Political Life

Versatile Political leader in the Provincial Assembly and outside

Major A Gani was a multi-dimensional leader and a statesman who did not bow to pressure. He was a rebel in uniform because he would not tolerate any mistreatment by the Pakistani trainers training the East Bengal Regimental Troops. It may be mentioned here that the Pioneer Troops were of young age, and they needed training in line with infantry institutions. So, for the comfort loving rural youths the training was tough and the treatment was too. He was a keen observer of the way the recruits whom he was scavenging out of rural Bangladesh were treated. Even his own compatriots Bengali Officers saw it as interference in their affairs.

Shedding his Uniform

Events led to such a pass that he was denied a commission in the Pakistan Army, yet he had to work on the perimeter of the regiment. Pakistan authority was aware of his abilities and always assessed him as a threat to their selves in East Pakistan, so it was better that he remained in uniform within the bounds of Military Law.  The constant movements across most of the part of the countryside for recruitment took a toll on his health but his mind was focused on some other dimension which only his very inner circle knew.

Invalidment

Towards the beginning of 1953 he was afflicted with serious breathing issues and was admitted to CMH. So the doctors diagnosed it as bronchial asthma and  it was difficult for him to carry out normal day to day service activities and he was downgraded to lower physical status repeatedly and finally a medical board convened to declare him medically invalid to perform his duties. Finally on 6^th November 1953 he got his letter of invalidment and shed his so beloved uniform. Usually after such a turmoiled career one is led to let himself loose and take off to some sedentary vacation to emotionally recover from the treatment he received from the authority.

But for him it seemed a new beginning a new challenge for which he was watiting. He did not raise any issue with the government on his entitlements like pension benefits, which are usually handed over as soon as a person leave the service. But in his case the government took a year to decide his fate and then after repeated persuasion he received a letter stating that his disease for discharge was not attributed to military service. This means he will not get disability pension but can claim one time gratuity.  Soon he received his letter left Dhaka and went home to his family to declare that finally he was free from the bondage of military life and could do whatever his heart felt. His heart was in the masses who only knew his dash and push to achieve anything for them.  The elections for the Provincial Assembly were in the offing and he did not hesitate to declare himself as a candidate with the symbol of umbrella the symbol of shade.

Contesting in provincial assembly election – January 1954

He retired from service in 1953 and entered the political arena at the age of 35. Major Abdul Ghani did not join that party any party to start with. He was also requested many times to join the Nezam Islam Party. But he did not join Nezam Islam Party as it joined the newly formed United Front with Awami Muslim League. He did not have much personal respect for Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy. Before the formation of the Islam League, he sought the nomination of the Muslim League in the 1954 elections, but it was not given to him. When the United Front wanted to nominate him, he himself rejected it.

So, in the 1954 East Pakistan Provincial Legislative Council elections, he contested as an independent member from Comilla's Burichong-Brakshanpra constituency, Major Abdul Ghani, who had just entered politics, defeated the ruling Muslim League candidate Prof. Sikander Ali Bhuiyan and the United Front nominated candidate Prof. Mofizul Islam. He got four thousand more votes than Professor Mofizul Islam.

Short Break from Politics – Startup of business to keep his election pledge of solving unemployment.

Building up a business concern to do his part in solving unemployment problem. Immediately after the elections his main concern centred around solving the issues of unemployment.  A friend of him who happened to be the GM of Karnaphuli Paper mill advised him to start business to take up the contract of supplying bamboos to the mill as it was being commissioned. He did not lose any time in deciding to take up the offer and there could be no one better than Captain Ghani who could handle such a massive undertaking. Considering his experience in the war he recruited a large number of labourers from his own area and moved to Farua an enclave in the Kaptai region of Chittagong in mid-1954 and started mobilising his resources for extraction of bamboo from the forest and despatching through Karnaphuli river to the mill. His innovations led to development of the system of easy transportation of bamboos to the mill. He took the whole year to organize the labour camp and the manpower to carry on with the project work of Jungle Pioneers, the company he named.  He has been shuttling between Chittagong Hill Tracts and his home for couple of months as the demand for raw materials increased so he had to employ more people.

Participating in the Assembly proceedings and other activities for improving the general condition.

One could say that a young person as he was where he got so much  zeal and energy to work and the thoughts on the national development left people puzzled.

Assembly speech on resettlement of Ex Service Personnel – 29 March

This Meeting of Ex-servicemen of East Pakistan views with grave concern the unsympathetic attitude of the Government of East Pakistan to ameliorate the disturbed conditions of the Ex-servicemen of the Province, which directly affected the morale and efficiency of the fighting forced and ultimately affects future recruitment in the defence forces and, therefore resolves

He was an active participant in the proceedings and contributed a lot to the political, social, economic and security of the country, including the discriminatory treatment of East Pakistan by the Central Government. Even when speaking at global forums, he made no attempt to express his unequivocal views.

He was very concerned about the country's defence and as usual relentlessly proposed training, militarization, setting up of defence industries in the then East Pakistan. 2nd March 1957

"I want to bring to the attention of the Prime Minister through you that our country is now independent. Everyone needs military training and should be provided with facilities for it. General Cadet School is required for military training. I request the Prime Minister to pay attention to this. Every high school curriculum should include military training. It is essential for national defence and will be given top priority.”

As a result of his inspiration to the highest levels of administration, the first cadet college was established in Chittagong to train potential leaders of the country. The then East Pakistan Ordnance Factory was started in Gazipur, a small town near Dhaka city

As a politician he showed his statesmanship as an independent member of the legislature in the politics of the country in his speech in the Provincial Assembly on 3 March 1957.

He strongly emphasized the need for a stable government and a sound administrative system for any development programme. He criticized the Awami League government's failure to solve the problem and alleged that the ministers were touring the country with 4-5 offices and no work would support him. "In my opinion, anyone who is in charge of the minister is a qualified person.

In such a small frame it is not possible to do justice to a sketch of the life of Mej Goni. I am trying to establish the fact that he was a 'rebel' against oppressive institutions and did not hesitate to point them out to the Central and Provincial Governments.

Reiterating the importance of political stability, he warned the opposition not to rejoice over the resignation of 9 members from the assembly as the resignation could lead to confusion and public unrest at this point. He is from the United States.

"The resignation of 9 members from Awami League today has made many happy. This is not something to be happy about but it has created confusion. We want a government with a strong party. What will happen if Awami League collapses?

Regarding the food crisis "The food crisis has reached an alarming proportion and will have dire consequences if nothing is done."

Civil Defence is vital and that is why to-day Civil Defence just as much as part of country’s defence system as the Army, The Navy and the Air Force.

               We are now an independent nation. We have a very strong military Force and we are proud of it. We must also make our home front a strong citadel and must therefore have a strong Civil Defence in the country. As other nations of the world we are all peace loving and we want to maintain peace under all provocations. It is time for preparation and we must make preparations from now.      

               Civil Defence was given a start in this part of the country in about the year 1951. Four years have since gone by. The existence of this organisation is felt once a year when a so- called Civil Defence week is observed. Otherwise the organization for all practical purposes dead. We do not see any CD personnel moving about with F.A. cars or rescue Lorries. We do not witness any practice exercise organization, nor do we hear about black-outs.

               There are two schools here- one is managed by the central Government and the other by the provincial Govt. They are just working in stereotyped holding glasses, having tests and declaring results in civil Defence. The staff of the school can go out to the various towns, organise mobile training centre, create interest in the public and devise other ways how to popularize training in civil defence. The bare skeleton staff now employed cannot do full justice to their job as they cannot organise services fully for want of equipment. It is not known why equipment are not being procured from now when many items are not available in the country at all.

On 13 March 1957 he proposed to pass an emergency resolution in the Assembly for the reorganization of the Civil Service and the separation of the Judiciary. (Attached as Annexure VI). The resolution states:

“1. The East Pakistan Junior Civil Service will be merged with the East Pakistan Civil Service (Executive) with a view to improving the general administration of the county and accelerating the transition from executive to judicial.

2. In order to achieve parity in central jobs, the Central Government will promptly undertake to fill up fifty percent of the vacancies in the Pakistan Civil Service and Pakistan Foreign Service cadres by suitable members of the East Pakistan Civil Service.

3. All offices under the Provincial Government shall be held only by members of the Provincial Service and officers appointed by the Central Government. Only central issues will be used for management and steps to amend the Constitution will be taken accordingly."

Such a proposal to arrange and reform the entire administration of a country could only come from a highly learned, responsible and a pure politician and he was one.

April 1957 in Rawalpindi, West Pakistan, he emphasized the reasons for miseries in East Pakistan  and asked for mitigation. (Scan copy of statement attached as Annexure VII) He went to the State.

"Information can never lie or win by pretending". Some people can be fooled all the time, and some people can't be fooled all the time, as the saying goes. I would like to draw the attention of both Central and Provincial Governments to some important factors which are partly/directly responsible for the economic crisis in East Pakistan. Only the government can be blamed for this and no one else. East Pakistan overpopulation and excessive pressure on land resulted in severe unemployment among all classes of people… also another cause of political and economic instability.

During the Second World War the undivided Government of India acquired several lakhs of acres of land for various purposes of defence forces operations in East Pakistan... Compensation arising from the land... 7 to 8 crore rupees. It is regrettably noted that the Government of Pakistan has not yet taken any effective action to pay any compensation owed to the landowners.

. Here, I would like to mention that many families have been destroyed and all their lands have been acquired and the compensation has not been fully paid. It will not be out of place to mention here that unfortunately our popular government of East Pakistan can also be accused of dereliction of duty towards the poor people from whom they derive power.”

Little is known about his rhetoric and his feelings about world peace. He attended the World Veterans Conference held in Berlin from 28th October to 1st November 1957.

Little is known about his rhetoric and his feelings about world peace. He was selected to participate in the World Veterans Conference held in Berlin from 28th October to 1st November 1957 (Instructions from Ministry of Défense of Pakistan attached as Annexure VIII). Heading the delegation to the conference, he spoke eloquently on world peace and stability (Address to the Veterans of World Veterans Conference November, 1957

“On behalf of the veterans of Pakistan, I am very happy to salute the veterans of the world. As I speak to you today, I represent millions of veterans of Pakistan who have seen and weathered conflicts and storms on the battlefield, deep seas and blue skies. Memories come thick and fast as we remember our many comrades-in-arms who gave their all for their country, people and ideals…

Whatever may be man's political antecedents and background, he will always be what he is, a social and political animal, aspiring and striving for security and happiness, and that which our days and years past, and indeed the elders of all time, have done was to fight. Their war and war for peace… In other words I want to emphasize that if there is a struggle to establish and sustain peace, a new war has to be fought, a fight between the forces of democracy and authoritarianism.

About world peace he said, “Veterans of the world as one of you... have fought well in the past but the future is yet to be fought and secured. Let us hope that, despite the bitter disillusionment of the past, mankind will not repeat the follies of the past, that peaceful persuasion should make for the rule of reason throughout the world, and that our brothers and sons should not shed their blood at the call. Armageddon.

Regarding the root of world economic distress, he said, “Economic causes of want, misery and envy must be unearthed and removed, just as we agree on the root causes of the malaise in the world today. Just as personal greed and jealousy arise from such causes, so in the international sphere, international and inter-state strife and strife are often similarly motivated.

I am proud to finish as a veteran... Speaking on behalf of the overwhelming majority of his country's fellow veterans and his countrymen, we reaffirm our belief in peace and happiness in this part of the world as a realizable aspiration and also to always work to achieve it. Our determination, thereby we hope to fulfil the ideals cherished by all.

Such words of wisdom and statesmanship from a man can only attest to his innate quality of leadership. The qualities he displayed in his earlier life to carry on throughout his career were also revealed when he spoke at a global forum. He died of a heart attack on 11 November 1957 in Berlin, where he was leading the Pakistani delegation to the World Veterans Conference (an organization of ex-soldiers). He was buried in Comilla Cantonment.