As a member of the country's first Constituent Assembly, Husain served on Muhammad Ali Jinnah's parliamentary committee for fundamental rights and minorities. After becoming federal minister under Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin, he refused to rejoin the cabinet when Governor-GeneralGhulam Muhammaddismissed the Nazimuddin ministry. He played a key role in authoring the draft Constitution of 1954, but quit politics in protest when the assembly was dissolved before it was passed.
Husain attended Islamia High School, Etawah and Aligarh Government High School. He was part of the first batch of students to be admitted into the newly established Jamia Milia Islamia, where he was heavily influenced by the ideas of Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar. He received his PhD from the University of Heidelberg in Germany in 1932.
Unlike his brother Zakir Husain, Mahmud Husain had been a strong proponent of the Pakistan Movement, and catalysed support for Pakistan among students in East Bengal and at Dhaka University. On Direct Action Day in 1946, Husain was charged with leading the pro-Pakistan rally in Dhaka.[7]
Member of the Constituent Assembly
He was elected Member of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan from East Bengal on the platform of Muslim League,[8] and also elected Secretary of the Muslim League's Parliamentary Group. He was included by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in the Basic Principles Committee, the main parliamentary group charged with drafting the underlying principles of the Constitution of Pakistan. He also served on the committee of minorities and fundamental rights.
Liaquat ministry
Husain was appointed both Deputy Minister for Defense and Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Liaquat in 1949, before becoming State Minister for State and Frontier Regions a year later.[4] He was appointed chairman of the five-member Balochistan Reforms Committee by Liaquat on 4 October 1950; the committee submitted its report to the assembly after extensive tours of the province. It proposed provincial autonomy and raising Balochistan to the status of Governor's province, the introduction of adult franchise and local bodies, and greater provincial autonomy. Termed a 'remarkable document',[9] it was opposed by the centre. Following the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, Khawaja Nazimuddin assumed the post of prime minister.
After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Husain, inspired by the old Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India, played a key role in establishing an educational society, Majlis-i-Taleem-i-Milli Pakistan, in 1948, which served as the parent body of the Jamia Millia Educational Complex located in Malir, Karachi. In 1947, he was one of the pioneers in establishing Department of International Relations in University of Dhaka, the first IR department in any South Asian Universities. [11] Later in the early 1950s, many educational institutions were built at this Malir educational complex.[11] He joined Karachi University as its first professor of international relations and history. He also began the faculties of journalism and library science, the first in Pakistan.[12] Husain also laid the foundation of the Library Association in 1957 and served as its president for fifteen years.
Husain taught as visiting professor at his alma mater Heidelberg University (1963–64), Columbia University (1964–65) and University of Pennsylvania (1965–66).[4]
Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University
Husain returned to academia in 1954, after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly.[1] Aa known supporter of greater rights for East Pakistan, he was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Dacca in 1960.[1] During his tenure, Husain refused government requests to intervene in mass student protests against President Ayub Khan and martial law, culminating in his resignation on 12 February 1963.[2] During and after his tenure, he became a vocal critic of the government's handling of East Pakistan, and urged integration. He strongly opposed the army operation in East Pakistan in 1971 but to no avail.
Vice-Chancellor of Karachi University
In 1966, Husain went back to the University of Karachi as professor of history and worked there as the dean of its Faculty of Arts until 1971. He served as vice-chancellor of the University of Karachi from 1971 to 1975.[1][13] He died while serving as vice-chancellor on 12 April 1975.
Works
Husain was fluent in Urdu, English, German, and Persian, writing primarily in the Urdu language. His Urdu translations are Mahida-i-Imrani (1935) from Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Social Contract, and Badshah (1947), a translation of Machiavelli's The Prince. His other books include The Quest for an Empire (1937), and Fatah-i-Mujahideen (1950), an Urdu translation of Zainul Abideen Shustri's Persian treatise on Tipu Sultan.[1] He was also editor of the A History of the Freedom Movement.
His best-known work is his English translation of Tipu's diaries from the original Persian, The Dreams of Tipu Sultan.
Mahmud Husain Library: On 12 April 1976, a year after his death, the Karachi University Syndicate renamed the Karachi University Library as the Dr. Mahmud Husain Library by unanimous resolution.[15][16]
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