Meraj Muhammad Khan ( ur, معراج محمد خان; October 20, 1938 – July 21, 2016), was a well-known Pakistani

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

politician. He was noted as one of the key intellectuals and founding personalities 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 ...

(PPP) and as a major contributor to the initial left of center/social democratic so-called Basic Programme of the

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI; ur, , ) is a political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1996 by Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The PTI is one of the thre ...

(PTI). He was also the founder of Qaumi Mahaz-i-Azadi which he founded after leaving the PPP in 1977. In addition, he was a well-known and influential socialist figure in the country, and known for his political struggle and advocacy against anti-capitalist convergence and the support of the

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

Early life

Meraj Muhammad Khan was born on October 20, 1938 in

Farrukhabad Farrukhabad is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Farrukhabad tehsil. The city is on the banks of river Ganges and is from the national capital Delhi and from the state capital Lucknow. ...

, Uttar Pradesh,

British Indian Empire The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himse ...

to an educated family of Zakha Khel

Afridi The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal ...

tribe of

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

origin. He was the youngest of four sons and his father, Hakeem Molvi Taj Muhammad Khan, was a

homoeopath Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...

who practised the methods of

Greek medicine Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specif ...

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of th ...

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...

. His elder brother was the Pakistani journalist

Minhaj Barna Minhaj Barna (born Minhaj Muhamad Khan Afridi; ur, ; 1923 – 15 January 2011) was a Pakistani veteran journalist and a trade union leader. Barna was Minhaj Muhammad Khan's poetic name, also called ''takhallus'' in Urdu language. He wa ...

. After graduating from a local high school in Quetta in 1956, Khan moved to

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 c ...

where he attended

DJ Science College Dayaram Jethamal Sindh Government Science College, ( sd, ) commonly known as DJ Science College, is a public community college that is affiliated with the University of Karachi — it is located near Burns Road in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Pre ...

and later pursued his higher education at

Karachi University The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh ...

in 1957. He earned a BA degree in philosophy and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at t ...

in 1960, and a master's degree in philosophy in 1962.

Communism and PPP activism

Meraj Muhammad Khan came to public prominence in the 1960s while studying at

. During this time, there was a debating competition in which students from all the colleges in Karachi were participating. At this competition, some activists of the

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 Engel ...

were sitting in the audience, who asked him to join the Communist Party after he won that debating competition. He became an active member of the

National Students Federation The National Students Federation Pakistan (NSF) is a left-wing students federation in Pakistan. In the late 1960s, NSF adopted the political line of Marxism–Leninism and Mao Tse-tung Thought Its predecessor, the DSF ( Democratic Students Feder ...

(NSF), eventually becoming NSF's president in 1963. Khan turned the NSF into a militant student political organization that campaigned for the rights of students. In 1967, he quit the NSF after secretly learning of a socialist convention being held in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...

. He was among those who founded the

(PPP) and fully endorsed

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 ...

for the PPP's chairmanship. Through the PPP, he went into mainstream politics and successfully contested the 1970 general elections on a PPP platform from a

constituency called Lalukhait.

Labour ministry (1971–1973)

In December 1971, Khan was appointed Minister for Manpower and directed the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

(MoL) in Prime Minister

's government. In 1972, his tenure saw a major labour strike in Karachi; though it was peacefully resolved by Meraj's intervention. It was later reported in

newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

and television that the labour strike was actually a competition between two PPP ministers, Meraj and

Law Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

Abdul Hafiz Pirzada Abdul Hafeez Pirzada ( ur, ; 24 February 1935 – 1 September 2015) was a Pakistani lawyer, legal theorist, and politician, who served variously as minister for information, minister for law, minister for finance, and minister for education ...

for the control of the labour. Meraj's radical leftist group was in direct competition against Law Minister Pirzada's Pro-Peking group. However, Meraj denied all accusations on TV. In 1973, Meraj fell out with the Bhutto government when Bhutto started to compromise on his so-called Socialist agenda and the regime resorted to repressive measures. As time passed, his differences with Prime Minister Bhutto grew and he left the PPP to reorganize the NSF. However, Meraj fell into political isolation, never to regain his political credibility and popularity. Commenting on the PPP, Meraj later revealed that "the radical (leftist) rhetoric was more than a mask designed to win and retain power." He once said: " Ali Bhutto was a great man ... but he could be cruel."

Political activism (1980s-until his death)

After leaving the PPP, he became a prominent democratic activist and leftist leader of the Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) opposing the

military government A military government is generally any form of government that is administered by military forces, whether or not this government is legal under the laws of the jurisdiction at issue, and whether this government is formed by natives or by an occup ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

General

Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...

Awami Insaf and the birth of PTI Basic Programme

In 1998, he joined the center-left/centrist

(PTI) headed by

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confiden ...

, but resigned from the party in 2003, citing differences with Khan. He then joined the

Mazdoor Kisan Party The Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP; ps, مزدور کِسان ګوند; ur, ; lit. "Workers and Peasants Party") is a communist party in Pakistan. It was founded on 1 May 1968 by Afzal Bangash and Sher Ali Bacha. Other prominent leaders included ...

, which later merged with the

Communist Party of Pakistan The Communist Party of Pakistan (abbr. CPP; ur, کمیونسٹ پارٹی آف پاکستان) is a communist party in Pakistan. History Founding The CPP was founded in Calcutta, India, soon after the establishment of Pakistan on 6 March 194 ...

to form the

Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party ( ur, کمیونسٹ مزدور کسان پارٹی, ) was a minor political party in Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South ...

Death

Meraj Muhammad Khan died at a local hospital in Karachi on July 21, 2016, at the age of 77. He had been hospitalized for a serious respiratory and lung problem for some time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Meraj Muhammad 1938 births 2016 deaths People from Farrukhabad People from Quetta University of Karachi alumni Politicians from Karachi Pakistani communists Pakistani Marxists Communist Party of Pakistan politicians D. J. Sindh Government Science College alumni Pakistani MNAs 1972–1977 Pakistan People's Party politicians Federal ministers of Pakistan Government of Benazir Bhutto staffers and personnel Muhajir people Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf politicians