WHO MURDER LIAQUAT ALI KHAN?

The events of December 27th 2007 when the 3rd Pakistani Prime Minister was assassinated in Rawalpindi makes this research very poignant. Two decades ago we have read more about who shot JR and a lot less about who shot one of our greatest freedom fighters of Pakistan. We all wondered who shot Khan Liaqat Ali Khan? The American press is always trying to discover who actually planned the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. The media is obsessed with JFKs murder even though the murderer was captured. The Pakistani media is silent about Liaqat Ali Khan. The same forces that were responsible for the death of Benazir Bhutto are responsible for the death of Shaheed Millat.

Liaqat Ali Khan was the liberator of Kashmir. In 1947, Liaqat Ali Khan raised a fist at India warning it of staying away from Pakistan. As long as the fist was alive no neighboring country could dare lift a finger at Pakistan.


Colonel Akbar Khan. He adopted the rather ambitious nom de plume “Tariq”, after Tariq Bin Ziad, Arab conqueror of Spain in 712. He wrote two papers after ceasefire on January 1, 1949, “What Next in Kashmir?” and “Keep the Pot Boiling in Abdullah’s Kashmir”. Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan sanctioned Rs 1 million to arm a “people’s militia” in Indian Kashmir. The Abdullahs have moved into their third generation, but the blood in that pot has not stopped boiling…India and Pakistan: What kind of talk makes sense, By M J Akbar, Sunday, 21 February 2010 16:49

SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE.
We have researched this issue at length. In the absence of an on the spot autopsy, the circumstantial and political evidence points to the political enemies of Khan Liaqat Ali Khana and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The feudals of many areas did not support the creation of Pakistan. Urban voters were free to vote, and the wholehearted supported, Iqbal, Jinnah and Liaqat. If we look at the political landscape of the Subcontinental politics, we see the following:

Jinnah, Iqbal, and Liaqat were at odds with the anti-Pakistan, pro-Congress elements who were supported by the likes of Sir Chottu Ram and the Unionist party. Iqbal and Liquat were responsible for the creation of Muslim League in every town and village of the Subcontinent, and had transformed the League from an elitist group to a national party.
Jinnah, Liaqat. Iqbal, and the Muslim League won the day, and destroyed the Hyatt-Tiwana conspiracies led by their cohorts the Congress and SIr Chouttu Rams Zamindara party
Hyatt and Tiwana lost to the Muslim League but kept the vengeance in their harts.
Liaqat Ali Khan did not allow the UK and the US Pakistani facilities to attack Iran. There is a lot of suspicion on the CIA on this matter. Recent declassified documents shed light on a lot of information on this.
According to Gauhar Ayub, Liaqat Ali Khan had talked to King Zahir Shah who had agreed to a confederation with Pakistan.
The Finance Minister and openly defied Liaqat Ali Khan trying to run Foreign Affairs. He had the most to gain from the death of Liaqat Ali Khan and tried to come to power.
The Khaksar Tehrik and the Socialist Coalition wanted to to turn Pakistani into a Socialistic republic.
Liqat Ali Khan was supposed to announce land reforms and a close relationship with the Muslim world.
There is tremendous suspicious on Mushtaq Muhamamd, and Ghulam Muhammad. Ghulam Muhammad was supposedly the CIA man.
Both Jinnah and Liaqat faced numerous assassination attempts on thier lives by the same Unionist party or their fascist supports the Khaksars.
Jinnah escaped the attempts, and Liaqat did not.


LIAQAT ALI KHAN THE DAY DEMOCRACY DIED IN RAWALPINDI: Liaqat Ali Khan was the able lieutenant of the father of our nation. He was the first Prime Minister of our nation. He sowed the seeds of democracy and died fighting for democracy. Liaqat Ali Khan matched the spirit of Nehru and the tenacity of Patel. Liaqat Ali Khan had the vitality of George Washington, and the vision of Lincoln. He and Jinnah did for Pakistan what Kemal Ataturk had done for Turkey. Like Mao Tse Tung Liaqat and Jinnah led the countrymen to nationhood. For a brief shining moment, our nation glimpsed “Camelot”, where we were led by honest leaders, who’s only consideration was the task of building the nation. These incorruptible leaders had character, strength, and the mandate of the people. Like JFK, Liaqat Ali Khan was a young, popular and charismatic leader who had led the nation ‘across the read’ sea and was immersed in the task of building an infrastructure for the new country. But forces opposed to democracy cut him in half.

WHO SHOT LAK?..CIA CONNECTION

Under headline reading “Is Liaquat Ali Khan’s assassination result of a deep-laid American conspiracy?”, leftist Urdu daily Bhopal named Nadeem published article October 24 charging US with responsibility. Summary article follows:

[...]It was learned within Pakistani Foreign Office that while UK pressing Pakistan for support re Iran, US demanded Pakistan exploit influence with Iran and support Iran transfer oil fields to US. Liaquat declined request. US threatened annul secret pact re Kashmir. Liaquat replied Pakistan had annexed half Kashmir without American support and would be able to take other half. Liaquat also asked US evacuate air bases under pact. Liaquat demand was bombshell in Washington. American rulers who had been dreaming conquering Soviet Russia from Pakistan air bases were flabbergasted. American minds set thinking re plot assassinate Liaquat. US wanted Muslim assassin to obviate international complications. US could not find traitor in Pakistan as had been managed Iran, Iraq, Jordan. Washington rulers sounded US Embassy Kabul. American Embassy contacted Pashtoonistan leaders, observing Liaquat their only hurdle; assured them if some of them could kill Liaquat, US would undertake establish Pashtoonistan by 1952. Pashtoon leaders induced Akbar undertake job and also made arrangements kill him to conceal conspiracy. USG-Liaquat differences recently revealed by Graham report to SC; Graham had suddenly opposed Pakistan although he had never given such indication. [...] Cartridges recovered from Liaquat body were American-made, especially for use high-ranking American officers, usually not available in market. All these factors prove real culprit behind assassin is US Government, which committed similar acts in mid-East. “Snakes” of Washington’s dollar imperialism adopted these mean tactics long time ago.Confidential Telegram No. 1532 from New Delhi Embassy, Oct. 30, 1951

Since article apparently not rpt not widely circulated, Department believes preferable not rpt not issue public denial. In its discretion, however, Embassy might informally mention case MEA with comment story so preposterous no rpt no public denial intended. Would be interesting to know whether this story of character which led adoption recent press law. Ownership management NADEEM should be discreetly be investigated. Confidential Telegram from State Dept., Nov. 1, 1951

Soviet Press today carried Prague Despatch reporting Rude Pravo article based Afghan press agency “Bahtar” information re assassination Liaquat Ali. Despatch states after escaping Afghanistan due murders and other crimes “Said Akbar ran to India and there under protection British authorities which gave him refuge in Abbotabad and provided him money. After partition India Akbar remained in Pakistan where he continued make use protection of certain British circles.” “These facts adduced by Afghan press supporting position that murder Liaquat Ali was result intrigue of imperialists in Asian countries.” Secret Telegram from Moscow Embassy, Nov. 3, 1951 [only first page located]

The Embassy questions the premise stated in the first sentence of the Airgram under reference (“Lack of spontaneous anti-Indian and anti-Afghan popular outburst over both July war scare and Liaquat’s assassination suggests feeling on Kashmir and Afghan disputes mostly government inspired.”) … The anti-Afghan agigation that spontaneously sprang up on October 16-17 was effectively stopped by the GOP’s prompt exercise of its official and unofficial powers of censorship over the press, even to the extent of preventing reference after October 17 to the assassin’s Afghan origin. Popular Feeling in Pakistan on Kashmir and Afghan Issues, Nov. 10, 1951

One almost never hears about the culprits in the assassination of Khan Liaqat Ali Khan…. the first victim of our nascent nation. After his death democracy was forced to fail and dictators ruled the Pakistani landscape.

Since the autopsies done on the body of the Khan has NOT revealed much, let us do an autopsy of the politics of our time. There have been several books written on the man, and a wealth of information is revealed in them.

LIAQAT ALI KHAN, THE MAN, ONE OF THE FOUNDING FATHERS, THE FREEDOM FIGHTER, THE LIBERATOR OF KASHMIR & THE FIRST PRIME MINISTER

Liaqat Ali Khan was a born in a rich family, but he gave up his lands for freedom and for Pakistan.

All through the forties, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah had picked patriots who would lead the nation to freedom. These men were loyal not only to Quaid-e-Azam and the Muslim League, these men were loyal to the cause of Pakistan. Both created and led the Muslim League and battled the British and engaged the Congress for the independent nation of Pakistan. Throughout the trials and tribulations, Liaqat Ali Khan and Jinnah went through one constitutional crises after the other and faced the elections. From the Khilafat movement, to the cause of the separate electorate, through the Cabinet Mission Plan, through the pre-partition governments, the Khan and Jinnah led the Muslim League and the nation towards Pakistan.

In little towns and in big villages, the All India Muslim League opened offices and built a grass roots movement that was supported by the Mussalmans of Bharat. Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan were painfully aware that the Muslims had no voice in the press. In order to combat the propoganda of its enemies, the Muslim League needed a voice. The created from scratch newspapers that would carry the Muslim League message. In 1945, the created the newspaper called ‘Dawn’. They also created the paper called “Pakistan Times’ and they created other papers called Patriots etc.

Here is a message from the Honorable Liaqat Ali Khan, Premier of Pakistan. Dated Delhi, 5th August, 1947:

” Now that the great day has come when we have not only achieved freedom from foreign domination but also regained our long lost opportunity for national development. I wish to convey to our people a message of goodwill and good cheer on this day when the Muslim state of our dreams has become a reality. Let us not forget that his has been achieved not by the efforts of Muslims in Pakistan alone, but even more by the sufferings of millions living in Muslim minority provinces. I hope that although henceforth the frontiers of the two states will divide the Muslims of this Subcontinent, the ties of brotherhood will endure, because the Islamic fraternity knows no political or geographical barriers. I have no doubt that the Muslims of Pakistan will ever regard the Muslims of Hindustan as part of themsleves and give them equal opportunities in their own state. I am confident also that the Muslims in Hindustan will be loyal citizens of their state and play an important and honorable role in the progress and prosperity.” Sd. Liaqat Ali Khan.

Liaqat Ali Khan was incorruptible. Here is an editorial printed in the Nation on Friday, February 28, 1997, Lahore, “Banish the factotums, sir”, written by Khalid Hasan :

“In the early years of Pakistan, the leaders lived with simplicity. Mr Liaquat AliKhan, who used to be rich in his own right before independence, lived simply. He was accessibleand there were hardly any barriers between him and those who considered him the Quaid-i-Azam’s heir and his most trusted deputy. We all know that when the Nawabzada died, he had no money in the bank. That is the example our present-day leaders need to follow and not that of oriental potentates, colonial overlords and slave plantation kings.”

As Prime Minster of Pakistan Liaqat Ali secured the borders of Pakistan, LIBERATED one third of Kashmir (and would have liberated ALL of it if HIS plan had worked), and internationalized (through agreements with the USA) the boundaries of Pakistan by ensuring that the USSR through its proxies (India or Afghanistan) could not cross them.

LIAQAT TAKES OVER A PRECARIOUS POLITICAL LANDSCAPE

1947, was a precarious time for Pakistan. The newly won freedom was in jeopardy. The flame of Pakistani Muslim liberty was in danger of being extinguished. Liaqat Ali Khan became prime minister of Pakistan when the anti-Pakistan Unionist loyalists (who had been in cahoots with the Indian National Congress) landlords and the anti-Muslim League feudals were waiting in the wings to take over the political machinery of the new country. This was an accident waiting to happen.

In Sindh the landlords were mostly Hindu and these landlords fled to India. In the Punjab and Sarhad they were the Badshah Khans and the Khizar Hyatts who had opposed the Quaid-e-Azam.

After the death of Quaid-e-Azam the feudals wanted to take over the nascent country. The feudals had opposed Pakistan. For the feudals the only roadblocks to power were the patriots who had led the Pakistan movement. I.I. Chundrigarh, Feroze Khan Noon and Khan Liaqat Ali Khan. Once the Bengali leadership of the Muslim League was harassed and removed, then it was necessary to begin removing the political infra-structure of Pakistan that had been built by the Quaid-e-Azam himself. The Muslim League leaders faced the wrath of the feudals. The Quaid and Khan Liaqat Ali Khan had defeated the feudals in their Unionist party which was in an alliance with the Indian National Congress (INC). Now the feudals were out to take revenge from the leadership of the Muslim that had shepherded the nation to freedom.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah had terminal cancer and he died an early death. The actual circumstances of the death of the Quaid are shrouded in mystery, confusion and perhaps even conspiracy.

Several Pakistani prime ministers tried to illegally take over the reigns of government through extra-constitutional means, but the machinations of the feudals did not allow them to rule. These machinations were the earliest seed of discontent sown into the minds of the Bengalis because they saw the Bengali leadership of the Muslim League harassed and shunted out of the Muslim League.

Pakistan was born under the Mountbatten-Indian premise that the country would last a few weeks and the Muslims would learn their lesson and then come begging back to India to take them back. In fact Lord Mountbatten had offered and insisted on becoming the joint Governor General of both India and Pakistan. This unique head of both the states would have facilitated the early demise of the state of Pakistan. Quaid-e-Azam and Liaqat Ali Khan saw through the ruse and asked Lord Mountbatten whose anti Pakistan and anti-Muslim stand had already been proven several times over not to become the governor general of Pakistan.

EXTERNAL THREAT TO PAKISTAN NULLIFIED THROUGH STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

Many Hindus and Gandhi did not oppose Pakistan. Some like Patel did. The opponents were fierce vitriolic and vociferous. Right after Pakistan was created, some of the radical Hindus considered this a temporary situation and called it a temporary partition of the country of India. When the new country lasted for a few months, India began flexing its muscles. One of the first test of Pakistani sovereignty came when India devalued her currency and wanted Pakistan to do the same. Liaqat Ali Khan refused, and angry India tightened the screws and imposed a trade embargo against Pakistan. All cross border trade came to a halt. This was the initiation of cessation of trade that has still not been really revived, even in modern times.

With China still embroiled in its communist struggle, Asia was recognized as India. In British eyes, India was the major power in the India. In the early nineteenth century, America proudly proclaimed that “it was manifest destiny that the USA should span from the Atlantic to the Pacific.” The Soviet Union extended from the Pacific to the Atlantic. With British imperial might, and India the crown jewel of the empire, India too saw her destiny as great as the superpowers.

THE NEHRU DOCTRINE FACES LIAQAT ALI KHANS PATRIOTIC FIST

The Nehru doctrine was a natural extension of Indian nationalism. Nehrus dreams of India as one of hte major nations of the world are elequently quoted in his letters to his daughter “Glimpses of World History”, a very welll written book on the history of the world. The stature of Nehrus intelligence can be judged from the fact that Nehru wrote the book from memory while he was in jail.

To many Indians religion was a personal matter and did not want the state to interfere in it. Rightly or wrongly they saw Jinnah using the ruse of religion to gain power. Some Indians felt that Indian nationalism and dreams had run aground by the creation of Pakistan. “Partition” had stopped the land routes to Europe and divided the focus of its attention. Had she been cut down to size? Reeling from partition, Patel started to consolidate the rest of the “nation”. Nehru would not allow 550 Indias. Nehru and Patel wanted to create the Indian nationality by creating a contiguous Subcontinent. She had taken over Kashmir, Junagarh and had taken over Hyderabad. India was threatening Pakistan. Pakistani nationalism now tested the limits of Indian consolidation. Liaqat Ali Khan looked for cracks in the consolidation. Liaqat Ali Khan saw what was coming and used the tribesmen to take advantage of the rebellion in Kashmir and liberate the state. All Kashmiris remember Liaqat Ali Khan with fondness because he is the real liberator of Azad Kashmir. Were it not for Liaqat Ali Khan ALL of Kashmir would today be part of India.

Like Nehru, Khan was also embroiled in the task of nation building. Like Nehru, Khan also faced daunting odds. Unlike Nehru, Khan was the ruler of a state with very powerful feudal enemies. These enemies had sworn the destruction of the country. These feudals saw Khan between them and their allies and friends the Indian National Congress. Khan Liaqat Ali Khan began to create a sovereign nation. He saw the vision to create natural and artificial boundaries around the country. He ordered the digging of the BRB canal along the Wagah border. The Indians were to learn the importance of what they call “Khawjal Canal” during the 1965 war because this canal provided Pakistan a natural defense barrier against the advancing Indian army. When things got too hot for India in Kashmir and Pakistani troops under Tikka Khan and the freedom fighters were only 35 miles away from Srinagar, India wanted to cross the international border at Batapur and Run of Katch. The Americans in 1965 had guaranteed to Pakistan that Kashmir was disputed territory and India would not cross the international border. India tired to but the rangers kept them at bay along the BRB canal that was designed and built during the reign of Khan Liaqat Ali Khan

It was under these circumstances that Khan Liaqat Ali Khan took the reigns of office. He struggled to do the following:

1) Guard Pakistan against a belligerent India which wanted to reintegrate Pakistan into India

2) Watch the back of Pakistan against the Indian ally Zahir Shah of Afghanistan

3) Tried to create an external strategic alliance with the USA and sold the idea to the West that Pakistan would be a reliable bulwark against the socialistic India-USSR nexus

LIAQAT ALI KHAN NEGATES THE SOVIET THREAT

Liaqat Ali Khan saw the growing menace of the Soviet threat. He had been monitoring the expansion of the Russian empire into the six Muslim states, and he had watched the integration of independent Muslim republics into the USSR. He has also seen the forced deportation of the Chechnyans and Tartars to Siberia as reprisals for resisting the Sovietization of the Muslim peoples.

Liaqat Ali Khan saw the growing relations of the USSR with Afghanistan as a clear threat to Pakistan’s sovereignty. Khan went to the US and laid the foundation of a very log term alliance with the USA. This alliance immediately opened up the flood gates of American aid to Pakistan. The initial aid came in the form of German war crime reparation that were given to Pakistan. This put money in the treasury. The next step was UN and Direct USAID to Pakistan. With American protection the existence of Pakistan was guaranteed, or else the nascent nation may have succumbed to the twin USSR-Indian and Sino-Indain threat.

INTERNAL THREAT SUPPRESSED THROUGH STRATEGIC COALITIONS

Jinnah and Khan had generated a cadre of loyal politicians that supported the Muslim League. Liaqat Ali Khan wanted to bank on the traditional allies that both he and Mohammad Ali Jinnah had created across the land of Pakistan. However these were hard to come by because many of the Aligarh led student movement leaders were now back to the grind earning a living. Liaqat Ali Khan was in the process of forming alliances in the Punjab and the NWFP. He trusted the leaders that had supported the Muslim League and he trusted the leaders that had supported Pakistan. Liaqat Ali Khan did not trust the leaders that had opposed Pakistan. Liaqat Ali Khan did not trust the leadership of the Unionist party that was in alliance with the Indian National Congress.

Khan through a series of steps tried to create consensus within the boundaries of Pakistan:

1) Tried to germinate local pro-Muslim leadership in Bengal by supporting the pro-Pakistani Bengali leaders against the pro-Indian and United Bengal nationalist leaders who wanted an independent Bengal.

2) Watched the antics of G.M. Syed whose off again and on again loyalties to the Muslim League and/or Gandhi rendered him un-trustworthy.

3) Tried create Muslim League alliances in two provinces where there was the anti-Muslim League parties playing on the sentiments of the people. Namely it was the Khizar Hyatt led Unionist government in the Punjab and a Ghaffar Khan led government in NWFP.

Liaqat Ali Khan formed the constituent assembly and set upon the task of creating serious structures which would assist the country in the future. All Pakistani constitutions were based on the work of the first constitution. The original 1953 constitution was the basis of the 1973 constitution that is preserved more or less by our courts today.

Recommend Department ignore article summarized in Delhi’s 1532. It is compilation of utter falsehoods whose vituperation is some degree worse than articles that appear from time to time in Bombay’s Commie-line “Blitz”. To issue any statement labeling the facts in the article as lies will only give Nadeem an importance it does not merit. The investigation into background of Liaquat’s assassination is being conducted with extreme care and well guarded secrecy. Gurmani tells me an intercept has been obtained which if backed up by further material may reveal the assassination had some inspiration and followed the pattern of Razmara’s assassination in Teheran. Confidential Telegram from Karachi Embasssy, Oct. 31, 1951

FORTIES: THE FEUDAL UNIONISTS HAD OPPOSED PAKISTAN AND THE MUSLIM LEAGUE

The Unionist Party had opposed Pakistan, had opposed the Muslim League, had opposed the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah and had opposed Liaqat Ali Khan. After the death of Jinnah their wrath turned to Khan Liaqat Ali Khan. How could the Unionist oppose a trusted lieutenant of the Quaid? How could they oppose one of the greatest freedom fighters of the struggle for Pakistan? How could the Unionists oppose the leader of the Muslim League—the party that created Pakistan and opposed the Unionists in the Punjab? The Khan had many friends and supporters in the Punjab. The Khan was responsible for creating and nourishing the Muslim League in the Punjab. He had counted on and got the support of the people of Punjab. The Muslim League had defeated the Unionists in the polls.

Here is a quote from the book “HAD THERE BEEN NO JINNAH” (@1989 by Salahuddin Khan Printed by: PanGraphics (Pvt) Ltd. Islamabad. Pages 14-15.

“From this stage, conflict between the Congress and the Muslim League became increasingly sharp. The Muslim League under the skilful leadership of Jinnah set itself to strengthen its organization, extend its basis of supportamong the Muslim masses, and consolidate the various Muslim groups and organizations so as to make the Muslim League the main Organization of the Muslims in India. During the period 1937-45 a decisive change took place in the position and relative strength of the Muslim League, as it won increasing mass support among the Muslims. The 1946 elections reveal the changed position.In the Central and Provincial Legislative Assemblyelections the Muslim League won 460 out of 533 Muslim seats. There can be no doubt, that during this period the Muslim League had established its position as the major political organization among Muslims in India. It had been the original aim of the Congress to include equally Hindus and Muslims. But, in practice, this aim was never realised in the proportions of membership won.In January 1938, according to a press statement issuedby Nehru, out of 3.1 millions members of Congress, only1,00,000, that is 3.2% were Muslims; overwhelming majority of the newly awakened sections of the Muslims turned to the Muslim League as their political organization.”

The victories in 1946 were at the expense of the pro-Congress Unionists in the Punjab. In the face of very strong popular grass-roots political support for Pakistan, the Muslim League and Liaqat Ali Khan the Hyattis were trying to figure to how to oppose Quaid-e-Azam and the Muslim League. The Khizar Hyatt political machinery could not find anything against Liaqat Ali Khan, so they used the race card. The Khizar Hyatt Unionist Party propaganda had painted Liaqat Ali Khan as an opponent of Punjabis. Nothing could be further from the truth. Liaqat Ali Khan opposed the feudal Unionist leaders like Khizar Hyatt who had opposed Pakistan. Liaqat Ali Khan had many friends in the Punjab who had helped him defeat the Unionists at the polls. It is little known that L.A Khan was born in Karnal East Punjab. Here are some notes on the origins of Liaqat Ali Khan. I quote from p.27 of book by Prof. Ziauddin Ahmad ,Liaquat Ali Khan: builder of Pakistan.

“The family, Before settling down in Karnal in thePunjab in the 19th century, lived on the other side of the Jamna in Muzaffarnagar (U.P., India) for some generations, where they owned bigestates. Even after he settled down in Delhi, he took keen interest in the amelioratin and betterment of the Muslims of Muzaffarnagar.”

The Unionist element tried to rally support against Khan Liaqat Ali Khan by playing up the ethnic race card. Liaqat Ali Khan was born in Karnal East Punjab with friends and relatives on both sides of the border. The Khan had very strong ties to East Punjab. However this fact was concealed and many Khizar Hyatt Khan supporters falsly labeled him.

THE ASSASSINATION OF DEMOCRACY IN RAWALPINDI—A CIA PLOT?

Liaqat Ali Khan was killed in broad daylight in Rawalpindi. This is what Zeba Zubair in Mutiny to Mountbatten says about the assassination:

“On 16 October 1951 at a Public Meeting in Rawalpindi, ‘a blind shot from the blue’ silenced the voice of Quaid-e-Millat, Nawabzadah Liaqat Ali Khan. Another epoch of history was at an end. On a sad day for this new nation it was as if a mighty powe in heaven was also reacting in anger at the cowardly act of mankind. The sky of Karachi had a peculiar and ominous orange-yellow colouring and the people felt resltell at the starnge weather…”

This is what the Daily dawn of October 17th, 1951 said:

‘With the kalima on his lips, Liaqat , Successor of the Quaid-e-Azam Prime Minister. Leader unparalleled, is dead. The man who killed him was not just an individual he was the symbol of that deadly enmity of the enemies of Islam who have always wanted to destroy Pakistan. We name only one but we feel this in our heart with the certain flash and convinced truth. We grieve for Liaqat–martyr to Pakistan and Islam; but we proclaim over Liaqat’s still unburied body: Pakistan shall live, and whoever of her servants may fall in her service, this citadel of Islam guarded by 70 million worshippers of Allah will never fall. Begum Liaqat, Ashraf and Akbar, we shall not try to console you in your grief in consolable, but know this, that you beloved husband and father had died in glory and as comes only to the chosen of God. Pakistan Zindabad (Dawn Editorial, 17 October, 1951)”

Even in his last moments he was thinking of his nation. Other then remembering God and reciting the kalima, his last words were “Allah Pakistan ko apni amaan mai~n rakhay “(God save Pakistan). Every Pakistani of that generation absolutely remembers where he was and what he was doing when that fatal shot was announced on Radio Pakistan. Every patriotic Pakistani cried that day.

” A few yards away for the body of the founder of the Pakistan now rests its eternal sleep the body of the builder of Pakistan. Both died in harness and both died for Pakistan. The Quaid-e-Azam worked his body way to waste; the Quaid-e-Millat fearlessly exposed his body to danger for his love of duty and country. The master and the disciple, the twin servants of Islam who in this century added perhaps the most glorious chapter to Islam’s temporal history, now meet heaven. Like twin stars, unseen but their presence always felt, their blessings will be continually showered on the land which the one founded, and the other built up to a state of stability and strength form which progress forward is inevitable because of its own momentum. It is now for the nation which they served so well, to carry on their work, and in particular make the blood of martyred Liaqat blossom to all of us. But upon the new leader who has been chosen by the team left behind by Liaqat the main burned if it will fall, the choice has been will and wisely made..

Khawaja Nazimuddin, our new Prime Minister and Liaqat’s successor as leader of this nation……”(Dawn editorial October 1951)

This is what Javed Jabbar says about the assassination in Rawalpindi in an article in the Nation (Feb 26th, 1997) entitled Accountability: history and truth.

“Distortions in our relationship with accountability have an even more historic dimension. During the lifetime of the Quaid-i-Azam himself, within weeks and months of the creation of Pakistan, reports began to emerge about corruption at high levels in government. One of the major figures who despaired at this early neglect of accountability was Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Then came the assassination of our first Prime Minister Quaid-i-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan. A man who was so financially incorruptible as to leave only a paltry sum in his bank account deserved to have his killers held to account for their heinous crime. Over the past forty-five years, speculative interpretations name prominent individuals as suspects in the Liaquat assassination. The official inquiry was not received as a credible analysis. In addition to the original stain of financial corruption on the white and spotlessly clean garment of accountability were now added the red stains of blood: people could actually get away with murder.”

The Shaheed-e-Millat was so scrupulously honest that when he died, he had holes in his socks. This was the man that presented the Crescent and Star “Khanjar hilal ka hai qaumi nitaa~n hamaara” to the constituent National Assembly of Pakistan. His famous closed fist remained a symbol of defiance to India, and it remained a symbol of our sovereignty.

Right after the assassination of Khan Liaqat Ali Khan, the patsy—actual murderer (the man who pulled the trigger) was caught and killed immediately (lest he spill the beans). Lee Harvey Oswald suffered the same fate when he actually started talking. However the real murderers the people who ordered the death of a the first prime minister of Pakistan not only remained at large, they actually benefited from his death. As a final insult to the slain freedom-fighter Liaqat Bagh (the site of his assassination) was turned into a bus stop and the promised garden to this date remains a commercial cess pot.

The day Liaqat Ali Khan died , democracy died in Pakistan. Dictators took over the reigns of the government and abrogated the constituent assembly. On 23rd October, Ghulam Mohammad dissilved the Constituent Assembly and with it, any semblance of constitutional legitimacy. Altaf. This is what the Daily Dawn said in one of its editorials, and it gives a brief synopsis of the events leading to and the events that occurred right after the death of the Shaheed-e-Millat:

“Since birth Pakistan has had four major nights of crisis. On the night of September 11. The Father of the nation died. On the night of October 16, 1951, the nation held its breath, dazed by the murder of its builder, Liaqat. On the night of April 17, 1953,a Government headed by the President of the Muslim League was flicked off the ash from a cigar-tip. On the night of October 23, 1954 (because it was then, we think that the decision was taken) the constituent Assembly of Pakistan was believed to be sovereign body, was wiped off the country’s political map like one wipes spilt milk form a table….(Dawn: 27 October, 1954)”

This abrogation kept Pakistan without a real constitution till 1973 The 1956 and 1963 constitutions were abrogated and martial laws imposed in 1958 and 1969. A lack of constitutional protection to the Bengalis and other citizens of Pakistan led to the creation of deep suspicions in the minds of the common Pakistanis, specially the Bengalis.

THE BENEFICIARIES FROM LIAQAT ALI KHANS DEATH

It is obvious that the assassins of Khan Liaqat Ali Khan were the parties and leaders who benefited from his death. After removing the elected prime minister from office through murder, the feudals tried to marginalize the Bengalis. As a result of the conspiracy the constitution was abrogated and the military feudal complex took over Pakistan. The feudals and their sentries the army took over the reins of the country and never let go.

It is based on these grains of truth that Ayesha Jalal and the Indian text books claim that the Muslim League was supported by the landlords. Before the creation of Pakistan these feudals opposed the Muslim League tooth and nail. It is unfortunate for our country that these feudals became the rulers of Pakistan after Liaqat Ali Khan. The rest as they say is history. For a list of Muslim League enemies, one does not have to go far. A directory of officers of the Unionist Party along with the list of the Khaksars (who actually did make many attempts on Muslim League leaders). For details on the Muslim League-Unionist animosity please see my article called “The Fifth Column” posted on soc.culture.pakistan.history.

This is what Javed Jabbar says about the assassination in Rawalpindi in an article in the Nation (Feb 26th, 1997) entitled Accountability: history and truth.

“When the black gowns of the superior judiciary joined the blood-stained garb of accountability, a decisive turning point was passed. The legitimisation of the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly by Governor-General Ghulam Muhammad and his dismissal of Prime Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin established a new ground norm that went beyond the justified and unavoidable dismissal of Dr Khan Sahib’s NWFP government in August 1948, when the provincial regime declined to accept even the symbolic elements of the new state of Pakistan.”

THE KHAKSARS FASCISTS ATTEMPTED MANY ASSASSINATIONS ON THE QUAID-E-AZAM. DID THE UNIONISTS-KHAKSARS WITH THE HELP OF THE CIA ASSASSINATE LIAQAT ALI KHAN?

Vacuity of ideas did not prevent losers from forming parties. There are many inconsequential movements in the Subcontinent, whose mention is but a footnote in the historical records. The Khaksars are but one of the failed movements that achieved nothing. Being proud of the Khaksars is like being proud of the KKK or being proud of the Nazis of German or the Fascists of Italy. The only difference is that the Nazis and the Fascist caught the imagination of the Italians and the Germans. The Khaksars only caught the imagination of the demented few in the Punjab. Their claim to fame was repeated assassination attempts on the Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The fundamentalist militia group calling itself the Khaksars were led by their mouse-hearted salar Agha Zaigham in 1938-40. They got their inspiration from the brown shirts of Italy. They patterned their uniforms and their marching style from Mousolinni and his Fascist Party. They were anarchists who wanted total control over everything.

I quote Stanley Wolpert (Jinnah of Pakistan, Page 180):

” Paramilitary Muslim Khaksars were as hostile towards the Muslim League as they were anti-Hindu and anti-Sikh……..As a whole however, the Khaksars never reconciled to Jinnah’s leadership and tried more than once in the next few years to assassinate him”

The Muslim League led by the Quaid-e-Azam and their march towards Pakistan was an impediment to their fascist dreams. I quote the incident from Jinnah of Pakistan by Stanley Wolpert: Page 224.

“Jinnah returned to Bombay from his tour of Baluchistan on Friday, July 23. Three days later, on the afternoon of Monday, July 26, a fanatical young Muslim Khaksar from Lahore, Rafique Sabir Mazangavi, entered the Quaid-i-Azam’s Mount Pleasant Road house and appealed to Jinnah’s secretary, Mr. M.H.Saiyed for an interview with the great leader. Just then Jinnah entered his secretary’s office and asken who Tafiq was and what he wanted ‘I was very busy’, Jinnah testified later in Bombay’s high court. My whole mind was on my correspondence and I was trying to get out of the room. Just as I was about to leave the room, in the twinkling of an eye, the accused sprang on me and gave me a blow with his clenched fist on my left jaw. I naturally reeled back a bit when he pulled out a knife from his wrist….It was an open knife….Instinct of self-defence made me put out my hand and catch his wrist, with the result that the momentum of the blow was broken but in spite of this the knife touched the left side of my jaw. I got a cut near my chin and my coat near the left-shoulder…I also got a wound on my left finger.

The last meeting of the All India Muslim League was held on June 10, 1947…..Here is another incident narrated by Wolpert in Jinnah of Pakistan on Page 329:

“Khaksars rushed in through the once-tranquil garden, entering the hotel lounge ‘brandishing belchas, or sharpened spades…shouting get Jinnah!’ half way up the staircase leading to the ballroom where Jinnah and the Council were ….in session before…League National Guards could grapple with them and turn them back. It took police with tear gas to bring the disturbance to an end. Some fifty Khaksar would-be assassins were arrested….

The movement ended without achieving any results. The Muslim League routed them at the polls and eliminated their attempts at arson and carnage. Their assassination attempts on the Quaid-e-Azam were unsuccessful. Liaqat Ali Khan however did get assassinated.

CRITICISM OF KHAN LIAQAT ALI KHAN

No Pakistani leader can be put on a pedastal and worshipped. Liaqat Ali Khan was a politician, and he faced the political wrath of his opponents. The purpose of presenting his criticism is to learn from history. Could he have formed better alliances with the Unionists? Could he have curried favor with the Hyatts? Could he have practised more inclusion? Could he have have created more consensus politics? The answer to all the questions is yes. But he lived under enormous pressure. He was a freedom fighter. He was unable to enjoy the fruits of his victories like Fidel Castro. He was unlucky for he did not have the life of Boumediene who was able to lead Algeria to victory, and then was able to give stability and direction to the new nation. Like the Indonesian Sukarno, Liaqat did not survive to enjoy his victories. Like Hazrat Usman, Liaqat Ali Khan faced the charge of nepotism, and like Usman, he too was murdered by his opponents. If a man is known by the stature of his opponents, then Liaqat Ali Khan indeed was a great man.

The Khan was brutally honest, and he was a patriot till his last breath. He had no bank accounts and he built no empires for himself. After his death, his wife Rana Liaqat Ali Khan, had to work as government servant to support the family till she died. The ahtishab commission would have absolved him, for he was never charged with any personal crime of corruption. His struggle with the feudals was the struggle for Pakistan. Shaukat Hyatt has criticized the Quaid and the Muslim League in his ‘memoirs”. Hyatts agenda is clear. Demonize the Khan and demonize Jinnah. Rock the foundations of the leadership of the Muslim League and this will crumble the history on which the country stands. The opponents point of view has to be understood and rebutted. Here is the criticism of the Khan by his greatest enemy.

Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan, the last of the prominent Muslim League leaders, has this to say in his Memoirs, “The nationa that lost its soul”, p. 178.

“He (Liaqat Ali Khan) delayed the completion of the Constitution to avoidelections which he could not win because he had no seat in Pakistan and had to be elected by East Pakistan. He, on the advice of officers belonging tothe United Provinces, broke the Liaqat-Nehru Pact about the agreed areas for migration from India to Pakistan, requiring the record of property to beexchanged officially. He, quite against the agreement permitted inhabitantsof UP and Rajasthan to enter via Khokhrapar – thus opening floodgatesendangering the stability of the already overloaded boat of Pakistan. Iobjected to this in the assembly. This action of Liaqat was quite partialallowing only people from his old Province and the adjoining areas tomigrate unfairly into Pakistan in order to create a seat for himself in Karachi. The people of the rest of the India were left to stew in their own juice. This act of his created a lot of confusion with people getting allotments in Sindh, without records on each other’s dubious evidence. This led to the problems of MQM and their hatred by Sindhis. These refugees got a monopoly of jobs in the cities and deprived local Pakistanis of their rightful share. The political instability still persists.”(source: Page 178 from the “Nation that lost its soul”, enclosed as Vol 2.5 in the document)

Unable to find any flaws with the character and strategy of the freedom fighting Khan, Hyatt uses the race card to discredit the Shaeed-e-Millat. The above criticism of the Khan is invalid due to the following reasons:

In 1947 Forty percent of Pakistan was Hindu and Sikh, and more than 60% of Lahore was Hindu and Sikh. If Pakistan had remained a state with these population ratios, the viability of the fledgling state was at stake. A Pakistani nation with 40% Hindus and Sikh could hardly be called Islamic and could hardly have any laws that would allow the propagation of Islam.
The bulk of migration into Pakistan occurred across the Punjab border and involved the Muslim Panjabis headed West to West Punjab, and the Hindu and Sikh Punjabis headed East to East Punjab (and Haryana). Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Sialkot and other major cities of the Punjab were actually all Hindu or Hindu dominated cities.
Most of the Muslim migration was not into Sindh and it was not out of the UP. In the period right after independence, five Million East Punjabis were exchanged with five million West Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs. About 1.5 million Kashmiris migrated to Lahore. The families of Muslim Leaguers like Nawaz Sharif are progeny of that Kashmiri Muslim migration.
The Nehru-Liaqat pact was not adhered to. The Nehru-Liaqat pact died the day, India refused the transfer of the assets to the government of Pakistan–planes, cars, chairs, gold and bullion. It also died the day, Patel sent his police action into Hydrabad. It died the day Junagarh was denied its right to accede to Pakistan. It died long before Hari Singh acceeded to India.
5) Gurdspur was a Muslim majority area in East Punjab. Gurdaspur was in the natural line of demarcation to be in Pakistan. It was on the Pakistani side of the river. The Radcliff commission gave away Gurdaspur to India because it provided an Indian road link to Kashmir. Gurdaspur had Pakistani flags fluttering everwhere. It was given to India. Read Minto to see the details of the massacre and the rape Muslims in Gurdaspur. The majority of the Muslim majority Punjabi inhabitants were now set on the “Pakistan specials” bound for Lahore and Pakistan. The same story went on in many many town and villages. For details please see Collins (Freedom at Midnight). The Nehru-Liaqat pact faced these types of human tragedies.
The Hyatt criticism fails to mention the alliances Liaqat Ali Khan had with many other Non-Unioninst, independent and Muslim League Punjabi leaders. Liaqat Ali Khan founded the Punjab Muslim League, nurtured it and used it to defeat the Unionists. The League struggle against the Congress allied with the Unionists is not mentioned by the Hyatt memoirs. The Khan and the League were popular in the Punjab, he had electoral victories in the Punjab to prove this fact. The creation of Pakistan was indeed possible because the Congress-Unionist alliance was defeated in the Punjab.
The Khan formed alliances and chose pro-Pakistani elements. It is obvious that he did not promote the likes of Hyatt because he did not want pro-Congress sympathizers in his government. Many/most of the early Muslim Leagers from the Punjab were the allies of the Khan. These very leaders formed the intelligentsia of the Punjab and Pakistan today.
The instability in Sindh is a complex issue created by many mistakes. Some of these mistakes are being rectified by the PML-MQM government in power.
The battles in the streets of Karachi are ethnic and religious in nature, all conflicts have that element, but the main cause of friction is Karachi and Urban Sindh is ECONOMIC. To brand the problems as ethnic is dismissing a phenomenon that has to do with the evolution of South Asian society.
Here is a more credible historian who paints us a realistic picture of the events of Pakistani freedom. The book is “HAD THERE BEEN NO JINNAH” (@1989 by Salahuddin Khan Printed by: PanGraphics (Pvt) Ltd. Islamabad.pages 14-15

In a letter to Jinnah, in January 1937, Nehru declared,

“In the final analysis, there are only two forces in India today- British Imperialism, and the Congress representing Indian Nationalism, the Muslim Leaguerepresents a group of Muslims, having no contact withthe Muslim masses.”

This statement was indeed a great victory for the League for Jinnah and for Liaqat Ali Khan. It defeated the Unionist-Congress alliance in the Punjab and the Badsha Khan-Congress alliance in Sarhad. Both alliances would have defeated Pakistan if allowed to flourish.

I quote from Reference which is very Anti-Liaqat, but this gives us a very deep insight into the politics of the time:

“Punjabi chauvinism and Liaqat Ali Khan’s favoritism was at each others throat. The fight was furious and Mr. Khan was not a gentleman either. Mr. Khan was desperate to build his political base in the newly formed state. He could go to any length to achieve his personal goals” .

Political History of Pakistan, Vol. 4, edited by Hasan Jafar Zaidi, Idara-Mutala-i-Tarikh. pp 185-187

Liqat Ali Khan was a philanthropist, who took keen interest in developing the Muslims of East Punjab the place of his birth. He supported many institutions in Karnal and assisted as many Muslims as he could. Details of his philanthropy are clearly listed in Professor Ziauddin’s book Liaqat Ali Khan: Builder of Pakistan. He chose the old Muslim Leaguers who had supported the Quaid and had fought for Pakistan. It did not matter where the supporters originated—–the test was loyalty to Pakistan.

Charging Liaqat Ali Khan with nepotism, and commenting on the appointments Liaqat Ali Khan had made, here is another quote from the Political History of Pakistan:

Hashim Raza, administrator Karachi; his brother Kazim Raza, IG police; Aal-e-Raza, also brother of Hashim, Public Prosecutor; Superintendent CID; Home Secretary Punjab, all of them from UP. Liaqat Ali Khan did all this to secure his political success from Karachi at least.

Here is Hasan Jafar Zaidi defending Liaqat Ali Khan:

It doesn’t mean that Punjab was being suppressed. The then chief secretary East Bengal, Aziz Ahmad was from Punjab. The commander of army in Bengal was (you guessed it right) Maj. General Ayub Khan was from Hazar…. They never gave the respect to political leadership of Bengal either.

This incorrect sentiment against Liaqat Ali Khan (planted by the antagonist of the Muslim League, the great feudal Mr. Khizar Hyatt and the pro-Congress, and anti-Pakistan, Unionist Party ) has been uprooted in our historical records and died in the feudal stronghold of Rawalpindi and the Potowar region (the Hyatt-Tiwans stronghold). After the creation of Pakistan the pro-Congress/Gandhi Unionist Party of Punjab went extinct but the remnants of the old political guard still oppose the Muslim League or what it stood for. Shaheed-e-Millats anniversary cannot be ignored. It is the anniversary of the victory for Pakistan. Liaqat Ali Khan has been given his rightful place in history. The ablest lieutenants of the Quaid has his place next to the the Quaid. The nation calls him shahed-e-millat. Pakistani patriots call him shaheed-e-millat. If Quaid-e- Azam was the founder of nation, Quaid-e-Millat, Liaqat Ali Khan was the builder of the state.

Preservation of our history is our sacred duty. This site would be a very boring place without the interactive dialogue and the criticism of our leadership. Criticism of our leaders is an essential part of the dialogue. More criticism of the Khan and of the Muslim League will be rebutted in the columns.