Daily Times

The death anniversary of prominent leader of Pakistan Movement and journalist Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir was observed on Friday. He was the editor of Punjab’s first English newspaper and a very close associate of Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

He was at the forefront of the group of Muslim youth that was born out of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s movement. Sir Abdul Qadir was born in Ludhiana in 1874 and he became the editor of The Observer, the first Muslim newspaper, published in English in 1895.

In 1901, he launched the magazine ‘Al-Makhzan’, an Urdu language publication. This magazine published the early works of Allama Muhammad Iqbal. The preface to Allama Iqbal’s first collection of Urdu poems “Bang-e-Dara” was also written by Sheikh Abdul Qadir.

In 1904, Sheikh Abdul Qadir left for England to practice law. In 1907, he passed the barrister’s examination, first practicing law in Delhi and then in Lahore.

He became a High Court judge in 1921, and became Punjab’s Education Minister in 1935. He became a member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy in 1939 and Chief Justice of Bahawalpur in 1942.

Sheikh Abdul Qadir died on this day in 1955 and was buried in Miani Sahib Graveyard, here.