Khawaja Shahabuddin (31 May 1898 – 9 February 1977) was a politician of Kashmiri-Bengali descent from East Pakistan who was a minister in the Government of Pakistan and member of the Dhaka Nawab family. He was the younger brother of

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to hav ...

and the father of

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Khwaja Wasiuddin Khwaja Wasiuddin (1920–1992) was an army general and diplomat. He started his career as a young officer in the British Indian Army and later became a senior general in Pakistan Army. He was the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the U ...

Early life

Khawaja Shahabuddin was born on 31 May 1898. His father was Khwaja Nizamuddin, who was a

zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as a ...

. He served as the municipality commissioner of Dhaka from 1918 to 1921. In 1921 he joined the Dhaka district board. He became the chairman of the board in 1923 to 1924. From 1928 to 1944 he was the president of Dhaka district Muslim League.

Career

In 1936 he was a member of the executive council of the Governor of

Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

. From 1930 to 1938 he was the treasurer at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

. He was elected to the Bengal legislative assembly from Narayanganj in 1937. He was the Chief Whip in the A K Fazlul Haq government in Bengal from 1937 to 1941. He was the Minister of Commerce, Labour and Industry in

Khwaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( bn, খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; ur, ; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to ha ...

’s government from 1943 to 1945. Shahabuddin was also involved in the movement for the creation of Pakistan. In 1947 he became the Chief whip in

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 ...

. In 1948, he became the Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Broadcasting in the cabinet of

Liaquat Ali Khan Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...

. In 1951, he was appointed Governor of the

North West 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 ...

. He also the Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia and Yemen in 1954, Egypt in 1958, Nigeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Togo and Sierra Leone from 1961 to 1964. He served as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting from 1965 to 1969 under the administration of Ayub Khan.

Death

He died on 9 February 1977 in Karachi, Pakistan.

References

1898 births 1977 deaths Interior Ministers of Pakistan Governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Members of the Dhaka Nawab family People of East Pakistan Pakistani MNAs 1947–1954 Ambassadors of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia Ambassadors of Pakistan to Yemen Ambassadors of Pakistan to Egypt High Commissioners of Pakistan to Nigeria High Commissioners of Pakistan to Cameroon Ambassadors of Pakistan to Senegal Ambassadors of Pakistan to Togo High Commissioners of Pakistan to Sierra Leone Bengal MLAs 1937–1945 Members of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan {{Pakistan-MNA-stub