Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani (1880-1976) was a Muslim leader who used non-violent, mass civil disobedience techniques to promote nationalism in Assam, Bengal, and Bangladesh in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent.

A catalyst of Muslim nationalism, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani did for the masses of the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent what Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi accomplished for the teeming down-trodden people of north, central, and south India. Unswerving in his belief in God and human dignity, Bhashani crusaded, at times singlehandedly, against the vested interests in Assam, Bengal, and later Bangladesh in favor of the deprived--landless peasants, workers, and hapless migrants.

Like Gandhi, Bhashani succeeded in institutionalizing political dissent and making opposition politics viable and respected. Also like Gandhi, he never accepted any position in government although he was elected to Assam, Bengal, and East Bengal assemblies and was himself the founder of the...