Nikhil Banga Praja Samiti
|
Praja Party
Krishak Praja Party Krishak Sramik Party |
|
|---|---|
| Former provincial party | |
| Founded | 1929 |
| Dissolved | 1958 |
| Ideology |
Anti-feudalism Agriculturalism Progressivism Populism Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
The Krishak Sramik Party was a major anti-feudal political party in the British Indian province of Bengal and later in the Dominion of Pakistan's East Bengal and East Pakistan provinces. It was founded in 1929 as the Praja Party (Tenant Party) to represent the interests of tenants in Bengal's landed gentry estates. In 1936, it took the name of Krishak Praja Party (Farmer-Tenant Party) and contested the 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 election, as part of the United Front. The coalition won the election and formed the provincial government in the East Bengal Legislative Assembly.
The party was the political vehicle of the Bengali lawyer and politician A. K. Fazlul Huq, who served as the Prime Minister of Bengal and Chief Minister of East Bengal. The party's politics played an important role in the growth 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 Permanent Settlement established an extensive feudal system in the Bengal Presidency. Large sections of the population became tenant farmers of landlords (zamindars). Many of the landlords were wealthy Hindus who enjoyed the patronage of the British. The permanent settlement displaced much of the 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 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 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.
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