Altaf Husain ( bn, আলতাফ হোসেইন, ur, ; 26 January 1900 – 25 May 1968) was an educationist, journalist, and

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 ...

activist. He is noted as one of the pioneers of print journalism in Pakistan and was the founding editor and the first

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of English-language newspaper,

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ...

, which he edited for almost twenty years. In addition, he served as Industry Minister of Pakistan in the administration 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 ...

from 1965 until resigning in 1968 due to health reasons. He is widely regarded as one of the key activists in the Pakistan Movement and penned several critically important articles in support of the case of

Indian Muslim Islam is India's second-largest religion, with 14.2% of the country's population, approximately 172.2 million people identifying as adherents of Islam in 2011 Census. India is also the country with the second or third largest number of Muslim ...

s in

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

. He translated ''

Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa "Shikwa" ( ur, , "Complaint")Video Link and "Jawab-e-Shikwa" ( ur, , "Response to the Complaint")Video Link are poems written by Muhammad Iqbal, in the Urdu language, which were later published in his book ''Kulliat-e-Iqbal''. The poems are o ...

'' by the poet

Muhammad Iqbal Sir Muhammad Iqbal ( ur, ; 9 November 187721 April 1938), was a South Asian Muslim writer, philosopher, Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philos ...

from Urdu into rhymed English verse, in 1943.

Biography

Education and government work

Altaf Husain was born in

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate ...

Sylhet District Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট), located in north-east Bangladesh, is the divisional capital and one of the four districts in the Sylhet Division. History Sylhet district was established on 3 January 1782, and until 1878 it was part of Bengal Pr ...

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 ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

) into a family of

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

zamindar A zamindar (Hindustani language, Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian language, Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous Raja, ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughal Em ...

s, on 26 January 1900. His father was Ahmad Ullah. After receiving his education from

Murari Chand College Murari Chand College ( bn, মুরারিচাঁদ কলেজ) (usually referred to as MC College) was the first college in the Sylhet Division. It was established in 1892, making it the seventh oldest college in Bangladesh. Since then i ...

in Sylhet, Husain moved to

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

to attend the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every yea ...

where he studied English language. He earned a BA in English from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate State university (India), state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered ...

and moved to

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest ...

. He then attended the

Dhaka University 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 ...

where he studied

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and subsequently earned an MA in English language from University of Dhaka in 1923. Upon his graduation, he joined the Kolkata Municipal government where he became Director of

Public Information Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

from 1942 until 1943. He later proceeded to join the Indian Ministry of Information as press adviser. Although, he worked for the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, he subsequently began to write political articles in the newspaper ''Statesman'', Calcutta penning the fortnightly column "''Through the Muslim Eyes''" under the pen name, ''Ain-el-Mulk'', which reflected the Muslim point of view.

Pakistan movement and Industry ministry

Shortly thereafter, he left the Indian Ministry of Information and started to write a

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression (physical), compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column i ...

"''Dar-el-Islam''" (lit. "Door of Islam") for the ''Statesman'' but under the pen name, ''Shaheed'' (lit. Martyr). For a brief period of time, he also wrote

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

for the Calcutta-based newspaper ''Star of India''. During this time, his incisive writing won recognition and attention from

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

(

founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

) who had contacted him to meet him in his

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. Eventually, he was asked to take a position of editor-in-chief of the newspaper ''Dawn'', which was founded by Jinnah in 1945. Earlier, Altaf Husain had first taken over the office in Delhi in 1944 and had begun printing ''Dawn''. As an editor-in-chief of ''Dawn'', he came to public notice and prominence, and was admitted into Jinnah's close circle of advisers. In this capacity, he played a critically important role in the success of the

which led to the creation of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the South Asia. After the establishment of

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 moved his senior staff from

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

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 c ...

while he continued his editorship of ''Dawn'' in Karachi and remained as editor from 1947 to 1965. His influence as the founding editor of the Dawn, his role in the Pakistan Movement and his extraordinary relationship with Jinnah meant that his was amongst the most influential voices outside the government. While defending

East Pakistan East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wit ...

's rights, he strongly assailed the idea of its separation from Pakistan. For some time, he joined the faculty of journalism at

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 ...

to teach and instruct courses on journalism.

Awards and honours

In 1959, his services were recognised by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

and he was conferred with the ''

Hilal-e-Pakistan Hilal-e-Pakistan () is the second-highest civil award (in the hierarchy of "Hilal") of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The award seeks to recognize those people who have made "meritorious contribution to the national interests of Pakistan, or ...

'' (Crescent of Pakistan) Award, in a public ceremony in 1959.

Industry minister

In 1965, he was invited by President

to join the government, which he surprised many by accepting. Ultimately, he was appointed Industry Minister of Pakistan and oversaw the rapid

industrialisation Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

as well as the process of

privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

in Pakistan. He retained the ministry until 1968 when he resigned due to poor health.

Death and legacy

Altaf Husain resigned from the Industry ministry 10 days before his death. He died on 25 May 1968 and was buried with state honours in Model Colony

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

. The street in Karachi where Dawn was first published is today known as ''Altaf Husain Road''. Regarded as a model by young writers, he excelled in the role of the crusader. Dawn newspaper remarked eight years after his death:

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Husain, Altaf 1900 births 1968 deaths People from Sylhet University of Karachi faculty Pakistani male journalists Bengali activists Bengali writers Bengali politicians Dawn (newspaper) editors Pakistan Movement activists from Bengal Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Pakistani people of Bengali descent University of Dhaka alumni University of Calcutta alumni Dawn (newspaper) people Journalists from Karachi Murari Chand College alumni 20th-century Bengalis Recipients of Hilal-i-Pakistan