Nawab Iftikhar Hussain Khan of Mamdot (31 December 1906 – 16 October 1969) was a
Pakistani politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
and a key supporter 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 per ...
in
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 ...
. After
Pakistan's Independence, He served as the 1st
Chief Minister of West Punjab and later as the
Governor of Sindh.
[Nawab Iftikhar Hussain of Mamdot]
Story Of Pakistan website, Retrieved 30 August 2021[Ayesha Jalal, The Struggle for Pakistan: A Muslim Homeland and Global Politics, Harvard University Press, 16 Sep 2014, p.76]
Early life
Mamdot was born at
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 ...
in 1906 as the son of
Shahnawaz Khan Mamdot.
[ The Nation (newspaper), Published 27 Oct 2013, Retrieved 30 August 2021] He was educated at
Government College, Lahore
The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002.
Overview
In 1864, Go ...
, and thereafter joined the police service of
Hyderabad State in the
Deccan
The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...
.
[
On the death of his father in 1942, he succeeded him as the ]Nawab of Mamdot The Nawab of Mamdot was the title of the hereditary rulers of Mamdot, a princely state, near Firozpur, in the Punjab region of British India.
Background
In 1794, Nizamuddin and his younger brother Qutbuddin, established themselves as rulers of Kasu ...
and on inheriting his lands became the largest landowner in the 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 a ...
.[Yasmin Khan, The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan, New Edition, Yale University Press] He also succeeded his father in politics as President of the Punjab Muslim League
When the All-India Muslim League was founded at Dacca, on 30 December 1906 at the occasion of the annual All India Muhammadan Educational Conference, It was participated by the Muslim leaders from Punjab, i.e., Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi, Mian Fa ...
between 1942 and 1944. He actively worked to encourage the wealthy landowners of the Punjab to drop their support for the Unionist Party and support 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 per ...
. In 1946, he was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly
The Punjab Legislative Assembly or the Punjab Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the state of Punjab (India), Punjab in India. The Sixteenth Punjab Legislative Assembly was constituted in March 2022. At present, it consists of 117 ...
and became leader of opposition. Later that year, he was the only Muslim League leader in the Punjab who supported Muhammad Ali Jinnah's call for the voluntary exchange of the populations within the Punjab. During the Partition of India in 1947, he migrated to Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, abandoning his vast landholdings in eastern Punjab which became part of the Republic of India.[
]
Chief Minister of West Punjab
On 15 August 1947, he was appointed as the first Chief Minister of West Punjab in Pakistan. Having foregone his constituency in Firozepur district and extensive estates in East Punjab
East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province betwee ...
, Mamdot sought to rebuild his powerbase in Pakistan. Without official sanction, he created the Allotment Revising Committee to cultivate new followers amongst refugees, and allegedly siphoned off properties and cars to his followers and former tenants. He became the largest claimant for agricultural land amongst the refugees. He opposed his minister for refugee rehabilitation Mian Iftikharuddin
Mian Iftikharuddin (Punjabi, ur, میاں افتخارالدیں; 8 April 1907 – 6 June 1962) was a Pakistani politician, activist of the Indian National Congress, who later joined the All-India Muslim League and worked for the cause of Pakis ...
, whose reformist proposals advocated permanently settling refugees on evacuee property and excess land belonging to bigger landlords. His stance, together with his refusal to cooperate with the centrally appointed Pakistan and West Punjab Refugee and Rehabilitation Council led to the resignation of Mian Iftikharuddin, and provided a free hand to Mamdot to allocate evacuee properties as he wished.
Factionalism plagued Mamdot's ministry. Aside from conflict with Mian Iftikharuddin and Ghazanfar Ali Khan
Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan Khokhar (16 August 1895 – 17 April 1963) was an Indian politician and monarch. He was born in Pind Dadan Khan, a town in Jhelum district, British India. He was a leading member of the All India Muslim League and a tr ...
, head of the Refugee and Rehabilitation Council, he clashed with Mumtaz Daultana and Sir Francis Mudie. He labelled Mudie, the first Governor of West Punjab, a "foreigner", "pro-unionist" and "pro-Indian" and in turn, Mudie criticised him alleging that he remained in power to get his hands on more property.[Roger D. Long, Gurharpal Singh, Yunas Samad, Ian Talbot, State and Nation-Building in Pakistan: Beyond Islam and Security, Routledge, 8 Oct 2015, p.24][
Mamdot's ministry endured widespread accusations of corruption, and was labelled "unbelievably corrupt" by one British official. It was alleged he used public funds to personally acquire about 2,000 acres of prime agricultural land at nominal rates in Montgomery District, that he awarded to his brother several hundred acres of land in the same district that belonged to Sir Khizar Hayat Tiwana and that he secretly deposited over 100,000 rupees from the Kashmir fund to his brother's account.] Rival politicians alleged that he diluted their power bases by relocating their supporters randomly across the province. A spokesman for the Rajput refugee community criticised Mamdot for not settling refugees together in accordance with the districts they came from, and noted that one village had refugees from between 13/14 different East Punjab districts which resulted in clashes on a daily basis. Mamdot resigned as Chief Minister in 1949 and an official enquiry was launched against him in relation to maladministration
Maladministration is the actions of a government body which can be seen as causing an injustice. The law in the United Kingdom says Ombudsmen must investigate maladministration.
The definition of maladministration is wide and can include:
*Delay ...
. As no-one was able to form a new ministry, the Governor of West Punjab assumed direct control of the province.[J. Henry Korson, Contemporary Problems of Pakistan, Brill Archive, 1974, p.20]
In 1950, he left the Muslim League to form a new party, the Jinnah Muslim League, which contested the 1951 elections against the Muslim League led by his arch-rival Mumtaz Daultana. One consequence of the claims against Mamdot appeared following the result of the election, as representatives of refugees constituted just 5 per cent of the Punjab Assembly, despite refugees constituting about one-third of the total Punjabi population.
Later life and death
He rejoined the Muslim League Muslim League may refer to:
Political parties Subcontinent
; British India
*All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan.
**Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...
in 1953 and was appointed Governor of Sind by Malik Ghulam Muhammad
Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad ( ur, ; 20 April 1895 – 29 August 1956), was a Pakistani politician and financier who served as the third governor-general of Pakistan, appointed in this capacity in 1951 until being dismissed in 1955 due to healt ...
in 1954.[Shahid Javed Burki, Historical Dictionary of Pakistan, Rowman & Littlefield, 19 Mar 2015, p356] He resigned his post in 1955 following the departure of Malik Ghulam Muhammad from the political scene, and thereafter remained in the political wilderness.
Mamdot died in 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 ...
on 16 October 1969.[Aḥmad Saʻīd, Institute of Pakistan Historical Research (Lahore, Pakistan), Muslim India, 1857-1947: a biographical dictionary, 1997, p.216]
References
Further reading
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External links
Profile of Nawab Iftikhar Hussain of Mamdot on storyofpakistan.com website
Our Chief Ministers
MAMDOT NAWAB IFTIKHAR HUSAIN KHAN OF (1905-1969)
The Chief Ministers
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamdot, Iftikhar Hussain Khan
Pakistan Movement activists
Chief Ministers of Punjab, Pakistan
1906 births
1969 deaths
Government College University, Lahore alumni
History of Punjab
Iftikhar
Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954
Pakistan Cricket Board Presidents and Chairmen
Punjab, Pakistan MLAs 1947–1949
Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan