ISLAMABAD: A petition regarding the retrieval of the body of Chaudhry Rehmat Ali from London was taken up by a justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Justice Athar Minallah on Monday.

Chaudhry Rehmat Ali was a prominent leader in the movement for an independent Pakistan and in fact came up with the word ‘Pakistan’. He died on February 19, 1951 in London where he was buried. The petition requested the court to direct the federal government to retrieve the body of Chaudhry Rehmat Ali from London.

The registrar’s office at IHC had raised some administrative objections over the petition, which Justice Minallah removed on Monday. The Justice then asked the registrar’s office to fix the petition for hearing.

The petitioner, Ansar Mehmood, cited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Pakistani high commission in London and chairman of the Capital Development Authority as respondents.

In his petition, Mehmood has said that Chaudhry Rehmat Ali coined the country’s name and was a national hero. He says that at the time of his death, the late leader was buried in London under a temporary arrangement and with an understanding that his body will later be moved to Pakistan.

He has also cited examples of other countries retrieving the bodies of their heroes and burying them in their homeland.

One of the examples is of Mateeur Rehman who had wanted to land a PAF plane in India and was prevented from doing so when Rashid Minhas crashed the plane.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2016