In my previous post, "The Last Assembly", I wrote about the members of the last Provincial Assembly of United Punjab. One of the most prominent among them was Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan. Before winning the 1946 election to the Punjab Assembly, he had also been elected in 1937. He later served as a minister in the interim government of India, and notably, he was the representative of my native constituency — Pind Dadan Khan.
Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan was born on 16 August 1895 in Pind Dadan Khan, District Jhelum. His father was Raja Saif Ali Khan, a Khokhar Rajput. He showed an early interest in politics, and his political career was supported by his uncle, Pir Fazal Shah of Jalalpur Sharif, who had considerable religious influence in the area and was a firm supporter of the Pakistan Movement.
He began his education in Pind Dadan Khan, completed his matriculation from Jhelum, and was then admitted to Government College Lahore. However, due to his active participation in demonstrations against the Rowlatt Act, he was expelled from college and had to return to Pind Dadan Khan.
Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan began his political career with the Unionist Party, and in 1923, he was elected a member of the Legislative Council. That same year, he met Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah for the first time. Over the next 25 years, he maintained close contact with him and, on several occasions, played an important role in bridging differences between the Unionist Party and the Muslim League.
He was elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1937 on the ticket of the All India Muslim League. He was one of only two members elected on the League’s ticket. However, he later switched sides and joined the Unionist Party of Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan. The only other winner from the Muslim League was Malik Barkat Ali, an advocate from Lahore. It is perhaps no coincidence that Lahore and Pind Dadan Khan remain strongholds of the Muslim League to this day.
However, in keeping with the tradition of the Muslim League, Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan rejoined the party in 1944, probably sensing a change in the political winds. He was re-elected from Punjab Assembly Constituency No. 77 (Pind Dadan Khan) in the provincial elections of January 1946.
By 1946, it was becoming increasingly clear to both the British rulers and the Indian public that the sun of the British Raj was about to set in the East. To manage affairs during this transitional period, the Viceroy of India appointed an interim government, consisting mainly of nominees from the Congress and the Muslim League. Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan was one of the five ministers nominated by the Muslim League in October 1946. The other four were Liaquat Ali Khan, I. I. Chundrigar, Sardar Abdul Rab Nishtar, and Jogendra Nath Mandal. He served as the Health Minister in the interim government.
After the creation of Pakistan, he was appointed Minister of Rehabilitation—a role of great importance due to the massive refugee crisis that followed Partition. Although he served in this position for only a year, in 1948 he was appointed Ambassador to Iran. He later served as ambassador to Turkey, India, and Italy.
He died in 1963 and was buried in Pind Dadan Khan, beside the grave of Dadan Khan, the founder of the town. He was 68 years old.
I visited his tomb on 31 March 2014, in Pind Dadan Khan, which is just 30 kilometers away from my native town Lilla, located in the same tehsil. It is a small but beautiful tomb made of marble. The tomb contains two graves, one is that of Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan, and the other belongs to Dadan Khan, the founder of the city.
A school for the blind and deaf has been established adjacent to the tomb. The location of the tomb is at 32°35'7.72"N, 73°2'43.73"E.
