in the growth of [[Bengali Muslim]] political consciousness; it also received support from large sections of the [[Bengali Hindu]] population who resented the influence of the landed gentry.

The party was the political vehicle of the Bengali lawyer and politician [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]],<ref name="Rahman2010">{{cite book|author=Syedur Rahman|title=Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJfcCPUr0OoC&pg=PA176|date=27 April 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7453-4|page=176}}</ref> who served as the [[Prime Minister of Bengal]] and [[Chief Minister of East Bengal]]. Another chief minister from the party was [[Abu Hussain Sarkar]] (1955–56). [[Abdus Sattar (president)|Abdus Sattar]], one of the party's leaders, later became the [[President of Bangladesh]].

==Background==
[[File:A K Fazlul Huq.jpg|thumb|A K Fazlul Huq was popularly called the ''Sher-e-Bangla'' (''Lion of Bengal'')]]
The [[Permanent Settlement]] established an extensive [[feudal]] system in the [[Bengal Presidency]]. Large sections of the population became [[tenant farmer]]s of [[landlord]]s (zamindars). Many of the landlords were wealthy Hindus who enjoyed the patronage of the British. The permanent settlement displaced much of the [[Mughal Bengal|Mughal]] ruling class with many Hindu landed estates; but there continued to be influential Muslim landed estates. British Bengal's wealthy Hindu [[oligarchy]] included [[Marwari people|Marwari]] merchants in [[Calcutta]], the political and commercial capital of Bengal and the [[British Indian Empire]]. In contrast, the province of Bengal had a Bengali Muslim-majority population, with large minorities of non-upper class Hindus. In 1905, the British government implemented the [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|first partition of Bengal]], with support from the Muslim aristocracy, to increase investment in [[Eastern Bengal and Assam]]. The partition stoked vocal protests from Hindu landlords and merchants in Calcutta, who argued that it was a policy to [[divide and rule]] Bengal. In 1911, the partition was annulled. But the partition left a strong legacy and enjoyed support in the Muslim population. The [[All India Muslim League]] and [[Bengal Provincial Muslim League]] were formed to uphold the interests of Muslims amid the growth of Hindu nationalist movements. But the All India Muslim League was dominated by members of the Muslim aristocracy, who were often speakers of Hindustani, instead of the vernacular [[Bengali language]]. Bengal's middle classes, professionals and farmers increasingly looked for an alternative platform of this party.<ref name="Ahmed2004">{{cite book|author=Salahuddin Ahmed|title=Bangladesh: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC&pg=PA84|year=2004|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-469-5|pages=1–23}}</ref><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&pg=PA218|year=2010|publisher=Peter Lang|isbn=978-1-4331-0820-4|pages=123–217}}</ref>

==Praja Party==
In 1929, 18 members of the [[Bengal Legislative Council]] formed the All Bengal Tenants Association, which became known as the Praja Party. Its leaders included A. K. Fazlul Huq, [[Azizul Haque (educator)|Sir Azizul Haque]], [[Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan]] and Sir Abdur Rahim. The group was formed to capitalize on the resentment caused among peasants by the Bengal Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 1928, which enjoyed the support of wealthy Hindus.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Praja_Party |title=Praja Party |website=Banglapedia |date=2015-02-11 |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref>

==Krishak Praja Party==
When the [[Government of India Act 1935]] planned the [[1937 Indian provincial elections]], the Praja Party was renamed as the Krishak Praja Party, with the intention of appealing to a broad rural base.<ref name="banglapedia1">{{cite web|url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Krishak_Praja_Party |title=Krishak Praja Party |website=Banglapedia |access-date=2017-07-21}}</ref> Its main rivals were the Bengal Congress and the [[Bengal Provincial Muslim League]]. The Krishak Praja Party won 36 seats in the [[Bengal Legislative Assembly]]. Due to non-cooperation and boycott of the new system by the Congress,<ref>"In 1935, the British parliament had, despite Congress non-cooperation, enacted its own constitutional solution for India: democratically elected provincial ministries, central and provincial legislatures that were elected by anyone who had a literacy or property qualification, the promise of full universal suffrage within a decade and, most important of all, the goal of an independent, federal, dominion government (similar to Australia or Canada) at the Centre. Sadly, the outbreak of World War II and Congress boycotts combined to render this federal option a dead letter." https://thewire.in/history/personal-rejoinder-british-raj-haters-masquerading-historians</ref> the Krishak Praja Party claimed the right to form a government, with support from the Muslim League. A. K. Fazlul Huq became the first [[Prime Minister of Bengal]]. As part of reforming the zamindari system, Prime Minister Huq used legal and administrative measures to relieve the debts of farmers.<ref>Bandyopadhyay, D. (2004-01-01). "Preventable Deaths". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (30): 3347–3348.</ref> The party saw internal rebellion soon after taking power and Huq emerged as its lone cabinet member.<ref name="banglapedia1"/>

In 1940, Prime Minister Huq supported the Muslim League's [[Lahore Resolution]].

The Huq ministry governed during the period of [[World War II]]. In 1941, the Muslim League withdrew support for Prime Minister Huq after he joined the [[Viceroy of India|Viceroy]]'s defence council against the wishes of the League's president [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]]. Jinnah felt the council was dominated by politicians who did not support the partition of India. Huq was joined on the council by the premier of Punjab, [[Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan]].<ref name="Ahmad1967">{{cite book|author=Kamruddin Ahmad|title=The Social History of East Pakistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=azQgm9WAK28C|year=1967|publisher=Raushan Ara Ahmed|page=56}}</ref> In Bengal, Huq formed a second coalition with the [[Hindu Mahasabha]] and its leader [[Syama Prasad Mukherjee]]. The Huq-Syama coalition lasted until 1943, when the Muslim League secured majority support in the assembly.

==Krishak Sramik Party==
[[File:1954 east bengal cabinet.jpg|thumb|The 1954 East Bengal cabinet consisting of Krishak Sramik Party and Awami League]]
'''[[A. K. Fazlul Huq]]''' revived the party as the Krishak Sramik Party (Farmer-Labour Party) in 1954.<ref name="AdelElmi2012">{{cite book|author1=Gholamali Haddad Adel|author2=Mohammad Jafar Elmi|author3=Hassan Taromi-Rad|title=Political Parties: Selected Entries from Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dCp_LXSONWsC&pg=PA63|date=31 August 2012|publisher=EWI Press|isbn=978-1-908433-02-2|page=63}}</ref><ref name="ChakrabartiChakrabarti2013">{{cite book|author1=Kunal Chakrabarti|author2=Shubhra Chakrabarti|title=Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QVOFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA360|date=22 August 2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-8024-5|page=360}}</ref> The party was part of the [[United Front (East Pakistan)|United Front]] coalition that contested the [[1954 East Bengali legislative election]]; with a 21-point manifesto. The coalition secured a [[landslide victory]]. The Krishak Sramik Party itself won 48 seats in the [[East Bengal Legislative Assembly]]. Huq served as [[Chief Minister of East Bengal]] for six weeks. During his tenure, Huq took steps to establish the [[Bangla Academy]]. He was dismissed after allegations of inciting secession. After a period of [[Governor General of Pakistan|Governor General's rule]], Krishak Sramik Party leader [[Abu Hussain Sarkar]] became the [[Chief Minister of East Pakistan]] in 1955. Sarkar lost his majority in 1956, after which [[President of Pakistan|President's rule]] was imposed. [[Awami League]] leader [[Ataur Rahman Khan]] then became chief minister.

In August 1955, a coalition between the Krishak Sramik Party in East Pakistan and the Muslim League in [[West Pakistan]] allowed [[Chaudhry Mohammad Ali]] to become [[Prime Minister of Pakistan|Prime Minister]] and A. K. Fazlul Huq to become the federal [[Interior Minister of Pakistan|Home Minister]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Hafez Ahmed |url=http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/old/2008/11/26/51770.html |title=Mohan Mia, the forgotten child of history |work=The Financial Express |location=Dhaka |access-date=2017-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805100542/http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/old/2008/11/26/51770.html |archive-date=2017-08-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Prime Minister Ali was later dismissed by President [[Iskander Mirza]], who allowed a coalition of the [[Awami League]] and [[Republican Party (Pakistan)|Republican Party]] to form government. As a result, the Krishak Sramik Party and the Muslim League formed the main opposition.<ref>{{cite book|author=Salahuddin Ahmed|title=Bangladesh: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC&pg=PA147|year=2004|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-469-5|page=147}}</ref>

Following the 1958 Pakistani coup, all provincial assemblies, including in East Pakistan, were dissolved. Numerous political figures were arrested, with Huq placed under house arrest. The Elected Bodies Disqualification Order barred 75 politicians from holding public office for eight years (until 1966).<ref>{{cite book|author=Salahuddin Ahmed|title=Bangladesh: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Szfqq7ruqWgC|year=2004|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-469-5|pages=151–153}}</ref> Huq died on 27 April 1962.

==See also==
*[[Unionist Party (Punjab)]]
*[[Bengal Provincial Muslim League]]
*[[Legislatures of British India]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1929 establishments in India]]
[[Category:1958 disestablishments in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Agrarian parties in India]]
[[Category:Banned political parties]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in India]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Pakistan]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1958]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1929]]
[[Category:Populist parties]]
[[Category:Progressive parties]]
[[Category:Social democratic parties in Asia]]

Krishak Sramik Party - Revision history

->PrimeBOT at 01:00, 12 December 2021