Chaudhry Rahmat Ali who coined the term "Pakistan" and wrote "Now or Never" met the tragic end

Chaudhry Rahmat Ali 1897-1953

Chaudhry Rahmat Ali is one of the earliest advocates and staunch supporters of the Muslim State in South Asia and also suggested it's name as “Pakistan”. Chaudhry Rahmet Ali was the founder of the "Pakistan National Movement" in 1933 and the writer of the famous pamphlet, "now or never". In addition, Rahmat Ali is the man who proposed the idea of the "Continent of Dinia". However, the tragic end of the benefector of Pakistan is a black spot on the Pakistan Movement.

Chaudhry Rahmat Ali was born on 16 November 1897 in a Gujjar Muslim family in District Hoshiarpur of Indian Punjab. His father, Haji Shah Muhammad, a famous landlord, had two wives. Chaudhry Rahmat Ali Khan was from second wife.

After graduation from Islamia College Lahore in 1918, Chaudhry Rahmat Ali Khan joined Punjab University in order to study law. To quinch the thrust of higher studies, he travelled to England and joined Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1931. From there, he obtained a BA degree in 1933 and from the University of Cambridge, Ali earned an MA degree in 1940. During his college days in Lahore, Rahmat Ali was known as a famous poet in Urdu and was excessively outspoken against British imperialism and Indianism. In the course of his education, he became an active supporter of a separate Muslim state in India. Due to his visionary approach and political sagacity, Chaudhry Rahmet Ali proposed the name of "Pakistan".

Chaudhry Rahmet Ali was a visionary youngster in the freedom struggle of Pakistan. Since the idea of division of the Indian subcontinent was floating by politicians, writers, religious leaders, and even from Hindu orthodox politicians, Chaudhry Rahmet Ali gave that idea a practical shape. In this regard, Rahmat Ali, on January 28, 1933, wrote a historical pamphlet entitled “Now or Never: Are we to live or perish forever?”. The pamphlet is also known as the "Pakistan Declaration". To represent Muslim political thoughts of a separate Muslim state, Chaudhry Rahmet Ali suggested the establishment of an independent Muslim State in North-West of India and gave that state the name of ‘Pakistan’. As a result, it was Chaudhary Rahmat Ali who first proposed the idea of Pakistan.

ChaudharyRahmat Ali was greatly inspired by Iqbal’s vision for a separate Muslim state in India in his Allahabad Address in 1930. Later, Jinnah’s participation in a round table conference also gave the idea of a separate Muslim state, but the name of Pakistan still remained a confusing reality. Chaudhry Rahmat Ali cleared up the confusion and named that Muslim State "Pakistan". The importance of the pamphlet, Now or Never, is that Chaudhry Rahmet Ali invented the name “PAKSTAN” by taking  the ‘P’ from Punjab, the ‘A’ for Afghania (represented North Western Frontier Province present Khyber Pakhtunkhawah, KPK). Likewise, he derived the word ‘K’ from Kashmir and ‘S’ from Sindh. In the end, he took `TAN` from the last three letters of Baluchistan. Thus, it was Chaudhary Rahmat Ali who first used the historical word Pakistan.

The Continent of Dinia:

Chaudhary Rahmat Ali always wished freedom for the five Muslim ‘Indian’ states in the North West India, namely Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh and Balochistan from British rule.  Chaudhry Rahmet Ali incorporated this idea into the Continent of Dinia, which, according to Rahmat Ali, is the true name of India. The word Dinia is composed of similar letters to India . He just juggled the letters by taking " d " to the first place to make it Dinia . Thus, the word signifies the land of dins ( multiple religions ).

The Continent of Dinia 

Unlike the word India that defined only the dominance of the Hindu caste, the Continent of Dinia treated India as a land of different nations and religions. Diana, according to Rahmet Ali, was a land of multiple faiths, like Islam, Sikhism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, not a single country dominated by Hinduism and Indianism.

Chaudhary Rehmat Ali called Diana as the most influencing element in defining national entities, and national ideologies. Contrary to Allama Iqbal, who in his Presidential Address at Allahabad in 1930 , proposed the unity of four provinces into a single state, Chaudhry Rahmet ali signalled a separate Muslim federation of five Muslim majority units : Punjab , NWFP, now KPK, including Afghan Province, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan. Apart from Diana, he proposed Osmanistan, Bangistan, Nasaristan, Malpistan, etc. Osmanistan includes Hyderabad, Daccan and neighbouring areas and Bangistan includes Bengal.

Chaudhry Rahmet ali was the founder of the Pakistan National Movement at Cambridge in 1933. He started a campaign for the Muslims to have a separate Muslim state in the Indian subcontinent. For his distinct vision for Muslims of India, he kept writing multiple booklets even after 1947.

When Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947, Chaudhry Rahmet Ali returned to Pakistan on 6 April 1948 to stay in the newly established country. But as Chaudhry Rahmet Ali had raised  differences with senior Muslim league leaders, including Quaid Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan over the Government of India Act 1935, he showed his dissatisfaction over the creation of Pakistan since his arrival in Lahore. Chaudhry Rahmat Ali was not happy with a smaller Pakistan than the one he had envisaged in Now or Never. He showed his anger in the form of writing in multiple pamphlets and speeches at conferences.  Because of this, Chaudhry Rahmat Ali was expelled out of his native homeland in 1948 by the then prime minister, Laquat Ali Khan. He was not given any time to take even his belongings that were left at Hoshiarpur, Indian Punjab. When he arrived at Cambridge, he had nothing to live on. 

Tragic End of Rahmet Ali:

The tragic end of Chaudhry Rahmet Ali is a black spot in the political struggle of Pakistan. The maker of the name Pakistan spent his last three years in abject poverty. When Chaudhry Rahmet Ali died  in 1951, he was quite alone. Even his dead body was unknown for a few days. In the beginning, neither Pakistan nor the English government took responsibility for his burial ceremony. But after a few days, Edward Welbourne, the master of Emmanuel College at Cambridge, arranged a burial ceremony for his former students at the Newmarket Road Cemetery, Cambridge in February, 1951. After a few months, Emmanuel College consulted with the Pakistani government to return expenses spent on the burial. The Pakistani government eventually reimbursed the funeral expenses to Emmanuel College in November 1953. Chaudhry Rahmet Ali had Pakistan as his home neither during his lifetime nor after death.

Resting place of Chaudhry Rahmet Ali 

Glory and upliftment of Muslims was Ali's prime object. He despised British rule and had no room for co-existence. He not only coined the name of Pakistan but also launched an effective campaign for Pakistan. He reconfigured the Indian subcontinent and named it Diana.

It was Chaudhary Rahmat Ali who declared the ‘Lahore Resolution’ as ‘Pakistan. Resolution’, which was finally accepted by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and all the Muslims of India.

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