Justice Mohammad Ibrahim: A Tribute
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Lest We Forget
A Tribute to Justice Ibrahim
By Sayed Kamaluddin
Justice Mohammad Ibrahim was a dignified and a courageous person, who
believed in democracy - a democracy in which the rule of law is
practiced and, transparency as well as accountability are ensured. The
quiet dignity with which he had defied the most powerful man of the
time in the country - self-styled Field Marshal M Ayub Khan - and
resigned from his post of the Law Minister in April 1962 was a
testimony to his courage of conviction.
Son of Alhaj Ghyasuddin Ahmed, Justice Ibrahim was born in 1898 in a
village called Bishnupur under Sadar thana of Faridpur district. His
forefathers served the judicial service of Nawab Alibardy Khan of
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. He matriculated in 1914 from Barisal Zilla
School with scholarship and three gold medals in English, history and
mathematics. Two years later, he passed his Intermediate Science from
Dhaka College in the First Division and with scholarship. He also
obtained his BA with honours in English literature with distinction. He
then began to study MA in mathematics. At this stage his study was
interrupted because of political turmoil in the country.
He joined the non-cooperation movement led by Mohanchand Karamchand
Gandhi as well as the Khilafat Movement under the leadership of Moulana
Mohammad Ali and Moulana Shaokat Ali. This was the time when he
acquired his deep-rooted conviction in secular politics, communal
harmony and human values and dignity. However, this was a short-lived
phenomenon as his close association with the noted intellectual at the
time, Dr Naresh Chandra Sengupta, guided him back to the school to
study law. Dr Sengupta was a well-known litterateur, a noted lawyer,
vice principal of the Dhaka Law College and later also taught law at
the Dhaka University when it was established in 1921.
He practiced law in Faridpur and Dhaka, became district and sessions
judge and later elevated to the benches of the High Court. He retired
from the judicial service in 1956 and politely turned down an offer to
become the Speaker of the National Assembly. However, little while
later he agreed to become the Chairman of Election Tribunal.
Subsequently, he also became the Vice Chancellor of the Dhaka
University.
He was one of the three organisers of the 'Ikhwanul Adab' (literacy
brotherhood), founder president of Bulbul Academy of Fine Arts,
president of the Provincial Boy Scouts Association and founder
president of Dhaka University Old Boys Association. The now famous
British Council library was established at his initiative when he was
the DU Vice Chancellor. He was also a poet, and though not very
regular, he was writing under the pseudonym of Samson.
However, in this connection, two incidents that two well-known
personalities have mentioned in their articles on Justice Ibrahim, need
to be recalled. Last year, A Z M Obaidullah Khan in an article on
Justice Ibrahim pointed out that in the last conference of the DU
Alumni Association where a large number people, including Khan himself,
were present, nobody spared a thought for the founder of the
organisation. Of course, it has done no harm to Justice Ibrahim, but it
certainly did cast a reflection on those who organised the function.
Professor Muhammad Afsaruddin, in an article in the Janakantha a couple
of years ago mentioned an interesting incident that took place when
Justice Ibrahim was working as the Vice Chancellor of the Dhaka
University. He was deeply involved with students' welfare activities.
Once he was having his dinner at his official residence within the
campus, then suddenly a group of students from S M Hall entered the
house shouting slogans. He left his meal and came out to meet them. The
students complained that food being served at the dormitory was not
only of poor quality, but unhealthy as well. The Vice Chancellor was
wearing a 'lungi', but undaunted, accompanied them to the students'
dining hall to see things for himself. He immediately took action
against the persons responsible and soon afterwards, the situation
improved dramatically.
One of the major contributions of Justice Ibrahim as the law minister
was the introduction of the Muslim Family Law Ordinance in 1961. It was
regarded as a progressive law and marked a watershed in the legal
history at that point of time and the Ayub government was widely
acclaimed for that.
Now back to Ayub Khan's constitution making. What was his commitment to
Justice Ibrahim? When asked to join the cabinet, Justice Ibrahim had
set a precondition. Ayub Khan had abrogated the 1956 constitution while
taking over state power in October 1958 and after consolidating his
position, was toying with the idea of giving the country a new
constitution. So he needed someone to draft it. It should be a
democratic and secular constitution, was Justice Ibrahim's condition.
Agreed, pat came the reply without giving it a second thought. All Ayub
was interested in was roping in Justice Ibrahim by means fair or foul,
which becomes a second nature to the deceitful autocrats.
His differences with Ayub Khan sharpened on constitutional issues as
the late dictator was progressively moving towards proclaiming Basic
Democracy system, which he had described as "suitable to the genius of
the people." His firm belief on the question of legitimate democratic
rights of the people of the then East Pakistan stood on his way to
remain a part of the government that was determined to deny the same.
What had actually prompted him to resign after serving nearly three and
a half years as the country's law minister? Altaf Gauhar, a former
Pakistani information secretary who, as a close aide of the late
President Ayub Khan, played an important role during the period. Gauhar
has written several books on contemporary Pakistani politics. One such
book, entitled "Ayub Khan: Pakistan's First Military Ruler" has
reflected the political scenario of the period as he saw it. However, I
would like to quote a few relevant paragraphs from the book that tend
to suggest what had actually led to Justice Ibrahim's resignation from
Ayub's cabinet.
The chapter, "Search for legitimacy" of the book quoted Justice Ibrahim
as saying: "The first and foremost thing is the solidarity and strength
of Pakistan..... But solidarity depends on the willing consent of the
people to live together. These things are fundamental and must be
secured and safeguarded. In order to do that it is essential that there
should not be mutual suspicion, distrust, fear of domination and wide
economic inequality between the East and the West."
Gauhar then says: "He (Justice Ibrahim) referred to the widening
economic gap between the two wings and recommended that 'the
responsibility for the economic development should be cast respectively
on the provinces themselves and for that end each province should be
recognised as a separate economic entity.' 'This is sound', was Manzur
Qadir's chairman, Cabinet sub-committee comment on this suggestion, but
Ibrabim's next suggestion that 'the central government should have only
Defence, Foreign Affairs, Inter-Wing Communications and Currency; all
the remaining subjects should be the concern and responsibility of the
provinces' was dismissed by Manzur Qadir as unsound." Ibrahim then made
a recommendation which have appeared outrageous, if not treasonable:
"As regards the provincial subjects the provincial Constitution may be
made by the President in consultation with representatives of the
respective provinces."
"Was the Law Minister contemplating one Constitution for the centre and
another for the provinces?" the author himself put a question mark in
his book. Then he goes on: "Neither Ayub nor Manzur Qadir made any
comment on this. Ibrahim proceeded to demand that 'there must be some
law or convention that the post of President and Vice-President shall
rotate between the two wings alternately.' He also asked for equal
representation for the two provinces in the central cabinet, and wanted
the permanent seat of the central legislature to be located in Dhaka."
Gauhar, however, truthfully mentioned that he (Justice Ibrahim) "having
stated his point of view, studiously avoided taking any part in the
deliberations of the government" and it was during this period of time
that he mostly stayed quietly at his Purana Paltan residence. This was
also the period when he was actively involved in the formation of the
Combined Opposition Party (COP), a loosely form of conglomeration with
a number of political parties which refused to join the Ayub bandwagon.
What Gauhar had quoted him as saying more than half a decade before the
Six-point programme was actually launched, was, indeed, an extremely
courageous stand taken at a time when any difference of opinion with
the government of the day was being construed as 'anti-state'. The fact
that being anti-establishment does not necessarily means anti-state did
not occur to the then ruling elite. He left for his heavenly abode on
13 October 1966, a few months after the six-point programme was
announced, which had incorporated many of the points he mentioned in
his observations to Ayub Khan. [The Daily Star,Oct. 13, 1999]
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