Remembering Chaudhry Rehmat Ali on the occasion of his birth
Across the country, Sunday (today) is being commemorated as the birth anniversary of the legendary leader Chaudhry Rehmat Ali. He is being honoured for his active participation in the Pakistan Movement and for having coined the term “Pakistan” to refer to the subcontinent’s independent homeland, which is now Pakistan.
On November 16, 1897, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali was born into a Muslim Gujjar family in the Indian Punjabi district of Hoshiarpur. He is credited for coining the term “Pakistan,” which refers to a distinct Muslim nation in South Asia.
Following his 1918 graduation from Islamia Madrassa in Lahore, he taught at Aitchison College before enrolling at Punjab University (PU) to pursue a legal education.
He relocated to England in 1930 in order to enrol in Emmanuel College Cambridge (ECC). He initially used the term “Pakistan” in a pamphlet titled “Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever?” published in 1933.
He established the PNM (Pakistan National Movement) in England in 1933. He later graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA and an MA.
He was summoned to the London Bar Middle Temple Inn in 1943.
He continued to publish other books outlining his vision for South Asia until 1947.
One of the most vibrant and active politicians on the subcontinent, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali was instrumental in the founding of Pakistan in a special and admirable way.
He first suggested turning northern India into a Muslim state in 1915 at the first Bazm Shibli session at Islamia College in Lahore, when he was just 18 years old. In 1928, he was hired as a lecturer at Aitchison College.
Chaudhry Rehmat Ali had a connection to media as well. He graduated from Cambridge University with degrees in politics and law in 1933. In the renowned booklet “Now or Never” at the Third Round Table Conference in London, he used the term “Pakistan” for the first time to allude to an independent Muslim state.
Pakistan was finally established on August 14, 1947, when Chaudhry Rehmat Ali’s proposed name was accepted. Following his journey to Pakistan in April 1948, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali returned to England following the Quaid-e-Azam’s death. He passed away on February 3, 1951, and was buried in Cambridge.