Mahmud Ali Khan Chaudhry, better known as MAK Chaudhry, who passed away in Lahore on Sunday, presented a rare combination of a fine civil servant and a finer human being.
Born into an extraordinarily forward-looking and enterprising family from Jalandhar (his brothers: Chief Justice Yaqub Ali Khan, Ambassador Sajjad Haider, Brigadier Amjad Ali Khan), MAK started taking interest in political and social movements as a college student. He won a commission in the army but after a brief stint as a Captain he got himself seconded to the police service. He served in various capacities in both wings of the pre-1971 Pakistan. As Inspector-General of Police in East Bengal he won the respect and confidence of the Bangalis at a time when most West Pakistanis serving there found this impossible. He bore the hardships faced after the fall of Dhaka with grace and subsequently served as the Federal Interior Secretary and after retirement as chairman of Baitul Mal.
As a police officer he was known for his courage in defying political bosses when the call of duty and integrity so demanded and without being afraid of the consequences. As head of Baitul Mal, too, he declined to compromise his principles even during the premiership of Benazir Bhutto for whom he otherwise had great regard.
Author of several books, including one on the police organisation and another on the factors leading to military interventions, MAK will also be remembered for his highly readable memoirs, 'All those years', that he first wrote in Urdu and later on in English (for the benefit of the English-medium generation.) His account of the measures he adopted to curb killings in the so-called encounters and the way he survived punitive action for uprightness make the volume worth inclusion in training manuals for civil servants. A significant feature of the book is MAK's respectful references to a kinsman who had migrated into another faith. The book also carries an account of Justice Yaqub Ali Khan's reaction to General Zia's coup of July 5, 1977, that the judge wouldn't talk about perhaps because he belonged to the age when judges spoke only through their judgments.
MAK was always available to join a public cause and he succeeded in imparting his premium on propriety to his children and grandchildren. When the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan requested him to draw up police reform proposals he undertook the voluntary work with the seriousness of an academic. He would come to the office with tea in his flask and his own pens in his pocket and as soon as the task was finished he handed over copies of his report without even waiting to be thanked properly.
He will be remembered for long for his strictness in honest performance of his duty, for his capacity for enduring and non-profit friendships and his generosity in dispensing with his affection. — I. A. Rehman
