Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( Urdu:: حسین شہید سہروردی; Bengali: হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্‌রাওয়ার্দী ; September 8, 1892 - December 5, 1963, Beirut) was a Pakistani left-wing statesman of Bengali origin, and one of the principal Founding Fathers of modern-day Pakistan. Appointed as the fifth Prime minister of Pakistan in 1956, Suhrawardy headed Pakistan until 1957, and was a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime minister of Pakistan.

Born and hailing from East-Pakistan, Suhrawardy, as many of his Muslim League peers, educated from Calcutta University and Oxford University, and upon his return to India in 1921. Rising to the leadership of the Muslim League in the Bengal Presidency, Suhrawardy was a leading advocate of creating a separate Muslim state of Pakistan. Infamous for his role in the violent Direct Action Day in Calcutta, he advocated and played a major role for the success of Pakistan Movement and, under auspices of Jinnah, Suhrawardy rose to prominence, and became an important ally of Jinnah in East-Pakistan. Suhrawardy was a populist leader who advocated socialism, left the ruling Muslim League in 1949, shortly after the death of Jinnah, to join East Pakistan Awami Muslim League of Maulana Bhashani, but was forced out from the party by the junior leadership. In 1957, forming the National Democratic Front, Suhrawardy fought for the rights of people of Pakistan, both in East and West-Pakistan.

Although an anti-communist, Surawardy won the slot of Prime minister, and appointed to head a coalition government of Pakistan in 1956, with initial target to resolve the energy crises, economical disparity, and promised to build a massive military in an arms race with the India. At first, his initiatives included the re-building and reforming of the military forces, expansion of defence infrastructure, establishing the plan of nuclear power against India, and supply-side economics polices. As for the Foreign policy, Suhrawardy was also the first Prime minister to have visit the China, strengthening the Sino-Pak relations and was one of the pioneer of foreign policy to enhance the pro-United States-Pakistan's long associated ties, due to his common distrust of communism. The economic disparity, the collapse of One Unit programme, and failure to control and diminished the influence of business monopoly in national politics, further forced Suhrawardy to resigned from his post, with many believe he was forced to resigned under threat of dismissal on October 10, 1957, by the President. A chronic heart patient, Suhrawardy died in Beirut, Lebanon, on December 5, 1963.