Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Khan (; 1919–2003) was the longest serving Parliamentarian in the history of

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# ...

. He served in

Provincial Assembly of the Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, also known as the Punjab Assembly, is the supreme legislative body of Punjab, a province of Pakistan. It convenes at the Assembly Building in Lahore, the capital of Punjab. It is a unicameral legislature o ...

and

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

from 1951 to 1999 and was the longest serving member. The first direct elections held in Pakistan after independence were for the

between 10–20 March 1951. He was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly in 1951. He was again elected in the 1962 and 1964 Provincial Assembly elections in Pakistan. He remained Member National Assembly of Pakistan from 1985-1999. He was also member of Mājlis-e-Shūrā Pākistān, The Federal Council from 1982-1984.

Family background

Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Khan was born into a well known Sulehria

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

family, who have

Dogra Rajput The Dogras, or Dogra people, are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group living primarily in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. They speak their native Dogri language. They live predominantly in the Duggar region of the Jammu Div ...

ancestry in Rupochak, District

Narowal Narowal ( Punjabi / ; ) is a historic a city located on the western bank of river Ravi in Punjab Pakistan. It was found by a Jat named Baba Naro Bajwa many centuries ago. The city is the capital of district Narowal, and a part of the Guj ...

cum

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

. He was a respected politician from Rupochak,

. Chaudhry Sarwar's father Khan Bahadur Qasim and uncle Kazim Khan both served in the

British Indian army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...

. Khan Bahadur Qasim won the 1937 election from the state of Kashmir and Jammu and his younger brother Kazim khan held a top bureaucratic post in

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

after retirement. Chaudhry Sarwar's Grandfather Hashim Khan also served in the British Indian Army during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in " 58th Vaughan's Rifles (Frontier Force)" regiment and was awarded the Highest "Medal of Gallantry" during his service with

Reginald Dyer Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer, (9 October 186423 July 1927) was a British military officer in the Bengal Army and later the newly constituted British Indian Army. His military career began in the regular British Army, but he soon transf ...

in the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War was a short war which began on 3 May and ended on 8 August 1919. The new Amir of the Emirate of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan declared a Jihad against the British in the hope to proclaim full independence, as well as ...

. Chaudhry Sarwar's Great Grandfather father Sazawar Khan died fighting against the British during 1857

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

. Chaudhry Sarwar's Great Grandfather Abdul Nabi Khan was a

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

in the Mughal court (No Hazari) and was under an obligation to provide 9000 troops to the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

Political career

Early politics

Chaudhry Sarwar's younger brother Chaudhry Ghulam Ahmed Khan was a seasoned right-wing politician of

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League (; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the centre-right platform in the country. The ''Muslim League'' (the original successor of the All-India Muslim ...

. He was elected Member

Provincial Assembly of Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, also known as the Punjab Assembly, is the supreme Legislature, legislative body of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. It convenes at the #Assembly building, A ...

(MPA) for five consecutive terms dating 1985 to 1999... Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar's son, Mansoor Sarwar Khan was the first elected President of

Central Punjab Central Punjab is a geopolitical region in Punjab, Pakistan. Geography Central Punjab is bounded by the southern boundary of Jhelum River down to the Sutlej, and consists of the five divisions: Lahore, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Sahiwa ...

, Member Core-Committee and National Council Pakistan of

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. ...

is composed of Lahore and Gujranwala divisions having ten districts altogether. His son is also the author of the book titled ''Reclaiming Pakistan Imran Khan's Quest for Freedom: Leadership, Reforms. the Struggle for National Renewal'' https://www.amazon.com/Reclaiming-Pakistan-Imran-Khans-Freedom/dp/B0DWCVJ31P

Later politics and office

Chaudhry Sarwar was elected as Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1985, 1988, 1990, 1993 and 1997 General Elections. Despite being a stalwart of Pakistan Muslim League, Mr Sarwar accompanied Prime Minister

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

for

Simla Agreement The Simla Agreement, also spelled Shimla Agreement, was a peace treaty signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh. It followed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which began after India interv ...

in India in 1972 to ease the tensions between the two countries following the Indo-Pak war of 1971. On 24 December 1981, a Federal Council ( Majlis-e-Shoora) was constituted by then President

General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...

, Its members were nominated by the President. Khan served in the Federal Council from 1982–1984. In 1997, he was appointed as chairman

Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir The Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir is predominantly composed of senior MNAs and Senators of Pakistan. Its fundamental function is to raise the critical issue of Kashmir at national and international level. Its other key feature is its co ...

by then Prime Minister of Pakistan

Muhammad 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 for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then from 1997 to 1999 and later ...

. He led Kashmir Committee composed of 26 MNA's from May 1997 to October 1999. Following the landslide victory of Pakistan Muslim League (

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

) in the 1997 parliamentary elections, Khan was nominated as the presidential candidate by the party but ultimately

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 ...

appointed Rafique Tarar as the president of Pakistan. After the 1999 coup d'état staged by General

Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as ...

, Prime Minister

was exiled to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. Following the exile, Khan was nominated as the party president, however due to old age and deteriorating health he refused the party presidency and it was passed on to Makhdoom

Javed Hashmi Makhdoom Muhammad Javed Hashmi (; born 1 January 1948), is a Pakistani politician, political realist, and a senior conservative thinker on the platform of Pakistan Muslim League (N). After serving as a cabinet minister in the Sharif's adminis ...

. Khan was referred as ''"Baba-e-Muslim League"'' by

due to his lifelong services in politics of Pakistan.

Role in Kargill War

During

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

, as the Chairman of National Assembly Kashmir Committee, Khan addressed the

United Nations Commission on Human Rights The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the United Nations System, overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a ...

(UNCHR) in Geneva and asked the world powers to give Kashmiris the right of self-determination according to UN resolutions.

Death

He died in 2003, at the age of 83 years in

Sialkot District Sialkot District ( Punjabi and ), is one of the districts of the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is located in the northeast of the province. The city of Sialkot is the capital of the district. The Sialkot Cantonment was established in 1852 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf politicians Narowal District 2003 deaths 1919 births People from Punjab Province (British India)