Mian Iftikharuddin
Mian Iftikharuddin (1907–1962) was a Pakistani leftist political leader.
Mian Muhammad Iftikharuddin was born on the 8th of April, 1907 in Baghbanpura, Lahore to the famous Arain Mian family, the custodians of the Shalimar Gardens, Lahore. This is the family that produced great men like Sir Mian Muhammad Shafi and the first Chief Justice of Pakistan, Sir Mian Abdul Rashid.Mian Iftikharuddin who was educated at the Oxford University played a distinguished role in the Indian Independence movement,as well as in the struggle for Pakistan.
He was a member of the Congress Party and President of its Punjab chapter until in 1946 when he switched over to the Muslim League under Mohammed Ali Jinnah. He was the owner of the Pakistan Times, a newspaper started by the leftists in the Muslim League to create a balance to the centrist Muslim League mouthpiece Dawn newspaper as well as the Hindu press in pre-1947 British India.He was elected the first president of the Punjab Provincial Muslim League after the Independence of Pakistan in 1947.[1]
After the June 3 plan was announced Jinnah looked increasingly towards young men like Iftikharuddin to help Pakistan stand on its own feet, and so Iftikharuddin was chosen to be the Pakistan Minister for rehabilitation of refugees after the partition and independence of Pakistan.[2] In 1949 as a minister, he proposed radical land reforms in the Punjab, however this led to a backlash from the land-owning Feudal leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League under the Nawab of Mamdot. In frustration, he resigned from his Ministry in 1949 and was formally expelled from the Muslim League in 1951.
Later he jumped off the Muslim League ship, and formed his own ‘Azad Pakistan Party’ committed to liberal secularism in the country. Though big names like Dr. Khan Sahib and the Khudai Khidmatgars were attracted to it, Azad Pakistan Party soon faded away in history. He was also considered a leading light of the National Awami Party as well.
His Pakistan Times newspaper continued to espouse social justice and agrarian reforms in Pakistan, it attracted many well known leftists including its first editor Faiz Ahmad Faiz. However in 1959, following the military take over by Ayub Khan, the newspaper was taken over by the government and despite a legal challenge, he failed to obtain either compensation or the return of ownership of his newspaper.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.dawn.com/news/769764/remembering-mian-iftikharuddin, Remembering Mian Iftikharuddin, Dawn, Karachi newspaper, Retrieved 3 Jan 2016
- ↑ Speeches and Statements of Mian Iftikharuddin, (1971) Edited by Abdullah Malik, Lahore.
- ↑ Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan, by Paula R. Newberg [ISBN 0-521-89440-9]
- Mian Iftikharuddin Biography, The Friday Times newspaper (February 18-24, 2011 - Vol. XXII, No. 53) [1], Retrieved 3 Jan 2016
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