While teaching history to students, I read again about the first president of Pakistan, Iskandar Mirza. A lot of things have been written without being nice. My student is very politically conscious due to family reasons. As a result, the "Shala Pakistani" insult was thrown out unconsciously. It was as if the chest was throbbing. I took the book again. I remembered the past histories of the textbook. Every government has very consciously hidden something from our generations.This Iskandar Mirza was not a "Pakistani" but a "Bengali".
Today, in this month of independence, I am writing about Iskandar Mirza out of a sense of responsibility towards the society.
Iskandar Mirza was a Bengali. However, those ignorant of history will be wrong if they think of him as a hero. He was a villain who changed the course of society. If you read the article, you will understand that the history of Pakistan has changed moment by moment due to his finger pointing. Born on 13 November 1899 in Murshidabad, this man was very talented from childhood.
Growing up in a military family, he chose the army as a career. After a brief stint in the British Indian Army, Iskandar Mirza joined the Indian Political Service seeking more ambition. As a result, he became the Joint Secretary of India in 1946. And due to personal links, after the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan appointed him as Defense Secretary. From then on, the story of moving forward in the conspiracy shown by his ancestors began.
Dated 17th January, 1951. Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan assigned the duty of army chief to Lt. General Ayub Khan over several seniors. His military secretary Iskandar Mirza waved the cane from behind. But the most suitable for this post was Ayub Khan's senior, another Bengali wonder, Major General Isfaqul Majid.
Ayub Khan always felt inferior to the extraordinary personality of this man who had shown extraordinary skill in the World War. It is said that if Isfaqul Majeed had been the army chief then maybe the history of Pakistan would have been different. Which was not possible only because of this trick of Iskandar Mirza. In this regard, Iskandar Mirza told Prime Minister Liaquat Ali-
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- "Isfaqul Majid's main disqualification is that he is a Bengali"
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He seems to have forgotten that Iskandar Mirza himself was a Bengali. I can't say anything about off-topic Major General Isfaqul Majeed here. My Bengalis don't really know anything about this Bengali wonder. He was the only Bengali who served as one of the British Raj's military advisers during World War II, the only subcontinental army officer who is a living legend because of his experience with the armies of the Commonwealth countries. In many interviews of Manek Shore, this man can be heard talking a lot about his military knowledge.
After Lt. Ajay Narayan Das, he was the 2nd Bengali to be commissioned in the Queen Victoria Regiment. Because of his little qualification, he was made an accused in the Rawalpindi Conspiracy case in Parvati. Another famous lawyer Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy fought for him. Suhrawardy proved him innocent. After that, Major General Isfaqul Majid voluntarily retired.
It is said that Pakistani intelligence forces have been keeping an eye on him forever, thinking that there could be imminent danger from him. Maybe this is why he was arrested on March 26. He was imprisoned and tortured. Due to which he became very ill as a result of which he died in 1976. If he had been free and healthy during the war of liberation, then maybe the chief army officer of the war of liberation would not have been Colonel (retd) Osmani but Major General (retd) Isfaqul Majid.
Even our army did not remember this great Bengali. Even there is no establishment in his name in any cantonment. Not only that, you won't even find a picture of him on the net. Only Wikipedia mentions him in a few lines.
Back to the topic of Iskandar Mirza again. The language movement then spread like wildfire throughout East Pakistan. Confused Prime Minister Liaquat Ali, General Iskandar Mirza advised the Prime Minister to deploy military police in East Pakistan. His opinion is - "The right solution is possible only through the application of appropriate force".
Within a few days, the military police units took over. The next story is not to be told anew. It is their contribution to make the chest of language martyrs swell.
Finally, on May 22, 1954, J. Iskandar Mirza became the new governor of East Pakistan. In East Pakistan, he said in clear Bengali
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- "I will not take a single moment to crack down on any kind of anti-Pakistan activities. If the use of force is necessary to establish peace in this province, I will do so without any hesitation."
Finally, on May 22, 1954, J. Iskandar Mirza became the new governor of East Pakistan. In East Pakistan, he said in clear Bengali
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- "I will not take a single moment to crack down on any kind of anti-Pakistan activities. If the use of force is necessary to establish peace in this province, I will do so without any hesitation."
J. Iskandar Mirza was sworn in as the Provisional Governor from August 7, 1955 following a conspiracy. Governor General of Pakistan Ghulam Muhammad Ali is on leave (!) in UK due to illness. On the same day, he forced another Bengali Prime Minister Muhammad Ali of Bogra to resign.
March 23, 1956. After 9 years of effort, the new constitution of Pakistan came into effect and by virtue of this, the title of Governor General was changed to President and this is how the Governor General of Pakistan, Iskandar Mirza became the first unelected President of Pakistan.
Election is done. The United Front won. History will forever remember the day of September 12, 1956. East Pakistan leader Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy today took oath as the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan. This is the first time in the country that both the President and Prime Minister posts are in the hands of a Bengali. All over Pakistan, only Bengalis will start celebrating. This was the thought of many, but it did not happen.
October 10, 1957 afternoon. Prime Minister Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy has been called to the office of the President. Chief of Army Staff General Ayub Khan along with other army chiefs are present. The Prime Minister's one unit policy across the country, nationalization of various sectors and finally the nationalization of shipping lines have affected businessmen. President Iskandar Mirza asked for his resignation on this pretext. Self-respecting Suhrawardy replied directly.
“I am the elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. If you need to move me, call the parliament. If I am defeated in the vote of no confidence there, I will resign. You have no right to ask to resign like this.”
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The President despised democracy. He has a famous line in Parvati in this regard. "Democracy is hypocrisy without limitation"
Finally President Iskandar Mirza
He used his last weapon
- "I want you to resign, or you will be fired. I have that power as president."
He said,
- “I will resign. But you will suffer the results of the course you suggested one day or the other.
Mr. Suhrawardy's words were not in vain. Later, it affected Iskandar's life. Iskandar Mirza imposed military rule for the first time in the history of Pakistan.
Which remained in force until the breakup of Pakistan. According to Suhrawardy Saheb, he began to suffer the side effects of this regime. Until now he was the pinnacle of power. Now his downfall began. Ayub Khan was made the prime minister and made a new cabinet. He brought many new faces in his new cabinet. From among them emerges an infamous barrister whose name no one has heard before. This is the infamous Zulfiqal Ali Bhutto. He gave him the responsibility of military chief.
Ayub Khan and Iskandar Mirza clashed over the new cabinet. In fact, due to military rule, Ayub Khan was able to grasp the limits of his power. Then what happened. There cannot be two tigers in one forest. Iskandar Mirza now started meeting with other generals to remove Ayub Khan from power. So that it is the opposite.
October 27, 1958. Iskandar Mirza is sleeping with his 2nd wife Nahid Amritimo in his bedroom. Ayub Khan went to his bedroom and just pointed the gun at him. This is how Ayub Khan replaced Iskandar Mirza and became the new president of Pakistan.
Ayub Khan sent him to exile in London. Ayub Khan was given everything by Iskandar Mirza. Ayub Khan would have retired in 1957 if his tenure was not extended by four years and there would have been no record of Ayub Khan's tenure in the history of Pakistan. Who knows which direction the flow of history would have turned!
Iskandar Mirza lived for some more than 11 years. The end of the life of the president of Pakistan was very sad. The only way to earn a living was as a hotel boy in a fine dining restaurant in London. At last he wanted to return to his country for a month but Ayub Khan did not allow him. Unable to pay for medical expenses in financially strapped London, he told his Iranian-born wife,
- “Nahid, we can't afford the medical expenses and I don't have that ability. Let me die!”
The man who became a hotel boy from a powerful person who rose to the pinnacle of power after scheming all his life died in a very simple way on 13 November 1969. When news of his death reached Pakistan, Ayub Khan said,
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- "The body of this traitor should never touch the soil of Pakistan!
This is the assessment of this Pakistan-loving man who has always been a Bengali and hates Bengalis. Pakistan refused to accept his body. According to his wife, his grave is in Iran. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the grave markers were also removed.
It is abhorrent to show mercy to this wretch. Because this conspiracy is unfair to expect anything special from the beloved person. Because he was born in a clan of conspiracy. What has not been said so far, this Iskandar Mirza was directly the 4th descendant of Mir Jafar himself, that is, Mir Jafar was his grandfather's father.
What more can be expected from the offspring of a traitor? Sometimes, seeing his prominent position in the history of Pakistan, it seems that this man was the reason why we were able to move quickly towards independence. As such, he can be called a hero in a loose sense.
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| Iskandar Mirz |