Abstract

Bhasani was born in 1885, two decades after the famous Indian revolt of 1857. Following the revolt, in the tumultuous political arena of South Asia many notable politicians emerged. One of these was Mawlana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, best known as Bhasani. As a religious seer-wise person and holy person, with a number of loyal followers and devotees, he had two over-lapping groups of followers--those who responded to him as a pir (a religious mystic) and those who responded to his political positions. Political observers and academicians in the South Asian subcontinent have repeatedly claimed that Bhasani was a "Communist," a "fundamentalist," and that he had "no direction in politics." This research examines the socio-political contexts of Assam, Pakistan and Bangladesh within which Bhasani worked, and discovers that, contrary to the claims, Bhasani used a model of Islamic liberal ideas. The research findings suggest that Bhasani's religious perspective is present in several ways: (a) in his sense of calling--as a kind of mystic; (b) in his vision of a human community not rent by divisions and oppression; (c) in the Islamic rhetoric of his discourse; and (d) in his sense of being called upon to respond to contemporary exigencies. This latter feature seems especially important. He acted in ways that were principled and consistent with rubúbiyah : the Sufi-inspired views of the unity of being, simple living, and serving humanity as a religious duty. As a political leader, his lifestyle of a Bengali peasant was not a result of his destiny, but of his choice and his use of religion in politics suggests that he was a complex figure.