Osman Ali Sadagar
{{Short description|Assam politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = Sheikh
| name = Osman Ali Sadagar
| office3 = Member of the 1st Assam Legislative Assembly
| constituency3 = Nagaon
| termstart3 = 19 January 1937
| termend3 = 1946
| birth_place = Bengal Presidency
| birth_date = 1856
| death_place = Assam, Dominion of India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1948|4|28|1856|df=y}}
}}
Sheikh Osman Ali Sadagar ({{langx|as|শেখ ওছমান আলী সদাগৰ}}, {{langx|bn|শেখ ওছমান আলী সওদাগর}}; 1856 – 28 April 1948) was a politician, cultivator and educationist. He served as a member of the inaugural Assam Legislative Assembly,{{cite web|work=Two Circles|date=10 October 2011|author=Ahmed, Dr. Syed|title=Remembering Sir Syed Muhammad Saadulla, the first Premier of Assam|url=https://twocircles.net/2011oct10/remembering_sir_syed_muhammad_saadulla_first_premier_assam.html}} and opposed the integration of Assam into the Dominion of Pakistan. Sadagar is considered to be a pioneer of the cultural and linguistic Assamisation of the Miya community.{{cite news|url=https://www.sahapedia.org/when-muslim-worships-tree-syncretic-islam-char-chaporis-assam|work=Sahapedia|date=27 November 2019|title=When a Muslim Worships a Tree: Syncretic Islam of the Char Chaporis of Assam|author=Hussain, Muhammad Shalim Muktadir}} The Chor Chapori Literary Council named the Osman Ali Sadagar Honorary Award in his memory.
Early life and migration
Sadagar was born into a Bengali Muslim family in the Bengal Presidency.
Career
In 1885, he migrated to Alitangani in Nowgong, Assam with the help of his uncle, Nazrul Ali. Ali worked in the steam ships that flowed through the rivers of Bengal and Assam at the time.{{cite news|work=Scroll.in|title=Readers' comments on #MeToo: It's sad when those who espouse women's rights turn out to be harassers: NRC debate|date=12 October 2018|author=Ahmed, Hafiz}} He participated in the Battle of Patharughat of 1894 where he was injured.{{cite news|url=https://assamtribune.com/govt-yet-to-recognise-riverine-peoples-contributions|work=Assam Tribune|title=Govt yet to recognise riverine people's contributions|date=14 August 2010|location=Guwahati}}
In 1902, Sadagar founded a primary school in Alitangani, Nowgong. According to doctoral researcher Hafiz Ahmed,{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/suave-english-speaking-muslim-lawyer-spared-the-rod-in-assams-riot-hit-hotbed/articleshow/16244948.cms|work=The Times of India|location=Gossaigaon, Kokrajhar district|title=Suave English-speaking Muslim lawyer spared the rod in Assam|author=Mitra, Naresh|date=4 September 2012}} the school was the second Assamese-medium institution from the Bengal-origin Muslim migrant community of Assam.{{cite news|url=https://countercurrents.org/2021/11/assam-discourse-of-disinheritance/|date=6 November 2021|title=Assam: Discourse of Disinheritance|author=Gohain, Hiren|work=Countercurrents.org}} Sadagar was also a member of the Asam Sahitya Sabha,{{cite news|url=https://shuddhashar.com/from-citizen-to-termite-the-case-of-the-bangladeshis-in-assam-yasmin-saikia|title=From Citizen to Termite: The Case of the "Bangladeshis" in Assam: Integration and Disintegration of the Muslims (The "Assam Agitation" and Beyond)|date=1 June 2019|work=Shuddh Ashar|author=Saikia, Yasmin}} partaking in its inaugural 1917 session where he donated 10 British Indian rupees (today equivalent to 130 American dollars) to it.{{cite book|title=People's Peace: Prospects for a Human Future|editor2=Haines, Chad|publisher=Syracuse University Press|date=15 November 2019|page=328|editor1=Saikia, Yasmin}}
He independently contested in the first Assam legislative elections in 1937, and was successfully elected as a member of the Assam Legislative Assembly from the Nagaon constituency. In the politics of Assam, Sadagar opposed both ethnic Assamese politician Muhammed Saadulah and the ethnic Bengali politician Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani. He later left the All-India Muslim League entirely.{{cite book|title=Political History of Assam: 1940-1947|page=252|year=1999|publisher=Department for the Preparation of Political History of Assam (Government of Assam)|editor=Barpujari, H. K.}} Under his leadership, five independent Muslim politicians represented themselves in the assembly, who all opposed the Muslim League's plans to integrate Assam into the Dominion of Pakistan.{{cite news|url=https://thewire.in/rights/debate-miyah-identity-and-language|work=The Wire (India)|author=Gohain, Hiren|title=Debate: Miyah Identity and Language|date=19 August 2019}}
Death and legacy
Sadagar died in Assam. His son, Abdul Shahid, was also a politician.{{cite journal|journal=The Assam Gazette}} In 2019, false NRC claims were made against his descendants.{{cite news|title=অসমক পাকিস্তানত চামিলৰ বিৰোধিতা কৰা বিধায়কৰ পৰিয়াললৈ জাননী জাৰি|url=https://dainikagradoot.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/1-page-5-May.pdf|work=Dainik Agradoot|language=as|pages=1, 10|date=5 May 2019|location=Nagaon|trans-title=Notice disclosed to the family of an MLA who opposed the integration of Assam into Pakistan}} Among those that defended them was the Leader of the Opposition Debabrata Saikia.{{cite web|url=https://cjp.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/08-05-2019-statement-on-harassment-of-minority-citizens-E.pdf|title=Statement|author=Saikia, Shri Debabrata|website=Citizens for Justice and Peace|date=8 May 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://cjp.org.in/exclusive-people-forced-to-file-false-nrc-objections-in-assam|website=Citizens for Justice and Peace|date=9 May 2019|author=Ali, Zamser|title=EXCLUSIVE! People forced to file False NRC Objections in Assam}}{{cite news|title=The fire in Assam for NRC|work=APN News|url=https://www.apnnews.com/the-fire-in-assam-for-nrc/|author=Goswami, Bhupen|date=13 May 2019}}
References
{{Reflist}}
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Category:People from Nagaon district
Category:20th-century Bengalis
Category:19th-century Bengalis
Category:20th-century Indian Muslims