Daily Times

BAHAWALPUR: Pakistan Muslim League General Secretary Tariq Bashir Cheema on Wednesday said that he is ready to resign from the National Assembly in protest for the restoration of Bahawalpur province if all 16 MNAs and 32 MPAs elected from the Bahawalpur Division resigned from their respective seats.

He was addressing a ceremony held in connection with fifty first death anniversary of Late Nawab of Bahawalpur, Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi the fifth. He regretted that rulers have now forget the sacrifices made by Late Nawab of Bahawalpur for the making of Pakistan and also his financial assistance provided to the State of Pakistan during its initial years after independence. He said that during the last tenure of PPP, PML-N passed a resolution in Punjab Assembly for the restoration of Bahawalpur province but did not take practical step for its restoration on the pretext the in Centre PPP has government so it could do that but now in Centre and in Punjab it has vast majority so now why not it fulfill its promise.

Meanwhile, the 51st death anniversary of Nawab of Former State of Bahawalpur, Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi was observed on Wednesday. The district administration had declared a local holiday in connection with the occasion. Quran Khawani was held at the royal graveyard in Derawar (Cholistan) and the Jamia Masjid al-Sadiq, Bahawalpur. Several social organisations arranged special functions to highlight the life of the last ruler of Bahawalpur state.

He was born on September 29, 1904 at Darawar, near Bahawalpur. He ruled the Bahawalpur State from 1907 to 1966. In August 1947, he received the title of Amir of Bahawalpur. At the time of partition all the princely states of the subcontinent were given a choice to join either Pakistan or India. For convincing Nawab Sahib to join India, Pundit Jawahar Lal Nehru went to him in London and offered various incentives in this regard but he didn’t accept them.

Moreover, Nawab Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi and founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah were close friends and they had great respect for each other even before the creation of Pakistan. The Quaid-e-Azam acknowledged the valuable contribution of the Bahawalpur State for the rehabilitation of the refugees many times. Because at the time of independence, Nawab of Bahawalpur proved to be very helpful and generous to the government of Pakistan. He gave seventy million rupees to the government and the salaries of all the government departments for one month were also drawn from the treasury of Bahawalpur State. On May 24, 1966 Nawab Sadiq died in London which ended his of 59 years long reign. His dead body was brought to Bahawalpur and was buried in his ancestral graveyard of Darawar Fort. That Pakistan Post also issued a commemorative stamp in 2013 to pay homage to late Nawab of Bahawalpur.