Khawaja Nazimuddin

Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin

Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin ( Urdu خواجه ناظم الدین; Bengali : খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন , Khājā Nājimuddīn ; * July 9, 1894 in Dhaka ; † October 22, 1964 in Dhaka) was a Pakistani politician, governor general and prime minister .

Life

Born in Dhaka , Bengal , he came from a family of Nawabs . He first attended the Dunstable Grammar School in England , then the Aligarh Muslim University and later - until the mid-30s - the Trinity Hall in Cambridge.

After his return to British India , he devoted himself to politics in his homeland, Bengal, first becoming Minister of Education and then - before the independence of Pakistan - was promoted to Chief Minister of the Province. He also took over the leadership of the Muslim League in eastern India . In 1934 he was raised to the nobility of Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) by the British King and Indian Emperor George V.

After the establishment of the Muslim state of Pakistan , he played an important role in the early governments. After the early death of the state's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah , Nazimuddin succeeded him as Governor General of Pakistan. After the assassination of the first Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, he became his successor.

Under his government, the differences between the two largest ethnic groups, the Panjabers and the Bengali within the Muslim League, increased, and on February 21, 1952, the Bengali representatives demanded equal status for the Bengali language at a demonstration . This demonstration was bloodily suppressed by the police, resulting in numerous lives. During his reign, a new constitution was drafted that would allow Pakistan to end its dominium status in the British Commonwealth and become a republic . Progress was made, but Nazimuddin's tenure ended prematurely and the work remained unfinished.

In 1953 a Muslim religious movement began to agitate for the removal of the Ahmadis religious minority from positions of power and demanded that this minority be declared "non-Muslims". Nazimuddin opposed the riots in the Punjab that were directed against both the government and the supporters of this religious minority. Nazimuddin responded by replacing the provincial governor with Feroz Khan Noon , but that decision came too late. Governor General Ghulam Muhammad urged him to resign, but Nazimuddin refused, which led Ghulam Muhammad to remove him using a constitutional clause. The case went to the Pakistani Supreme Court , which in its judgment did not affect the legality of the dismissal, but forced new elections. The new premier was the born Bengali Muhammad Ali Bogra .

Khawaja Nazimuddin still enjoys great honors in Pakistan and Bangladesh today . In Karachi the suburbs of Nazimabad and North Nazimabad and in Dhaka a street were named after him.

See also

History of Pakistan

Web links

• Chronicles Of Pakistan ( Memento from April 16, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
• Story of Pakistan (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Muhammad Ali Jinnah	Governor General of Pakistan 1948–1951	Ghulam Muhammad