|
|
|
December 30, 2006
Nationalists who made the difference...
The nation remembers with gratitude the leaders of the freedom movement which led to the creation of Pakistan. The movement was started by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, strengthened by Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, enriched by the vision of Allama Iqbal, guided and led by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and supported by these great men.
Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk
Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk took over as Honorary Secretary of the Aligarh College after Mohsin-ul-Mulk's death. He played a very prominent role in the Muslim political movement and was one of the sponsors of the Simla Deputation of 1906. He also inaugurated the first session of the All-India Muslim League at Dacca in December of the same year (1906).
Altaf Hussain Hali
Altaf Hussain Hali gave Urdu literature one of its most inspiring long poems "Musaddas-i-Hali". Sir Syed Ahmad Khan inspired him with a missionary zeal to work for Muslim national uplift, and it was his simple and deeply moving poetry which, in turn, inspired millions and awakened a decadent people to revive their lost glory and look to the future with renewed hope.
Shibli Nomani
Shibli Nomani was a great Oriental scholar and historian. He joined the Aligarh College as Professor of Oriental Languages, and later founded an institution Nadwat-ul-Ulema at Lucknow to impart modern western knowledge along with the usual courses of study in Oriental subjects. His published works included Sherul-Ajam, an outstanding critical treatise on Persian poetry, and Seeratun-Nabi, a monumental work on the Life of the Prophet.
Nazir Ahmed
The pioneer of Urdu novel, Nazir Ahmad had his fingers on the pulse of the Muslim nation during those critical decades when Muslim society was in a flux. In his novels he sought to eradicate social evils inherent in a decadent society, particularly those caused by ignorance, illiteracy and frustration.
Jamaluddin Afghani
Jamaluddin Afghani was an idealist who dreamt of Muslim renaissance and, like Iqbal, he in his own time made a fervent plea for a vigorous reinterpretation of Islam, ridding it of the wild undergrowth which had sapped its vitality, and rationalising its broad healthy principles of democratic press. His dynamic personality and writings exercised a deep influence on nascent Muslim nationalism in all countries which he visited or where his thoughts reached.
Hasan Ali Effendi
Hasan Ali Effendi was born in a poor family of a small village of Hala District in Sindh. By purely personal efforts he educated himself and chose law as a profession. In 1885, being inspired from Sir Syed's movement, he established the Sindh Madrasatul Islam where the Quaid-i-Azam too was a student. He also established the first Muslim girls school of Sindh at Marriot Road in Karachi. He is called the "Sir Syed of Sindh."
Syed Nawab Ali Choudhry
One of the most eloquent advocates of the Partition of Bengal which came about in 1905, Syed Nawab Ali Choudhry took a prominent part in shaping the Muslim politics of those early years when the Muslim league was not yet established. He was also one of the sponsors of the Simla Deputation of 1906. He also served a term as Minister in the Bengal Government. His grandson Mr Mohammed Ali was a past Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi
A prominent religious scholar and political leader Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi was born in a family of Sikh goldsmiths. He embraced Islam at the age of 15, after which he left his hearth and home and settled in Sindh. After graduation he went to Afghanistan and founded a branch of Indian Congress. Later he travelled to Turkey and Russia. All his attempts were directed towards forging international Muslim unity.
Sir Abdur Rahim
One of the sponsors of the Simla Deputation to Lord Minto in 1906 and a pioneer of Muslim awakening in Bengal, Sir Abdur Rahim rose to be a judge of the Madras High Court and a Minister in Bengal Government. For a long time, he at in the Indian Legislature as the leader of the Independent Party and later became the President of the Central Legislature. He also presided over the annual session of the Muslim League in the year 1925.
Imadul Mulk Syed Hussain Bilgrami
One of the sponsors of the Simla deputation, Imadul Mulk Syed Hussain Bilgrami was a brilliant scholar as well as a seasoned politician. He was appointed a minister of Hyderabad State and in 1909 became a member of the then India Council. He was the author of a number of books on Muslim politics and Muslim educational problems. He also presided over the All-India Muslim Education Conference.
Syed Ali Imam
A great lawyer and statesman, Syed Ali Imam was one of the signatories to the Memorandum presented to Lord Minto, the then Viceroy of India, in 1906. In 1908, he presided over the third annual session of the All- India Muslim League held at Amritsar. He was the first Muslim to be appointed Law Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, and later became President of the Nizam's Executive Council.
Hakim Ajmal Khan
Founder of the subcontinent's biggest College of Oriental medicine (Tibbiya College), Hakim Ajmal Khan was one of the Reception Committee of the All India Muslim League session held in Delhi in 1909, and later became its President. He took a prominent part in the Khilafat agitation during 1920-24.
Syed Amir Ali
One of the most eminent historians and scholars of Islamic learning, Syed Amir Ali founded the Central National Muhammadan Association in 1879. In 1881, he was nominated to the Bengal Legislative Council and later to the Imperial Council. A jurist of international fame, Syed Amir Ali rose to be a Privy Councillor. Steeped in western thoughts and learning, he interpreted Islam as a progressive force, and his writings are permeated with high scholarship and a liberal outlook. He also organised the London Branch of the All-India Muslim League. His writings "the spirit of Islam" and "A Short history of Saracens" have become books of reference.
Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari
Dr. M. A. Ansari, a physician of unrivalled reputation was the leader of the "Hilal-e-Ahmar Medical Mission" of Indian Muslims sent to Turkey for administering relief and medical aid to the Turks in 1912. He was President of All India Muslim League in the year 1920, when his presidential address was proscribed by the British Government. He was a philanthropist and champion of the Muslim cause.
Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar
Pioneer of the Khilafat Movement and a dauntless fighter in the struggle of independence, Maulana Mohammad Ali was a fiery orator, and a courageous Journalist. He was educated at Aligarh and Oxford and like the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, he also began his political career in the Indian National Congress and made great sacrifices. But after the publication of the Nehru Report which revealed the communal bias of those who held the reigns of that Hindu-dominated organisation, and disgusted with the attitude of Mr Gandhi and his Congress, he broke away from them and worked for the Muslim League. He revolutionised Muslim thought by his writings in English weekly "Comrade", and in Urdu weekly "Hamdard" published by him. He was also a Member of the Round Table Conference where the expressed his prophetic demand: "I would prefer to die on the soil of a country which is free, rather than return to a slave country", He never returned to his country and died soon after. He was buried in Bait-ul-Maqdus.
Maulana Shaukat Ali
Maulana Shaukat Ali, the elder brother of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, was a committed and sincere worker of Muslim cause and a great freedom fighter who was twice sentenced to imprisonment by the British Government. He served as trustee and later as President of the Aligarh College Board as well as Secretary and Chief organiser of Central Khilafat Committee. He led the boycott of the Simon Commission in 1927 and strongly opposed the Nehru Report in 1928. He attended the
Round Table Conference and the World Muslim Conference in Jerusalem in 1932. He was a member of Muslim
League council and also of the Muslim League Parliamentary Board. He remained in Legislative Assembly from 1936 to 1938.
Mian Mohammad Shafi
Mian Mohammad Shafi took an active interest in the political life of the Muslims and represented them in the Punjab and the Central Legislature. He was a member of the Viceroy's Executive Council and took a prominent part in the deliberations of the London Round Table Conference where he successfully pleaded for the continuation of separate electorates for the Muslims. He presided over the Muslim League session in 1912.
Justice Shah Din
A Judge of the Lahore High Court and a great Oriental scholar, Justice Shah Din was the President of the All India Muslim Educational Conference. He rendered yeoman's service to the cause of Muslim education. He was one of the signatories to the Memorandum presented by the Simla Deputation in 1906.
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan A great journalist, poet and politician, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was a champion of the Muslim cause. He wrote fearlessly against the British Government and suffered imprisonment for a long period. He was a member of the Muslim League Party in the Central Assembly and Member of the Council of the All India Muslim League.
Sheikh Abdul Qadir
Sheikh Abdul Qadir was one of the most brilliant Muslim personalities from Punjab. He stared his career as a barrister, and was elevated to the Bench of the Lahore High Court. Later he became a minister of the Punjab Government and represented India at the League of Nations. In 1926 he presided over the Delhi session of the All-India Muslim League. He was the Editor of "Makhzan", the first Urdu literary journal of high standard which published the contributions of the greatest Urdu writers.
Syed Raza Ali
Syed Raza Ali was a member of the Muslim League Party in the Central Legislature and the Council of the All-India Muslim League. He took a keen interest in Muslim politics. He was High Commissioner for the British Indian Empire in the Union of South Africa.
Chaudhry Rehmat Ali
Chaudhry Rehmat Ali was the person who gave Pakistan its name in his famous booklet ‘‘Now or never’’, which he published in January, 1933 while he was a student of Cambridge University and a young activist of freedom movement. This name soon caught the imagination of the multitudes and everybody began to call the proposed country by this name. Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, along with his companions met the Muslim delegates to the Round Table Conference in London and urged upon them to demand ‘‘Pakistan’’ rejecting the idea of an Indian federation.
Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan
A highly respected politician, Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan was a trusted lieutenant of the Quaid-i-Azam. He was a member of Muslim League Council as well as of its working Committee. He was also the Chairman of League's Committee of Action, and presided over Khilafat Committee, All Parties Muslim conference, U.P. Muslim League and the Unity Board. Nawab Ismail Khan for many years represented the Muslims in the Central Assembly and in the U.P. Provincial Assembly. He also served as Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University from 1934 to 1936.
Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman
One of the most prominent members of the Muslim League Working Committee, Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman was the Leader of the Muslim League Party in the U.P. Provincial Legislative Assembly. After Independence he was appointed the first organiser of Pakistan Muslim League. Later he became its president. He was the Governor of East Pakistan in 1953-54 and later served as ambassador to Indonesia.
Allama Shabbir Ahmed Usmani
Allama Usmani was a well-known religious scholar, an author and a sincere political leader. He served as the Principal of Jamia Islamia in Gujrat as well as of Alma Mater at Deoband for many years. He took a very active part in the Khilafat Movement and worked tirelessly for Pakistan during the 1947 referendum in the NWFP. After independence, he became a member of the Assembly and participated in the preparation of Objectives Resolution and the first draft constitution of Pakistan.
Ghazanfar Ali Khan
Ghanzanfar Ali Khan was a dynamic Muslim Leaguer. He served as Honorary Joint Secretary of the All-India Muslim League. He became a Minister in the Punjab Government and a Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council in 1946. After independence, he served as a Minister in the Central Cabinet and later as Pakistan’s Ambassador in Iran. Turkey, and as Pakistan's High Commissioner in India.
Khaksar Tehrik
The Muslims of the Subcontinent had become conscious enough to realise the importance of waging a relentless struggle to avoid the yoke of Hindu domination. They were now determined to attain respectable position in the Indian Politics. Khudai Khidmatgars of Frontier and the Neeli Poshs of Punjab were striving for the same goal. It was for the same end that Allama Inayatullah Mashriqi launched his militant Khaksar Movement.
Haji Sattar Ishaq Seth
Haji Sattar Ishaq Seth, a veteran politician and a trusted Lieutenant of Quaid-i-Azam, was a member of All-India Muslim League working committee.
Sardar Aurangzeb Khan
Sardar Aurangzeb Khan was a devoted member of the Muslim League working committee. He worked very hard for the Pakistan movement.
Khan Bahadur Saadullah Khan
Khan Bahadur Saadullah Khan, a close associate of Quaid-i-Azam, was a working committee member of All-India Muslim League and the first president of NWFP Muslim League.
Sir Sikhandar Hayat Khan
Sir Sikhandar Hayat Khan, a veteran Muslim Leaguer, was the Chief Minister of pre-partition Punjab. He the played a very important role in Pakistan movement.
Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan
Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, a seasoned politician and leader of All-India Muslim League, took an active part in the Pakistan movement. He was twice arrested in 1946 and 1947 for his political struggle.
Malik Feroz Khan Noon
Malik Feroz Khan Noon was an active political and social figure who strived very hard for the Pakistan cause. He courted arrest to oust the Khizar Government in Punjab in 1947.
Shahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan
Shahibzada Abdul Qayyum Khan was a senior politician. He attended the Round Table conference as a Muslim delegate and took active part in the freedom movement.
Khan Iftikhar Hussain
A Muslim League leader, Khan Iftikhar Hussain of Mamdot played an important role in organising the Pakistan resolution session on March 23, 1940 at Lahore.
Naasir-ul-Islam Mian Mohammad Chotani
Naasir-ul-Islam Mian Mohammad Chotani was a great patriot who took a prominent part in Khilafat Movement and donated a large amount for this noble cause.
Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar
A sincere and devoted Muslim Leaguer and a most trusted Companion of Quaid-i-Azam, Mr. I.I.Chundrigar was a very successful lawyer of Bombay. He was elected a member of Provincial Legislative Assembly in 1941 and became Commerce Minister in the League-Congress coalition Government in 1946. After independence, he served as the Federal Commerce Minister Home Minister as the Governor of N.W.F.P and as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for some time.
Madar-e-Millat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah
The younger sister of the Quaid-i-Azam, Miss Fatima Jinnah was educated at Bombay. Later she studied dentistry at Calcutta and also practiced for a year. Throughout those critical years of stress and strain, she looked after her brother very devotedly. She spent her life for the educational and social uplift of Muslim women. She was the president of the women's wing of the All-India Muslim League and took a very active part in the struggle for Pakistan. Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was active in philanthropic activities and patronising many educational and welfare institutions.
Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz
Begum Jahan Ara Shahnawaz was one of the most famous Muslim woman politicians of her time in the subcontinent. Her reputation in the politics had grown so much that she was chosen to represent the Muslims of subcontinent at the first Round Table Conference in London in 1930.She was a member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly and a member of the All-India Muslim League Council. She took a leading part in the agitation against the unionist government of the Punjab in 1947. After independence she became a member of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly, and a Member of the Basic Principles Committee.
Bi-Amma
Bi-Amma, the mother of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Shaukat Ali, was a devoted worker of freedom struggle who took a very active part in Khilafat movement. She organised a number of ladies, meetings and led large women processions in connection with the movement.
Fatima Begum
A member of the All-India Muslim League Council and the Punjab Legislative Assembly, Fatima Begum founded a girl’s college in the Punjab, and took prominent part in spreading education among women. She led huge processions during the Punjab Women's Movements in 1947 and organised relief for those wounded and arrested.
Begum Liaquat Ali Khan
Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan, the wife of Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, was a brilliant orator and an active social worker. She served as the Governor of Sindh province. As the founder and president of the All-Pakistan Women’s Association, she rendered valuable service to the cause of Muslim women. She also organised Pakistan Women’s National Guard.
Miss Mumtaz Shahnawaz
A remarkable poetess and an untiring social and political worker, Miss Mumtaz Shahnawaz organised the Muslim women of the Punjab in their historic movement against the Unionist Government of the Punjab early in 1947. She also took a prominent part in the electioneering campaign of the Muslim League. Her untimely death in an air crash in 1948 deprived the womanhood of a most brilliant worker and ceaseless fighter.
Begum Noon
Begum Viqarunnisa Noon, a brilliant organiser and a great patron of the arts, was a leading light of the All-Pakistan Women's Association. She worked actively during the freedom movement.
Lady Nusrat Abdullah Haroon
Lady Haroon was among the front-rank women activists of the freedom movement. A graceful social worker and philanthropist, she followed the cherished tradition of her late husband Sir Haji Abdullah Haroon, working for the uplift of the poor and spreading education among the masses. She took a keen interest in the affairs of a number of educational institutions. Welfare centres also received her valuable help and patronage.
Begum Shaista Ikramullah
Begum Shaista Ikramullah organised the Muslim Girl Students Federation of India of which she became the first president. She was a Member of the Council of the All-India Muslim League. She was also elected to the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. Her book From Purdah to Parliament is a classic.
Begum Shamsunnihar Mahmood
An outstanding woman writer and social worker, Begum Shamsunnihar Mahmood was one of the most active woman Members of the Council of All-India Muslim League. She also rendered valuable services to the cause of education of Muslim women.
Begum Tasadduq Hussain
Begum Salma Tasadduq Hussain was one of the most active and devoted women political and social workers who fought for the cause of freedom. She contributed largely to the recovery of women abducted during the 1947 upheaval. She also represented Pakistan at the United Nations.
Begum Hidayatullah
Begum Sughra Hidayatullah, the wife of Sir Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, was a dedicated social and political worker who took an active part in the freedom movement.
Hameed Nizami
Mr Hameed Nizami was one of the most eminent journalists who began his career as the manager of the Orient Press of India, a news agency sponsored by Muslims for better coverage of League activities. In 1940 he started fortnightly "Nawa-i-Waqt", which he later converted it into a weekly and then in 1944 became a daily. Mr Nizami was originally a humour-writer but he also received recognition as an editorial writer. Wedded to the Pakistan Movement, he was one of those Muslim journalists whose contribution to Muslim political consciousness is widely recognised. Closely associated with national newspaper organisations, Mr Hameed Nizami was also an internationally known figure. He attended a number of international conferences.
Allah Bakhsh Yousafi
The political and journalistic career of Allah Bakhsh Yousafi covers a period of about 60 years. He took an active part in every national movement and went under imprisonment a number of times. He was incharge of the Khilafat House, Bombay for a long period. He also led the boycott movement at the time of the visits of Simon Commission and the Prince of Wales to Peshawar and took an active part in getting constitutional reforms approved for the Frontier Province. He started his paper "Sarhad" in 1925 as a weekly which was later converted into a daily.
Maulana Muhammad Akram Khan
Maulana Muhammad Akram Khan, the owner and editor of a Bengali daily "Azad" of Calcutta, belonged to that galaxy of capable editors who played a notable role in moulding the Muslim public opinion in a direction that ultimately led to the establishment of Pakistan. He was also a politician. He had been a consistent supporter of the All-India Muslim League which he joined in 1907. His seniority in the domain of politics can be gauged from the fact that when in 1916 the All-India Muslim League Session was held in Lucknow where the famous Lucknow Pact, was signed, Maulana Akram Khan along with Moulvi A.K.Fazlul Haq and two others represented Bengal.
Abdul Majid Salik
Maulana Abdul Majid Salik was a very learned person who started his career in journalism in 1914 when he sponsored "Fanoos-e-Khayal" a journal of high literacy merit. Later he joined Dar-ul-Isha'at Punjab, a publishing house of repute, where he edited "Phool", "Tahzib-e-Niswan" and "Kehkashan", journals devoted to children, women and literature respectively. In 1920 he joined "Zamindar" as Editor and was imprisoned for one year for writing a seditious editorial. In 1927 he started his own daily "Inqilab" in collaboration with Maulana Ghulam Rasul Mehar. Maulana Salik was a high ranked columnist, poet, story-writer, translator and an author of several books. He was an ardent supporter of establishing a Muslim national state in north-West of India and Played a notable role in popularising the Pakistan Movement. In the Kashmir Movement of 1931, he launched three newspapers one after one the entry of which were banned in the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim State. His silver jubilee was celebrated in 1948 by the Punjab Union of Journalists.
Syed Sultan Mohammad
Syed Sultan Mohammad, the founder editor of "Al-Jamiat-i-Sarhad," Peshawar, was a well-known journalists as well as a political and religious figure. He was popularly known as a Khadim-e-Ka'aba. Syed Sultan Mohammad worked in the Khilafat Movement with Ali brothers and also served as the President of the Jamiat-ul-Ulama-i-Sarhad. He was a dauntless writer and wielded a fearless pen. He will always be remembered as a journalists and an active political worker of Freedom Movement.
Chiragh Hasan Hasrat
Chiragh Hasan Hazrat was a very eminent writer and journalist. He came in contact with leading intellectuals like Nawab Naseer Hussain Khayal and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. He worked in "Asr-e-Jadid" and became and humorous columnist in "Nai Duniya" as well as in "Paigham", a daily launched by Maulana Azad. In 1927, he came to Lahore and spent many years as Editor of "Phool" and "Tahzib-un-Niswan." During World War II, Chiragh served as editor of "Panchayat", a Government weekly and later worked in "Fauji Akhbar" of Delhi. After that he went to Kuala Lumpur where he edited "Jawan" and Urdu daily in Roman script for the Indian soldiers serving in the South-East Asian theatre of war. After the establishment of Pakistan, he worked as Editor of "Muhajireen" and "Imroz" and spent the last few months of his life as a columnist for "Nawa-i-Waqt."
Sheikh Sanaullah
Sheikh Sanaullah was the founder editor of "Khyber Mail", an English newspaper which he started from Peshawar in 1932. He was an eminent journalist who begin his career as a sub-editor in daily 'Muslim outlook", Lahore. He worked as a special correspondent of several Indian and foreign newspapers. His eminence as an experienced newsman was acknowledged far and wide when he successfully reported for the daily "Pioneer" Lucknow, the proceedings of the Court Martial of the Indian officers and jawans who had refused to fire on the unarmed people at the Qissa Khwani Bazar of Peshawar in 1930.
Altaf Husain
Mr Altaf Hussain was a journalist of very high calibre. He remained the Editor of "Dawn" for twenty years which he joined in 1945 at the behest of Quaid-i-Azam who was greatly impressed by his writings. Altaf Hussain was Master of Arts in English literature. For some time he worked as an educationalist as well as a columnist also. At the ripe age of 65 there came another turn in his life and he became Minister for industries and Natural Resources in the Government of Pakistan. Before joining "Dawn" in 1945 he had worked for about fifteen years in leading newspapers such as "Statesman" of Calcutta and the "Star of India." In his columns and writings he used to project Muslim viewpoint on the political situation of those days. He made name as a great editorial-writer and as journalist of integrity. He held high officers in national and international press organisational and represented Pakistan at a number of International conferences.
For the above information we are indebted to Pakistan Golden Jubilee publication. ‘Visual History of the Freedom Movement’ compiled & edited by Usman Batliwahllah
|
|
|
|
