Justice Murshed: The national inspiration

I met Justice Murshed in his twilight years when he had become frail and ailing, yet one could notice his greatness and the respect he commanded. Having been introduced by late Shamsur Rahman as a young poet, whenever I went to see him he would recite poetry whether it was from Tagore, Tennyson, Keats, Shelly or Sufi poets like lqbal, Hafiz or Sheikh Sadi. Justice Murshed was very versatile in his knowledge of poems among many other things. Yet today, after four decades plus of Murshed's death, I find his recited verses still mesmerising me. It is difficult for me to put into words the feelings evoked by these recitations and the memory of the extraordinarily brilliant man.
Syed Mahbub Murshed was undoubtedly among the most striking public figures that appeared on our national scene. Born In 1911 perhaps in one of the most distinguished families of Muslim Bengal, he had shown signs of his vastly talented abilities from an early age. Late playwright and litterateur Prof Nurul Momen recalled in his essay Precocity the youthful Murshed during his Presidency College days at Calcutta. The great expectations he had aroused among his contemporaries were subsequently materialised. After a brilliant academic career both in the Subcontinent and in England, Syed Mahbub Murshed began his life career as a lawyer in the late thirties of the last century, where he soon made his mark in the Calcutta Bar. His attachment to the Bar and to members of the legal profession lasted till the end of his days. Later on in life, while serving as a Chief Justice in the bench, he would talk nostalgically about the Bar.
His affection for people of his profession was deep. During his farewell speech from the bench after his premature retirement or resignation as Chief Justice while addressing the Bar to a standing ovation, Murshed concluded his speech by stating, "I salute you - you who were my erstwhile comrades, the members of the Bar."
Later in 1954 Mahbub Murshed was elevated to the bench of the High Court of the Eastern wing at Dhaka. As a judge, Justice Murshed remained committed to his lifelong ideals of liberty, justice and excellence. His Judicial pronouncements, delivered as a High Court Judge and briefly in the Supreme Court and then as Chief Justice clearly reflected these ideals. Some of Justice Murshed's judgements created constitutional history and not only won him national fame but also international acclaim. He will always be remembered in history for fearlessly upholding the rule of law. He remained a reflection of courage despite pressures from the highest quarters. As Chief Justice he stated, "It is not the use but the abuse of Power that the Courts are meant to readdress." Hence, he will remain a Titan in the Judicial arena of South Asia for his landmark judgements. Not being a lawyer, I will not comment more, except I am told that Chief Justice Murshed is among the finest treatises in legal history and vastly quoted as references by lawyers not only in his native Bangladesh but also in other SAARC countries like Pakistan and India.
I would like to point out some other examples of Murshed's social, cultural and political activities. A master in oratory, Murshed would hold his audience spellbound whether delivering a written speech or speaking extempore.
Being a humanitarian throughout his life, the famine that gripped Bengal in the early forties of the last century and the communal riots in 1946 moved him to re-found the Anguman Mofidul Islam. As a sitting Judge in the fifties he worked relentlessly as Chairman of the Red Cross.
Murshed also fought for our cultural freedom as he organised Tagore Century all over in what is now Bangladesh, despite the obstacles he faced from the then Pakistani military leadership. In the political arena Murshed will remain unparalleled. As a young Barrister in 1942 Murshed's article criticising Mr Jinnah and defending his uncle Mr Fazlul Haque that appeared in the Statesman of Calcutta created a stir in Bengal. After the partition of the Subcontinent in 1947 due to communal violence that spread, Murshed was among the persons who put to motion the process that culminated in the Nehru-Liaquat pact. He was drawn into the vortex of the language movement and along with his uncle Shera Bangla broke Section 144 in 1952. In early 1954, just before becoming a Judge, Murshed along with Abul Mansoor Ahmed drafted the Manifesto for the Jukta Front government led by his uncle.
Again it was these two that put the final varnish to the six points, for which Sheikh Mujib fought and also was jailed. In the same year in 1966 no one dared but Chief Justice Murshed to chair annual conference of Chhatra League where Murshed also like Sk Mujib gave a clarion call for provisional autonomy. On
his resignation as Chief Justice, among the first things what Murshed did was to organise the defence of the Agartala Conspiracy case. It is mainly on account of him that SK MUjib did not have to come out on parole and all others were set free unconditionally. Murshed's active participation in the mass upsurge in 1969 further earned him respect. It was his protest resignation as Chief Justice that the people of both wings felt he was the only acceptable candidate to run against President Ayub. The agitation that Justice Murshed created with the then High Court Bar on account of the constitutional hiatus that prevailed went to such an extreme level that no judge was willing to administer oath to Gen Tikka Khan, the Governor-designate in March 1971. His refusal to collaborate with the Pakistani military authorities during our war of liberation is also recorded. Another significant matter was during the Roundtable Conference while President Ayub was virtually on his knees and in addition to the dissolution of the one unit in the western wing, Justice Murshed demanded one man, one vote. Prior to this, in the National Assembly, there was a parity of 150 seats each for both the eastern and western wings. Since Murshed's 'one man, one vote' was accepted, the eastern wing got 169 out of 300 seats. Thus he cleared the path that whoever won the majority in the eastern wing would form the national government.
In 1977 he advised late Ziaur Rahman to form what is now SAARC in the only meeting that they had. Hence Justice Murshed is living in history. I can only conclude by saying about him referring to the same passage he said about his uncle Sher-e-Bangla, "In life and in death, he was a king without the trappings of a monarch, for he had built an empire in the hearts of his fellow men."

K Sallahuddin is a retired official of Radio Bangladesh and a poet. He is also secretary of the Syed Mahbub Murshed Memorial Committee.
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