Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed Khan ( ur, ) (October 1923 – 9 August 2021) was a Pakistani politician. He was a member of the All India Muslim League, who served as a
Member of the National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
of Pakistan (1990-1993). During the pre- and post-partition of the subcontinent, Nazir Ahmed Khan played a significant role in political parties such as the All India Muslim League (Pre-Partition) and
Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI; Urdu: , "Islamic Congress"), or Jamaat as it is simply known, is an Islamist political party which is based in Pakistan and it is the Pakistani successor to Jamaat-e-Islami, which was founded in colonial India in 1941. It ...
.
Early life
Nazir Ahmed Khan was born in 1923 to a
Muslim Rajput
Muslim Rajputs are the descendants of Rajputs of Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period in India onwards, retaining historically Hindu surnames suc ...
family in the Tehsil
Batala
Batala is the eighth largest city in the state of Punjab, India in terms of population after Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, Bathinda, Mohali and Hoshiarpur. Batala ranks as the second-oldest city after Bathinda. It is a municipal corpo ...
of District
Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a border with Pakistan. The ...
. His great-grandfather accepted Islam and changed his name from Kesar Singh to Kesar Khan. Kesar Khan was the direct descendant of famous Rajput warriors, Jaimal and Fatta, known for their legends. One legend was their resistance to Mughal Emperor Akbar, when Akbar's army besieged the fort of Chittor. After the Partition of India, Nazir Ahmed Khan's family migrated to
Sialkot
Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
Pakistan. He later permanently settled in Bhopalwala, a small town of Sialkot district.
Nazir Ahmed Khan held a Bachelor of Education, a Diploma in Civil Engineering and later completed his master's degree in
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
Lahore Resolution
The Lahore Resolution ( ur, , ''Qarardad-e-Lahore''; Bengali: লাহোর প্রস্তাব, ''Lahor Prostab''), also called Pakistan resolution, was written and prepared by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and was presented by A. K. Fazlul ...
Faiz Ahmed Faiz
Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi:
فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...
was his professor of English. During the years 1944 - 1948, Khan worked as a subengineer in the Public Works Department. From 1949 - 1962, he served as School Teacher and then College Lecturer in Tehsil
Daska
Daska ( ur, ), is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is the capital of Daska Tehsil, one of four tehsils of Sialkot District. It is the 50th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is 29th largest by population in Punjab ...
of
Sialkot District
Sialkot District (Punjabi and ur, ), is one of the districts of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located in the Majha region of Panjab, otherwise the northeast of the province. The city of Sialkot is the capital of the district. The Sialko ...
.
Career
In the general elections of 1990, Khan was elected as Member of National Assembly of Pakistan (MNA) fro NA-87 Sialkot-III which is divided into two constituencies NA-111 Sialkot and NA-112 Sialkot. He stood for Jamaat-e Islami-Pakistan at that time, but after being elected, he requested his party Jamaat-e-Islami detach him from party responsibilities. His three-year term ran from 1990-1993. As a member of National Assembly and Ruling Alliance, Khan represented Pakistan in Iran and 6th OIC Summit Conference in Dakar, Senegal (9–11 December 1991). He was one of the least controversial and honest members of Pakistan National Assembly. During his tenure, he strived to eradicate corruption from Government Departments, especially Police. When
Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Ghulam Ishaq Khan ( ur, غلام اسحاق خان; 20 January 1915 – 27 October 2006), was a Pakistani bureaucrat who served as the seventh president of Pakistan, elected in 1988 following Zia's death until his resignation in 1993. He wa ...
dissolved the National Assembly in 1993, city police of Daska launched a
celebratory gunfire
Celebratory gunfire is the shooting of a firearm into the air in celebration. It is culturally accepted in parts of the Balkans, Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America and Ethiopia, even where illegal.
Common occasions for celebratory ...
to hail the decision. Upon asking the reason of aerial firing by the Assistant Commissioner of Daska, policemen replied "Thank God we finally got rid of the old man"( Punjabi: شکر اے بابے توں جان چھوٹی ). It was like a sigh of relief for the Daska Police that the strict surveillance of Nazir Ahmed Khan had come to its end.DAKAR DECLARATION SIXTH ISLAMIC SUMMIT CONFERENCE (SESSION OF AL-QUDS AL-SHARIF, CONCORD AND UNITY) /ref>
Independence movement
Before partition Khan was a member of All India Muslim League Batala, and of Central Advisory Committee of Batala. When Muhammad Ali Jinnah was travelling to Lahore with his team for the three-day general session, the occasion later marked as
Lahore Resolution
The Lahore Resolution ( ur, , ''Qarardad-e-Lahore''; Bengali: লাহোর প্রস্তাব, ''Lahor Prostab''), also called Pakistan resolution, was written and prepared by Muhammad Zafarullah Khan and was presented by A. K. Fazlul ...
or Pakistan Resolution, Khan was one of the students who greeted him at Amritsar Railway Station. In 1946, when All India Muslim League started rallies against the Government of
Khizar Hayat Tiwana
Sir Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana KCSI, OBE ( pa, ; 7 August 1900 – 20 January 1975) was an Indian statesman, landowner, army officer, politician belonging to the Punjab Unionist Party. He served as the prime minister of the Punjab Province of ...
(Prime Minister of Punjab Province), Khan actively participated in these rallies. Each day during the rallies, a group of Muslim League's youth surrendered to the authorities. The decision of volunteer arrest was made by Muslim League and Syed Bahauddin Ahmed Gillani (President of City Muslim League). In the final rally, Khan led the group of youth who surrendered to the authorities. He continued his struggle with Muslim League until the creation of Pakistan.
Jamaat-e-Islami-Pakistan
Khan became a member of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1952 and served his party in multiple positions. He remained a member of Central Advisory Committee of Jamaat-e-Islami for 42 years (1958-2000). He was Ameer (President) of Jamaat-e-Islami District Sialkot, Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Division Gujranwala and Naib Ameer (Vice President) of Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab Province. With other prominent leaders, he faced politically motivated imprisonment for almost one year, where he wrote his book ''Wardaat-e-Zindan'' (