Jalaluddin Abdur Rahim ( Urdu: جلال الدين عبدالرحيم; Bengali: জালালুদ্দিন আবদুর রহিম; also known as J. A. Rahim) (27 July 1906 – 1977) was a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

communist and

political philosopher Political philosophy or political theory is the philosophical study of government, addressing questions about the nature, scope, and legitimacy of public agents and institutions and the relationships between them. Its topics include politics, l ...

who was renowned as one of the founding members of the

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

—a

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

political party.Smokers' Corner: Bhutto's ideologue: friend, mentor, enemy
Dawn (newspaper), Updated 30 August 2015, Retrieved 29 December 2017 Rahim was also the first

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the Pakistan People's Party, served as the first

minister of production The Minister of Production was a British government position that existed during the Second World War, heading the Ministry of Production. Initially the post was called "Minister of War Production" when it was created in February 1942, but the fir ...

. A Bengali civil servant, Rahim was a philosopher who politically guided

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

, serving as his mentor, and had helped Bhutto navigate through the minefield of bureaucratic establishment when Ayub Khan had taken Bhutto into his cabinet. Rahim also guided Bhutto after Bhutto was deposed as

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

, critically guiding Bhutto to take down the once US-sponsored dictatorship of

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

Family and education

Educated at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

where Rahim received double BSc in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and Philosophy after writing and publishing the brief thesis on Nietzsche Philosophy. Later, Rahim attended

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, C ...

, receiving an LL.B. degree in

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński. It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct su ...

. Rahim began his political activism in

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

, serving as its

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

. His father, Justice Abdur Rahim also had served as a senior associate judge at the

Supreme Court of Pakistan The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...

Career

After his education, Rahim joined the Pakistan Civil Services, picking up the first bureaucratic assignment in

Foreign Service of Pakistan The Foreign Service of Pakistan ( ur, ) is part of the Central Superior Services of Pakistan. It was formally created in October 1952, after having been an improvised organization since the creation and independence of Pakistan in 1947. Its o ...

. Rahim served as the

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

under the government of Prime minister

Muhammad Ali Bogra Sahibzada Syed Mohammad Ali Chowdhury ( bn, সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ আলী চৌধুরী; Urdu: سید محمد علی چوہدری), more commonly known as Mohammad Ali Bogra ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আলী ...

. For some time, he remained associated with

Communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

, but also built personal relations with

in 1965. After attending the socialist convention at the residence of Dr.

Mubashir Hassan Mubashir Hassan ( ur, ; 22 January 1922 – 14 March 2020), was a Pakistani politician, humanist, political adviser, and an engineer who served in the capacity of Finance Minister in Bhutto administration from 1971 until 1974. In 1967, Hass ...

, J. A. Rahim played a key role in writing the party's socialist manifesto: "

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

is our religion; democracy is our politics; socialism is our economy; power lies with the people", on 30 November 1967. This manifesto was officially first issued on 9 December 1967. J.A. Rahim was made Pakistan Peoples Party's first secretary general after writing the party's constitution.The rise and decline of PPP
Daily Times (newspaper), Published 23 May 2016, Retrieved 29 December 2017 Rahim earned public notability after his name was announced as a Bengali member of delegation of Pakistan Peoples Party to launch a negotiation with

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

party under

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...

. In 1970, Rahim along with

Ghulam Mustafa Khar Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar ( ur, ; born 2 August 1937) is a Pakistani politician and feudal lord who has previously served as the Chief Minister of Punjab and Governor of Punjab. Early life He was born on 2 August 1937 in Sanawan in Kot Add ...

, returned to

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was d ...

, telling Bhutto that the "meeting with Mujib was of no use". After the

1971 war The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 Decemb ...

, Rahim stayed in what remained of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, governing the Law ministry,

Justice minister A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, and the Township planning and agrovilles. In 1972, Rahim was appointed as the first Minister of Defence Production which he governed until 1974.

Disillusionment with Bhutto

His relations with Bhutto deteriorated after Pakistan People's Party began purging the radical and ultra-left wings of the party and J. A. Rahim was also lined by Bhutto later. In July 1974, Rahim himself got disillusioned with Bhutto after seeing Bhutto's handling of internal affairs and publicly disagreed with Bhutto as he wanted Bhutto to deal with the matters efficiently, not by force. He was appointed Pakistan Ambassador to France by Bhutto just to get him out of the way and away from Pakistani politics. But he returned to Pakistan unscheduled. Rahim was then tortured by the members of the secret police, the

Federal Security Force The Federal Security Force (FSF) was a paramilitary/secret police force created by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, while he was the President of Pakistan. Established in 1972, created as a civil task force of the federal government, this was used as a subst ...

(FSF), and was thrown into jail in 1976. Shortly afterwards, he was released. Later after Bhutto had formally issued an apology to him, he again left for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

to complete his tenure as ambassador. Some people say that Bhutto, during his final days, regretted his fall-out with his former mentor, J. A. Rahim.

Death

In 1977, Rahim suffered a heart attack and died. He is now buried in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Sindh, Pakistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahim, Jalaludin Abdur Pakistani communists 1906 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Bengalis Pakistani civil servants Pakistan People's Party politicians Bangladesh Liberation War University of Dhaka alumni University of Calcutta alumni Pakistan Movement activists Pakistani people of Bengali descent Ambassadors of Pakistan to France 20th-century Pakistani philosophers Bengali philosophers Bengali communists Grand Crosses 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People from Chittagong District

Family and education

Career

Disillusionment with Bhutto

Death

See also

References