Nurul Amin was a prominent figure in the politics of Bengal. In 1946, when Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy rose to power and became Chief Minister, Nurul Amin was elected as the Speaker of Bengal Assembly. After Pakistan came into being, Nurul Amin was closely associated with Pakistan Muslim League. He was appointed as Chief Minister of East Pakistan from September 1948 to 1952. To a great extent this period is considered to be of sustained political stability.
Thereafter he left Muslim League and made his own party known as the Pakistan Democratic Party. In the general elections held on December 7, 1970, when the Awami League had a sweeping victory winning 160 seats out of 162 in East Pakistan, it was Nurul Amin who won one of the remaining two seats, the other being obtained by Raja Tridib Roy, an independent candidate from the Chittagong Hill Tract.
Nurul Amin was a great patriot, cherishing his love to see a strong and healthy Pakistan. He was deeply aggrieved and agitated at the fall of Dhaka. He was so much dejected and depressed when he observed Yahya along with General Hameed and other generals unaffected by this catastrophe, he said in anguish, “So Dhaka has fallen, and East Pakistan has gone and you are enjoying…”.
On the request of Z. A. Bhutto, General Yahya Khan also designated Nurul Amin as Prime Minister of Pakistan for a short period from December 7 to December 20, 1971, after which Bhutto took over as the civilian Chief Marshal Law Administrator of Pakistan.
He died in 1974.
This article was last updated on Sunday, June 01, 2003
