Aftab Ghulam Nabi Kazi ( ur, آفتاب غلام نبی قاضی; 6 November 1919 – 9 August 2016) , also known as AGN Kazi, was a Pakistani
civil servant and a
bureaucrat
A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government.
The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", w ...
during the
Cold War and during the
post cold war. Kazi was born in
Sindh,
Bombay Presidency, in 1919 to an academic family. He started his career in the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
in 1944 and served as the
Deputy Commissioner of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
and
Orissa
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...
. After
the partition of India, Kazi migrated to Pakistan and joined the
Provincial Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...
of Sindh, and held positions such as Secretary of Finance and Secretary to the Governor.
During the early 1960s, Kazi was Economic Minister in the Pakistan Embassy to the USA. After a brief stint as Additional Chief Secretary of West Pakistan, he was appointed Chairman of the
Water and Power Development Authority
The Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA; ur, ) is a government-owned public utility maintaining power and water in Pakistan, although it does not manage thermal power. WAPDA includes Tarbela and Mangla dams among its resources. ...
. In that role, he was responsible for the completion of the
Mangla Dam Project. In March 1969, he was appointed Secretary for Industries and Natural Resources and then a year later he became
Finance Secretary
The Finance Secretary () is the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance. This post is held by senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. T. V. Somanathan is the incumbent Finance Secretary.
As a Secretary to Go ...
, a post he held for over three years until his elevation as secretary general.
After the power struggle triggered by General
Yahya Khan
General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan , (Urdu: ; 4 February 1917 – 10 August 1980); commonly known as Yahya Khan, was a Pakistani military general who served as the third President of Pakistan and Chief Martial Law Administrator following his p ...
's
general election,
Zulfikar Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and Politician, statesman who served as ...
became the new leader of Pakistan. In 1973, Kazi became Secretary General Finance and Economic Coordination. When
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan ( ur, غلام اسحاق خان; 20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), was a Pakistani bureaucrat who served as the seventh president of Pakistan, elected in 1988 following Zia's death until his resignation in 1993. He wa ...
became
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
, Kazi was appointed Economic Advisor to the President in July 1977. In 1978, Kazi was appointed as
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of
State Bank of Pakistan
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ( ur, ) is the Central Bank of Pakistan. Its Constitution, as originally laid down in the State Bank of Pakistan Order 1948, remained basically unchanged until 1 January 1974, when the bank was Nationalized and ...
until 1986. The Pakistan State Bank, under Kazi, was characterised by excellent financial discipline in the banking sector coupled with good relations with the
Federal Government.
Kazi was the longest-serving civil servant in the history of Pakistan. As a leading civil servant, Kazi passed through several major events in the history of Pakistan, including the
removal of Bhutto and the
mysterious death of General
Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...
. In 1993, he was appointed as the chairman
Privatization Commission and was again given the status of a Federal Minister as Chief Executive of the
Pakistan Investment Board. In 1994, Kazi retired from office, at the age of 75, and led a quiet retired life in Islamabad. He died on 9 August 2016 after a prolonged illness. At his death, he was among the last living members of the old Indian Civil Service.
Early life
Kazi was born into a Sindhi, working-class family consisting of his father
Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi
Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi MBE (b: 1884 Naushero Feroze, British India – 1955) was an educator in Sindh, which is one of the four provinces of what is now Pakistan. He rose to the position of first Director of Public Instruction, S ...
, an educationist, and his sibling
Bashir Ghulam Nabi Kazi would later go on to become a senior Judge at the Sindh High Court and later the Federal Shariat Court. The family originated from Sindh, Bombay Presidency,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. His father was a veteran educationist of Sindh who had been awarded the
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
by the
British Government for his services to humanity and social development. Anybody who suggests that a
Khan Bahadur and an MBE was a member of the middle class during British colonial rule of India is being modest. His family was a member of Indian aristocracy. On the separation of Sindh from Bombay, Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi was appointed the first Director of Public Instructions Sindh in 1936. Kazi received his education in
Jamshoro
Jamshoro ( sd, ڄام شورو, ur, ) is a city and the capital of Jamshoro District, located in Sindh, Pakistan. It is located on the right bank of the Indus River, approximately northwest of Hyderabad and northeast from the provincial cap ...
, Sindh, and went on to attend the
Cathedral and John Connon School
The Cathedral & John Connon School is a co-educational private school founded in 1860 and located in Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra.[University of Bombay
The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai.
The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed ...](_blank)
from 1937. He graduated with a BS in statistics in 1941, and later went on to gain MSc in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
and
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
in mathematics from the University of Bombay. In 1943, he sat the last-ever
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...
examinations from there, becoming a member of the final cadre of the ICS. Before joining the civil service, Kazi worked in the Department of Mathematics of
D. J. Science College, teaching courses in Mathematics and Statistics. In 1944, he was one of the three Muslims selected for the Indian Civil Service, the others being
Agha Shahi
Agha Shahi ( ur, آغا شا ﮨی; 25 August 1920 – 6 September 2006), ''NI'', was a Pakistani career Foreign service officer who was the leading civilian figure in the military government of former President General Zia-ul-Haq from 1977 t ...
and Mian Riazuddin Ahmed. Thus, Kazi started a career that would last for half a century making him the longest serving civil servant in the history of Pakistan.
Civil service in India
The
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
appointed Kazi as Deputy Commissioner in Bihar and Orissa where he served until 1947. He was asked by the British Government to stay in India, but he opted for Pakistan after partition in 1947. He arrived in his home town and joined the
Government of Sindh
The Government of Sindh ( sd, حڪومت سنڌ) ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions u ...
, holding pivotal positions such as Secretary to Governor and Secretary Finance.
Senior offices held
After the amalgamation of all provinces in the western wing of the country in 1955, Kazi was appointed Finance Secretary of
West Pakistan
West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...
. In the early 1960s he was posted as Economic Minister in the Pakistan Embassy in Washington DC USA where he served until 1965. On his return to Pakistan, he was appointed for a brief period as Additional Chief Secretary (Planning nd Development) West Pakistan and thereafter as Chairman of Pakistan's
Water and Power Development Authority
The Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA; ur, ) is a government-owned public utility maintaining power and water in Pakistan, although it does not manage thermal power. WAPDA includes Tarbela and Mangla dams among its resources. ...
(WAPDA). It was during his tenure as chairman WAPDA that the Mangla Dam was inaugurated and on this occasion he was awarded the high civil award of
Sitara-e-Pakistan
The Nishan-e-Pakistan ( ur, , , ''Order of Pakistan'') is the highest civilian award of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is awarded for "those who have rendered services of highest distinction" to the national interest of Pakistan. Nishan i ...
. Previously he had also been awarded the Sitara-e-Khidmat. In 1969, he was appointed Secretary for Industries and Natural Resources and a year later as
Finance Secretary
The Finance Secretary () is the administrative head of the Ministry of Finance. This post is held by senior IAS officer of the rank of Secretary to Government of India. T. V. Somanathan is the incumbent Finance Secretary.
As a Secretary to Go ...
to the Government of Pakistan. He held this office during the crisis of 1971. In this capacity, he was also Chairman of the
Federal Board of Revenue
The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) ( ur, ), formerly known as Central Board of Revenue (CBR), is a federal law enforcement agency of Pakistan that investigates tax crimes, suspicious accumulation of wealth, money-laundering make regulation of ...
. In 1973, Kazi was assigned the highest grade in the civil service and made Secretary General, Finance and Economic Coordination in which capacity he had to supervise the working of all the economic and planning ministries of the government. He was appointed Advisor to the President on Economic Affairs in 1977 with the rank of a full Cabinet Minister on the imposition of martial law in July 1977. Thereafter he was appointed
Governor of State Bank of Pakistan
Here is a list of the governors of the State Bank of Pakistan.
List of governors
See also
* State Bank of Pakistan
* Planning Commission (Pakistan)
* Economy of Pakistan
References
Profile of Past Governors of State Bank of Pakistan
...
in 1978. He served there for eight years and this period was characterised by excellent financial discipline in the banking sector coupled with good relations with the federal government. During his tenure as Secretary General Finance, Kazi became involved in securing Pakistan's nuclear capability, along with
Agha Shahi
Agha Shahi ( ur, آغا شا ﮨی; 25 August 1920 – 6 September 2006), ''NI'', was a Pakistani career Foreign service officer who was the leading civilian figure in the military government of former President General Zia-ul-Haq from 1977 t ...
and
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan ( ur, غلام اسحاق خان; 20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), was a Pakistani bureaucrat who served as the seventh president of Pakistan, elected in 1988 following Zia's death until his resignation in 1993. He wa ...
; the three constituting the co-ordination board to monitor the nuclear program. In 1986, he was appointed Deputy chairman
Planning Commission., in which position he remained until 1993 until his induction as the chairman Privatisation Commission. In 1993 he was again given the status of a Federal Minister as chairman/Chief Executive of the Pakistan Investment Board.
[Cabinet Division, Government of Pakistan, Cabinet of caretaker Prime Minister Mr Moeen Quresh]
/ref>
Retirement and death
In 1994, Kazi retired after 50 years of service. He lived in Islamabad with his wife Zakia, who died in 2009. They had two children. He died in Islamabad on 9 August 2016.
Offices held
See also
* Allama I. I. Kazi
* Elsa Kazi
Elsa Kazi (1884–1967), commonly known as "Mother Elsa", particularly in the Sindh province of Pakistan was a German writer of one-act plays, short stories, novels and history, and a poet. She was a composer and a musician of considerable achie ...
* Dr Ali Ahmed S Kazi
* Ahmed Hussain A. Kazi
* Roedad Khan
Roedad Khan ( Urdu: روئیداد خان; born 28 September 1923) is a Pakistani politician and former civil servant. He was a leading figure in Pakistan from the start to the end of the Cold War. During his long career, Khan was one of the mo ...
* Rizwan Ahmed
* Shaikh Nazrul Bakar
* Mushtak Ali Kazi
Justice Mushtak Ali Kazi (21 December 1917 – 5 February 2002), was a Pakistani jurist and writer, who served as a Judge of the High Court of Sindh and Balochistan.
Birth and family
Kazi was born in Sindh, then part of the Bombay Presid ...
* Mutawakkil Kazi
Mutawakkil Kazi was a Pakistani civil servant who served in BPS-22 grade as the Planning and Development Secretary of Pakistan and Chief Secretary Sindh. He also served as Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan for a very brief period as his tenure w ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazi, A G N
1919 births
2016 deaths
Indian Civil Service (British India) officers
Pakistani civil servants
Governors of the State Bank of Pakistan
Finance Secretaries of Pakistan
Project-706
Pakistani Muslims
Sindhi people
Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988)
People from Islamabad
Recipients of the Sitara-e-Pakistan