Abstract
Liaquat Ali Khan, the First Prime Minister of Pakistan, was a
close associate of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the
struggle for Pakistan. He was born into the Nawab family of the
Punjab and the United Provinces and himself owned 300 villages
(60 in the Punjab and 240 in Muzaffarnagar, UP). He was
educated at Aligarh Muslim University and at Oxford in England.
In politics he devoted himself to the cause of the Muslims in
particular and of all Indians in general. When Jinnah started his
efforts for the cause of Pakistan in 1936, he got him appointed as
the Honorary Secretary-General of the All India Muslim League,
largest Muslim political organization which later championed the
cause of Pakistan under Jinnah’s leadership. During all the crucial
times and moments of the Pakistan Movement, Liaquat was one of
those leaders who enjoyed full confidence of Jinnah. In the last
phase of the struggle, Liaquat was very close to Jinnah because in
his dialogues with the British Government, it was Liaquat who all
the times was with him. It was because of the confidence which
Jinnah had in Liauqat that he was appointed as First Prime
Minister of Pakistan. Jinnah died on 11 September 1948, but it
was Liaquat who guided the Pakistani Nation in crucial moments
after the demise of the Quaid. He was a brave and courageous
leader who knew how to lead Pakistan in different directions. As a
brave leader when he was about to address a public meeting in
Rawalpindi on 16 October 1951 he was shot dead. His killing is
still shrouded in mystery because of various factors. The role he
played in the Pakistan Movement needs to be further probed. A
number of books and articles have been written on Liaquat but the
facts have not yet been fully explored. Now is the time that the
young scholars should understand this gigantic task.. Even his role
as Prime Minister is also shrouded in various mysteries and
enigmas. But the focus of this paper is only on his role and
contribution in the Movement of Pakistan as the ‘right hand’ of
Jinnah as the Quaid himself termed him.
Kishwar Sultana. (2020) Liaquat Ali Khan – His Role and Contribution in the Pakistan Movement 1936 - 1947, Journal of Pakistan Vision, Volume 21, Issue 1.
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