Maulana Zafar Ali Khan
By Mowahid Shah

 

The year 2006 was the centenary year of the founding of the Muslim League in Dacca. It was also the 50th death anniversary of that dauntless fighter for Muslim political causes, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan (1873-1956), writer, freedom fighter, poet and journalist. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was in the arena when it most mattered.

Today, he is seldom remembered – a reflection of the current socio-political milieu which consecrates the present and relegates the past. There is a constant refrain that the youth is short of inspirational role models to emulate. This partly explains the constant seeking of outside heroes.
The genuine heroes are embedded within our own history and heritage. They are awaiting to be discovered, studied and honored.
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was the preeminent Urdu journalist of pre-partition India being the editor of the newspaper Zamindar which prominently projected Muslim aspirations.
The Zamindar paper became the nursery of Muslim media including in its roster legendary writers like Abdul Majeed Salik, Ghulam Rasul Mehr – who both lived in Muslim Town, Lahore – and Chiragh Hasan Hasrat. Both Salik and Mehr (close friends of Allama Iqbal) later became Editors and owners of the Lahore-based Urdu daily ‘Inqilab’ located at Gowalmandi. In the annals of Urdu journalism Maulana Zafar Ali Khan came to be recognized as ‘Baba-e-Sahafat’ (father of journalism).
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was present during all key milestones of Muslim League history. He was there during its founding in 1906 at Dacca, during its 1937 reorganization at the Lucknow Session – where my father, a delegate, was present – and at Lahore in 1940 when the Pakistan Resolution was passed. When the Indian Congress won victories during the 1937 elections, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan wrote a letter to the Quaid alerting him to the compelling need to regroup and to avoid fissures within the Muslim League in the aftermath of Congress’s electoral gains.
Earlier, at the Badshahi Mosque in 1936, the Quaid had said that with brave men like the Maulana none could foil the Mussulmans of India.
The Zamindar office was located at McLeod Road, Lahore. The office was downstairs while the Maulana’s dwellings were upstairs. From there, the Maulana used to jog to the Ravi bridge and back, putting a top priority on physical fitness. He had the gift of insight to pierce through the secular veil of the Congress and view its real face of communal chauvinism.
The Maulana believed that the sole superpower was the Almighty Allah and his Imaan enabled him to resist the worldly superpower of the day – the British Raj. For his endeavors he had to endure 14 years in jail, expending stupendous energy in contesting the writ of the Raj and in foiling machinations of its Brahmin cohorts. He was imbued with the love of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and would not tolerate any caviling about his faith. Because of his explosive temper, he was known as “the volcano”. When it came to standing up for Muslim causes, till the very end, he never let the fire within to be extinguished.
I was privileged to be the keynote speaker during the annual event commemorating his 49th death anniversary, which was held adjacent to his final resting place at Karamabad next to the town of Wazirabad, midway between Gujranwala and Gujrat. There, I proposed the following:
i. Establishing the Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Institute of Journalism at Lahore to produce thinkers and writers who can compete in the battle of ideas as well as projecting Muslim causes;
ii. Purchasing the old Zamindar office building where the Maulana used to work and live and making it into a national heritage building. This will further instill a sense of self-worth, particularly in the youth, about their own history;
iii. Supporting the Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Memorial Complex adjacent to his place of burial. This proposal was formally presented to the scribe and is worthy of support from the Punjab Government. This could be a living museum dedicated to the heritage of Maulana Zafar Ali Khan and serving as a continuing inspiration for the young. (This area could be further revitalized once it gets access to Sui gas); and
iv. Celebrating Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s life and legacy by the Muslim League during its Centennial year of 2006.
A nation which honors its heroes is worthy of standing tall in the comity of nations.