Heroes of Pakistan
Founder of Pakistan( Quaid - i - Azam)
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's achievement as the founder of Pakistan, dominates everything else he did in his long and crowded public life spanning some 42 years. Yet, by any standard, his was an eventful life, his personality multidimensional and his achievements in other fields were many, if not equally great. Indeed, several were the roles he had played with distinction: at one time or another, he was one of the greatest legal luminaries India had produced during the first half of the century, an `ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, a great constitutionalist, a distinguished parliamentarian, a top-notch politician, an indefatigable freedom-fighter, a dynamic Muslim leader, a political strategist and, above all one of the great nation-builders of modern times.
What, however, makes him so remarkable is the fact that while similar other leaders assumed the leadership of traditionally well-defined nations and espoused their cause, or led them to freedom, he created a nation out of an inchoate and down-trodeen minority and established a cultural and national home for it. And all that within a decase. For over three decades before the successful culmination in1947, of the Muslim struggle for freedom in the South-Asian subcontinent, Jinnah had provided political leadership to the Indian Muslims: initially as one of the leaders, but later, since 1947, as the only prominent leader- the Quaid-i-Azam.
For over thirty years, he had guided their affairs; he had given expression, coherence and direction to their ligitimate aspirations and cherished dreams; he had formulated these into concerete demands; and, above all, he had striven all the while to get them conceded by both the ruling British and the numerous Hindus the dominant segment of India's population. And for over thirty years he had fought, relentlessly and inexorably, for the inherent rights of the Muslims for an honourable existence in the subcontinent. Indeed, his life story constitutes, as it were, the story of the rebirth of the Muslims of the subcontinent and their spectacular rise to nationhood, phoenixlike.
Born on December 25, 1876, in a prominent mercantile family in Karachi and educated at the Sindh Madrassat-ul-Islam and the Christian Mission School at his birth place, Jinnah joined the Lincoln's Inn in 1893 to become the youngest Indian to be called to the Bar, three years later. Starting out in the legal profession withknothing to fall back upon except his native ability and determination, young Jinnah rose to prominence and became Bombay's most successful lawyer, as few did, within a few years. Once he was firmly established in the legal profession, Jinnah formally entered politics in 1905 from the platform of the Indian National Congress.
In the ever-growing frustration among the masses caused by colonial rule, there was ample cause for extremism. But, Gandhi's doctrine of non-cooperation, Jinnah felt, even as Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) did also feel, was at best one of negation and despair: it might lead to the building up of resentment, but nothing constructive. Hence, he opposed tooth and nail the tactics adopted by Gandhi to exploit the Khilafat and wrongful tactics in the Punjab in the early twenties. On the eve of its adoption of the Gandhian programme, Jinnah warned the Nagpur Congress Session (1920): "you are making a declaration (of Swaraj within a year) and committing the Indian National Congress to a programme, which you will not be able to carry out". He felt that there was no short-cut to independence and that Gandhi's extra-constitutional methods could only lead to political terrorism, lawlessness and chaos, without bringing India nearer to the threshold of freedom.
Despite all the manifold odds stacked against it, the Muslim League won some 108 (about 23 per cent) seats out of a total of 485 Muslim seats in the various legislature. Though not very impressive in itself, the League's partial success assumed added significance in view of the fact that the League won the largest number of Muslim seats and that it was the only all-India party of the Muslims in the country. Thus, the elections represented the first milestone on the long road to putting Muslim India on the map of the subcontinent. Congress in Power With the year 1937opened the most mementoes decade in modern Indian history. In that year came into force the provincial part of the Government of India Act, 1935, granting autonomy to Indians for the first time, in the provinces.
While the British reaction to the Pakistan demand came in the form of the Cripps offer of April, 1942, which conceded the principle of self-determination to provinces on a territorial basis, the Rajaji Formula (called after the eminent Congress leader C.Rajagopalacharia, which became the basis of prolonged Jinnah-Gandhi talks in September, 1944), represented the Congress alternative to Pakistan.
In recognition of his singular contribution, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was nominated by the Muslim League as the Governor-General of Pakistan, while the Congress appointed Mountbatten as India's first Governor-General. Pakistan, it has been truly said, was born in virtual chaos.
He saw to it that law and order was maintained at all costs, despite the provocation that the large-scale riots in north India had provided. He moved from Karachi to Lahore for a while and supervised the immediate refugee problem in the Punjab. In a time of fierce excitement, he remained sober, cool and steady. He advised his excited audience in Lahore to concentrate on helping the refugees, to avoid retaliation, exercise restraint and protect the minorities. He assured the minorities of a fair deal, assuaged their inured sentiments, and gave them hope and comfort. He toured the various provinces, attended to their particular problems and instilled in the people a sense of belonging.
The Aga Khan considered him "the greatest man he ever met", Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India', called him "the most important man in Asia", and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in1948, thought of him as "an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world". While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him "one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world", the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a "great loss" to the entire world of Islam.
For over thirty years, he had guided their affairs; he had given expression, coherence and direction to their ligitimate aspirations and cherished dreams; he had formulated these into concerete demands; and, above all, he had striven all the while to get them conceded by both the ruling British and the numerous Hindus the dominant segment of India's population. And for over thirty years he had fought, relentlessly and inexorably, for the inherent rights of the Muslims for an honourable existence in the subcontinent. Indeed, his life story constitutes, as it were, the story of the rebirth of the Muslims of the subcontinent and their spectacular rise to nationhood, phoenixlike.
Born on December 25, 1876, in a prominent mercantile family in Karachi and educated at the Sindh Madrassat-ul-Islam and the Christian Mission School at his birth place, Jinnah joined the Lincoln's Inn in 1893 to become the youngest Indian to be called to the Bar, three years later. Starting out in the legal profession withknothing to fall back upon except his native ability and determination, young Jinnah rose to prominence and became Bombay's most successful lawyer, as few did, within a few years. Once he was firmly established in the legal profession, Jinnah formally entered politics in 1905 from the platform of the Indian National Congress.
He went to England in that year alongwith Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915), as a member of a Congress delegation to plead the cause of Indian self-governemnt during the British elections. A year later, he served as Secretary to Dadabhai Noaroji (1825-1917), the then Indian National Congress President, which was considered a great honour for a budding politician. Here, at the Calcutta Congress session (December 1906), he also made his first political speech in support of the resolution on self-government.
Three years later, in January 1910, Jinnah was elected to the newly-constituted Imperial Legislative Council. All through his parliamentary career, which spanned some four decades, he was probably the most powerful voice in the cause of Indian freedom and Indian rights. Jinnah, who was also the first Indian to pilot a private member's Bill through the Council, soon became a leader of a group inside the legislature.
Mr. Montagu (1879-1924), Secretary of State for India, at the close of the First World War, considered Jinnah "perfect mannered, impressive-looking, armed to the teeth with dialecties..."Jinnah, he felt, "is a very clever man, and it is, of course, an outrage that such a man should have no chance of running the affairs of his own country."
For about three decades since his entry into politics in 1906, Jinnah passionately believed in and assiduously worked for Hindu-Muslim unity. Gokhale, the foremost Hindu leader before Gandhi, had once said of him, "He has the true stuff in him and that freedom from all sectarian prejudice which will make him the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity: And, to be sure, he did become the architect of Hindu-Muslim Unity: he was responsible for the Congress-League Pact of 1916, known popularly as Lucknow Pact- the only pact ever signed between the two political organisations, the Congress and the All-India Muslim League, representing, as they did, the two major communities in the subcontinent."
The Congress-League scheme embodied in this pact was to become the basis for the Montagu-Chemlsford Reforms, also known as the Act of 1919. In retrospect, the Lucknow Pact represented a milestone in the evolution of Indian politics. For one thing, it conceded Muslims the right to separate electorate, reservation of seats in the legislatures and weightage in representation both at the Centre and the minority provinces. Thus, their retention was ensured in the next phase of reforms.
For another, it represented a tacit recognition of the All-India Muslim League as the representative organisation of the Muslims, thus strengthening the trend towards Muslim individuality in Indian politics. And to Jinnah goes the credit for all this. Thus, by 1917, Jinnah came to be recognised among both Hindus and Muslims as one of India's most outstanding political leaders. Not only was he prominent in the Congress and the Imperial Legislative Council, he was also the President of the All-India Muslim and that of lthe Bombay Branch of the Home Rule League. More important, because of his key-role in the Congress-League entente at Lucknow, he was hailed as the ambassador, as well as the embodiment, of Hindu-Muslim unity.
In subsequent years, however, he felt dismayed at the injection of violence into politics. Since Jinnah stood for "ordered progress", moderation, gradualism and constitutionalism, he felt that political terrorism was not the pathway to national liberation but, the dark alley to disaster and destruction. Hence, the constitutionalist Jinnah could not possibly, countenance Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's novel methods of Satyagrah (civil disobedience) and the triple boycott of government-aided schools and colleges, courts and councils and British textiles. Earlier, in October 1920, when Gandhi, having been elected President of the Home Rule League, sought to change its constitution as well as its nomenclature, Jinnah had resigned from the Home Rule League, saying: "Your extreme programme has for the moment struck the imagination mostly of the inexperienced youth and the ignorant and the illiterate. All this means disorganisation and choas". Jinnah did not believe that ends justified the means.
In the ever-growing frustration among the masses caused by colonial rule, there was ample cause for extremism. But, Gandhi's doctrine of non-cooperation, Jinnah felt, even as Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) did also feel, was at best one of negation and despair: it might lead to the building up of resentment, but nothing constructive. Hence, he opposed tooth and nail the tactics adopted by Gandhi to exploit the Khilafat and wrongful tactics in the Punjab in the early twenties. On the eve of its adoption of the Gandhian programme, Jinnah warned the Nagpur Congress Session (1920): "you are making a declaration (of Swaraj within a year) and committing the Indian National Congress to a programme, which you will not be able to carry out". He felt that there was no short-cut to independence and that Gandhi's extra-constitutional methods could only lead to political terrorism, lawlessness and chaos, without bringing India nearer to the threshold of freedom.
The future course of events was not only to confirm Jinnah's worst fears, but also to prove him right. Although Jinnah left the Congress soon thereafter, he continued his efforts towards bringing about a Hindu-Muslim entente, which he rightly considered "the most vital condition of Swaraj".
However, because of the deep distrust between the two communities as evidenced by the country-wide communal riots, and because the Hindus failed to meet the genuine demands of the Muslims, his efforts came to naught. One such effort was the formulation of the Delhi Muslim Proposals in March,1927. In order to bridge Hindu-Muslim differences on the constitutional plan, these proposals even waived the Muslim right to separate electorate, the most basic Muslim demand since 1906, which though recognised by the congress in the Lucknow Pact, had again become a source of friction between the two communities. surprisingly though, the Nehru Report (1928), which represented the Congress-sponsored proposals for the future constitution of India, negated the minimum Muslim demands embodied in the Delhi Muslim Proposals.
In vain did Jinnah argue at the National convention (1928): "What we want is that Hindus and Mussalmans should march together until our object is achieved...These two communities have got to be reconciled and united and made to feel that their interests are common". The Convention's blank refusal to accept Muslim demands represented the most devastating setback to Jinnah's life-long efforts to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity, it meant "the last straw" for the Muslims, and "the parting of the ways" for him, as he confessed to a Parsee friend at that time.
Jinnah's disillusionment at the course of politics in the subcontinent prompted him to migrate and settle down in London in the early thirties. He was, however, to return to India in 1934, at the pleadings of his co-religionists, and assume their leadership. But, the Muslims presented a sad spectacle at that time. They were a mass of disgruntled and demoralised men and women, politically disorganised and destitute of a clear-cut political programme.
Thus, the task that awaited Jinnah was anything but easy. The Muslim League was dormant: primary branches it had none; even its provincial organizations were, for the most part, ineffective and only nominally under the control of the central organization. Nor did the central body have any coherent policy of its own till the Bombay session (1936), which Jinnah organized. To make matters worse, the provincial scene presented a sort of a jigsaw puzzle: in the Punjab, Bengal, Sindh, the North West Frontier, Assam, Bihar and the United Provinces, various Muslim leaders had set up their own provincial parties to serve their personal ends. Extremely frustrating as the situation was, the only consultation Jinnah had at this juncture was in Allama Iqbal (1877-1938), the poet-philosopher, who stood steadfast by him and helped to charter the course of Indian politics from behind the scene.
Undismayed by this bleak situation, Jinnah devoted himself with singleness of purpose to organizing the Muslims on one platform. He embarked upon country-wide tours. He pleaded with provincial Muslim leaders to sink their differences and make common cause with the League. He exhorted the Muslim masses to organize themselves and join the League. He gave coherence and direction to Muslim sentiments on the Government of India Act, 1935. He advocated that the Federal Scheme should be scrapped as it was subversive of India's cherished goal of complete responsible Government, while the provincial scheme, which conceded provincial autonomy for the first time, should be worked for what it was worth, despite its certain objectionable features. He also formulated a viable League manifesto for the election scheduled for early 1937. He was, it seemed, struggling against time to make Muslim India a power to be reckoned with.
Despite all the manifold odds stacked against it, the Muslim League won some 108 (about 23 per cent) seats out of a total of 485 Muslim seats in the various legislature. Though not very impressive in itself, the League's partial success assumed added significance in view of the fact that the League won the largest number of Muslim seats and that it was the only all-India party of the Muslims in the country. Thus, the elections represented the first milestone on the long road to putting Muslim India on the map of the subcontinent. Congress in Power With the year 1937opened the most mementoes decade in modern Indian history. In that year came into force the provincial part of the Government of India Act, 1935, granting autonomy to Indians for the first time, in the provinces.
The Congress, having become the dominant party in Indian politics, came to power in seven provinces exclusively, spurning the League's offer of cooperation, turning its back finally on the coalition idea and excluding Muslims as a political entity from the portals of power. In that year, also, the Muslim League, under Jinnah's dynamic leadership, was reorganized de novo, transformed into a mass organization, and made the spokesman of Indian Muslims as never before. Above all, in that momentous year were initiated certain trends in Indian politics, the crystallization of which in subsequent years made the partition of the subcontinent inevitable.
The practical manifestation of the policy of the Congress which took office in July, 1937, in seven out of eleven provinces, convinced Muslims that, in the Congress scheme of things, they could live only on sufferance of Hindus and as "second class" citizens. The Congress provincial governments, it may be remembered, had embarked upon a policy and launched a PROGRAMME in which Muslims felt that their religion, language and culture were not safe. This blatantly aggressive Congress policy was seized upon by Jinnah to awaken the Muslims to a new consciousness, organize them on all-India platform, and make them a power to be reckoned with. He also gave coherence, direction and articulation to their innermost, yet vague, urges and aspirations. Above all, the filled them with his indomitable will, his own unflinching faith in their destiny.
As a result of Jinnah's ceaseless efforts, the Muslims awakened from what Professor Baker calls (their) "unreflective silence" (in which they had so complacently basked for long decades), and to "the spiritual essence of nationality" that had existed among them for a pretty long time. Roused by the impact of successive Congress hammerings, the Muslims, as Ambedkar (principal author of independent India's Constitution) says, "searched their social consciousness in a desperate attempt to find coherent and meaningful articulation to their cherished yearnings. To their great relief, they discovered that their sentiments of nationality had flamed into nationalism". In addition, not only had they developed" the will to live as a "nation", had also endowed them with a territory which they could occupy and make a State as well as a cultural home for the newly discovered nation.
These two pre-requisites, as laid down by Renan, provided the Muslims with the intellectual justification for claiming a distinct nationalism (apart from Indian or Hindu nationalism) for themselves. So that when, after their long pause, the Muslims gave expression to their innermost yearnings, these turned out to be in favor of a separate Muslim nationhood and of a separate Muslim state.
"We are a nation", they claimed in the ever eloquent words of the Quaid-i-Azam.
"We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law, we are a nation".
The formulation of the Muslim demand for Pakistan in 1940 had a tremendous impact on the nature and course of Indian politics. On the one hand, it shattered for ever the Hindu dreams of a pseudo-Indian, in fact, Hindu empire on British exit from India: on the other, it heralded an era of Islamic renaissance and creativity in which the Indian Muslims were to be active participants. The Hindu reaction was quick, bitter, malicious.
Equally hostile were the British to the Muslim demand, their hostility having stemmed from their belief that the unity of India was their main achievement and their foremost contribution. The irony was that both the Hindus and the British had not anticipated the astonishingly tremendous response that the Pakistan demand had elicited from the Muslim masses. Above all, they failed to realize how a hundred million people had suddenly become supremely conscious of their distinct nationhood and their high destiny.
In channelling the course of Muslim politics towards Pakistan, no less than in directing it towards its consummation in the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, non played a more decisive role than did Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It was his powerful advocacy of the case of Pakistan and his remarkable strategy in the delicate negotiations, that followed the formulation of the Pakistan demand, particularly in the post-war period, that made Pakistan inevitable.
While the British reaction to the Pakistan demand came in the form of the Cripps offer of April, 1942, which conceded the principle of self-determination to provinces on a territorial basis, the Rajaji Formula (called after the eminent Congress leader C.Rajagopalacharia, which became the basis of prolonged Jinnah-Gandhi talks in September, 1944), represented the Congress alternative to Pakistan.
The Cripps offer was rejected because it did not concede the Muslim demand the whole way, while the Rajaji Formula was found unacceptable since it offered a "moth-eaten, mutilated" Pakistan and the too appended with a plethora of pre-conditions which made its emergence in any shape remote, if not altogether impossible. Cabinet Mission The most delicate as well as the most tortuous negotiations, however, took place during 1946-47, after the elections which showed that the country was sharply and somewhat evenly divided between two parties- the Congress and the League- and that the central issue in Indian politics was Pakistan.
These negotiations began with the arrival, in March 1946, of a three-member British Cabinet Mission. The crucial task with which the Cabinet Mission was entrusted was that of devising in consultation with the various political parties, a constitution-making machinery, and of setting up a popular interim government. But, because the Congress-League gulf could not be bridged, despite the Mission's (and the Viceroy's) prolonged efforts, the Mission had to make its own proposals in May 1946.
These proposals stipulated a limited centre, supreme only in foreign affairs, defense and communications and three autonomous groups of provinces. Two of these groups were to have Muslim majorities in the north-west and the north-east of the subcontinent, while the third one, comprising the Indian mainland, was to have a Hindu majority. A consummate statesman that he was, Jinnah saw his chance. He interpreted the clauses relating to a limited centre and the grouping as "the foundation of Pakistan", and induced the Muslim League Council to accept the Plan in June 1946; and this he did much against the calculations of the Congress and to its utter dismay.
Tragically though, the League's acceptance was put down to its supposed weakness and the Congress put up a posture of defiance, designed to swamp the League into submitting to its dictates and its interpretations of the plan. Faced thus, what alternative had Jinnah and the League but to rescind their earlier acceptance, reiterate and reaffirm their original stance, and decide to launch direct action (if need be) to wrest Pakistan. The way Jinnah maneuvered to turn the tide of events at a time when all seemed lost indicated, above all, his masterly grasp of the situation and his adeptness at making strategic and tactical moves.
Partition Plan By the close of 1946, the communal riots had flared up to murderous heights, engulfing almost the entire subcontinent. The two peoples, it seemed, were engaged in a fight to the finish. The time for a peaceful transfer of power was fast running out. Realizing the gravity of the situation. His Majesty's Government sent down to India a new Viceroy- Lord Mountbatten. His protracted negotiations with the various political leaders resulted in 3 June (1947) Plan by which the British decided to partition the subcontinent, and hand over power to two successor States on 15 August, 1947. The plan was duly accepted by the three Indian parties to the dispute- the Congress the League and the Akali Dal (representing the Sikhs).
In recognition of his singular contribution, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was nominated by the Muslim League as the Governor-General of Pakistan, while the Congress appointed Mountbatten as India's first Governor-General. Pakistan, it has been truly said, was born in virtual chaos.
Indeed, few nations in the world have started on their career with less resources and in more treacherous circumstances. The new nation did not inherit a central government, a capital, an administrative core, or an organized defense force. Its social and administrative resources were poor; there was little equipment and still less statistics. The Punjab holocaust had left vast areas in a shambles with communications disrupted. This, along with the en masse migration of the Hindu and Sikh business and managerial classes, left the economy almost shattered.
The treasury was empty, India having denied Pakistan the major share of its cash balances. On top of all this, the still unorganized nation was called upon to feed some eight million refugees who had fled the insecurities and barbarities of the north Indian plains that long, hot summer. If all this was symptomatic of Pakistan's administrative and economic weakness, the Indian annexation, through military action in November 1947, of Junagadh (which had originally acceded to Pakistan) and the Kashmir war over the State's accession (October 1947-December 1948) exposed her military weakness. In the circumstances, therefore, it was nothing short of a miracle that Pakistan survived at all. That it survived and forged ahead was mainly due to one man-Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The nation desperately needed in the person of a charismatic leader at that critical juncture in the nation's history, and he fulfilled that need profoundly. After all, he was more than a mere Governor-General: he was the Quaid-i-Azam who had brought the State into being.
In the ultimate analysis, his very presence at the helm of affairs was responsible for enabling the newly born nation to overcome the terrible crisis on the morrow of its cataclysmic birth. He mustered up the immense prestige and the unquestioning loyalty he commanded among the people to energize them, to raise their morale, land directed the profound feelings of patriotism that the freedom had generated, along constructive channels. Though tired and in poor health, Jinnah yet carried the heaviest part of the burden in that first crucial year. He laid down the policies of the new state, called attention to the immediate problems confronting the nation and told the members of the Constituent Assembly, the civil servants and the Armed Forces what to do and what the nation expected of them.
He saw to it that law and order was maintained at all costs, despite the provocation that the large-scale riots in north India had provided. He moved from Karachi to Lahore for a while and supervised the immediate refugee problem in the Punjab. In a time of fierce excitement, he remained sober, cool and steady. He advised his excited audience in Lahore to concentrate on helping the refugees, to avoid retaliation, exercise restraint and protect the minorities. He assured the minorities of a fair deal, assuaged their inured sentiments, and gave them hope and comfort. He toured the various provinces, attended to their particular problems and instilled in the people a sense of belonging.
He reversed the British policy in the North-West Frontier and ordered the withdrawal of the troopsfrom the tribal territory of Waziristan, thereby making the Pathans feel themselves an integral part of Pakistan's body-politics. He created a new Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, and assumed responsibility for ushering in a new era in Balochistan. He settled the controversial question of the states of Karachi, secured the accession of States, especially of Kalat which seemed problematical and carried on negotiations with Lord Mountbatten for the settlement of the Kashmir Issue.
It was, therefore, with a sense of supreme satisfaction at the fulfillment of his mission that Jinnah told the nation in his last message on 14 August, 1948:
"The foundations of your State have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly and as well as you can". In accomplishing the task he had taken upon himself on the morrow of Pakistan's birth, Jinnah had worked himself to death, but he had, to quote richard Symons, "contributed more than any other man to Pakistan's survivial".
He died on 11 September, 1948. How true was Lord Pethick Lawrence, the former Secretary of State for India, when he said, "Gandhi died by the hands of an assassin; Jinnah died by his devotion to Pakistan".
A man such as Jinnah, who had fought for the inherent rights of his people all through his life and who had taken up the somewhat unconventional and the largely misinterpreted cause of Pakistan, was bound to generate violent opposition and excite implacable hostility and was likely to be largely misunderstood. But what is most remarkable about Jinnah is that he was the recipient of some of the greatest tributes paid to any one in modern times, some of them even from those who held a diametrically opposed viewpoint.
The Aga Khan considered him "the greatest man he ever met", Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India', called him "the most important man in Asia", and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in1948, thought of him as "an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world". While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him "one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world", the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a "great loss" to the entire world of Islam.
It was, however, given to Surat Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc wing of the Indian National Congress, to sum up succinctly his personal and political achievements.
"Mr Jinnah", he said on his death in 1948, "was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatest of all as a man of action, By Mr. Jinnah's passing away, the world has lost one of the greatest statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher and guide".
( Allama)Muhammad Iqbal:
Allama Iqbal, great poet-philosopher and active political leader, was born at Sialkot, Punjab, in 1877. He descended from a family of Kashmiri Brahmins, who had embraced Islam about 300 years earlier.
Iqbal received his early education in the traditional maktab. Later he joined the Sialkot Mission School, from where he passed his matriculation examination. In 1897, he obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Government College, Lahore. Two years later, he secured his Masters Degree and was appointed in the Oriental College, Lahore, as a lecturer of history, philosophy and English. He later proceeded to Europe for higher studies. Having obtained a degree at Cambridge, he secured his doctorate at Munich and finally qualified as a barrister.
He returned to India in 1908. Besides teaching and practicing law, Iqbal continued to write poetry. He resigned from government service in 1911 and took up the task of propagating individual thinking among the Muslims through his poetry.
By 1928, his reputation as a great Muslim philosopher was solidly established and he was invited to deliver lectures at Hyderabad, Aligarh and Madras. These series of lectures were later published as a book "The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam". In 1930, Iqbal was invited to preside over the open session of the Muslim League at Allahabad. In his historic Allahabad Address, Iqbal visualized an independent and sovereign state for the Muslims of North-Western India. In 1932, Iqbal came to England as a Muslim delegate to the Third Round Table Conference.
In later years, when the Quaid had left India and was residing in England, Allama Iqbal wrote to him conveying to him his personal views on political problems and state of affairs of the Indian Muslims, and also persuading him to come back. These letters are dated from June 1936 to November 1937. This series of correspondence is now a part of important historic documents concerning Pakistan's struggle for freedom.
On April 21, 1938, the great Muslim poet-philosopher and champion of the Muslim cause, passed away. He lies buried next to the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore.
Bahadur Shah Zafar:
The last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah, better known as Bahadur Shah Zafar, was born in 1775 at Delhi. He was the son of Akbar Shah from his Hindu wife Lalbai. Bahadur Shah, after the death of his father, was placed on the throne in 1837 when he was little over 60 years of age. He was last in the lineage of Mughal emperors who ruled over India for about 300 years. Bahadur Shah Zafar, like his predecessors, was a weak ruler who came to throne when the British domination over India was strengthening and the Mughal rule was nearing its end. The British had curtailed the power and privileges of the Mughal rulers to such an extent that by the time of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the Mughal rule was confined to the Red Fort. Bahadur Shah Zafar was obliged to live on British pension, while the reins of real power lay in the hands of the East India Company.
During the reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar, Urdu poetry flourished and reached its zenith. He himself was a prolific poet and an accomplished calligrapher. He had acquired his poetic taste from his grandfather and father who were also poets. He passed most of his time in the company of poets and writers and was the author of four diwans. Love and mysticism were his favorite subjects that found expression in his poetry. Most of his poetry is full of pain and sorrow owing to the distress and degradation he had to face at the hands of the British. He was a great patron of poetry and literary work and some of the most eminent and famous Urdu poets like Mirza Ghalib, Zauk, Momin and Daagh were of his time.
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| A plaque proclaiming the end of the Mughal Dynasty |
It was at the time of Bahadur Shah that the War of Independence in 1857 started. In Bahadur Shah Zafar the freedom fighters found the symbol of freedom and therefore nominated him as their Commander-in-Chief. In the initial stages, the freedom fighters were successful, but later on the strong and organized British forces defeated them. Bahadur Shah, who had been proclaimed as an emperor of whole of India, was overthrown. He was arrested from Humayun's tomb, in Delhi, where he was hiding with his three sons and a grandson. Captain Hodson killed his sons and grandson and their severed heads were brought before him. Bahadur Shah Zafar himself was tried for treachery. He was exiled to Rangoon (now Yangon), Burma (now Myanmar), in 1858 where he lived his last five years and died in 1862 at the age of 87.
Sir Sayed Ahmed Khan:
The greatest Muslim reformer and statesman of the 19th Century, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was born in Delhi on October 17, 1817. His family on the maternal and paternal side had close contacts with the Mughal court. His maternal grandfather, Khwajah Farid was a Wazir in the court of Akbar Shah II. His paternal grandfather Syed Hadi held a mansab and the title of Jawwad Ali Khan in the court of Alamgir II. His father, Mir Muttaqi, had been close to Akbar Shah since the days of his prince-hood. Syed Ahmad's mother, Aziz-un-Nisa, took a great deal of interest in the education and upbringing of her son. She imposed a rigid discipline on him and Sir Syed himself admitted that her supervision counted for much in the formation of his character. The early years of Sir Syed's life were spent in the atmosphere of the family of a Mughal noble. There was nothing in young Syed's habits or behavior to suggest that he was different from other boys, though he was distinguished on account of his extraordinary physique. As a boy he learnt swimming and archery, which were favorite sports of the well-to-do class in those days.
Sir Syed received his education under the old system. He learnt to read the Quran under a female teacher at his home. After this, he was put in the charge of Maulvi Hamid-ud-Din, the first of his private tutors. Having completed a course in Persian and Arabic, he took to the study of mathematics, which was a favorite subject of the maternal side of his family. He later became interested in medicine and studied some well-known books on the subject. However, he soon gave it up without completing the full course. At the age of 18 or 19 his formal education came to an end but he continued his studies privately. He started taking a keen interest in the literary gatherings and cultural activities of the city.
The death of his father in 1838 left the family in difficulties. Thus young Syed was compelled at the early age of 21 to look for a career. He decided to enter the service of the East India Company. He started his career as Sarishtedar in a court of law. He became Naib Munshi in 1839 and Munshi in 1841. In 1858 he was promoted and appointed as Sadar-us-Sadur at Muradabad. In 1867 he was promoted and posted as the judge of the Small Causes Court. He retired in 1876. He spent the rest of his life for Aligarh College and the Muslims of South Asia.
Sir Syed's greatest achievement was his Aligarh Movement, which was primarily an educational venture. He established Gulshan School at Muradabad in 1859, Victoria School at Ghazipur in 1863, and a scientific society in 1864. When Sir Syed was posted at Aligarh in 1867, he started the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental School in the city. Sir Syed got the opportunity to visit England in 1869-70. During his stay, he studied the British educational system and appreciated it. On his return home he decided to make M. A. O. High School on the pattern of British boarding schools. The School later became a college in 1875. The status of University was given to the college after the death of Sir Syed in 1920. M. A. O. High School, College and University played a big role in the awareness of the Muslims of South Asia.
Unlike other Muslim leaders of his time, Sir Syed was of the view that Muslims should have friendship with the British if they want to take their due rights. To achieve this he did a lot to convince the British that Muslims were not against them. On the other hand, he tried his best to convince the Muslims that if they did not befriend the British, they could not achieve their goals. Sir Syed wrote many books and journals to remove the misunderstandings between Muslims and the British. The most significant of his literary works were his pamphlets "Loyal Muhammadans of India" and "Cause of Indian Revolt". He also wrote a commentary on the Bible, in which he attempted to prove that Islam is the closest religion to Christianity.
Sir Syed asked the Muslims of his time not to participate in politics unless and until they got modern education. He was of the view that Muslims could not succeed in the field of western politics without knowing the system. He was invited to attend the first session of the Indian National Congress and to join the organization but he refused to accept the offer. He also asked the Muslims to keep themselves away from the Congress and predicted that the party would prove to be a pure Hindu party in the times to come. By establishing the Muhammadan Educational Conference, he provided Muslims with a platform on which he could discuss their political problems. Sir Syed is known as the founder of Two-Nation Theory in the modern era.
In the beginning of 1898 he started keeping abnormally quiet. For hours he would not utter a word to friends who visited him. Medical aid proved ineffective. His condition became critical on 24th of March. On the morning of March 27, a severe headache further worsened it. He expired the same evening in the house of Haji Ismail Khan, where he had been shifted 10 or 12 days earlier. He was buried the following afternoon in the compound of the Mosque of Aligarh College. He was mourned by a large number of friends and admirers both within and outside South Asia.
Sayed Ameer Ali:
Syed Ameer Ali traced his lineage through the eighth Imam, Ali Al-Raza, to the Holy Prophet (S. A. W.). One of his forefathers held office under Shah Abbas II of Persia. Another took part in Nadir Shah's invasion of India. After the plunder of Delhi, his forefathers decided to settle in the Sub-continent and started serving Muhammad Shah. Another of his forefathers fought against Marhattas in the third battle of Panipat. After the death of his grandfather, his father Saadat Ali Khan was brought up and educated by his maternal uncle.
Saadat Ali Khan had five sons, Syed Ameer Ali being the youngest of them. He was born on April 6, 1849. His father, on the advice of some friendly British officers, made a break with the traditions and gave his sons an English education. Ameer Ali was educated at Hoogly College. He was a precocious child and learnt Arabic, Persian, Arab philosophy and history from his gifted father. He graduated in 1867 and became one of the first Muslim graduates in India. In 1868, he passed his MA in history, and law, and in the same year proceeded to England on a government scholarship to pursue his higher studies. In London, he joined the Temple Inn and made contacts with the elite of the city. He imbibed the influence of contemporary liberalism.
He returned to India in 1873 and resumed his legal practice at Calcutta High Court. The following year, he was elected as a Fellow of Calcutta University and was also appointed as a lecturer in Islamic Law at the Presidency College. He was one of the first leaders to clearly visualize that the Muslims should organize themselves politically if they were to have an honored place in Indian public life. With this devotion, he established the Central National Muhammadan Association on April 12 1877. He was associated with it for over 25 years, and worked for the political advancement of the Muslims. In 1878, he was appointed as the member of the Bengal Legislative Council. He revisited England in 1880 for one year.
In 1883, he was nominated to the membership of the Governor General Council. He became a professor of law in Calcutta University in 1881. In 1890 he was made a judge in the Calcutta High Court. He retired in 1904 and decided to settle down in England. This was a fateful decision of his career. Though, due to his influence in government circles, he contributed a lot for the Muslim community of India, while sitting in London, he was away from the main current of Muslim political life. Had he lived in India, he could have filled the gap in Muslim leadership created by the death of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.
He established the London Muslim League in 1908. This organization was an independent body and not a branch of All India Muslim League. In 1909, he became the first Indian to sit as a Law Lord of the Privy Council. In 1910, he established the first mosque in London. His field of activities was now broadened and he stood for the Muslim welfare all over the world. He played an important role in securing separate electorates for the Muslims in South Asia and promoting the cause of the Khilafat Movement.
He wrote a number of books on Islam and Islamic history. His most notable contributions are "The Spirit of Islam", "A Short History of the Saracens" and "Muhammadan Law". His book "Spirit of Islam", to some scholars, was the greatest single work on the liberal exposition of Islam.
He died on August 4, 1928 in Sussex.
Molana Shokat Ali:
Both brothers, Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali were among the architects of Pakistan's freedom. Maulana Shaukat Ali, being the elder of the two Ali Brothers, was deeply interested in Islam and totally committed to the cause of freedom movement.
He was born in Rampur and educated at Aligarh. At Aligarh he became the captain of the cricket team and idol of cricket-loving crowds. He served in the provincial civil service of the United Provinces of Oudh and Agra for 17 years, from 1896 to 1913.
He actively assisted Maulana Muhammad Ali in the publication of "Hamdard" and "Comrade" that played a vital role molding the political policy of Muslim India. In 1915 he was imprisoned along with Maulana Mohammad Ali. In 1919, while he was in jail, he was elected President of the First Khilafat Conference. Upon his release the same year, he was elected Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Central Khilafat Committee. In 1921, he was again imprisoned along with Maulana Muhammad Ali and was released in 1923. He attended the All Parties Conference in Delhi in 1929, and the First and Second Round Table Conferences. He helped organize the World Muslim Conference held at Jerusalem, in 1932.
In 1936 he became a member of the All India Muslim League Council and also of the Muslim League Parliamentary Board. From 1934 to 1938 he was a member of the Legislative Assembly. From 1936 to 1938, he not only helped the Quaid-i-Azam in popularizing the Muslim League at various levels, but also toured Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and the United States where he delivered speeches on the Freedom Movement of India and on Islam.
Molana Muhammad Ali Johar:
Maulana Muhammad Ali was born in Rampur state in 1878, in a wealthy and enlightened family of Pathans. His father died when he was two years old. He and his family suffered financial problems after the death of his father. Due to the efforts, determination and sacrifice by his mother, he and his brothers were able to get good education. He did his graduation from Aligarh University with honors and then went to Lincoln College Oxford, England, in 1898 to study modern history.
On his return he was appointed Director of Education in Rampur State, and later joined the Baroda Civil Service and served there for seven years. Maulana Muhammad Ali was a brilliant and impressive writer, an orator of the first magnitude and a farsighted political leader. He wrote articles in various newspapers like "The Times", "The Observer" and "The Manchester Guardian". Maulana Muhammad Ali wrote both in English and Urdu. He launched his famous English weekly "Comrade" from Calcutta in 1911. After shifting to Delhi in 1913, he, in addition to his English weekly, also launched his Urdu weekly, "Hamdard". The "Comrade" became an internationally famous journal and secured many subscribers in numerous foreign countries. He also worked hard towards making M. O. A. College a Muslim University. He assisted in setting up Jami'ah Milliyah Islamia, which was later transferred to Delhi. For four years after 1911, he remained involved in the Kanpur Mosque affair. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar was one of the cofounders of All India Muslim League. He attended the first session of All India Muslim League at Dhaka in 1906, and was later elected as its President in 1918. He remained active in the affairs of the All India Muslim League till 1928.
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| The famous English weekly "Comrade" was launched from Calcutta in 1911 |
During the Khilafat Movement, Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar led a delegation to England in 1919, in order to present the view of the Muslims. Although the delegation was not successful in its aim, he still kept on working for the Muslims. He also wholeheartedly joined the non-cooperation movement organized by Gandhi. In 1921, after the British refused to honor their promises in regard to Turkey, he toured the whole of India in order to gather support for the success of the non-cooperation movement. At the end of the movement he was arrested and jailed for two years.
In 1924, he renewed the publication of "Hamdard". In 1928, he left the Indian National Congress, opposed the Nehru Report tooth and nail, and supported the Fourteen Points of Quaid-i-Azam. Despite his ill health, he attended the First Round Table Conference in 1930, where he effectively argued the case of the Indian Muslims. He delivered a memorable, fiery speech against the domination of India and in favor of immediate independence. Soon after the first session was over, he collapsed and died in London on January 4, 1931, and was buried in Jerusalem according to his own wish.
Chaudhry Rehmat Ali:
Chaudhry Rahmat Ali, founder of the Pakistan National Movement, was born in 1895. From his early childhood, Rahmat Ali showed signs of great promise as a student. After completing his schooling, he joined the Islamia College of Lahore in order to get his Bachelor of Arts degree. Rahmat Ali finished education in England, obtaining MA and LLB with honors from the universities of Cambridge and Dublin.
It was during the years 1930 through 1933, that he seemed to have established the Pakistan National Movement, with its headquarter at Cambridge. On January 28, 1933, he issued his first memorable pamphlet "Now or Never; Are we to live or perish forever?" He coined the word "Pakistan" for 30 million Muslims who live in the five northern units of India; Punjab, North West Frontier (Afghan) Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan. The pamphlet also gave reasons for the establishment of Pakistan as a separate nation. He spoke of an independent homeland for Muslims, Pakistan, in the northern units of India, "Bang-i-Islam" for Muslims in Bengal, and "Usmanistan" for the Muslims in Hyderabad-Deccan.
Chaudhry Rahmat Ali propagated the Scheme of Pakistan with a missionary zeal since its inception in 1933. In August 1947, Pakistan came to be established and in 1948 Chaudhry Rahmat Ali visited Pakistan. Later he proceeded to England to champion the cause of Kashmir through the United Nations.
A.K. Fazl-Ul-Haq:
Popularly known as Sher-i-Bengal, A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq was a leader who, for more than half a century, was in the forefront of all political activities pertaining to the Pakistan Movement. He made valuable contributions towards the political, social and educational uplift of the Muslims of the Sub-continent.
He was born on October 26, 1873, and received his elementary and religious education at home. He learnt the Holy Quran, Arabic and Persian from well-known scholars. Fazl-ul-Haq excelled in his studies. He passed his BA securing honors in physics, chemistry and mathematics, and his MA with distinction from the University of Calcutta.
In 1900, he was enrolled as an advocate in the Calcutta High Court. While practicing law in his hometown, Barisal, he realized that the main cause of the backwardness of Muslims of Bengal was lack of education. Educational uplift and political advancement of the Muslims became the goal of his life.
He slowly began to emerge as a young political leader. Fazl-ul-Haq was one of the four members of the committee that drafted the constitution of the All India Muslim League in 1906. In 1912, he started the Central National Muhammadan Educational Association to help the poor and deserving Muslims. In 1914, he became the leader of the Muslims of Bengal. He attended the Lucknow Pact as the representative of the province. In 1920, he became the Minister of Education for Bengal. He devotedly worked for the educational advancement of the Muslims. During the Non-cooperation Movement of 1919-1921, he very wisely advised the Muslim students to single-mindedly pursue their studies and not to get involved in politics at that stage.
Fazl-ul-Haq was essentially a man of the masses. As a lawyer he defended thousands of Muslims who were accused of the riot cases before the Partition. He also looked after the interests of the peasantry of Bengal. He was also a delegate of the Round Table Conferences and pleaded the cause of the Muslims to have their proper share in the administrative affairs of the country. In 1937, he was elected as Chief Minister of Bengal. During the All India Muslim League session of March 23, 1940, which was presided over by Quaid-i-Azam, Fazl-ul-Haq rose to move the historic Pakistan Resolution and spoke of protecting the rights of the Muslims of India.
Fazl-ul-Haq migrated to Pakistan and accepted the Advocate Generalship of East Pakistan. At the age of 80, he toured East Pakistan from one end to another. In 1962, his health started deteriorating. He passed away on April 27, 1962 after dominating the political stage of the Sub-continent for half a century.
Iskander Mirza:
Iskander Mirza was born on November 15, 1899, in a feudal family of Bengal. Educated at Elphinstone College, the British sent him to the Sandhurst Academy in England for army training in 1918. Upon his return he was inducted into the British Indian Army in 1919. In 1926, he left the army, joined the Indian Political Service and was posted as Assistant Commissioner in North West Frontier Province. He was promoted to District Officer in 1931. Much of his career as a District Officer was spent in the Tribal Areas. Before the creation of Pakistan, he served the Ministry of Defense, Government of India, as a Joint Secretary. At the time of Partition, he was appointed as a member of the team that was to divide the personnel and assets between the Indian and Pakistan Army.Being the senior-most Muslim Civil Servant in the Indian Ministry of Defense, Iskander Mirza was appointed as the first Defense Secretary of Pakistan at the time of Independence. He served at this position for about seven years. With the dismissal of the United Front's Ministry in East Pakistan, Governor General Ghulam Muhammad decided to enforce Governor's Rule in the province and appointed Iskander Mirza as Governor in May 1954.
Assuming charge of the province, he openly declared that he would not hesitate to use force in order to establish peace in the province. The first step he took as Governor was to order the arrest of 319 persons, including the two most outspoken leaders, Mujib-ur-Rahman and Yousaf Ali Chaudhry. By mid June, the number of persons arrested had reached 1,051, including 33 Assembly Members and two Dhaka University Professors. By doing so he was able to bring immediate peace, but in the process had sown a permanent seed of hatred for the Central Government in the hearts of the people of East Pakistan.
From October 1954 to August 1955, Iskander Mirza served as the Interior Minister, and then as the Minister of States and Frontier Regions in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra. Ghulam Muhammad, due to his illness, went on a two months leave and left the ground for Iskander Mirza to assume the post of acting Governor General on August 7, 1955. However, this temporary charge was soon made permanent. He appointed Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, another bureaucrat, as the Prime Minister of the country. When the Constitution of 1956 was adopted, the title of the head of state of Pakistan was changed from Governor General to President, but the duties and powers associated with the office did not change to a great extent. The Constituent Assembly unanimously elected Iskander Mirza as the first President of Pakistan.
Primarily, Iskander Mirza was a Civil Servant and it is widely believed that he lacked the parliamentary spirit. He was of the view that because of the lack of training in the field of democracy and the low literacy rate amongst the masses, democratic institutions cannot flourish in Pakistan. He never had a very high opinion about Pakistani politicians and once referred to them as "mostly crooks and scalawags". He wanted controlled democracy for Pakistan with more powers for the civil bureaucracy. He believed that the Magistrates should be given the same powers, which they used to enjoy during the British Raj. He thought that politicians should be given the power to make policy but they should not interfere in the administration. Iskander Mirza was also a great advocate of the One Unit scheme. In his opinion religion was to be kept at a distance from politics.
History documents that like his predecessor Ghulam Muhammad, Iskander Mirza was a power hungry person and wanted to dominate the political scene of the country by any way possible. Being the head of state, he always remained active in power politics and played the role of a kingmaker. He took full advantage of the weakness of politicians and played them against each other. To offset the influence of the Muslim League, he played an active role in the creation of the Republican Party. During his short span of four years as the head of state, four Prime Ministers were changed. Most historians believe that Iskander Mirza was responsible for this political instability.
Iskander Mirza felt threatened by the reorganization of the Muslim League and the alliance of the Awami League with the Punjabi groups in mid 1958. On October 7, he issued a proclamation abrogating the 1956 Constitution. According to the proclamation, the Central and the Provincial Assemblies were dissolved and the first Martial Law was enforced in the country. Iskander Mirza himself remained President and appointed Ayub Khan as the Martial Law Administrator and the Supreme Commander of the armed forces. Ayub Khan proved to be smarter than the politicians and refused to act as puppet in the hands of the President. On October 27, 1958, Ayub Khan compelled Iskander Mirza to leave the country, assumed himself the title of President, and announced that Martial Law would continue in order to give legal cover to certain reforms he wanted to put through.
Iskander Mirza spent rest of his life in a hotel room in London. He died on November 15 1969.
Nawabzada Liaqat Ali Khan:
Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, the second son of Nawab Rustam Ali Khan, was born on October 1, 1896, in a Madal Pathan (Nausherwan) family. He graduated in 1918 from M. A. O. College, Aligarh. After his graduation, he was offered a job in the Indian Civil Services, but he rejected the offer on the plea that he wanted to serve his nation. He married his cousin, Jehangira Begum in 1918. After his marriage, he went to London for higher education. In 1921, he obtained a degree in Law from Oxford and was called to Bar at Inner Temple in 1922.On his return from England in 1923, Liaquat Ali Khan decided to enter politics with the objective of liberating his homeland from the foreign yoke. Right from the very beginning, he was determined to eradicate the injustices and ill treatment meted out to the Indian Muslims by the British. In his early life, Liaquat Ali, like most of the Muslim leaders of his time, believed in Indian Nationalism. But his views gradually changed. The Congress leaders invited him to join their party, but he refused and joined the Muslim League in 1923. Under the leadership of Quaid-i-Azam, the Muslim League held its annual session in May 1924 in Lahore. The aim of this session was to revive the League. Liaquat Ali Khan attended this conference along many other young Muslims.
Khawaja Nazimuddin:
Khawaja Nazimuddin was born on July 19, 1894, at Dhaka. He was educated at M. A. O. College, Aligarh, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He remained as Chairman of Dhaka Municipality from 1922 to 1929. After becoming the Provincial Education Minister in 1929, he piloted the Bengal Rural Primary Education Bill in 1930, which was strongly opposed by the Hindu members. He continued as Education Minister till 1934 and then became an Executive Councilor. In that capacity two important Bills were passed to improve the lot of Bengal peasantry that showed his steady levelheaded outlook.In 1937, he was appointed as the Home Minister. He remained an active member of Coalition Cabinet of the Chief Minister, Fazl-ul-Haq, during 1937-1941. After Fazl-ul-Haq's resignation, Khawaja Nazimuddin, who had been the Leader of Opposition from 1941 to 1943, became Chief Minister on April 24, 1943. In August 1947, he was elected as the leader of the Muslim League Party of East Bengal.
When Muhammad Ali Jinnah passed away on September 11, 1948, Khawaja Nazimuddin was designated as the Governor General of Pakistan. After the assassination of Liaquat Ali, Khawaja Nazimuddin was asked to step in as the Prime Minister as there was no other person found suitable for the post, while Malik Ghulam Muhammad was elevated to the post of Governor General.
Khawaja Nazimuddin died in 1964.
Muhammad Ali Bogra:
Muhammad Ali Bogra was born in an aristocratic nawab family at Bogra, East Bengal, in 1900. He completed his education at Calcutta University. In 1937, he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. In 1943, Muhammad Ali Bogra became Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister of Bengal, Khawaja Nazimuddin. He was became the Finance and Health Minister in 1946.After Pakistan came into being, Muhammad Ali Bogra was posted as Ambassador to Burma in 1948, High Commissioner to Canada in 1949, and afterwards as Ambassador to U. S. A. in 1952. On April 17, 1953, he was appointed as Prime Minister of Pakistan after Governor General Ghulam Muhammad dismissed Khawaja Nazimuddin.
Muhammad Ali Bogra was not well known as a politician, though he was renowned as a diplomat. Only three days after his nomination as Prime Minister, the U. S. President Eisenhower ordered thousands of tons of wheat to be shipped to Pakistan. After the Governor General dissolved the Constituent Assembly in 1954, Muhammad Ali Bogra was invited to resume the office of Prime Minister and form a new cabinet call "Ministry of Talents." He was dismissed by Iskander Mirza, the acting Governor General of Pakistan, and replaced by Chaudhry Muhammad Ali in August 1955. He was again appointed as Ambassador to U. S. A. He died in 1963.
Huseyn Shaheed Suharwardy:
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was born on September 8, 1892, in an illustrious Muslim family from Midnapore in West Bengal, India. Suhrawardy's mother was the first Muslim woman to pass the Senior Cambridge examination. He graduated with honors in Science from St. Caviares College. In 1913, he obtained his Masters degree in Arabic from Calcutta University. Suhrawardy received his B. C. L. degree from Oxford University and was called to the Bar from Grey's Inn in 1918.In 1920, Suhrawardy married Begum Niaz Fatima.
In 1921, he was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly. For a brief period, he served as Secretary, Calcutta Khilafat Committee. In 1923, he was appointed Deputy Leader of the Swaraj Party. The following year he was elected Deputy Mayor of Calcutta. In 1936, he became the General Secretary of the Bengal Provincial Muslim League. After the 1937 elections, Suhrawardy was appointed Minister for Labor and Commerce. After serving briefly in the Fazl-ul-Haq's Ministry, he joined Khawaja Nazimuddin's Ministry in 1943 as Minister for Civil Supplies.
After the 1946 elections, Suhrawardy formed government in Bengal, the only Muslim League Government in the Sub-continent. In 1949, he formed the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League, and in 1953 he renamed it as the Awami League.
In 1953, Suhrawardy teamed up with A. K. Fazl-ul-Haq and Maulana Bhashani to establish the United Front in Dhaka. Their party won the 1954 general elections. The same year he joined Muhammad Ali Bogra's Ministry as Law Minister. However, with the change of government in 1955, Suhrawardy took charge of the leadership of opposition.
H. S. Suhrawardy became the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan on September 12, 1956. During his tenure, he tried to remove economic disparity between the two wings. In October 1957, Suhrawardy resigned from his Premiership due to the President's refusal to convene a meeting of Parliament for seeking a vote of confidence.
A chronic heart patient, Suhrawardy died on December 5, 1963.
Muhammad Ayoub Khan:
Muhammad Ayub Khan was born on May 14, 1907, in the village of Rehana near Haripur, in Hazara District. He was the first child of the second wife of Mir Dad Khan, who was a Risaldar Major in Hodson's Horse. According to Ayub, his father had the greatest influence on his character, outlook, and attitude towards life. For his basic education, he was enrolled in a school in Sarai Saleh, which was about 4 miles from his village. He used to go to school on a mule's back. Later he was shifted to a school in Haripur, where he started living with his grandmother. As a child he was interested in playing kabaddi, gulli danda, marbles and hockey. After passing his Matriculation Examination in 1922, Ayub was sent to Aligarh University where he spent four years. However, before appearing in his B. A. exams, he was selected for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. He sailed for England in 1926.Ayub's performance in Sandhurst was exemplary and he won several scholarships. After the completion of training, he got commissioned in the Indian Army in 1928. He fought at different fronts during World War II, first as a Major and then Colonel. During the communal riots of 1947, he was assigned to assist General Pete Rees in the Punjab Boundary Force. At the time of Independence, Ayub Khan opted to join the Pakistan Army, where as a Brigadier, he was the senior-most Muslim officer. In 1951, he was raised to the status of a four-star General and was appointed as the first local Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army.
Miss Fatima Jinah:
Miss Fatima Jinnah, younger sister of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was born in 1893. Of his seven brothers and sisters, she was the closest to the Quaid. Jinnah became her guardian upon the death of their father in 1901. Due to her brother's keen interest, and despite strident family opposition, Miss Fatima received excellent early education. She joined the Bandra Convent in 1902. In 1919 she got admitted to the highly competitive University of Calcutta where she attended the Dr. Ahmad Dental College. After she qualified, Jinnah went along with her idea of opening a dental clinic in Bombay and helped her set it up in 1923.Miss Fatima Jinnah initially lived with her brother for about eight years till 1918, when he got married to Rutanbai. Upon Rutanbai's death in February 1929, Miss Jinnah wound up her clinic, moved into Jinnah's bungalow, and took charge of his house; thus beginning the life-long companionship that lasted till Jinnah's death on September 11, 1948.
General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan:
General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan was born at Chakwal in February 1917. His father, Saadat Ali Khan hailed from Peshawar. After completing his studies from the Punjab University, Yahya Khan joined the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun. He was commissioned in the Indian Army in 1938. His early postings were in the North West Frontier Province. During World War II, he performed his duties in North Africa, Iraq and Italy. After Independence, Yahya Khan played a major role in setting up the Pakistan Staff College at Quetta. During the war of 1965, he commanded an infantry division. He was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army in 1966 with the rank of General.When, in 1969, countrywide agitation rendered the situation out of control, Ayub Khan decided to hand over power to the Army Chief, General Yahya Khan. Immediately after coming to power, Yahya Khan declared Martial Law in the country on March 25, 1969, and assumed the title of Chief Martial Law Administrator. He terminated the Constitution and dissolved the National and Provincial Assemblies. On March 31, he also became President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Unlike Pakistan's other military rulers, Yahya Khan was not interested in prolonging his rule. Immediately after taking charge of the country, he started looking for options through which he could hand over power to the elected representatives. On March 29, 1970, through an Ordinance, he presented an interim Constitution, the Legal Framework Order. It was actually a formula according to which the forthcoming elections were to be organized. It goes to the credit of Yahya Khan that the first general elections in the history of Pakistan were held during his regime in December 1970.
The trouble started when the results of the elections were announced. The Awami League, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman, swept 160 out of 162 seats allocated to East Pakistan. However, the party failed to get even a single seat from any province of the Western Wing. On the other hand, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party emerged as the single largest party from Punjab and Sindh and managed to win 81 National Assembly seats, all from the Western Wing. This split mandate resulted in political chaos where neither Bhutto nor Mujib was ready to accept his opponent as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. When Bhutto and Mujib failed to reach an understanding about convening a session of the newly elected National Assembly, the ball fell in Yahya Khan's court. He handled the situation badly. He used army and paramilitary forces in East Pakistan to crush the political agitation. This resulted in the beginning of the war between Pakistan and India in the winter of 1971.
Yahya Khan, as President as well as the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army, failed to plan the war. This ultimately resulted in the defeat of Pakistan, dismemberment of the country and imprisonment of more than 90,000 Pakistanis. Surrender of Pakistani forces without any resistance and the fall of Dhaka made Yahya Khan the greatest villain in the country. People from all walks of life started criticizing him and thus he was left with no other option but to hand over the power to the leader of the most popular party of the remaining part of Pakistan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, on December 20, 1971. Later Bhutto placed Yahya Khan under house arrest in 1972.
Yahya Khan died on August 10, 1980, in Rawalpindi.
Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman:
Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman was born on March 22, 1922, at Faridpur, now in Bangladesh. He was an active member of the Muslim League in pre-Independence India. After Independence, Mujib-ur-Rahman remained active in politics. As a law student in March 1948, he was arrested for leading a black-flag demonstration against Jinnah on the issue of making Urdu as the State language. Along with H. S. Suhrawardy, he organized the Awami League in 1949. The same year he was elected as a member of the Provincial Assembly and later as a member of the National Parliament. Twice he became a Minister in the East Pakistan Government. He also led a parliamentary delegation to the Peoples Republic of China. He was arrested on October 12, 1958, and imprisoned for a year and a half, and later again in 1962 on the eve of the proclamation of the Constitution, and imprisoned for six months.After the death of Suhrawardy, Mujib-ur-Rahman revived the Awami League as a political party in January 1965. This time to contest the presidential elections as a component of the Combined Opposition Party, which nominated Miss Fatima Jinnah as the opposition candidate for the presidential post against the candidature of Ayub Khan.
During the 1965 War he condemned the Indian aggression; he and his party gave full support to the Government's war efforts. It was in 1966, at an all-party national meeting convention in Lahore, that he presented his Six-Points Program as the constitutional solution of East Pakistan's problems in relation to West Pakistan. He was arrested a number of times in 1966 and was kept under detention for 21 months. He was tried in the Agartala Conspiracy case on June 18, 1968.
After the end of Martial Law by Yahya Khan, elections were held on December 7, 1970, to transfer power to elected representatives. Two major regional parties emerged on the scene, the Awami League and the Pakistan Peoples Party. Awami League contested the elections on the Six-Points Program. This Program meant that both the Wings of Pakistan would be united in a loose federation. As time went by, the speeches of the Awami League leaders became more and more anti-West Pakistan.
Awami League returned with a clear majority in East Pakistan, winning 160 out of the total of 300 seats in the National Assembly. In East Bengal, the Awami League won all but two seats, taking 160 out of the 162 seats contested. In West Pakistan, Pakistan's Peoples Party secured the majority of seats. Differences arose between the Government and the Awami League on transfer of power on the basis of the Six-Points Program. Both Bhutto and Mujib disagreed on this Program concerning taxation and foreign trade. There was a political deadlock that led to the postponement of the first session of the National Assembly. A military operation was launched and Mujib-ur-Rahman announced a parallel government on March 7, 1971. With the help of Indian intervention, a new country named Bangladesh was born out of Indo-Pak war on December 17, 1971.
The newborn country's initial Government was formed in January 1972, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman, who became the Prime Minister. In early 1975, Mujib-ur-Rahman became the President under a remodeled Constitution that virtually granted him dictatorial powers. He was, however, unable to stabilize the political situation, and was assassinated in a military coup on August 15, 1975, at his residence. Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmad was made the new President of Bangladesh.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto:
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was born on January 5, 1928. He was the only son of Sir Shah Nawaz Bhutto. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto completed his early education from Bombay's Cathedral High School. In 1947, he joined the University of Southern California, and later the University of California at Berkeley in June 1949. After completing his degree with honors in Political Science at Berkeley in June 1950, he was admitted to Oxford.Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto married Nusrat Isphahani on September 8, 1951. He was called to Bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1953, and the same year his first child, Benazir Bhutto, was born on June 21. On his return to Pakistan, Bhutto started practicing Law at Dingomal's.
In 1958, he joined President Iskander Mirza's Cabinet as Commerce Minister. He was the youngest Minister in Ayub Khans Cabinet. In 1963, he took over the post of Foreign Minister from Muhammad Ali Bogra.
His first major achievement was to conclude the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement on March 2, 1963. In mid 1964, Bhutto helped convince Ayub of the wisdom of establishing closer economic and diplomatic links with Turkey and Iran. The trio later on formed the R. C. D. In June 1966, Bhutto left Ayub's Cabinet over differences concerning the Tashkent Agreement.
Muhammad Khan Junejo:
Muhammad Khan Junejo was born on August 18, 1932, at Sindhri, Sindh. After completing his Senior Cambridge, he went to United Kingdom for a Diploma in Agriculture.
Junejo started his political career at the age of 21. In 1962, he was elected Member Provincial Assembly, West Pakistan from Sanghar. He was appointed Minister in the West Pakistan Cabinet in July 1963 and held the portfolios of Health, Basic Democracies and Local Government, Works, Communications and Railways.
After non-party based polls were held for the National and Provincial Assembles in 1985, President Zia appointed Muhammad Khan Junejo as the Prime Minister. He was, however, dismissed on May 29, 1988, by the President using discretionary powers given to him given under the Eighth Amendment.
Muhammad Khan Junejo was again elected Member of the National Assembly in 1990. He died of illness in March 1993.
Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto:
Doctor Abdul Qadeer Khan:
As arrow of time moves, the Will of God prevails and is focused on the emergence of humans endowed with exceptional intellectual capabilities and creative abilities. Such are the men who, by their good deeds, fulfill the edict of God, as revealed in the Holy Qurran:"I have created man in the best of forms." (Al Qurran; Surah 95; Ayah 04)
By their deeds and actions such persons, though not prophets, demonstrate that they are an extension of the will of the transcendental. These are the people, who are destined to make history in the elevation of nations. Such is the personality of Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan, who was born in Bhopal on April 1, 1936, which corresponds to the Hijri era 1355, Thursday 15th Rajab. As the time has unfolded itself, the Godly qualities enshrined in the words "Quadeer" and "Ghafoor", symbolized in the names of Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan and his father, Mr. Abdul Ghafoor Khan, have raised the Pakistani nation to new heights in high technology.
After receiving his early education in Bhopal, Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science in 1960 from the University of Karachi. This was the beginning of the unfolding of his intellectual power. Subsequently, he studied in Berlin, West Germany and achieved high competence through attending several courses in metallurgical engineering. He obtained the degree of Master of Science (Technology) in 1967 from Delft Technological University, Holland, and Doctor of Engineering Degree in 1972 form the University of Leuven, Belgium. The restless soul of Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan took him to several laboratories in Europe including Uranium Enrichment Plant in Holland.
It was the essence of his being sharpened by high scholastic achievements in metallurgical and nuclear science that his will and essence at all times remained directed towards the welfare of Pakistan. In 1976, he joined the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) in Pakistan and set up an uranium enrichment industrial plant. As a tribute to his services for the security of Pakistan on May 1, 1981, the then President of Pakistan, General Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq renamed the Engineering Research Laboratories, Kahuta, as, Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan Research Laboratories (KRL). These laboratories were equipped from nothing to something focusing on enrichment of Uranium for peaceful application of nuclear technology. Over the years, the laboratories became a focal point for a large number of scientists, engineers and technologists which Dr. Abdul Quadeer Khan gathered around himself and guided them to the tasks which have led to unparallel advances in science and technology. This was done under very challenging and difficult circumstances. It was only his courage, devotion, determination and persistence, which earned success for him, his colleagues and indeed for the nation.
The scientific contributions of Dr. Khan have been recognized in several ways. As an active scientist and technologist, he has published more than 188 scientific research papers in international journals of high repute. He has been editor of a large number of books on metallurgy, advanced materials and phase transformation. His academic and scholastic activities have attracted the attention of number of western countries where he has delivered more than 100 lectures. His work on Industrial Uranium Enrichment Plant for peaceful application of nuclear technology has resulted in a breakthrough in the field of metallurgy & materials science.
It is entirely due to his efforts that the process of enrichment of Uranium was successfully completed in Pakistan. This breakthrough ultimately resulted in the historic explosion of six nuclear bombs on May 28 and May 30, 1998. Not only this but a significant development was also made with the successful test firing of Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, Ghauri I, on April 6, 1998 and Ghauri II on April 14, 1999.
There are numerous contributions of Dr. Khan which have strengthened the defence capability of Pakistan. Those, among others, include: manufacturing of sophisticated equipment like Surface-to-Air shoulder-fired anti-aircraft ANZA (MK-I & MK-II) and Baktar Shikan anti tank guided missiles for the Armed Forces.
Dr. Khan has received honorary degrees of Doctor of Science from the University of Karachi in 1993, Doctor of Science from Baqai Medical University on December 11, 1998, Doctor of Science from Hamdard University, Karachi, in March 6, 1999, Doctor of Science from Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, N.W.F.P. on April 16,1999, Doctor of Science from the University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore on December 9, 2000 and Doctor of Science from the Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi on March 25, 2001. Apart from his eminent contribution in the filed of Science and Technology, Dr. Khan is an avid supporter of Science and Technology education in Pakistan. As the Project Director of GIK Institute of Science and Technology, he has invested his energies in developing the Institute into an exemplary high technology institution. For his important and eminent contributions in the field of science and technology, the President, Islamic Republic of Pakistan conferred upon Dr. Khan the award of Nishan-i-Imtiaz on 14 August, 1996 and 14 August, 1998. He is also a recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz. Dr. Khan is the only Pakistani to have received the highest civil award of "Nishan-i-Imtiaz" twice.
The list of his contribution and achievement is far too long to be mentioned in this short citation. He is a person imbued with the spirit of serving the cause of Pakistan and Muslim Ummah through his able researches, high acumen, intellectual robustness and unwavering devotion. So numerous are his activities that every segment of society has praised him in different forms. He has been awarded 42 gold medals by various national institutions and organizations. He was also presented with 3 gold crowns Dr. Khan is a Fellow of Kazakh National Academy of Sciences, the first Asian scientist with this honour, Elected Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences and Honorary Member of the Korean Academy of Science & Technology. He has also been elected as the Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank's Advisory Panel on Science and Technology in the Panel's first ever meeting, held at the IDB's headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on October 17, 2000. Being a Fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences, he was elected unopposed the President of the Academy's in 1997- the position that he still occupies. Besides, he is a member of a large number of national and international professional organizations, which include Pakistan Institute of Metallurgical Engineers; Pakistan Institute of Engineers; and Institute of Central and West Asian Studies. He is a Member of the Institute of Materials, London; American Society of Metal (ASM); The Metallurgical Society of the American Institute of Metallurgical Mining and Petroleum Engineers (TMS); Canadian Institute of Metals (CIM) and Japan Institute of Metals (JIM).
As an ardent supporter of higher education, he sits on the Boards of Governors and Syndicates of numerous universities and institutes. He is a Member of the Executive Committee GIK Institute of Engineering and Technology, Topi; Member, Board of Governors, Hamdard University; Member, Board of Governors, Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology; Member Syndicate, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad; and Member, Board of Governors, International Islamic University, Islamabad, among others.
He has contributed immensely to the establishment of educational and research institutes in Pakistan. These include several colleges, schools, Institutes and academies. So wide are the applications of his activities that his contributions extend to the construction of 11 mosques, 1 tomb, a number of dispensaries and community health centers.
It is rare that a person in single life time accomplishes so much. This is done only by men who are endowed with special abilities by God and who prepare themselves through hard work and devotion to fulfill the mission of serving mankind