Liaquat Ali Khan

Shaheed-e-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan
لیَاقَتْ عَلِیّ خَانْ
Official portrait, c. 1945
1st Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office 15 August 1947 – 16 October 1951
Monarch	George VI
Governors‑General	Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1947–1948) Khawaja Nazimuddin (1948–1951)
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Khawaja Nazimuddin
1st Minister of Defence
In office 15 August 1947 – 16 October 1951
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Khawaja Nazimuddin
1st Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 15 August 1947 – 27 December 1949
Deputy	M. Ikramullah (Foreign Secretary)
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Zafarullah Khan
Minister for Kashmir and Frontier Affairs
In office 15 August 1947 – 16 October 1951
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Mahmud Hussain
Minister of Finance of British India
In office 29 October 1946 – 14 August 1947
Monarch	George VI
Governors General	Archibald Wavell (1943–1947) Lord Mountbatten (1947)
Vice President	Jawaharlal Nehru
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
President of the Pakistan Muslim League
In office 11 September 1948 – 17 October 1951
Preceded by	Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Succeeded by	Khawaja Nazimuddin
Personal details
Born	(1895-10-01)1 October 1895 Karnal, Punjab Province
Died	16 October 1951(1951-10-16) (aged 56) Rawalpindi, West Punjab, Dominion of Pakistan
Manner of death	Assassination
Resting place	Mazar-e-Quaid
Nationality	British Indian (1895–1947) Pakistani (1947–1951)
Political party	All-India Muslim League (1921–1947) Pakistan Muslim League (1947–1951)
Spouse	Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan ​ ​ (m. 1932⁠–⁠1951)​
Alma mater	Aligarh Muslim University (BSc in Polysci) Oxford University (LL.B. in Jurisprudence)

Liaquat Ali Khan^[a] (1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951) was a Pakistani lawyer, politician and statesman who served as the first prime minister of Pakistan from 1947 until his assassination in 1951. He was as pivotal to the consolidation of Pakistan as the Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was central to the creation of Pakistan. He was one of the leading figures of the Pakistan Movement and is revered as Quaid-e-Millat ("Leader of the nation") and later on as "Shaheed e Millat" (Martyr of the nation).

Khan was born in Karnal, Punjab Province to a wealthy family. His grandfather Nawab Ahmad Ali provided significant support to the British during the Mutiny uprising of 1857-1858, earning him substantial rewards in the form of prestigious honors and complete remission of rent. Khan was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University and University of Oxford. After first being invited to the Indian National Congress, he later opted to join the All-India Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an Indian independence activist who later advocated for a separate Muslim nation-state out of Hindu-majority India. Khan assisted Jinnah in the campaign for what would become known as the Pakistan Movement and was known as his 'right hand'. He was a democratic political theorist who promoted parliamentarism in British India.^[1]

Khan's premiership oversaw the beginning of the Cold War, in which Khan's foreign policy sided with the United States-led Western Bloc over the Soviet Union-led Eastern Bloc. He promulgated the Objectives Resolution in 1949, which stipulated Pakistan to be an Islamic democracy. He also held cabinet portfolio as the first foreign minister, defence minister, and frontier regions minister from 1947 until his assassination in 1951. Prior to the part, Khan briefly tenured as Finance minister of British India in the Interim Government that undertook independence of Pakistan and India, led by Louis Mountbatten, the then-Viceroy of India.

In March 1951, he survived an attempted coup by left-wing political opponents and segments of the Pakistani military. While delivering a speech in the Company Bagh of Rawalpindi, Khan was shot dead by an Afghan militant Said Akbar for unknown reasons. Khan was posthumously given the title Shaheed-e-Milat ('Martyr of the Nation') and is honored as one of Pakistan's greatest prime ministers.

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