Sir Khawaja NazimuddinKCIE (Bengali: খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; Urdu: خواجہ ناظِمُ الدّین; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second governor-general of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second prime minister of Pakistan from 1951 to 1953.
Khawaja Nazimuddin was born into a wealthy Muslim family of the Nawabs of Dhaka on 19 July 1894 then under British Raj rule.[4][5][6][7] His father was Khwaja Nizamuddin and paternal grandfather was Khwaja Fakhruddin. His family hailed from Kashmir and was long settled in Dhaka.[8] He was the maternal grandson of Nawab Bahadur Sir Khwaja Ahsanullah and his mother, Nawabzadi Bilqis Banu, notable for her own statue.[9] Nazimuddin had a younger brother, Khwaja Shahabuddin, who would later play a vital role in Pakistani politics.[10][9]: xxx They were the first cousin of Nawab Khwaja Habibullah son of Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur who helped laid foundation of Muslim League in 1906.[11][12][13][14] He grew up speaking Urdu.[15]
After AMU, Nazimuddin went to England. He attended Trinity Hall in the University of Cambridge, and earned a Master of Arts.[18] His training in England enabled him to practice law and become a Barrister-at-Law in England.[16]
He was knighted in 1934.[19] In 1947–49, Nazimuddin was granted the degree of Doctor of Laws by the vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, Dr. Mahmud Hasan.[20]: 161
Nazimuddin returned to India to join his brother Khwaja Shahbuddin from England, taking interest in civil and public affairs that led him to join the Bengali politics.[21] Both brother joined the Muslim League, and Nazimuddin successfully ran for the municipality election and elected as Chairman of Dhaka Municipality from 1922 until 1929.[6] During this time, he was appointed as Education minister of Bengal. He remained minister of Education till 1934. Later he was appointed in Viceroy's Executive Council in 1934 which he served until 1937.[22] In the former capacity he successfully piloted the Compulsory Primary Education Bill. He piloted the Bengal Agriculture Debtors' Bill and the Bengal Rural Development Bill in 1935-1936.[23]
He participated in regional elections held in 1937 on a Muslim League's platform but conceded his defeat in favour of Fazlul Haq of Krishak Praja Party (KPP) who was appointed as Prime Minister of Bengal, while assuming his personal role as member of the legislative assembly.[24][25]: 69
Home and Prime Minister of Bengal and Chief Minister of East Bengal
Upon the formation of the coalition government in an agreement facilitated between Muslim League and the Krishak Praja Party, Nazimuddin was appointed as the home minister under Haq's premiership., which he continued until 1943.[26]: 331
Due to his conservative elite position, he became close associate of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then-president of the Muslim League, who appointed him as a member of the executive committee to successfully promote Muslim League' party agenda and program that gained popularity in East Bengal.[26]: 332 [27] In 1940–41, Nazimuddin broke away from the coalition led by Premier Fazlul Haq and decided to become a leader of the opposition, leading campaign against Haq's premiership and primarily focused on Bengali nationalism issues.[26]: 332 In 1943, Nazimuddin took over the government from Premier Haq when the latter was dismissed by the Governor, John Herbert, amid controversies surrounding in his political campaigns.[28] During this time, Nazimuddin played a crucial political role for the cause for the separate Muslim homeland, Pakistan.[26]: 332
His premiership lasted until 1945, when his ministry's appropriation for agriculture was defeated in the assembly by 106 to 97 votes. The next day, 29 March, Speaker of the Assembly Syed Nausher Ali, an Indian nationalist Muslim and a prominent member of Congress Party, ruled that the vote was effectively one of no confidence. On 31 March, the administration was taken over by Governor of Bengal Richard Casey under section 93 of the Government of India Act 1935.[29]
From 1945 to 1947, Nazimuddin continued to be served as the chairman of the Muslim League in Bengal, ardently supporting the political cause for Pakistan against the Congress Party.[26]: 333 This despite Nazimuddin and other Muslim League leaders not having thought through the consequences of the Pakistan Movement. As late as February 1947, Governor of Punjab Sir Evan Jenkins reported that Nazimuddin said "he did not know what Pakistan means and that nobody in the Muslim League knew."[30] During this time, Nazimuddin had been in conflict with Premier Suhrawardy and strongly opposed the United Bengal Movement. The conflict between two men mainly existed because Suhrawardy represented the middle class while Nazimuddin was representing the aristocracy.[31]
In 1947, he again contested in the party elections in the Muslim League against Suhrawardy's platform and securing his nomination as the party chairman for the Muslim League's East Bengal chapter.[32]: 49–50 His success in the party election eventually led him to the appointed as the first Chief Minister of East Bengal after the Partition of India in 1947 and effectively gained controlled of the Muslim League in the province.[32]: 50
As the Chief Minister, he led the motion of confidence that ultimately voted in favour of joining the Federation of Pakistan and reorganized the Government of East Pakistan by delegating conservative members in his administration.[32]: 49–50
Governor-General of Pakistan (1948–51)
On 14 August of 1947, Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah relinquished the party presidency of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) to Sir Khwaja Nazimuddin who took over the party of the President of Pakistan Muslim League (PML), due to his party electoral performance.[32]: 50–51 After the death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Nazimuddin was appointed acting governor-general. at the urging of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, on 14 September 1948.[33] His oath of office was supervised by Chief Justice Sir Abdul Rashid of the Federal Court of Pakistan, with Liaquat Ali Khan in attendance.[6]
As Governor-General, Nazimuddin set a precedent of neutrality and non-interference in the government, and provided his political support to Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's government, which was seen as essential to the working of the responsible government at that time.[34]
In 1949, Governor-General Nazimuddin established the parliamentary committee, the Basic Principles Committee, on the advice of Prime Minister Ali Khan to underlying basic principles that would lay foundation of Constitution of Pakistan.[35]
Prime Ministership (1951–53)
Khawaja Nazimuddin, with M.G. Muhammad in New York City, 1946.
Nazimuddin's administration took place during a poor economy and the rise of provincial nationalism in four provinces and East Bengal which made him unable to run the country's affairs effectively.[38]: 121–122
In 1951, Prime Minister Nazimuddin's government conducted the country's first nationwide census where it was noted that 57% of the population of Karachi were refugees from India, which further complicated the situation in the country.[39]
In 1953, a violent religious movement led by far-right Jamaat-e-Islami began to agitate for the removal of the Ahmadi religious minority from power positions, and demanded a declaration of this minority as non-Muslims.[43]: 60
Nazimuddin was held morally responsible for riots being spread and resisted such pressures;[43]: 60 but mass rioting broke out in Punjab against both the government and followers of this religious minority.[43]: 60–61 To quell the unrest, Nazimuddin declared martial law in Punjab.[44] Major General Azam Khan was made Chief Martial Law Administrator and brought Lahore under control within a couple of days.[45] Nazimuddin forced out the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mumtaz Daultana, and replaced him with Feroz Khan Noon.[46]
Dismissal
The agitations and violence spread through the successful Bengali language movement and the riots in Lahore proved the inability of Nazimuddin's government as he was widely seen as weak in running the government administration.[47]: 288
In a view of attempting to improve the economy and internal security, Malik Ghulam asked Prime Minister Nazimuddin to step down in the wider interest of the country.[47]: 289 Nazimuddin refused to oblige and Malik Ghulam used reserve powers granted in the Government of India Act 1935, dismissed Nazimuddin.[47]: 289
After his dismissal, he and his family remained active in parliamentary politics; his nephew, Khwaja Wasiuddin, was an army general serving as GOC-in-CII Corps and later repatriated to Bangladesh in 1974.
Nazimuddin and his brother, Shahabuddin, belonged to an aristocratic family who were known for their wealth. In a thesis written by Joya Chatterji, Nazimuddin was described for unquestionable loyalty to the British administration in India:
Short statured with a bulging pear-like figure, he was known for his insatiable appetite and his unfailing submission to the ... Britishers ... Dressed in British-styled Sherwani and breechers-like Churidar pajamas with a Fez cap and wearing little shoes, he carried a... cane of knob and represented an age and tradition.
— Joya Chatterji, Bengal Divided: Hindu Communalism and Partition[22]: 80
By 1934, the family had estates that covered almost 200,000 acres and was well spread over different districts of Eastern Bengal, together with properties in Shillong, Assam and Kolkata, had a yearly rent of £120,000 ($2,736,497.94 in 2017).[22]: 80 By the 1960s, the majority of estate was relocated from East Pakistan to the different areas of Pakistan, leaving very little of his estate in East.[22]: 80
In 1958, he was awarded the highest civilian award titled Nishan-e-Pakistan. Later by the Government of Pakistan, Nazimuddin has been honoured from time to time after his death. In Karachi, the residential areas, Nazimabad and North Nazimabad in suburbs of Karachi, had been named after him. In Islamabad, there is a road intersection, Nazimuddin Road, that has been
Commemorative postage stamp
In his honour, the Pakistan Post issued a commemorative stamp in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series in 1990.[52][53]
^Oberst, Robert C.; Malik, Yogendra K.; Kennedy, Charles; Kapur, Ashok; Lawoti, Mahendra; Rahman, Syedur; Ahmad, Ahrar (2014). "The National Elites of Pakistan"(googlebooks). Government and Politics in South Asia (1 ed.). Boulder, CO, U.S: Avalon Publishing. ISBN978-0-8133-4880-3. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
^Craig Baxter (1991). Government and politics in South Asia. Westview Press. p. 250. ISBN978-0-8133-7905-0. Nazimuddin, a member of the wealthy landed nawab of Dhaka family, was related to an earlier nawab whose palace was the site of the founding of the Muslim League in 1906. The family is Kashmiri in origin, often associated with British rule, Urdu-speaking at home, rarely politically fluent in Bengali, and part of the national elite.
^Pakistan: industry, agriculture, commerce. London: British Industries Fair. 1949. p. 16. As Education Minister he successfully piloted the Compulsory Primary Education Bill in 1930 in the Bengal Legislative Council. He was appointed a Member of the Bengal Executive Council in May, 1934, and piloted the Bengal Agricultural Debtors' Bill and the Bengal Rural Development Bill in 1935-36.
^: 219 Shibly, Atful Hye (2011). Abdul Matin Chaudhury (1895–1948): trusted lieutenant of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Dhaka: Juned A. Choudhury. p. 69. ISBN978-984-33-2323-1.
^Cloughley, Brian (2006) [First published 1999]. A history of the Pakistan Army: wars and insurrections (3rd. ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 37. ISBN978-0-19-547334-6.
^Qasmi, Ali Usman (16 December 2015). "1971 war: Witness to history". herald.dawn.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
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