The First Prime Minister Of PAKISTAN LIAQAT ALI KHAN

LIAQAT ALI KHAN

The First Prime Minister Of PAKISTAN

Famous > Prime Minister of Pakistan

Birthday>  October 1, 1895

Nationality > Pakistani

It was sordid beginning for the new State. Its founding father Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah having won the battle for Pakistan, lost his own battle for life. His successor -his most trusted lieutenant- Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan, appointed by him as first prime minister who having served him for more than twelve years as general secretary of his party, had become an apple of Jinnah Sahib’s eyes -an aristocrat with enormous land holdings- Quaid called him a converted proletariat.

Liaquat’s budget as the finance member of the interim government of India before partition had sought greatest good of the largest number especially the poor in India who saw in him as their messiah in a socio-economic order that was dominated by caste-ridden Hindu Banya hierarchy. Jinnah Sahib found in him an able successor who had the honesty, determination and commitment to be rightly called as builder of Pakistan.

• Liaquat Ali Khan was born on 1 October 1895 in Karnal, Eastern Punjab of British India into a wealthy family of landlords. His father, Nawab Rustam Ali Khan, was much respected by the British Government and his mother Mahmoodah Begum was a religious lady.
  
• His family wanted the young Liaquat to be educated according to the British educational system and arranged for him to study law and political science at the famous Muhammadan Anglo Oriental College (now Aligarh Muslim University). He graduated with a BSc in Political science and LLB in 1918.
  
• He received scholarships and grants from the British Government which enabled him to attend the Oxford University's Exeter College in England for his higher education. In 1921, Khan was awarded the Master of Law in Law and Justice. He was called to the Bar in 1922.

Liaquat Ali Khan was martyred on October 16, 1951, in Liaquat Bagh (former Company Bagh) in the Pindi district that was to later see tragic ends to two other popular prime ministers—Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and martyred Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Despite all his achievements, Khan earned several detractors during his political career. His tenure as the prime minister was marred by the Indo-Pakistan War in 1947 and the Balochistan conflict. His ability as Pakistan’s leader was questioned by the communists and socialists active in the country. Problems also cropped up with Pakistan Armed Forces.

The late 1940s marked a highly tumultuous period in the newly formed nation’s history. Even though Khan was determined that Pakistan be a part of the Non-Aligned Movement, he had to side with the United States in their intense competition with the Soviet Union as the U.S. had promised aid to help the newly independent Pakistan.

It is a strange coincidence that the murder of all three was election centric. Liaquat was to announce the date for first ever general elections in Pakistan. SZAB became a victim of polls related conspiracy hatched by General Ziaul Haq to remove him. Third prime minister from Sindh, Mohatarma Benazir Bhutto too was martyred outside Liaquat Bagh where she addressed her last election rally on returning home after having fought successfully for the return of electoral democracy. She was eliminated by design by the last military dictator who feared her most.

• Upon becoming the prime minister, Khan implemented initiatives to develop educational infrastructure, science and technology in the country. He appointed Salimuzzaman Siddiqui as his first government science adviser and asked Ziauddin Ahmed to draft the educational policy for establishing a strong educational system in Pakistan. During his tenure, the establishment of the Sindh University was also authorized.
  
• As the leader of a newly created nation, Khan wanted to develop friendly relations with powerful countries like the U.S. He visited the U.S. and asked for civilian foreign aid for economic and moral support to build Pakistan to which the U.S. agreed. Pakistan received U.S. aid for several years before the relations between the two nations soured.