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Muhammad Ali Bogra
Muhammad Ali Bogra (1909 - 1963) was a Pakistani statesman of Bengali origin, who served as Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1953 until 1955.
Born at Bogra to a family descended from the Nawabs of Bengal, he attended Calcutta University and followed his education with a career in politics. In 1937 he began to receive prominence when he was elected to the assembly of Bengal. He would move up within the government of Bengal, serving under Khawaja Nazimuddin as the Health Minister.
Upon the formation of Pakistan in 1947, Bogra was put into the foreign service, and served in Burma, Canada, and eventually as ambassador to the United States.
In 1953, he was selected by Governor General of Pakistan Ghulam Muhammad to replace Khawaja Nazimuddin as the Prime Minister. While Bogra was familiar with Nazimuddin, most of Pakistan was not, as Bogra was a relative unknown to the national political scene of that time. As Prime Minister, he set out to form a constitution.
In order to complete this, he outlined the "Bogra Formula" that sought to form a bicameral legislature. An Upper House would have contained 50 seats, with 10 from East Pakistan and 40 from West Pakistan. A Lower House would have contained 300 seats. The lower house seats would be determined by population of province, and East Pakistan would have 165 seats, while the four provinces of West Pakistan would have a combined 135 seats, but would be split among the provinces. A provision was also put in place that stated that if the President of Pakistan were from West Pakistan, then the Prime Minister would have to be from East Pakistan, and vice-versa. The plan was very popular, but was killed when Ghulam Muhammad dissolved the Pakistani Assembly later in 1953.
Bogra would be removed from office in 1955 by the new Governor General, Iskander Mirza. He would return to his post as ambassador to the United States. In 1962 he became the foreign minister of Pakistan, until his death in 1963. He was buried in his hometown of Bogra.
See also
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