Prem Hari Barma

Prem Hari Barma (Bengali: প্রেমহরি বর্মন) was a Bengali politician, and former leader of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in Dinajpur, East Bengal.

Biography

Barma was born to a Hindu family in Dinajpur, Bengal Presidency. He was the first lawyer from a Scheduled Castes and Tribes background. In 1936, Barma was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly from Dinajpur. He became a minister at the Bengal Legislative Council in 1942. During the 1946 Bengal Legislative Assembly election, he successfully won, representing the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in partnership with the Muslim League.^[1] The following year, he became a member of the 1st National Assembly of Pakistan.^[2] He advocated for a secular constitution of Pakistan.^[3]

^ "Dinajpur District Portal". দিনাজপুর জেলা প্রশাসন. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
^ Möller, Ulrika; Schierenbeck, Isabell (2014). Political Leadership, Nascent Statehood and Democracy: A comparative study. Routledge. p. 80. ISBN 978-1-317-67310-1.
^ Saeed, Sadia (2016). Politics of Desecularization: Law and the Minority Question in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-14003-5. Retrieved 26 April 2020.