List of Pakistan Movement activists
The Founders and activists of the Pakistan Movement, also known as the Founding Fathers of Pakistan, were the political leaders and statespersons who participated in the success of the political movement, following the signing of the Pakistan Resolution, that led to the creation of Pakistan in August 1947. Within this large group, a further and extended subset signed the Objectives Resolution that was annexed to the Constitution of Pakistan in 1950.
The term was first used by the linguist and archeologist Dr. Ahmad Hasan Dani in his book, the Founding Fathers of Pakistan. The Pakistan Movement was led by a large group of activists and statesmen who played crucial role in the politics of the British Raj in the 1930s and 1940s. More recently, the term was used by the government officially in explaining the foreign policy text. Authors and historians of Pakistan more broadly define the term "Founding Fathers" to mean a larger group which also includes all those who, whether as politicians, jurists, statespersons, soldiers, diplomats, academics, or ordinary citizens, took part in winning the independence of four provinces and East Pakistan in the north-west and eastern region of British India from the control of the United Kingdom and also from the influence of the Indian Congress; thus creating Pakistan.
The following is a list of people who played a prominent role in the making of Pakistan as independence activists, leaders, freedom fighters and revolutionaries.
Historical background
In 1905, the Bengal presidency's Bengal (1905)|partition], decided by the English government which separated the largely Muslim eastern areas from the largely Hindu western areas, was supported by the Muslims communities. The success of the Swadeshi movement led by Indian activists led to the reintegration of the presidency and it was a catalyst in making the Muslim reformers of the subcontinent realize the need for a separate homeland.During the same year, the political efforts and initiations led by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan led to the establishment of the historic All-India Muslim League to protect the interests and rights of the Muslims of the subcontinent. Mutual distrust among the Hindu leaders and Muslim reformers further grew. A conference chaired by Indian Viceroy, Earl Minto, the Hindu-Muslim conflict was raised to the constitutional plane. In 1906, the annual meeting of the Muhammadan Educational Conference was held in Dhaka led by Nawab Sir Khwaja Salimullah, Nawab Waqar-ul-Mulk Kamboh|Waqar-ul-Mulk], the Aga Khan III and 3,000 other delegates attended the session making it the largest-ever representative gathering of Muslim leaders in the subcontinent. Ali Jouhar|Mohammad Ali Johar] wrote the All-India Muslim League's first agenda and Syed Ameer Ali established its European branch in the United Kingdom.
For quite sometime, the Muslim League worked on its reputation and credibility against the much influential Indian Congress. That was not achieved until Liaquat Ali Khan and his companion Begum Rana Liaquat Ali convinced Muhammad Ali Jinnah, among others, to join the Muslim League in the 1930s. The philosophical idea, Pakistan ; the 14 points ; the Now or Never ; the Two-nation theory, to which subsequently many activists and leaders contributed, played a crucial role in realizing the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Ashraf Ali Thanwi's disciples Shabbir Ahmad Usmani and Zafar Ahmad Usmani were key players in religious support for the creation of Pakistan.
The newly founded country of Pakistan had to create a government and legislature to replace the British Raj government and the British Parliament. The founding fathers of Pakistan first established the partial Constituent Assembly, and adopted the Objectives Resolution, which was annexed to the Constitution of Pakistan.
Occupations and Finances
The founders and activists of Pakistan had different occupations and came from different social strata, and many pursued more than one career simultaneously. Many founding fathers such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Muhammad Zafarullah Khan Liaquat Ali Khan and Qazi Muhammad Isa were barristers and lawyers. Notable activist Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed, was a mathematician who helped in forming the first educational policy of the country. Begum Rana Liaquat Ali Khan was an economist; and Abu Bakr Ahmad Haleem was a political scientist; M. M. Sharif was a philosopher and Shaukat Hayat Khan was an officer in the British Army. The following are a few notable personalities who played an integral role in the success of the Pakistan Movement.List of Founders of Pakistan
Notable activists
The activities and constant public gathering of founding fathers of Pakistan attracted the people of North-West India to be politically active in the movement. Many of the activists would later becoming the future leader of the country.| Name | Portrait | Place of representation and origin | Pre-independence and Post-independence notability |
| Shireen Jinnah | Karachi, Sindh | Sister of Jinnah | |
| Muhammad Asad | Lemberg, Austria-Hungary | Honorary figure in Pakistan | |
| Sartaj Aziz | Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa | National Security Adviser Played key role in the political events in Pakistan, including that of nuclear tests in 1998 Professor of Economics at various universities of Pakistan. | |
| Rafiq Tarar | Gujranwala, Punjab | 9th President of Pakistan | |
| Mir Hazar Khoso | Jaffarabad, Balochistan | Acting Prime Minister of Pakistan | |
| Nurul Amin | Shahbazpur, Bengal | Prime Minister of Pakistan Only Vice-president of Pakistan | |
| Shahzada Rehmatullah Khan Durrani | Quetta, Balochistan | Politician | |
| Alvin Robert Cornelius | Agra | Chief Justice of Pakistan | |
| Pir Gohar | Mardan, KP | Poet and critic | |
| Sheikh Mujibur Rahman | then Faridpur, Bengal | The leader of Pakistan's majority party in the 1970 elections and later the founder and president of Bangladesh. |