Sardar Muhammad Arif Nakai () was a Pakistani politician who served as the 12th
Chief Minister of Punjab.
Early life
He was born into a
Jat
The Jat people (, ), also spelt Jaat and Jatt, are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, many Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in l ...
family of the
Nakai Misl
The Nakai Misl ( (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi)), founded by Sandhu Jat people, Jats, was one of the twelve Sikh Confederacy, Sikh Misls (groupings with their distinct guerrilla militia) that later became part of the Sikh Empire. It held territory bet ...
, one of the
twelve Misls of the Sikh Confederacy. His great-grandfather, Sardar Ishar Singh Nakai, was born a
Sikh
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
and converted to
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
in 1879. Sardar Ishar Singh was the youngest son of
Sardar Kahan Singh Nakai, the ruler of the
Nakai Misl
The Nakai Misl ( (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi)), founded by Sandhu Jat people, Jats, was one of the twelve Sikh Confederacy, Sikh Misls (groupings with their distinct guerrilla militia) that later became part of the Sikh Empire. It held territory bet ...
.
Career
He was elected as a Member of the
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 ...
for four consecutive terms: from 1985 to 1988, 1988 to 1990, 1990 to 1993, and 1993 to 1996. He also served as the Minister for Revenue, Minister for Forests, Minister for Livestock & Dairy Development, Minister for Industries and Mineral Development, and as Chief Minister of Punjab from 1995 to 1996. He was the father of three sons and a daughter. All three sons, Sardar Pervaiz Hasan Nakai,
Sardar Muhammad Asif Nakai, and Sardar Atif Nakai, followed in his footsteps and became politicians.
Death
He died in
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 ...
on 29 February 2000 and was buried in his home village of
Wan Adhen.
[Impact International, Volume 30, News & Media, 2000 - World politics, p.50]
See also
*
Muslim Jats
Jat Muslim or Musalman Jats (; ), also spelled Jatt or Jutt (), are an elastic and diverse ethnoreligious subgroup of the Jat people, who follow Islam and are native to the northwestern Indian subcontinent. They are primarily found in Sindh a ...
*
Nakai Misl
The Nakai Misl ( (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi)), founded by Sandhu Jat people, Jats, was one of the twelve Sikh Confederacy, Sikh Misls (groupings with their distinct guerrilla militia) that later became part of the Sikh Empire. It held territory bet ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakai, Sardar Muhammad Arif
1930 births
2000 deaths
Chief ministers of Punjab, Pakistan
People from Kasur District