Islamabad-(Mudassar Iqbal)-Choudhary Rahmat Ali Memorial Society hosted a ceremony in Lahore on Sunday to mark the death anniversary of Choudhary Rahmat Ali, the man who created the word “Pakistan” and made the demand for Pakistan.
Speaking at the ceremony in Lahore’s New Garden Town neighbourhood, the speakers paid rich tributes to this historic figure for his contribution to the struggle for creation of Pakistan.
Choudhary Rahmat Ali had floated the idea of a free Muslim state in Bazm-e-Shibli in 1915. In his popular magazine “Now or Never”, he made the demand for Pakistan in 1933. Later, he floated the ideas of other Muslim states.
On this occasion, the speakers demanded that Choudhary Rahmat Ali’s remains should be brought back from Cambridge, England, and buried at a historic place in Pakistan. They said that essays about his struggle for freedom should be included in syllabus.
Chaudhry Saleem Elahi, Prof Zaid Bin Umar, Chaudhry Anwar Gulzar, Engineer Iftikhar Chaudhry, Prof Jamil Khatana, Chaudhry Muhammad Altaf and Rafique Chaudhry addressed the ceremony.
Choudhary Rahmat Ali, a pioneering figure in the Pakistan Movement, was remembered on his death anniversary in Lahore. The Choudhary Rahmat Ali Memorial Society hosted a ceremony to pay tribute to his contributions to the struggle for Pakistan’s creation.
Born on November 16, 1897, in Balachaur, Punjab, Rahmat Ali was a visionary who dreamed of a separate homeland for Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. He was educated at Islamia College Lahore and later at the University of Cambridge, where he studied law .
Rahmat Ali’s most significant contribution was coining the term “Pakistan” in his 1933 pamphlet “Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?” ¹. This pamphlet, also known as the “Pakistan Declaration,” proposed the creation of a separate Muslim state comprising the provinces of Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan.
Throughout his life, Rahmat Ali advocated for the rights of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. He founded the Pakistan National Movement in England in 1934 and published several pamphlets, including “What Does the Pakistan National Movement Stand For?” and “The Millat of Islam and the Menace of Indianism” .
Rahmat Ali’s ideas were initially met with skepticism, but they eventually gained traction among Muslim politicians in the subcontinent. The Lahore Resolution of the All-India Muslim League in 1940, which called for the creation of a separate homeland for Muslims, was heavily influenced by Rahmat Ali’s work .
Despite his significant contributions to the Pakistan Movement, Rahmat Ali’s life was marked by hardship and struggle. He was expelled from Pakistan by Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan in 1948 and spent the remainder of his life in England, where he died on February 3, 1951 .
Key Achievements:
– Coining the term “Pakistan”: Rahmat Ali’s most significant contribution was coining the term “Pakistan” in his 1933 pamphlet “Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?”.
– Founding the Pakistan National Movement: Rahmat Ali founded the Pakistan National Movement in England in 1934 to advocate for the rights of Muslims in the Indian subcontinent.
– Publishing influential pamphlets: Rahmat Ali published several pamphlets, including “What Does the Pakistan National Movement Stand For?” and “The Millat of Islam and the Menace of Indianism,” which helped shape the Pakistan Movement.
– Inspiring the Lahore Resolution: Rahmat Ali’s ideas influenced the Lahore Resolution of the All-India Muslim League in 1940, which called for the creation of a separate homeland for Muslims.
