Naimatullah Khan (1 October 1930 – 25 February 2020) was a
Pakistani politician who served as the City
Nazim
Subahdar, also known as Nazim or in English as a "Subah", was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, Mughal era ( of India who w ...
(Mayor) of
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
from August 2001 to June 2005.
Early life and career
He graduated from
Punjab University with a Masters in Journalism and a Law Degree from
Karachi University
The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (whi ...
. He was a lawyer by profession. He was the chairman of the biggest NGO of Pakistan,
Alkhidmat Foundation. As Mayor of Karachi, in 2005, he was selected to be a contesting candidate in the ''Top-20 Mayors of the World list''.
["Worldmayor.com's list of World's top mayors"](_blank)
Retrieved 12 November 2017
Mayor of Karachi
![Naimatullah, Muneeb ur Rehman and Hanif Tayyab](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/Naimatullah%2C_Muneeb_ur_Rehman_and_Hanif_Tayyab.jpg)
He was the first
Nāzim of Karachi after the devolution plan under President
Pervez Musharraf
General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the ...
regime in Pakistan. He belonged to
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jamaat-e-Islami ( ur, ) () is an Islamic movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamic theologian and socio-political philosopher, Syed Abul Ala Maududi.van der Veer P. and Munshi S. (eds.''Media, War, and Terrorism: Responses fro ...
being inspired by the thoughts of
Abul A'la Maududi
Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the parti ...
and
Naeem Siddiqui
Maulana Naeem Siddiqui (1916 – 25 September 2002) was a Pakistani Islamic scholar, writer and politician. He was among the founder-members of the Jamaat-e-Islami and a close associate of Abul A'la Maududi and Amin Ahsan Islahi.
Early life a ...
. Naimatullah Khan was elected City Nazim (Mayor) in 2001. Naimatullah Khan succeeded in getting an amount of Rs. 2900 Million for reconstruction of Karachi, city council approved various projects such as 18 flyovers over major roads, six underpasses, two signal-free roads and a huge water supply scheme for the people of Karachi. It was for the first time in the history of Karachi that all the stake holders in Karachi were incorporated for the developmental work in Karachi. The Karachi development plan comprised signal-free main roads, many fly overs, underpasses and the replacement of many water and sewerage lines. One of his projects, as the city mayor, was the ''Green Line Bus Project'' for Karachi where he imported buses from
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
Another publicly well-admired idea that he introduced was to involve local boys from the villages situated near the
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...
surrounding the 64 km coastal belt of Karachi. These local village boys, familiar with the sea, were good swimmers and were hired on a contract basis as lifeguards to help protect common beach visitors and picnickers when they attempted to swim in the sea for fun. In September 2017, Karachi beaches had to be sealed by authorities in the wake of 55 people drowning in the three months period.
Karachi beaches sealed in the wake of Saturday's drowninigs
The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 11 September 2017, retrieved 12 November 2017
Naimatullah Khan resigned from his office in June 2005, and was not re-elected in Pakistan's next 2005 local city elections.
Death
He died on 25 February 2020 at the age of 89 in Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
, 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 ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Naimatullah
1930 births
2020 deaths
Mayors of Karachi
Pakistani people of Rajasthani descent
University of Karachi alumni
University of the Punjab alumni
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians
Sindh Muslim Law College alumni
Leaders of the Opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh