Muhammad Ali Bogra was born in an aristocratic nawab family at Bogra, East Bengal, in 1900. He completed his education at Calcutta University. In 1937, he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. In 1943, Muhammad Ali Bogra became Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister of Bengal, Khawaja Nazimuddin. He was became the Finance and Health Minister in 1946.
After Pakistan came into being, Muhammad Ali Bogra was posted as Ambassador to Burma in 1948, High Commissioner to Canada in 1949, and afterwards as Ambassador to U. S. A. in 1952. On April 17, 1953, he was appointed as Prime Minister of Pakistan after Governor General Ghulam Muhammad dismissed Khawaja Nazimuddin.
Muhammad Ali Bogra was not well known as a politician, though he was renowned as a diplomat. Only three days after his nomination as Prime Minister, the U. S. President Eisenhower ordered thousands of tons of wheat to be shipped to Pakistan. After the Governor General dissolved the Constituent Assembly in 1954, Muhammad Ali Bogra was invited to resume the office of Prime Minister and form a new cabinet call “Ministry of Talents.” He was dismissed by Iskander Mirza, the acting Governor General of Pakistan, and replaced by Chaudhry Muhammad Ali in August 1955. He was again appointed as Ambassador to U. S. A. He died in 1963.
This article was last updated on Sunday, June 01, 2003
