The late Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung is a symbol of forthrightness. He belonged to an age which was turbulent and seething with turmoil. Nawab Sahib worked hard for Pakistan’s independence. He offered timely help in shaping the destiny of 40 crore Muslims of the Indian subcontinent under the direct guidance and supervision of the Quaid-i-Azam.

It was he who brought about the consolidation of the All India Muslims League at a time when it was almost punishable to be associated with any such institution. It was he who ultimately succeeded in getting the 1940 Lahore Resolution passed despite many odds and various hindrances, the biggest being the one coming from the then governor and chief minister of Punjab, Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan.

Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi, a veteran Muslim leaguer from the pre-1940 era and an active participant of the Lahore meeting enlists Nawab Sahib’s role vis-à-vis the unionist government of the then Punjab and the Muslim League as the leading one.

Another significant contribution of the Nawab Sahib, according to Mr Rashidi, was his successful manoeuvring of the situation created in some of the Muslim minority provinces of the Indian subcontinent which was proving injurious to the very idea of partition and Pakistan. However, the matter was boldly, diplomatically and astutely countered by Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung.

The North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP) and the adjoining Pakhtoon territory of those days was the citadel of the workers of the Indian National Congress and crores of rupees were spent by these people on some Pakhtoon Sardars, including, it is claimed, the celebrated Faqir of Ipi, the most powerful personality of the region lying between the British India Territory, the Afghanistan area and the Russian States in the north.

Anxious moments, and even sleepless nights, were being spent by Muslim leaders of the Indian subcontinent who were facing a dilemma as regards the attitude of the Pakhtoons in the context of the Muslim demand for partition and the creation of a Muslim state.

With the Quaid’s blessings, accompanied by Qazi Isa and Sardar Aurangzeb, the Nawab Sahib made a trip to the area. His success in the area after his trip not only effected Muslims’ position, but also those at the helm of affairs in British diplomacy and in the adjoining Soviet Republics.

A voracious reader, he had vast knowledge of things and it seemed that solutions used to come to his receptive and vigilant mind with their correct perspective almost as a matter of fact.

In a nutshell, Nawab Bahadur Yar Jung was a conscientious man. With an enlightened mind capable of comprehending things, he was the embodiment of a morally sound human being. — PROF KHAWAJA QUTBUDDIN
 

Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan (d. June 28, 1958)
 

Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan was a freedom fighter who selflessly gave whatever he had for the cause of the creation of Pakistan. That he chose not to accept nor claim any position or rank in the country he helped create is a historical fact.

Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan, a self-effacing man who chose to stay behind in India to share the fate of the millions of Muslims left behind after partition, passed away in Meerut on June 28, 1958 at the age of 74. This year marks his 50th death anniversary.

The Quaid-i-Azam had Nawab Ismail Khan in every important committee of the Muslim League, for he had tremendous confidence in him. A leader in his own right, Nawab Ismail Khan presided over the second session of the All India Muslim Conference held in Lucknow in 1930.

The death of Quaid-i-Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan created an unfortunate void, with Nawab Ismail Khan in India the remaining leadership of the Muslim League lost its effectiveness, and as providence would have it, Nawab Ismail Khan did not live to see that fateful day in October 1958 when the military set foot in the political arena.

An incident in 1938 led Nawab Ismail Khan to disagree with Mr Jinnah and tender his resignation, but his resignation was not accepted. Before the start of the Lucknow session in 1937, Nawab Ismail Khan suggested that Mr Jinnah don a cap as a befitting gesture of his leadership. He entered the pindaal (stage) wearing Nawab Ismail Khan’s samoor cap which then became famous as the ‘Jinnah Cap’. Sometime earlier, Mr Jinnah had wanted to shift the venue of the session from Lucknow to Calcutta. Nawab Ismail Khan, as president of the UP Muslim League, advised him otherwise. The Quaid valued his advice as he invariably did on all such occasions.

Nawab Ismail Khan also had a very long association and attachment with the Aligarh University. In the 1930s, he was the treasurer of the university and during 1934-36 served as its vice-chancellor, an honour he chose to accept again in 1947 after partition. He accepted this challenge when the very existence of the university known as the ‘citadel of Pakistan’ was facing imminent downfall.

His father Nawab Ishak Khan was a trustee and secretary of MAO College, Aligarh -- he was the third successor to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Nawab Mustafa Khan Shefta, renowned Urdu and Persian poet, was his grandfather. Nawab Ismail Khan’s wife Hameedunnisa Begum was one of the earliest Muslim women to join the Muslim League. She worked for the emancipation of Muslim women in India, setting up a school in Meerut which still bears her name ‘Hameedia’.

Upon her untimely death, Nawab Ismail Khan turned his sorrow into creative service by serving his community, his country and the common and indivisible cause of human progress. His is the finest example of selfless service. — ASAD I. A. KHAN