In my previous post "The Last
Assembly", I wrote about the member of the last provincial assembly of the
united Punjab. One of the most prominent members of those is Raja Ghazanfar Ali
Khan. Before his winning of the election in 1946 for the Punjab Assembly,
he also had won the election of 1937. He was also a minister in the interim
government of India. Besides that he was the representative of my native
constituency of Pind Dadan Khan.
Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan was born on 16 August,
1895 in Pind Dadan Khan in district Jhelum. His father was Raja Saif Ali Khan,
a Khokhar Rajput. He was interested in politics and his uncle Pir Fazal Shah of
Jalapur Sharif, who had a considerable influence and following in the area,
helped him in his political career. Pir Fazal Himself was a supporter of
Pakistan movement.
He started his education in Pind Dadan Khan and
after doing his matriculation from Jhelum he got admission in the Government
College Lahore. But due to his participation in demonstrations against
Rowlett Act, he was expelled from the college and returned to his native Pind
Dadan Khan.
He started his political career by joining the
Unionist Party. He was elected a member of legislative council in 1923. The
same year he met Quaid e Azam for the first time and kept a close contact with
him for the next 25 years. And on many occasions played an important part in
bridging the differences between the Unionist Party and the Muslim League.
Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan
He was elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1937
on the ticket of All India Muslim League. He was one of the only two members
elected on the ticket of Muslim League. But later switched the sides and joined
the Unionist Party of Sikandar Hayat. The only other winner was Malik Barkat
Ali an advocate from Lahore. So there is no coincidence that Lahore and Pind
Dadan Khan are still the stronghold of Muslim League.
However, according to the true traditions of
Muslim League, Raja Ghazanfar rejoined Muslim League in 1944. Probably he
sensed the change in the direction of winds. He was reelected from the Punjab
Assembly Constituency no. 77 of Pind Dadan Khan in the provincial Assembly
elections of January, 1946.
By 1946 the realization was fast sinking in the
British rulers and Indian masses that the sun of the British Raj is about to
set in the East. To manage the affairs of India during this period of retreat
of British Raj, the viceroy appointed an interim government based on mostly the
nominees of Congress and Muslim League. Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan was one of the
five ministers nominated by Muslim League, in October, 1946. The other four
were Liaquat Ali Khan, I. I. Chundrigar, Sardar Abdul Rab Nishar and Jogendra
Nath Mandal. He served as the health minister in the interim government.
After the creation of Pakistan he was made minister
of rehabilitation, which at the time was a very important task due to the huge
crisis of refugees. Though he served only for a year and in 1948 was made
ambassador to Iran. Later he also 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 with the same
name. 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, in the
same tehsil. It is a small beautiful tomb made of marble. The tomb contains two
graves, one is that of Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan and the other one is of Dadan
Khan, the founder of this city. A school for blind and deaf has been set up
adjoining the tomb. The location of the tomb is at 32°35'7.72"N ,
73° 2'43.73"E.
Tomb Of Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan - Pind Dadan Khan
Tomb Of Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan - Pind Dadan Khan
Tomb Of Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan - Pind Dadan Khan
Graves Of Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan (Left) and Raja Dadan Khan.
Pind Dadan is an old city and was an important administrative and commercial centre during the reign of Maharaj Ranjit Singh. It was a big centre of trade for the salt of nearby Khewa mines, which are jsut 7 kilometers away from the town. I feel a lot more can be written about him. I hope the readers will make their contributions to this subject.
Tariq Amir
June 02, 2016.
Doha - Qatar.