Chaudhry
Zahoor Elahi
He
began his career in the late 1930s as a police constable of the Punjab, although after
allegations of corruption which were not proved he was dismissed from the
force. He eventually started his business in joint cooperation with His Brother
Ch. Manzoor Elahi, who was a textile engineer.They jointly purchased and
operated a textile mill after independence of Pakistan. He settled
in Gujrat. He was a Jat of the Warriach clan. He entered local
politics in the 1950s. During Ayub Khan's time, Zahoor
Elahi aspired to be governor of West Pakistan, Nawab of
Kalabagh Amir Mohammad Khan, the incumbent governor, jokingly told his friends that if Elahi
were not careful, he would put him in his proper place and reinstate him a
constable. As secretary-general to the Convention Muslim
League, he came to oppose Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In his conflict with Bhutto, he was imprisoned, and family
property was taken by the Government, he was assassinated in 1981.
Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi (died 25 September
1981) was a politician from Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan. Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi founded a political family of Pakistan.
Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi |
Early life
The
family of a peasants, late became known as Chaudhry Sardar Khan, is spread over
two generations in their 62-year struggle from 1939 to 2001. His two sons
Chaudhry Manzur Elahi and Chaudhry Zahur Elahi and his grandsons Chaudhry
Shujat Hussain and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi gained their present status due to
their struggles. They are reaping the fruits of the foundation laid by their
forefathers.
Chaudhry
Manzur Elahi, father of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is the elder brother of late
Chaudhry Zahur Elahi raised in Gujrat, Chaudry Manzur Elahi left his hometown
in 1939 to pursue further studies. He received his degree in textile
engineering from Amritsar in 1940.
Chaudhry
Zahoor Elahi was enlisted as a constable in the Punjab Police in the late
nineteen thirties.
Business
Upon
his return from Amritsar, Chaudry Manzur Elahi teamed up with his brother to
develop their textile business. In 1947-48, he Established two textile units
under the names of Gujrat Silk Mills and Pakistan Textile Mills. In 1950, the
business was expanded to Lahore where they established Parvez Textile Mills,
specializing in weaving, finishing and dyeing. In 1951-52, Chaudhry Manzur
Elahi went to Japan to import textile machinery for his Gujrat and Lahore
units. Armed with his textile education and superior business ethics, Chaudry
Manzur Elahi’s textile units continued to flourish under his leadership. The
family continued to dedicate their energies to their business and set up Modern
Flour Mills in Lahore and Rawalpindi. Family is accused of loan defaults.
Early political career
In
1956, Chaudry Zahur Elahi decided to enter politics, however, Chaudhry Manzur
Elahi remained committed to the business. Chaudhry Zahur Elahi was elected
Chairman of the Gujrat District Board in 1958, and thereafter devoted his
efforts solely for the welfare and uplift of the people of his area. The same
year, Chaudhry Zahur Elahi was also elected Director of the National Bank of
Pakistan. He was elected continuously as Director for the next twelve years.
In
1958, General Ayub Khan came to power through martial law. He enforced the
Elected Bodies Disqualification Order (EBDO) for the disqualification of
politicians for the next five years. The politicians were given two options:
either to retire voluntarily or to face the consequences of the Government’s
action. Chaudhry Zahur Elahi was the only politician, in the entire West
Pakistan province, who challenged the EBDO. Despite being cleared by the EBDO
Tribunal for all charges, Chaudry Zahur Elahi was victimized by the Martial Law
regime and was sentenced to six months imprisonment. He was elected Member of
National Assembly in 1962 and consequently became Secretary General of the
Pakistan Muslim League’s Parliamentary Party of United Pakistan. Around this
time the family purchased Pakistan Times.
1970s
Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi continued to gain popularity in the political scene and was elected
to the National Assembly in 1970. He was among the few members of the Pakistan
Muslim League to get elected. East Pakistan was seceded in 1971 following
emergence of Mr. Z. A Bhutto in politics. On his coming to power, Z.A. Bhutto
nationalized a number of industries including flour mills. Chaudhry Zahur Elahi
was among the nine opposition parliamentary leaders who were thrown out of the
Parliament House by the Bhutto regime. During the Bhutto regime, Chaudry Zahur
Elahi was politically harassed on a number of incidents such as the alleged
buffalo theft case and the so-called Iraqi arms for Balochistan case. He was
involved in several fabricated cases, one of which was delivering an
anti-government speech in Pearl Continental, Karachi.In some of the cases
Mr.Shaukat Goraya helped Mr.Zahur Elahi. A special tribunal sentenced him to
imprisonment for five years. He remained imprisoned in different jails but s
erved mostly in the Karachi jail. Bhutto also planned to assassinate Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi, and had in fact, given orders to the then Balochistan Governor
Akbar Bugti to eliminate Chaudry Zahur Elahi. Akbar Bugti refused the orders.
Pakistan National Alliance gained momentum following the 1977 rigged elections,
when General Zia-ul-Haq seized power and announced to hold fresh elections.
Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi was released from jail and he launched his election campaign from
Gujrat and Constituency No.3 of Lahore against Bhutto. However, these elections
were postponed. Due to the deteriorating financial situation of the
nationalized industries, the Zia regime decided to return these industries to
their original owners. The Chaudhry family took charge of their flourmills with
a new determination.
1980s
Following
General Zia’s actions against the Bhutto family, Murtaza Bhutto formed Al -
Zulfiqar, a terrorist organization.Ghulam Mustafa Khar then contacted
Ch.Shaukat Nawaz Goraya in London, who was the right hand of Chauhdry Zahoor
Elahi and was also the nephew of Mr.Sarfraz Goraya who from 1937-1969
consecutively was elected as MLA and MNA,to calm down Mr Zahur Elahi and warn
him of Murtaza Bhutto. But he did not listen to Mr.Shaukat Goraya and Chaudhry
Zahoor Elahi became the first victim of Al - Zulfiqar when he was assassinated
in Lahore in September 1981. Murtaza Bhutto publicly accepted responsibility
for the assassination in his interview with BBC.
At
this juncture, the Chaudhry family decided that Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi (sons of the two brothers) should take charge of the
family business as well as to enter politics. In 1982, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi
was elected Chairman of District Council Gujrat and remained Chairman for
several years due to his popularity. In the 1985 non-party based elections,
Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi were elected to the National
Assembly and Punjab Assembly respectively.
Despite
being their political responsibilities, both cousin brothers attended to their
business as well. In 1987, the family diversified into the sugar industry. They
set up two sugar mills, at Mian Channu (Khanewal) and at Phalia (Mandi
Bahauddin). The family also expanded their textile business by entering
spinning and cotton yarn in 1990-91 and consequently set up two separate units
in Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin.
In
1988 Benazir Bhutto came to power and followed the footsteps of her family in
victimizing the Chaudhry family. Her government issued orders to all banks to
stop issuing working capital to the industrial units owned by the Chaudries,
thus making them engineered defaulters. The family sought relief from the
courts and continued their business on borrowing from the private sector.
1990s
From
1993-97, several cases were registered against Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and
Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. They were detained in Adiyla Jail Rawalpindi for several
months.Although they were deep involve in corruption In the 1997 election, the
two cousins were elected to the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly with
majority votes and held important ministries. Chaudry Shujaat Hussain was the
Interior Minister while Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was elected Speaker of the Punjab
Assembly with overwhelming majority.
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