Sir Sheikh Abdul Qadir (15 March 1874 – 9 February 1950) was a Pakistani jurist, newspaper and magazine editor and a Muslim community leader in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He was a judge of

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is a provincial court house based in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over the province of Punjab. The High Court's principal seat is ...

in 1921. He led the famous Muslim organization,

Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam Anjuman-i-Himayat-i-Islam () or Anjuman-e-Himayat-e-Islam, is an Islamic intellectual and social welfare organisation with branches both in India and Pakistan. It was founded in Lahore on 24 September 1884 in a mosque known as Masjid Bakan insid ...

and used his position as the leader of this organization to form other, pro-partition, organizations. He was an early activist of the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

Early life and career

Qadir was born in

Ludhiana Ludhiana () is the most populous Cities in India, city in the Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab.164.100.161.224 http://164.100.161.224 › filesPDF Ludhiana State: Punjab Business & Industrial Centre, Tier 2 1 ... The city has an estima ...

on 15 March 1874. He received his education at the

Forman Christian College Forman Christian College is a private nonprofit Liberal arts college, liberal arts Universities in Pakistan, university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It was founded in 1864 and is administered by the Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Church ...

, Lahore,

. He was the editor of ''The Observer'', the first Muslim newspaper published in English in 1895. In 1901, he launched the magazine ''Al-Makhzan'', an

Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

publication. This magazine published the early works of

Muhammad Iqbal Muhammad Iqbal (9 November 187721 April 1938) was a South Asian Islamic philosopher, poet and politician. Quote: "In Persian, ... he published six volumes of mainly long poems between 1915 and 1936, ... more or less complete works on philoso ...

. In 1904, Qadir went to study law in London, and was called to the bar in 1907 at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

after which he returned to India, where he served as a member of the Punjab Legislative Council and ''the minister of education'' in

Punjab, British India The Punjab Province, officially the Province of the Punjab, was a province of British India, with its capital in Lahore and summer capitals in Murree and Simla. At its greatest extent, it stretched from the Khyber Pass to Delhi; and from the ...

in 1925.Profile of Abdul Qadir on UNESCO Archives website
Retrieved 2 September 2023 He is famously well known for being a judge of the Lahore Conspiracy Case Tribunal constituted in May 1930 especially for speeding up the trial of the suspects for the murder of Lahore Assistant Superintendent Mr. J. P. Saunders. The suspects also included the famous revolutionaries

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...

Sukhdev Sukhdev Thapar (15 May 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian freedom fighter who fought against the British government for Indian independence. He was a member of the '' Hindustan Socialist Republican Association'' (HSRA), and was executed al ...

and

Rajguru Rajguru, also spelled as Rajyaguru, is an ancient title and surname of the Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to th ...

. The trials were held at Poonch House registrar in Lahore. He was the second native Indian judge chosen after the reconstitution of the Tribunal in June after Justice Agha Haider of the first Tribunal had been removed on calumny charges for not maintaining neutrality during the trial. The final judgement that was pronounced in October 1930 was under his jurisdiction. He represented British India at the

Organisation of the League of Nations The League of Nations was established with three main constitutional organs: the Assembly; the Council; the Permanent Secretariat. The two essential wings of the League were the Permanent Court of International Justice and the International Labour ...

in 1926.Sir Abdul Qadir profile
National Portrait Gallery of UK website, Retrieved 2 September 2023 Qadir was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in the

1927 Birthday Honours The 1927 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

and in 1935 became a member of the governing council of India.

Death and survivors

Sheikh Abdul Qadir died on 9 February 1950 at the age of 75 and was buried in

Miani Sahib Graveyard The Miani Sahib Graveyard ( Punjabi, ) is the largest graveyard in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. It is in the centre of Lahore. Its origins date back to the Mughal era, making it one of the oldest graveyards in the region. Miani Sahib Graveyard ...

, Lahore, Pakistan.Profile of Sheikh Abdul Qadir
Rekhta.org website, Retrieved 3 September 2023

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 188817 April 1975; natively Radhakrishna) was an Indian academician, philosopher and statesman who served as the President of India from 1962 to 1967. He previously served as the vice president of ...

and

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ru ...

's book ''Mahatma Gandhi'' contains a chapter by Qadir, where he particularly relates his various experiences with the understanding of

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ...

in Europe in the 1930s. His son,

Manzur Qadir Manzur Qadir (; 28 November 1913 – 12 October 1974) was a Pakistani jurist and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the military government of Ayub Khan (Field Marshal), Ayub Khan from 1958 to 1962.

, was a prominent Pakistani

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

who served as the

Foreign Minister of Pakistan The Minister for Foreign Affairs (or simply the Foreign Minister) is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Pakistan. The minister oversees the federal government's foreign policy and International relations. Their resp ...

during the military rule of

Ayub Khan Mohammad Ayub Khan (14 May 1907 – 19 April 1974) was a Pakistani military dictator who served as the second president of Pakistan from 1958 until his resignation on 1969. He was the first native commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Army, se ...

.Without a foreign minister
Dawn (newspaper), 19 September 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2023

References

External links

S. M. Ikram Sheikh Muhammad Ikram (Urdu: شیخ محمد اکرام; 10 September 1908 – 17 January 1973) better known as S. M. Ikram, was a Pakistani historian, biographer, and littérateur. He was member of the Indian Civil Service (which he joined in ...

. ''Indian Muslims and the Partition of India''. Atlantic Publishers, 1995. p. 282. {{DEFAULTSORT:Qadir, Abdul 1874 births 1950 deaths Forman Christian College alumni Members of Lincoln's Inn Indian Knights Bachelor Pakistani Muslims Burials at Miani Sahib Graveyard Pakistani editors Pakistan Movement activists Speakers of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab Judges of the Lahore High Court People from Punjab Province (British India)