Chaudhry Rehmat Ali is unfortunate to have not even two yards in Pakistan

Chaudhry Rehmat Ali (چودھری رحمت علی - خالق لفظ پاکستان) - Who is credited with creating the name "Pakistan", is unfortunate to have not even two yards for grave in Pakistan, and is buried in Cambridge, UK.

ہے کتنا بدنصیب رحمت علی دفن کیلیۓ    دو گز زمیں بھی نہ ملی کوۓ یار میں

Rehmat Ali is unfortunate to have not even two yards land in the alley of the beloved where he would be buried honorably.

Chaudhry Rehmat Ali was a Muslim nationalist of the Indian subcontinent and 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 British India. He propagated the Scheme of Pakistan with a missionary zeal since its inception in 1933. He also founded Pakistan National Movement to propagate his ideas.

In 1933, he wrote his ideas in the famous pamphlet entitled “Now or Never; Are We to Live or Perish Forever” also known as Pakistan Declaration.

The pamphlet started with this famous sentence:

At this solemn hour in the history of India, when British and Indian statesmen are laying the foundations of a Federal Constitution for that land, we address this appeal to you, in the name of our common heritage, on behalf of our thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN - by which we mean the five Northern units of India, Viz: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sind and Baluchistan.

Chaudhry Rehmat Ali wanted to save every Indian Muslim from Hindu domination. He was unhappy over a “Smaller Pakistan” than the one he had conceived, and even condemned Quaid-e-Azam for accepting a smaller Pakistan in 1947.

After the creation of Pakistan he returned to Pakistan in April 1948, planning to stay in this country, but he was ordered by the then Prime Minister Liaqat Ali Khan to leave the country. His belongings were confiscated, and he left empty-handed for England in October 1948.

He died in February 1951 and was buried on 20 February at Newmarket Road Cemetery, Cambridge, UK. Emmanuel College's Master, who had been Rehmat Ali's Tutor, himself arranged the burial in Cambridge on 20 February 1951.

Now is the time to bring back Chaudhry Rehmat Ali’s remains from Cambridge to Pakistan and bury them with full honors, if not next to the Quaid-e-Azam himself, then perhaps close to Allama Iqbal or may be at the Minar-e-Pakistan - The site of the 1940 Lahore Resolution, or at Monument Park, Islamabad. This is a serious matter and should be examined with care. 

Special thanks to:

Dr Malik Muhammad Shah, Secretary General, Africa Pakistan Economic Cooperation, +92344 3033639