Khan Muhammad Arif Khan Rajbana Sial ( ur, خان عارف خان) was a veteran
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, a ...
,
feudal lord
An overlord in the Kingdom of England, English Feudalism in England, feudal system was a lord of the manor, lord of a manor who had Subinfeudation, subinfeudated a particular Manorialism, manor, Estate in land, estate or fief, fee, to a Leaseho ...
and tribal chieftain from Badh Rajbana,
Shorkot
Shorkot ( ur, , Basti starabad=), ( pa, ), is a city in Punjab, Pakistan.
It is also a capital city of Shorkot Tehsil in Jhang district. It is located at 30°30'N 72°24'E with an altitude of 131 metres (433 ft).
The city is famous ...
,
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 ...
.
Early life and education
Khan was educated at
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...
, Aligarh. With his cousin, Mahr Ghulam Abbas Khan, they inherited 30,000 acres of land each at a young age. This included the entirety of Badh Rajbana Janoobi, Badh Rajbana Shumali, Bela Badh, Khanpur, Anayat Shah, Dhoor Kot, Qasim Wala and Nawabpur villages. This area is collectively known as Badh Rajbana.
Political career
He is known for being a key figure in the
independence movement
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
He was ardently pro-democracy and supported the vision of the Quaid. He openly and publicly opposed
Field Marshal Ayub Khan
Muhammad Ayub Khan (Urdu: ; 14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974), was the second President of Pakistan. He was an army general who seized the presidency from Iskander Mirza in a coup in 1958, the first successful coup d'état in the country's h ...
while supporting the Madar-e-Millat
Fatima Jinnah
Fatima Jinnah ( ur, ; 31 July 1893 – 9 July 1967), widely known as Māder-e Millat ("Mother of the Nation"), was a Pakistani stateswoman, politician, dental surgeon and one of the leading founders of Pakistan. She was the younger sister of ...
Khawaja Muhammad Safdar
Khawaja Muhammad Safdar was a Pakistani politician from Pakistan Muslim League.
Early life and career
He was born in Sialkot and took an active part in the Pakistan Movement before 1947. In 1981, he was nominated as chairman of Majlis-e-Shoora, ...
, for the post of speaker of the National Assembly in 1985.
Political career
He was elected to the All-India Constituent Assembly in 1946 as a member of the
All India Muslim League
The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcontin ...
. He was elected to
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
several times, the last time from Shorkot in 1985. He was the chairman of the District Council of
Jhang
Jhang (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ur, ), ) is the capital city of Jhang District, in the central portion of the province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Situated on the east bank of the Chenab river, it is the List of most populous c ...
on numerous occasions.
He held the office of The Honourable
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
for the All-India Muslim League, a position he retained till after independence. He remained as the District President of Jhang for the Muslim League all throughout his political career. He has also served as a provincial and federal minister at various stages in his career.
Family
He was the son of Nawab Mahr Khan Muhammad Rajbana Sial, who was a first-class Grand Zaildar, (which was the highest cadre) he held one of the largest zails in the province.
Khan Arif Khan was the
Sardar
Sardar, also spelled as Sardaar/Sirdar ( fa, سردار, , 'commander', literally 'headmaster'), is a title of royalty and nobility that was originally used to denote princes, noblemen, chiefs, kings and other aristocrats. It has also been u ...
of the prominent Rajbana Sial Tribe of Jhang.
His nephew and son in-law Khan Munawar Ali Khan Rajbana Sial has been the chairman of
Tehsil
A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
Council Shorkot/
Ahmedpur Sial
Ahmadpur Sial ( ur, ), is a city in Jhang District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is the headquarters of Ahmadpur Sial Tehsil.
His grandson, Khan Jawad Ali Khan Rajbana Sial, is also a former parliamentarian.