| Choudhary Rahmat Ali | |
|---|---|
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| Alternate name(s): | Chaudhary Rehmat Ali Gujjar |
| Place of birth: | Balachaur, Nawanshahr District, British India  |
| Place of death: | Cambridge, England, United Kingdom  |
| Movement: | Pakistan Movement |
| Major organizations: | Pakistan Muslim League |
Chaudhary Rahmat Ali (Urdu: چودھری رحمت علی ) (or Rehmat Ali; Urdu: رحمت علی ) (November 16, 1897 - February 3, 1951) was an Pakistani [1][2][3]Muslim nationalist who was one of the earliest proponents of the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is credited with creating the name "Pakistan" for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia.
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Rehmat Ali was born into a Gujjar[4] family in the town of Balachaur in Hoshiarpur District of Punjab (now Nawanshahr District), India. After graduating from Islamia Madrassa Lahore in 1918, he taught at Aitchison College Lahore before continuing Law studies at Punjab University. In 1930 he moved to England to join Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1931. In 1933, he published a pamphlet, Now or Never, coining the word Pakistan for the first time. Subsequently, he obtained a BA degree in 1933 and MA in 1940 from the University of Cambridge. In 1943, he was called to the Bar, Middle Temple Inn, London. Until 1947, he continued publishing various booklets about his vision of the South Asia. The independence process disillusioned him due to the mass killings and mass migrations. He was also dissatisfied with the distribution of areas among the two countries and considered it a major reason for disturbances. He died on 3 February 1951 and was buried on 20 February at Newmarket Road Cemetery, Cambridge, UK.
He was the Secretary of Pakistan Movement in U.K with Muhammad Aslam Khan Khattak as President, and Dr. Abdur Rahim as Vice President. It was in this organization that the name "PAKISTAN" was first suggested.
There are several accounts to the conceptualization of the name. According to a friend (Abdul Kareem Jabbar) the name came up when Rehmat Ali was walking along the banks of the Thames in 1932 with his friends Pir Ahsan-ud-Din and Khawja Abdul Rahim. According to Rehmat Ali's secretary Miss Frost, he came up with the idea of the name ‘Pakistan’ while riding on the top of a London bus[5].
In the early 1930s, Ali began writing about the formation of a Muslim nation in India. On January 28, 1933, he voiced his ideas in the pamphlet entitled "Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?"[6]. The word 'Pakstan' referred to "the five Northern units of India, viz. : Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan"".[7][8] By the end of 1933, 'Pakistan' become common vocabulary where an i was added to ease pronunciation (as in Afghan-i-stan).[9]
In a subsequent book Rehmat Ali discussed the etymology in further detail.[10]
Like Allama Iqbal, Ali believed that the Muslims of India had to undergo a reformation politically in order to remain a viable, and independent community there. Ali noted that Hazrat Muhammad had succeeded in uniting fractured Arab tribes and that this example was to again be used by Muslims of India to pool together in order to survive in what he perceived to be an increasingly hostile India.
As such, Chaudhary Rahmat Ali's writings, in addition to those of Iqbal and others were major catalysts for the formation of Pakistan. He offered "Bang-i-Islam" for a Muslim homeland in the Bengal, and "Usmanistan" for a Muslim homeland in the Deccan. He also suggested "Dinia" as a name for a South Asia for various religions[11].
Ali dedicated a lot of time and energy to the idea of Pakistan, and after its formation in 1947, he argued on its behalf at the United Nations over the issue of occupied-Kashmir.
While Chaudhary Rahmat Ali was a leading figure for the conception of Pakistan, he lived most of his adult life in England. He had been voicing his dissatisfaction with the creation of Pakistan ever since his arrival in Lahore on April 6 1948. He was unhappy over a Smaller Pakistan than the one he had conceived in his 1933 pamphlet Now Or Never.[citation needed]
Rahmat Ali died in 1951, and is buried in Cambridge City graveyard.
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Chaudhry Rahmat Ali or Rehmat Ali Khan (November 16, 1897 - February 12, 1951) was an Indian Muslim who was one of the first people to ask for the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is famous for creating the name "Pakistan" on January 28, 1933.
   | Rahmat Ali - Pakistan History: Choudhary Rahmat Ali |
| | Chaudhary Rahmat Ali The man who conceived the idea of Pakistan - Chaudhary Rahmat Ali |
| | Choudhary Rahmat Ali (1895-1951) - Choudhary Rahmat Ali [1895-1951] |
| | Ch. Rahmat Ali - The Visionory who gave the idea of Pakistan/chaudhryrahmatali.com |
| | Newmarket Road Cemetery - Cambridge 2000: Newmarket Road: cemetery |
| | Eye-witness account of how Ch. Rehmat Ali began his Pakistan campaign through Woking Mission - Woking Muslim Mission’s role in the creation of Pakistan |
| | Now or Never - Rahmat Ali's Pakistan Declaration, Now or Never |
| | '''Location of Newmarket Road Cemetry, Cambridge, UK (Graveyard)''' - Maps of the world, street map search - powered by Multimap |
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