Nizam-e-Islam Party
The Nizam-e-Islam Party or simply Nizam-e-Islam (), is a political party in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The party was founded in the city of Kishoreganj in 1952, by the Islamic scholars of erstwhile East Bengal, Pakistan as an offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. It was one of the four political parties belonging to the United Front alliance which defeated the Muslim League in the 1954 elections. History Establishment The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, founded in 1919, was a political body of Islamic scholars predominantly belonging to the Deobandi movement that opposed the partition of India. In 1945, a breakaway faction was formed under the leadership of Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, who was one of the founders of the original party. The new faction, known as the All-India Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, supported the creation of Pakistan and sided with the pro-partition Muslim League party. The organisation took the name Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam after the partition in 1947, and had representatives in both the western and eastern wings of the new Dominion of Pakistan. As a result of broken promises relating to Islamic governance, the Jamiat broke its ties with the Muslim League in 1952. Its political wing, the Nizam-e-Islam Party, was subsequently formed at a three-day conference ending on 20 March in Haybatnagar, Kishoreganj. Athar Ali Bengali was appointed as the party's inaugural president, with Syed Muslehuddin as secretary-general and Ashraf Ali Dharmanduli as assistant secretary. Dominion of Pakistan (1947–1956) The party swiftly gained prominence in Muslim-majority Bengal, in comparison to the modernist-capitalist Muslim League, because its members were composed of popular Islamic scholars. In the lead-up to the 1954 East Bengal Legislative Assembly election, the party eventually joined the United Front coalition which challenged the Muslim League. In the introduction of the United Front's 21 Point Programme manifesto was the statement "No law shall be enacted against the Qur'an and sunnah". The coalition was successful, with the Nizam-e-Islam Party winning 19 of the United Front's 223 seats, in comparison to the Muslim League which won only 9 seats. By virtue of also attaining seats in the ministry, the party gained important roles in policy-making. Farid Ahmad became East Bengal's Minister of Labour, Abdul Wahab Khan became the Speaker of the Assembly, and the ministries of Law, Land and Education were also under the Nizam-e-Islam party. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan Chaudhry Muhammad Ali later joined the party, and was appointed its president. Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1956–1971) The Nizam-e-Islam Party protested against the central government's discriminatory treatment of Bengalis. It played a role in the struggle for East Pakistan's demands. For example, they demanded that Pakistan's capital be changed from Rawalpindi to Dhaka and that the headquarters of the Pakistan Navy to be in Chittagong, rather than Karachi. In 1966, the Nizam-e-Islam party asked its ministers to resign from the government. The party split from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in the following year. In 1969, a central election was held within the party, with Muhammad Shafi Deobandi as chief advisor, Zafar Ahmad Usmani as president, Athar