It was my grandfather Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman’s 50th death anniversary on 18 May 2023. He was the only surviving founder of Pakistan to witness the break up of the country in December 1971 which left him shattered and devastated.
When my eldest aunt, his most beloved daughter Begum Anwar Riasat Hussain visited Karachi from Patna in 1972, he held her hands and wondered aloud whether the struggle for Pakistan had been propitious.
Ch Khaliquzzaman was chosen by Quaid Azam to lead the Muslims of India after the partition of the country in August 1947.
Ch Khaliquzzaman was also amongst four distinguished leaders of the Subcontinent, including Nehru, to have addressed the first Indian Constituent Assembly on 14 August 1947.
Addressing the Assembly in chaste Urdu, Ch Khaliquzzaman briefly delineated the history of the independence struggle and his role in the creation of Pakistan. He urged the leaders of the Sub-continent that the task which was now before them was to serve their people with “required diligence and industry.”
Ch Khaliquzzaman’s positivity at the New Delhi Assembly Hall indubitably generated a glut of goodwill amongst the Muslims of India.
Overwhelmed by Ch Khaliquzzaman’s statement, Nehru got up from his seat, and congratulated him for his speech embraced him warmly.
Ch Khaliquzzaman was the only Muslim voice that ricocheted in the halls of the majestic Assembly building.
His address was preceded by Dr Rajendra Prasad and Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. Nehru’s “tryst with destiny” on that occasion remains one of his most famous speeches. And it was an honour for Ch Khaliquzzaman to second the resolution moved by Nehru, on taking the oath, calling upon the members to “dedicating themselves in all humility to the service of India and her people.”
In fact, Ch Khaliquzzaman and Nehru and his illustrious father, Motilal Nehru, had spent many years together in Lucknow jail during their struggle for the independence of India. The close fraternal ties between Ch Khaliquzzaman and the Nehru family blossomed during their political association until Ch Khaliquzzaman, sensing the Congress hubris against Muslims, bid farewell to the party and joined Indian Muslim League sacrificing his long partnership with the Nehrus. From then, there was no looking back. The political wedge created was too deep to mend.
However, Ch Khaliquzzaman’s friendly overture on the auspicious occasion of holding the first session of the Indian Constituent Assembly on 14 August 1947 melted the ice between the two leaders.
Nonetheless, Ch Khaliquzzaman’s decision to stay back and lead Indian Muslims with the blessings of Jinnah revived the long-lost camaraderie between Dada and Nehru.
Ch Khaliquzzaman’s positivity at the New Delhi Assembly Hall indubitably generated a glut of goodwill not only amongst the Muslims of India but Hindus as well. Upon his return from Delhi to Lucknow his hometown after attending the Assembly Session he was received at historic Charbagh Station by a large number of people welcoming his statement in New Delhi. On that occasion, addressing the crowd alluding to the mass exodus of Muslims from India to Pakistan, he vowed that “he will be the last Muslim to leave India.” But that was not destined to be.
Evolving circumstances in the initial days of partition cast a long shadow on the political career of Ch Khaliquzzaman.
As an emissary of Gandhi Ji, he arrived in Karachi carrying a message for Jinnah in October 1947, to stall the migration of Sindhi Hindus from Pakistan to India.
However, during his stay, he had an unpleasant encounter with Jinnah, which led him to forego the leadership of the Indian Muslims and following which he decided to stay back in Pakistan. Ch Khaliquzzaman’s decision left the Muslims of India in a state of shock who felt betrayed and to date hold a grudge against him.
Disillusioned and heartbroken, Ch Khaliquzzaman decided to quit politics. He settled down in a small town of Sindh, Larkana, to avoid the political hullabaloo of Karachi, the then capital of Pakistan.
However, Quaid Azam’s decision to make him the first president of the Muslim League, much to the discomfiture of Liaquat Ali Khan, dragged him back into Karachi’s political fray.
Becoming a victim of the political conspiracies hatched against him, Ch Khaliquzzaman quit Muslim League’s presidency and thereafter, he led a quiet life in Karachi.
Much later, Ayub Khan made him the Chief Organiser of his Muslim League faction. Former High Commissioner of Pakistan to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hassan, shared an interesting anecdote about Ch Khaliquzzaman becoming a part of Ayub Khan’s Convention Muslim League. According to him, Khaliquzzaman’s political sagacity dragged Ayub Khan into politics, which finally led to his ouster from the political chessboard of Pakistan.
Camera-shy politician Ch Khaliquzzaman, in the fifties, also served as Governor of East Bengal and later as Ambassador of Pakistan to Indonesia. While the Congress would intermittently boost Nehru’s good looks, much to Dada’s embarrassment, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan came up with the following enchanting verse on Dada’s dapper looks; Ch Khaliquzzaman remains one of the most unacknowledged leaders in this country for his contributions to the making of Pakistan. After a prolonged illness and several weeks of coma, Ch Khaliquzzaman died in Karachi on 18 May 1973, a broken man.
May Almighty Allah rest his soul in peace, Ameen!
The writer is a freelance columnist.