Abdul Matlib Mazumdar
| Abdul Matlib Mazumdar | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1890 Barjurai, Hailakandi, Assam |
| Died | 1980 |
| Residence | Guwahati, Assam |
Abdul Matlib Mazumdar (1890–1980), was an Indian freedom fighter and political leader based in undivided Assam State. In 1946, when India was still under British rule, he became an MLA and also Cabinet Minister of Assam. He was one of the prominent Muslim leaders of eastern India to support Hindu-Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on communal lines. Mazumdar along with Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (who later became the 5th President of India) became the most prominent Muslim opponents of the demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan, especially in the eastern part of the country.
Moulvi Abdul Matlib Mazumdar was born at Barjurai (Ujankupa) village near Hailakandi in southern Assam. Orthodoxy among Muslims of that time could not prevent him from pursuing his studies. He used to swim across a river daily on way to school He was awarded 'Earle Medal' for academic excellence in 1915. Mazumdar took Master of Arts Degree in English literature from Dhaka University in 1921 and B.L. from Calcutta in 1924. He started legal practice at Hailakandi Bar in 1925. He rose to prominence as a lawyer. The then government offered him the post of a Magistrate, which he refused. He was well versed on religion and philosophy. He was a very good rider and was a member of Dacca Riders' Club. Shikar and farming were his hobbies.
In the early 1920s, he was at the forefront of the Khilafat Movement as a student at Dhaka. It was during that time that he came into contact with top other Indian leaders such as Ali brothers and became an ardent supporter of Mahatma Gandhi's ideas. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1925. He founded the Hailakandi Congress Committee in 1937 and became its first President. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited Hailakandi in 1939 and 1945 respectively at the invitation of Mazumdar to strengthen the freedom movement as well as the Congress party in southern Assam. It was Netaji who initiated establishment of contact between Moulana Abul Kalam Azad and Matlib Mazumdar for gearing up nationalist Muslims against a growing Muslim League in the region. Mazumdar became the first Chairman of Hailakandi township in 1939 and in 1945 he became the first Indian Chairman of the Hailakandi Local Board, a post always held by the European tea planters.
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