| Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gujrat, Pakistan |
| Died | 25 September 1981 Gujrat, Pakistan |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Relatives | Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, son, Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2004 |
Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi (died 25 September 1981) was a politician from Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan. Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi founded a political family of Pakistan.
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.[1] 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.[2] He settled in Gujrat. He was a Jat of the Warriach clan.[3] He entered local politics in the 1950s.[4] 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.[1] As secretary-general to the Convention Muslim League, he came to oppose Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.[5] In his conflict with Bhutto, he was imprisoned, and family property was taken by the Government,[6] he was assassinated in 1981.
Contents |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ch. Pervez Ilahi announced coalition with PPP forgiving the murder of Ch. Zahoor Ilahi.