Khan, Abdur Rashid

Khan, Abdur Rashid (?-1944) politician, publisher. Abdur Rashid Khan was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of calcutta corporation when subhas chandra bose was its Chief Executive Officer, and Chitta ranjan das its Chairman. Born at sonargaon of Narayanganj district. Rashid passed his BA in 1917 and started his career as a publisher at a time when few Muslims were in this profession. He established a publishing house in Calcutta called Bengal Provincial Library. As a Congress activist he joined the non-cooperation movement and the khilafat movement and worked with Nationalist Muslim leaders like abul kalam azad, Mujibur Rahman, mohammad akram khan, wazed ali khan panni and Pir Badsha Mia. He was arrested for his political activities and released in January 1923. As a Bengal Congressite he belonged to CR Das's Swarajya Party and contributed a great deal to forming the Bengal Pact in 1923.

Along with other Swarajists like Mujibur Rahman, huseyn shaheed suhrawardy, Akram Khan, and Muniruzzaman Islamabadi, he launched another organisation under the name of the bengal moslem council party with the immediate aim of contesting elections independent of the Congress. At the end of 1926, he severed relations with the Bengal Provincial Congress and resigned from the Congress Committee in protest against its failure to accommodate Muslim interests. When Abdur Rauf Danapuri and HS Suhrawardy organised the Independent Muslim Party, Rashid became a member of its executive committee. Abdur Rashid Khan was also one of the organisers of the krishak praja party and became the vice president of the KPP Parliamentary Board in the 1937 elections. He was elected to the Bengal Legislative Council in 1940. He died on 1944. [Golam Kibria Bhuiyan]