Chaudhri Muhammad Ali (15 July 1905 – 2 December 1982) was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the fourth

prime minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

from 1955 until his resignation in 1956. His government transitioned Pakistan from a

British Dominion A dominion was any of several largely self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of colonial self-governance increased (and, in ...

to an

Islamic Republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

. He resigned from the position of Prime Minister in 1956, and from the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties British India *All-India Muslim League, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan ** Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organization above **Unionist Muslim L ...

as well, when he failed at healing rifts with Muslim League, and a new party, named as Republican Party. His credibility is noted for promulgating the

first set ''First Set'' is a live album by pianist Cedar Walton recorded in Denmark in 1977 and released on the Danish SteepleChase label.Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ; ISO 15919, ISO: '' Āīn-ē-Pākistān''), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. The document guides Pakistan's law, political culture, and system. It sets out the state's outlin ...

lost political endorsement from his party when failing to investigate the allegations on

vote rigging Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

and the secret defections in favour of the Republican Party.

Early life and education

Muhammad Ali was born in Jullundar,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

on 15 July 1905 into a

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi Muslim agricultural community with a strong political identity and level of organisation. At the beginning of the last century, they numbered around 1 million and were mainly rural cultivator ...

family. After his

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

, Muhammad Ali showed great aptitude for science, first moving to attend the

Punjab University Punjab University may refer to: India * Punjab Agricultural University, a state agricultural university in Ludhiana, Punjab * I. K. Gujral Punjab Technical University, a state university in Kapurthala, Punjab * Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Techn ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

where he read and graduated with BSc degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

in 1925. In 1927, Muhammad Ali attained MSc in chemistry from

, and lectured at the Islamia College until 1928.

Civil service career

British India

In 1928, Muhammad Ali went to join the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

, first working as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

at the Audit and Accounts Service and was deputed to audit the Bahawalpur state. In 1936, Muhammad Ali was moved as Private Secretary to James Grigg, the

Finance Minister of India The minister of finance (Vitta Mantrī ) (or simply, the finance minister, short form FM) is the head of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India. One of the senior most offices of the Union Cabinet, the finance minister is r ...

, who later appointed him as the First Indian financial adviser when Grigg was appointed as the

War Secretary The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...

in 1945. In 1946–47, Muhammad Ali was selected to serve as one of two

secretaries A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, Personal assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project manageme ...

to the Partition Council presided over by

Lord Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet (Royal Navy), Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was ...

, later appointed as Finance Secretary at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

. Over this issue of partition, Muhammad Ali worked with H.M. Patel and Walter Christir to prepare a document titled ''The Administrative Consequences of Partition''.

Pakistan

At the time of the India's partition in 1947, Muhammad Ali opted for

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. After the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, Muhammad Ali was moved as the Finance Secretary under Finance Minister

Sir Ghulam Muhammad Sir Malik Ghulam Muhammad (20 April 1895 – 29 August 1956) was a Pakistani politician and economist who served as the third governor-general of Pakistan from 1951 to 1955. Educated at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), he joined the Indian ...

, along with

Victor Turner Victor Witter Turner (28 May 1920 – 18 December 1983) was a British cultural anthropologist best known for his work on symbols, rituals, and rite of passage, rites of passage. His work, along with that of Clifford Geertz and others, is often ...

, but this appointment lasted until 1948 due a cabinet reshuffle. He was appointed as the

Federal Secretary The Federal Secretary (also referred to as the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan) is the highest-ranking position in the Government of Pakistan, occupied by the most senior civil servant in a specific ministry or division. The secretary is t ...

at the

Establishment Division The Establishment Division is the human resource arm of the Government of Pakistan. It deals with all matters related to the country's civil service and is regarded as one of the most sensitive and important divisions of the federal government. ...

, and aided greatly in setting up the civil bureaucracy and preparing the nation's

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

federal budget presented by Finance Minister Sir Ghulam Muhammad in 1951.

Political career

Finance minister

In 1951, Muhammad Ali was appointed as the

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

by Prime Minister K. Nazimuddin and was announced to be kept in the

Finance ministry A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

in Bogra's Talent ministry in 1953.

Premiership

On 11 August 1955, Muhammad Ali was appointed as the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

by then-

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Iskandar Mirza Iskander Ali Mirza (13 November 189913 November 1969) was a Bengali politician, statesman and military general who served as the Dominion of Pakistan's fourth and last governor-general of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956, and then as the Islamic Repub ...

, upon the dismissal of the Bogra's Talent administration. Prime Minister Ali placed a great emphasis on drafting the

Constitution of Pakistan The Constitution of Pakistan ( ; ISO 15919, ISO: '' Āīn-ē-Pākistān''), also known as the 1973 Constitution, is the supreme law of Pakistan. The document guides Pakistan's law, political culture, and system. It sets out the state's outlin ...

, and implemented the

One Unit The One Unit Scheme (; ) was the reorganisation of the provinces of Pakistan by the central Pakistani government. It was led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955. The government claimed tha ...

scheme despite regional opposition. He favored French architect Michel Ecochard over Greek architect

Constantinos Doxiadis Constantinos A. Doxiadis (14 May 1913 – 28 June 1975), often cited as C. A. Doxiadis, was a Greek architect and urban planner. During the 1960s, he was the lead architect and planner of Islamabad, which was to serve as the new capital city ...

for the planning of the new capital in 1955, though the project nonetheless went Doxiadis in the 1960s. It was during his term that the first Constitution of Pakistan was promulgated, on 23 March 1956, where the

nation-state A nation state, or nation-state, is a political entity in which the state (a centralized political organization ruling over a population within a territory) and the nation (a community based on a common identity) are (broadly or ideally) con ...

was declared as

Islamic republic The term Islamic republic has been used in different ways. Some Muslim religious leaders have used it as the name for a form of Islamic theocratic government enforcing sharia, or laws compatible with sharia. The term has also been used for a s ...

with a parliamentary form of government. His premiership was endorsed by President Iskandar Mirza and the three-party

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

composing of

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

and the Republican Party at the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

. In 1955, Prime Minister Ali took over the party presidency. In July 1956, Muhammad Ali met with the Indian Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru of India in an attempt to settle the key issue that was preventing the normalization of relations between Pakistan and India. This was the issue of Kashmir that had been divided between India and Pakistan in 1948. That issue remains unsettled to this day. Despite his feat, Prime Minister Muhammad Ali proved to be a poor politician who failed to maintain control over his party when he reached a compromise to dismissed the cabinet members of his own party in favor of appointing the cabinet composing of Republican Party and Awami League in 1955–56. After appointing

Abdul Jabbar Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan may refer to: * Abdul Jabbar Khan (20th-century politician) (1902–1984), speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan * Abdul Jabbar Khan (director) (1916–1993), Bangladeshi filmmaker * Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan Abdul Jabb ...

as the Chief minister of West-Pakistan who subsequently helped in secret trading in favor of Republican Party that made the Republicans in

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

in the National Assembly, the Muslim League demanded its president to investigate the matter but Prime Minister Ali refused to support the

parliamentary resolution In law, a resolution is a motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, often in writing, which has been adopted by a deliberative body (such as a corporations' board and or the house of a legislature). An alternate term for a resolution is a ''resolv ...

in the National Assembly by believing that "he was responsible only to the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

and the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, not the party." On 8 September 1956, the parliamentary leaders of the Muslim League under A.Q. Khan, successfully brought the

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

at the National Assembly that effectively removed him from the party's presidency. Despite support from President Mirza, Prime Minister Ali eventually resigned when Huseyn S. Suhrawardy gained support from the Muslim League for the premiership.

Post-resignation

After his resignation, Ali joined the National Bank as an advisor. He tried playing a role in national politics in the 1960s, but was

ostracized Ostracism (, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often us ...

by the Muslim League due to his political role played in 1950s. His son,

Khalid Anwer Khalid Anwer (Urdu/; 4 November 1938 – 13 March 2025) was a Pakistani lawyer, jurist and constitutional expert who once served as the federal Minister for Law, Justice and Human Rights following his appointment in 1997. He remained in office ...

, served as the law and justice minister in

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

's administrations while his younger son, Amjad Ahsan Ali, is a

medical doctor A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the study, diagnosis, prognosis ...

. In 1967, he wrote his memoir, '' The Emergence of Pakistan''. He died due to a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

on 2 December 1982 in

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

where he was buried.

Books

* '' The Emergence of Pakistan,'' Research Society of Pakistan'','' 1967, 418 p. * '' Ataturk'', Ilaqi Saqafati Idarah, 1969, 320 p.

References

Notes

External links

Chronicles Of Pakistan
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Chaudhry Mohammad 1905 births 1982 deaths British special advisers Ministers of finance of Pakistan Finance Secretaries of Pakistan Academic staff of the Government Islamia College Members of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress Pakistan Movement activists from Punjab Pakistan Muslim League politicians Pakistani civil servants Pakistani democracy activists Pakistani chemists Pakistani economists Pakistani financiers 20th-century Pakistani male writers People from Jalandhar Politicians from Karachi Politicians from Lahore Politicians from Punjab, Pakistan Prime ministers of Pakistan University of the Punjab alumni 20th-century Pakistani memoirists 20th-century British businesspeople People from Punjab Province (British India)