Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan
( October 1, 1895 – October 16, 1951)
Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan Urdu: لیاقت علی خان, Hindi ( October 1, 1895 – October 16, 1951), often simply referred as Liaquat, was one of the leading Founding Fathers[1] of modern Pakistan, statesman, lawyer, and political theorist who became and served as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, in addition, was also the first Defence minister and minister of Commonwealth and Kashmir Affairs, from 1947 until his assassination in 1951.
Born and hail from Karnal,East Punjab, Ali Khan was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University in India, and the Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Prior to his return to India, Ali Khan rose to prominence and was also the influential member of the Muslim League led under Mohammad Ali Jinnah, advocating and determini Considered the confident of Jinnah, Ali Khan was appointed first Prime minister, but his government faced eminent challenges and endless regional conflict with India, forcing Ali Khan to approach to his counterpart Jawaharlal Nehru to reach a settlement to end the religious violence, but Nehru pushed for the referral of the problem to the United Nations. Generally an anti-communist, Ali Khan's foreign policy sided with the United States and the West, although Ali Khan was determined to be a part of the Non-Aligned Movement. Envisaged to established the parliamentary democracy in the country, Ali Khan faced with internal political unrest and also survived coup led by the Leftists and Communists. His influence further grew after the death of Jinnah, responsible to promulgate the Objectives Resolution, and was assassinated in 1951 by a hired assassin Sa'ad Babrak. After his death, Ali Khan is popularly given the titles of Quaid-e-Millat (Leader of the Nation), and posthumously Shaheed-e-Millat (Martyr of the Nation).ng to eradicate the injustices and ill treatment meted out to the Indian Muslims by the British government, and rose as the influential and later was one of the principle Founding Fathers of Pakistan. Ali Khan was invited first to join the Congress Party, but allied himself with the Muslim League, playing a vital role in the independence of India and Pakistan, while served as the Finance minister in the interim government of British Indian Empire, prior to partition. Significantly, Ali Khan and his wife are credited with persuading Jinnah to return to India— an event which marked the beginning of the Muslim League's ascendancy and paved the way for the Pakistan movement— following the passage of the Pakistan Resolution in 1940, Ali Khan assisted Jinnah in campaigning for the creation of a separate state for Indian Muslims.His influential role led the British Indian Empire to disintegrate into modern-day state of India and Pakistan.
His ancestors were traced to Nosherwani-Sassanid Dynasty settled in Eastern Punjab.His father, Nawab Rustam Ali Khan, possessed the titles of Rukun-al-Daulah, Shamsher Jang and Nawab Bahadur, by the local population and the British Government who had wide respect for his family. The Ali Khan family was one of the few landlords whose property (300 Villages in total including the jagir (lit. Smallholding) of 60 villages in Karnal) expanded across both eastern Punjab and the United Provinces. The family owned pre-eminence to timely support given by Liaqat's grandfather Nawab Ahmed Ali Khan of Karnal to British army during 1857 rebellion.(source-Lepel Griffin's Punjab Chiefs Volume One).Liaquat Ali Khan's mother, Mahmoodah Begum, arranged for his lessons in the Qur'an and Ahadith at home before his formal schooling started.His family had strong ties with the British Government, and the senior British government officers were usually visited at his big and wide mansion at their time of visit.
His family had deep respect for the Syed Ahmad Khan, and his father had strong views and desires for young Liaqat Ali Khan to educated in the British educational system; therefore, his family admitted Ali Khan to famous Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to study law and political science. Ali Khan was sent to Aligarh to attend the AMU where he would obtained degrees in law and political science.
In 1913, Ali Khan attended the MOA College (now Aligarh Muslim University), graduating with a BSc in Political science and LLB in 1918, and married his cousin, Jehangira Begum, also in 1918.After the death of his father in 1919, Ali Khan, with British Government awarding the grants and scholarship, went to England, attending the Oxford University's Exeter College to pursue his higher education. In 1921, Ali Khan was awarded the LLM in Law and Justice, by the college faculty who also conferred him with a Bronze Medallion. While a graduate student at Oxford, Ali Khan took active participation in student unions and was an elected Honorary Treasurer of the Majlis Society— a student union founded by Indian Muslim students to promote the Indian students rights at the university.Thereafter, Ali Khan was called to joined the Inner Temple, one of the Inns of Court in London. He was called to the Bar in 1922 by one of his English law professor, and starting his practices in law as an advocate.
The historical photo of family of L.A. Khan his wife and children, 1949
Quaid.Fatima Jinnah,Liaqat Ali Khan
& Begum Liaqat Ali Khan
Political activism in British India
Ali Khan returned to his homeland Britain in 1923, entering in national politics, determining to eradicate to what he witness the injustice and ill-treatment of Indian Muslims under the British Indian Government as well as the British Government. His political philosophy strongly emphasis a united India, first gradually believing in the Indian nationalism. The Congress leadership approached to Ali Khan to become a part of the party, but after attending the meeting with Jawaharlal Nehru, Ali Khan's political views and ambitions gradually changed. Therefore, Ali Khan refused, informing the Congress Party about his decision, and instead joining the Muslim League in 1923, led under another lawyer Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Soon Jinnah called for an annual session meeting in May 1924, in Lahore, where the goals, boundaries, party programmes, vision, and revival of the League, was an initial party agenda and, was carefully discussed at the Lahore caucus. At this meeting, Khan was among those who attended this conference, and recommending the news goals for the party.
United Province legislation
Ali Khan initially compaigned in the 1926 elections from the rural Muslim constituency of Muzzaffarnagar for the provisional legislative council. Ali Khan won the elections with unanimously and with heavy margin, whilst there were no opponents that campaign against him. After taking the oath, Ali Khan embarked his parliamentary career, representing the United Provinces at the Legislative Council in 1926 in 1932, he was unanimously elected Deputy President of UP Legislative Council.
During this time, Ali Khan intensified his support in Muslim dominated populations, often raising the problems and challenges faced by the Muslim communities in the United Province. Ali Khan joined hands with academician Sir Ziauddin Ahmed, taking to organize the Muslim students communities into one student union, advocating for the provisional rights of the Muslim state.His strong advocacy for Muslims rights had brought him into national prominence and significant respect was also gained from Hindu communities whom he also fought for them at higher hierarchy of the government. Ali Khan remained the elected member of the UP Legislative Council until 1940, when he was proceeded to elect to the Central Legislative Assembly; he participated actively, and was the influential member in legislative affairs, where his recommendations would also noted by other members.
In his parliamentary career, Ali Khan established his reputation as "eloquent principled and honest spokesman" who would never compromised on his principles even in the face of severe odds. Ali Khan, on several occasions, used his influence and good offices for the liquidation of communal tension and bitterness.
Allying with Muslim League
Ali Khan rose to become one of the influential member of the Muslim League, and was one of the central figure in the Muslim League delegation that attended the National Convention held at Calcutta. Earlier the British Government had formed the Simon Commission to recommend the constitutional and territorial reforms to the British Government. The commission, compromising the seven British Members of Parliament, headed under its Chairman Sir John Simon, met briefly with Congress Party and Muslim League leaders. The commission the had introduced the system of dyarchy to govern the provinces of British India, but these revision met with harsh critic and clamoured by the Indian public. In 1924, Ali Khan and Jinnah attended the party meeting with other Muslim League leaders to decided whether or not to cooperate with the commission.The Muslim League was divided, Ali Khan backed Jinnah to cooperate with the commission, while other faction headed by Sir Muhammad Shafi decided to boycott the commission.
The commission was granted to decrease the violence, but had increase instead. To ease of the protests and violence, Motilal Nehru presented his Nehru Report to counter British charges.In 1928, Ali Khan and Jinnah decided to discuss the Nehru Report in December 1928. In 1930, Ali Khan and Jinnah attended the First Round Table Conference, but it ended in disaster, leading Jinnah to depart from British India to Great Britain. During this meantime, Ali Khan's second marriage took place in December 1932. His wife, Begum Ra'ana, was a prominent economist and an educator. She, too, was an influential figure in the Pakistan movement.
Ali Khan firmed believed in the unity of Hindu-Muslim community, and worked tirelessly for that cause. In his party presidential address delivered at the Provisional Muslim Education Conference at AMU in 1932, Ali Khan expressed the view that Muslims had "distinct [c]ulture of their own and had the (every) right to persevere it". At this conference, Liaquat Ali Khan announced that:
But, days of rapid communalism, in this country (British India) are numbered... And we shall ere witnessed long the united Hindu-Muslim India anxious to persevere and maintain all that rich and valuable heritage which the contact of two great cultures bequeathed us. We all believe in the great destiny of our common motherland to achieve which common assets are but invaluable....
—Liaquat Ali Khan, addressing the students and academicians in 1932,
Soon, Ali Khan and his wife departed to England, but did not terminate his connections with the Muslim League. With Ali Khan departing, the Muslim League's parliamentary wing disintegrated, with many Muslim members joining the either Democratic Party, originally organized by Ali Khan in 1930, and the Congress Party.At the deputation in England, Ali Khan made close study of organizing the political parties, and would soon return to his country with Jinnah.
Round Table conference
In 1930, Jinnah urged Prime minister Ramsay MacDonald and his Viceroy Lord Irwin to convene a Round Table Conferences in London. In spite of what Jinnah was expecting, the conference was a complete failure, forcing Jinnah to retire from the national politics, and permanently settled in London and was practicing law before the Privy Council.
During this time, Ali Khan and his wife joined Jinnah, with Ali Khan practicing the economical law and his wife joined the faculty of economics at the local college. Ali Khan and his wife spent most of their time convincing Jinnah to return to British India to unite the scattered Muslim League mass into one full force. Meanwhile, Choudhry Rahmat Ali coined the "Pakstan term in his famous pamphlet Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?. With Rehmat Ali and Mohammad Iqbal (who would also take him in confidence of seeing a vision in his dream of a separate Muslim state), Ali Khans successfully convinced Jinnah to return to their native land, India, to advocate for the separate Muslim state, which would later evolved to Pakistan.
Pakistan Movement
When Muhammad Ali Jinnah returned to India, he started to reorganise the Muslim League. In 1936, the annual session of the League met in Bombay. In the open session on 12 April 1936, Jinnah moved a resolution proposing Khan as the Honorary General Secretary. The resolution was unanimously adopted and he held the office till the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. In 1940, Khan was made the deputy leader of the Muslim League Parliamentary party. Jinnah was not able to take active part in the proceedings of the Assembly on account of his heavy political work. It was Khan who stood in his place. During this period, Khan was also the Honorary General Secretary of the Muslim League, the deputy leader of their party, Convenor of the Action Committee of the Muslim League, Chairman of the Central Parliamentary Board and the managing director of the newspaper Dawn.
Guard-of-honor-on-the-occasion-of-lahore-resolution-23-march-1940-
quaid-e-azam-is-seen-on-the-stage-with-nawabzada-liaquat-ali-khan.
Liquat Ali Khan (second left, first row) and wife, Sheila Irene Pant
(far right, first row), meeting with pashtun Leaders in 1948.
The Pakistan Resolution was adopted in 1940 at the Lahore session of the Muslim League. The same year elections were held for the central legislative assembly which were contested by Khan from the Barielly constituency. He was elected without contest. When the twenty-eighth session of the League met in Madras on 12 April 1941, Jinnah told party members that the ultimate aim was to obtain Pakistan. In this session, Khan moved a resolution incorporating the objectives of the Pakistan Resolution in the aims and objectives of the Muslim League. The resolution was seconded and passed unanimously.
In 1945-46, mass elections were held in India and Khan won the Central Legislature election from the Meerut Constituency in the United Provinces. He was also elected Chairman of the League's Central Parliamentary Board. The Muslim League won 87% of seats reserved for Muslims of British India. He assisted Jinnah in his negotiations with the members of the Cabinet Mission and the leaders of the Congress during the final phases of the Freedom Movement and it was decided that an interim government would be formed consisting of members of the Congress, the Muslim League and minority leaders. When the Government asked the Muslim League to send five nominees for representation in the interim government, Khan was asked to lead the League group in the cabinet. He was given the portfolio of finance. The other four men nominated by the League were Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar, Ghazanfar Ali Khan, Abdur Rab Nishtar, and Jogendra Nath Mandal. By this point, the British government and the Indian National Congress had both accepted the idea of Pakistan and therefore on 14 August 1947, Pakistan came into existence.
Prime Minister
After independence, the Ali Khan was appointed country's first Prime Minister of Pakistan by the founding fathers of Pakistan. Khan was made the prime minister during the penultimate times, the country was born at the time of starting of the extensive competition between two world superpowers, the United States and then Soviet Union. Ali Khan faced with mounted challenges and difficulties while trying to administer the country. Ali Khan and the Muslim League faced with dual competitions with socialists in West-Pakistan and, the communists East Pakistan. The Muslim League founded difficult to face competition with socialists in West Pakistan, and lost considerable support in favor of socialists led its Marxist leader Faiz Ahmad Faiz. In East Pakistan, the Muslim League's political base was vanished by Pakistan Communist Party after staging a mass protest.
Signs the register as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Liaquat Ali Khan meeting President Truman
Prime Minister Ali Khan meeting with President and faculty of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge
At an internal front, Ali Khan faced with socialist's nationalists challenges and different religious ideologies further pushed the country into more unrest. Problems with Soviet Union and Soviet bloc further escalated after Ali Khan failed to make a visit to Soviet Union, despite his intention.Although, Ali Khan envision the foreign policy more independent, despite his initiatives, the country had became dependent to United States which influenced on Ali Khan's decision to visit the communist bloc.
Ali Khan send the recommendation to Jinnah to appointed Abdul Rashid as country's first Chief Justice, and Justice Abdur Rahim as President of Constitutional Assembly, both of them were also the Founding fathers of Pakistan. Earliest reforms Ali Khan took was to centralize the Muslim League, and planned and prepared the Muslim League to become the successor authority of Pakistan.
Assassination and Death
On 16 October 1951, Khan was shot twice in the chest during a public meeting of the Muslim City League at Company Bagh (Company Gardens), Rawalpindi. The police immediately shot the assassin who was later identified as Saad Akbar Babrak. Khan was rushed to a hospital and given a blood transfusion, but he succumbed to his injuries. The exact motive behind the assassination has never been fully revealed. Saad Akbar Babrak was an Afghan national and a professional assassin from Hazara.[self-published source] He was known to the police prior to the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan. The assassination is still a very big question mark because it was never investigated properly.
Liaqat Ali Khan with the last ruling Mir of
Khayrpur H.H. George Ali Murad Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan who was also a comrade of Pakistan''s founder Quaid-i-Azam ...
Upon his death, Liaquat Ali Khan was given the honorific title of "Shaheed-e-Millat", or "Martyr of the Nation". He is buried at Mazar-e-Quaid, the mausoleum built for Jinnah in Karachi. The Municipal Park, where he was assassinated, was renamed Liaquat Bagh (Bagh means park) in his honor. It is the same location where ex-Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007.
