Naimatullah Khan (1 October 1930 – 25 February 2020) was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

politician who served as the City

Nazim Subahdar, also known as Nazim, was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province), Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Mamluk dynasty, Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, and the Mughal era who ...

(Mayor) of

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 ...

from August 2001 to June 2005.

Early life and career

He was born to Abdul Shakoor Khan on October 1st, 1930. He was an ethnic Muhajir of

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

descent, born into the Rohilla Branch of the

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

tribe. He was also related to the Bangash Nawabs of

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

. He graduated from

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 ...

with a Masters in Journalism and a Law Degree from

Karachi University The University of Karachi (; 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 (which is ...

. He was a lawyer by profession. He has 9 children and grandfather to the famous Amna Mirza. He was the chairman of the biggest NGO of Pakistan, Alkhidmat Foundation. As Mayor of Karachi, in 2005, he was selected to be a contesting candidate in the ''Top-20 Mayors of the World list''."Worldmayor.com's list of World's top mayors"
Retrieved 12 November 2017

Mayor of Karachi

He was the first Nāzim of Karachi after the devolution plan under President

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 ...

regime in Pakistan. He belonged to

Jamaat-e-Islami Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamist fundamentalist movement founded in 1941 in British India by the Islamist author and theorist Syed Abul Ala Maududi, who was inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood. It is considered one of the most influential Isla ...

being inspired by the thoughts of

Abul A'la Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi (; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan. Described by Wilfred C ...

and Naeem Siddiqui. Naimatullah Khan was elected City Nazim (Mayor) in 2001. Naimatullah Khan succeeded in getting an amount of Rs. 2900 Million for reconstruction of Karachi, city council approved various projects such as 18 flyovers over major roads, six underpasses, two signal-free roads and a huge water supply scheme for the people of Karachi. It was for the first time in the history of Karachi that all the stake holders in Karachi were incorporated for the developmental work in Karachi. The Karachi development plan comprised signal-free main roads, many fly overs, underpasses and the replacement of many water and sewerage lines. One of his projects, as the city mayor, was the ''Green Line Bus Project'' for Karachi where he imported buses from

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. Another publicly well-admired idea that he introduced was to involve local boys from the villages situated near the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

surrounding the 64 km coastal belt of Karachi. These local village boys, familiar with the sea, were good swimmers and were hired on a contract basis as lifeguards to help protect common beach visitors and picnickers when they attempted to swim in the sea for fun. In September 2017, Karachi beaches had to be sealed by authorities in the wake of 55 people drowning in the three months period.Karachi beaches sealed in the wake of Saturday's drowninigs
The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 11 September 2017, retrieved 12 November 2017 Naimatullah Khan resigned from his office in June 2005, and was not re-elected in Pakistan's next 2005 local city elections.

Death

He died on 25 February 2020 at the age of 89 in

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# ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Naimatullah 1930 births 2020 deaths Mayors of Karachi Muhajir people Pakistani people of Rajasthani descent University of Karachi alumni University of the Punjab alumni Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan politicians Sindh Muslim Law College alumni Leaders of the opposition in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh