| শিরোনাম | সূত্র | তারিখ |
|---|---|---|
| আওয়ামী মুসলিম লীগ থেকে আওয়ামী লীগ | পাকিস্তান অবজারভার | ২৪শে অক্টোবর, ১৯৫৫ |
Awami League open to non-Muslims non-denominational move accepted by
over-all majority
(By Staff Reporter)
The six-year old all-Pakistan Political Party, the ‘Awami League’ chose to become non-denominational in character when the full session of its council yesterday accepted the recommendation of the subject committee and decided to drop the word ‘Muslim’ from its title, throwing the organisation open to membership of all sects and communities in Pakistan.
The amendment to the organization’s constitution........... was moved by its President Mr. H. S. Suhrawardy.
Both he and Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, who presided are understood to have made impassioned appeals to the councilors to realize that it was only fair to allow the members of the minority communities to exercise their just right to partake in the Political life of the country and that it was only when such opportunities were available to them, would they be able to give that loyalty to Pakistan which every citizen of a country was expected to give.
Moulana Bhasani’s address to the Councilors in understood to have been so convincing and moving that the element of opposition to the proposal, which was there earlier, practically disappeared and in a house of about six hundred councilors there were only five to vote against the proposal.
When the fateful decision of the party was taken, the councilors’ meeting in the Rupmahal Cinema Hall, burst into enthusiastic slogans of Shaheed Bhasani Zindabad, Hindu-Muslim Bhai-Bhai.
This is the first time a Political Party, dominated by Muslims and of considerable significance in the Political life of the country, has decided to throw its doors open to members of all communities residing in Pakistan.
The Party will now be known as “East Pakistan Awami League” and any citizen of Pakistan, above 18 years of age, who signs a pledge of allegiance to the aims and objects of the organisation and pays its membership fee is now eligible for its membership.
On Friday when the proposal for the fundamental change on the character of the organisation was being debated in the Subject Committee and influential sections were reported to have been opposed to be moved on grounds of inopportune timing; it was not certain which way the votes would go. Moulana Bhasani who during the Subject Committee meeting was resting in an anti-room in the Awami League Office, was still the most powerful influence.
