Rai Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

ruler of Talwan in

Jalandhar District Jalandhar district is a district in Doaba region of the state of Punjab, India. District headquarters is Jalandhar city. Before the Partition of India, Jalandhar was also the headquarters of the Jalandhar Division, with constituent districts J ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, British India, and a military officer who became a freedom fighter in British India and a political leader in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. He is known in the pre-1947 era for struggling against British rule in India and in favour of the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

and, in the post-1947 era for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan under various autocratic rulers. Amir (pronounced "Ameer") Habibullah Khan Saadi was a Member of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan (Fifth Assembly) (9 June 1962 to 8 June 1965). He was one of the prominent leaders of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in the 1970s against the government of Prime Minister

Zulfiqar Ali 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 ...

and stood as the candidate of the

Pakistan National Alliance The Pakistan National Alliance (Urdu: پاکستان قومی اتحاد, Acronym: PNA), was a populist and consolidated right-wing political alliance, consisting of nine political parties of the country. Formed in 1977, the country's leading ...

(PNA) against Mian Salahuddin of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

in the 1977 General Elections for a seat in the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

from

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

but was defeated in what were widely alleged to be rigged elections. Habibullah Khan Saadi was a member of the Khaksar Tehreek, an anti-colonial social uplift movement, and an associate of its leader,

Allama Mashriqi Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi ( ur, ; August 1888 27 August 1963), also known by the honorary title Allama Mashriqi (), was a British Indian, and later, Pakistani mathematician, logician, political theorist, Islamic scholar and the founder of th ...

Early life

Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was born "Rai Amir Habibullah Khan" on 21 December 1909 in a Manj

family in Talwan,

British Indian Empire The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

. He was named after

Habibullah Khan Habibullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 3 June 1872 – 20 February 1919) was the Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until his death in 1919. He was the eldest son of the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, whom he succeeded by right of primogeniture in October 1901. ...

, the then Amir of Afghanistan. His father, Rai Saadullah Khan, was a wealthy lawyer, landowner, and ruler of Talwan, Jalandhar District,

, where the family had its ancestral fort known as "Qila Talwan" ("Fort Talwan"). Rai Saadullah Khan was also the first Muslim member of Punjab's Legislative Assembly, a feat he had achieved by inflicting an electoral defeat on another Muslim Rajput landlord, Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Khan Habibullah Saadi received his early schooling in Jalandhar. He later joined

Islamia College, Lahore Government Islamia College Civil Lines ( ur, اسلامیہ کالج ), formerly called Dayanand Anglo Vedic College, is a government college in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded by Arya Samaj as the school of Dayanand Anglo Vedic on June 1, 1 ...

, contrary to the wishes of his father who wanted him to join his alma mater,

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is an private liberal arts university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church. The university follows an American-style curriculum. Founded in 1864 by American ...

, Lahore. After completing his bachelor's degree, Habibullah Saadi joined India's premier agriculture education establishment, the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute,

Faisalabad Faisalabad (; Punjabi/ ur, , ; ), formerly known as Lyallpur ( Punjabi, Urdu: لائل پور), named after the founder of the city, but was renamed in 1977 in honour of late King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. It is the 3rd largest city of Pak ...

(now

University of Agriculture, Faisalabad The University of Agriculture (UAF) is a public research university in Faisalabad, Pakistan. History Origins The University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (Urdu: ), (formerly: ''Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute''), is a univers ...

) from where he was awarded an external degree of

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in agriculture by the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

, which had an arrangement with the institute. In his youth, he suffixed the name "Saadi" with his name (derived from his father's name, Saadullah), thus becoming "Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi". After the dissolution of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

, the Manj Rais of Talwan and Talwandi and Raikot ruled over an extensive territory south of the

River Sutlej The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab region, Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tribu ...

, till they were dispossessed of it by the Ahluwalia Sikhs and

Ranjit Singh Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 27 June 1839), popularly known as Sher-e-Punjab or "Lion of Punjab", was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, which ruled the northwest Indian subcontinent in the early half of the 19th century. He s ...

Military career

As was the case with many scions of landed Rajput families, who considered the military as a noble and honourable calling, Habibullah Khan, opted for a military career. Habibullah Khan received his military training at The Infantry School,

Mhow Mhow, officially Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, is a town in the Indore district in Madhya Pradesh state of India. It is located south-west of Indore city, towards Mumbai on the old Mumbai-Agra Road. The town was renamed as ''Dr. Ambedkar Nagar'' in 20 ...

, the oldest and largest military training centre of the British Indian Army, and was commissioned in 1938 as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Royal Horse ("Lancers"), an elite cavalry unit of the British Indian Army. He served in

Hyderabad Deccan Hyderabad State () was a princely state located in the south-central Deccan region of India with its capital at the city of Hyderabad. It is now divided into the present-day state of Telangana, the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka, and t ...

Ahmednagar Ahmednagar (), is a city located in the Ahmednagar district in the state of Maharashtra, India, about 120 km northeast of Pune and 114 km from Aurangabad. Ahmednagar takes its name from Ahmad Nizam Shah I, who founded the town in 1494 ...

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...

, and

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he fought with his unit on the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

side against the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

in Egypt,

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, and

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

(modern-day Iraq). At the end of the Second World War, after he returned to Rawalpindi, his critical attitude towards the British was taken notice of and he was asked to resign from the British Indian Army, which he refused to do and asked to be court-martialed if he was guilty of an offence. He was, therefore, court-martialled in 1946 on charges of "seditious behaviour", but not before giving a speech before the Field General Court Martial and telling them "if the Crown cannot respect the soldiers serving under its command, then the days of the British Empire are over."

Political career

Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was a Member of the Provincial Assembly of West Pakistan (Fifth Assembly) (9 June 1962 to 8 June 1965) elected from a constituency of

. He was one of the prominent leaders of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in the 1970s against the government of Prime Minister

and stood as the candidate of the

(PNA) against Mian Salahuddin of the

in the 1977 General Elections for a seat in the

from

but was defeated in what was widely alleged to be rigged elections. Habibullah Khan Saadi was a member of the Khaksar Tehreek, a social uplift movement. Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was arrested on 5 November 1963 for actively opposing the military government of President

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

and the excesses of the Governor of West Pakistan, Malik Amir Mohammad Khan, Nawab of Kalabagh. The following is an excerpt from the West Pakistan Assembly Debates regarding the incident: :On 2 December 1963, Mr Iftikhar Ahmad Khan raised a question of privilege arising from the arrest of Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi on 5 November 1963. He contended that the Hon’ble member was arrested as a consequence of the honest and fair discharge of his duties as a member of the House during the last session; and, that the circumstances conclusively revealed that his arrest and the attempt falsely to implicate him was part of the scheme to stop Members of the Opposition from participating in the deliberations of the House. The Minister for Law opposed the motion inter alia arguing that as the matter was sub judice, it could not be discussed in the House; and, as the action had been taken under the law of the land it did not involve any breach of privilege. After hearing the Members and the Law Minister, the Speaker, Ch Muhammad Anwar Bhinder, ruled as under — ::“Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi, MPA, was arrested by the Lahore Police on 5 November 1963 on the allegations of committing offences under sections 307, 395, 332, 147, 148, 149, 427, 454, 124-A, and 153-B of Pakistan Penal Code. As I have held previously, a Member of the Provincial Assembly is not immune from arrest or detention if he commits an offence punishable under the law. Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was arrested in the ordinary administration of law and as such, there is no breach of privilege. This privilege motion is, therefore, ruled out of order.” Being one of the prominent leaders of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in the 1970s against the government of Prime Minister

, Amir Habibullah Khan Saadi was also arrested and detained by the government of Prime Minister

Family

Amir Habibullah Khan was married to Begum Akhtar Sultan and had two sons and four daughters. His wife was his cousin and daughter of Khan Bahadur

Rana Talia Muhammad Khan Khan Bahadur Rana Talia Muhammad Khan, O.B.E. (14 December 1884 – 1959) was the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India, serving as Inspector-General of Police of Patiala State and the North-West Frontier Province and a forme ...

, a former British Indian Army officer and the first Muslim Inspector-General of Police in British India, who served as Inspector-General of

Patiala State Patiala State was a self-governing princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but ra ...

and the

Northwest Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...

in British India. Her daughter is married to the son of Chaudhry Abdul Rehman Khan. Her brother, Lieutenant General Bakhtiar Rana, was Chief Martial Law Administrator (West Pakistan) and Commander,

I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to: France * 1st Army Corps (France) * I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

, Pakistan Army (1958–1966). His eldest daughter was married to K.M. Azam, the younger son of

Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan Chaudhry Niaz Ali Khan ( ur, June 28, 1880 – February 24, 1976) was a civil engineer, agriculturalist, and philanthropist who founded "Dar ul Islam Movement" and "Dar ul Islam Trust" in South Asia and "Dar ul Islam Trust" Institutes in Path ...

Death

Amir Habibullah Khan died on 6 March 1989 in

, Pakistan, and is buried in his family's ancestral graveyard in his farm outside

Kamalia Kamalia ( pa, , ur, ) is a city in the Toba Tek Singh District of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative center of Kamalia Tehsil. It is the 42nd largest city of Pakistan by population and has a lot more population compared to nearby ci ...

, Pakistan. Written on his tombstone is the following verse in

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

1909 births 1989 deaths Pakistani politicians Punjabi people People from Jalandhar Pakistani Sunni Muslims Pakistan Movement activists University of Agriculture, Faisalabad alumni