I. I. Chundrigar

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Pakistan in 1957}} {{Use British English|date=September 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = I. I. Chundrigar | native_name = ابراہیم اسماعیل چندریگر | native_name_lang = ur | image = Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar.jpg | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | order = 6th | office = Prime Minister of Pakistan | term_start = 17 October 1957 | term_end = 11 December 1957 | alongside =  | monarch = | president = Iskander Mirza | governor_general = | taoiseach = | chancellor = | governor = | deputy = | lieutenant = | succeeding =  | constituency = | majority = | predecessor = Huseyn Suhrawardy | successor = Feroze Khan | prior_term =  | order2 = Minister of Law and Justice | office2 = | term_start2 = 12 August 1955 | term_end2 = 9 August 1957 | alongside2 =  | monarch2 =  | president2 =  | governor_general2 =  | prime_minister2 = H. S. Suhrawardy (1956–57) Muhammad Ali (1955–56) | chancellor2 =  | taoiseach2 =  | governor2 =  | vice_president2 =  | vice_prime_minister2 =  | deputy2 = | lieutenant2 =  | succeeding2 =  | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | parliamentary_group2 =  | constituency2 =  | majority2 =  | prior_term2 =  | order3 = Leader of the Opposition | office3 = | alongside3 = | term_start3 = 23 March 1956 | term_end3 = 1 October 1958 {{citation needed|date=May 2025}} | predecessor3 = Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy | successor3 = Sardar Bahadur Khan | order5 = Governor of West Punjab | office5 = | term_start5 = 24 November 1951 | term_end5 = 2 May 1953 | 1blankname5 = {{nowrap|Chief Minister}} | 1namedata5 = M. Daultana | predecessor5 = Abdur Rab Nishtar | successor5 = M. Aminuddin | order6 = Governor of North-West Frontier Province | office6 = | 1blankname6 = {{nowrap|Chief Minister}} | 1namedata6 = A. Q. Khan | term_start6 = 17 February 1950 | term_end6 = 23 November 1951 | predecessor6 = Mohammad Khurshid | successor6 = Khwaja Shahabuddin | order7 = Pakistani Ambassador to Afghanistan | office7 = | term_start7 = 1 May 1948 | term_end7 = 17 February 1950 | prime_minister7 = Liaquat Ali Khan | order8 = Minister of Commerce and Trade | office8 = | term_start8 = 15 August 1947 | term_end8 = 1 May 1948 | prime_minister8 = Liaquat Ali Khan | order9 = Minister of Commerce and Industry | office9 = | term_start9 = 2 September 1946 | term_end9 = 15 August 1947 | president9 = {{Collapsible list|Louis Mountbatten (1947) Archibald Wavell (1946–47) }} | vice_president9 = Jawaharlal Nehru | predecessor9 = ''Post created'' | successor9 = Syama Prasad Mukherjee | order10 = Member of the Bombay Legislative Assembly | office10 = | term_start10 = 1937 | term_end10 = 1 September 1946 | governor10 = {{Collapsible list|Sir John Colville (1943–46) The Earl of Scarbrough (1937–43) }} | parliamentary_group10 = Muslim League (Nationalist Group) | constituency10 = Muhammadan Urban | majority10 = Muslim League | order11 = President of Pakistan Muslim League | office11 = | term_start11 = 17 October 1957 | term_end11 = 11 December 1957 | predecessor11 = Muhammad Ali | successor11 = Nurul Amin (Took presidency in 1967) | order12 = President of the Supreme Court Bar Association | office12 = | term_start12 = 1958 | term_end12 = 1960 | predecessor12 = | successor12 =  | pronunciation = | birth_name = Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1897|09|15}}<ref name="Biographical Research Institute, Pakistan., 1961">{{cite book |editor=Khan Tahawar Ali Khan |year=1961 |title=Biographical Encyclopedia of Pakistan |publisher=Biographical Research Institute, Pakistan |page=106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGtmAAAAMAAJ&q=i+i++chundrigar+born+1897 |access-date=23 January 2018 |language=en}}</ref> | birth_place = Godhra, Bombay Presidency, British India | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1960|09|26|1897|09|15}} | death_place = London, England, United Kingdom<ref name="Dawn Newspapers, 1960">{{cite news |title=Chundrigar dies in London|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/565191|access-date=25 January 2018|work=Dawn|location=Pakistan|date=29 September 1960}}</ref> | death_cause = Haemorrhage | resting_place = Society Graveyard, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan | citizenship = British India (1897–47) Pakistan (1947–60) | party = Muslim League (1936-1960) | other_party =  | height =  | partner =  | relations = | children = 3 sons, including Abdullah,<ref name="Dawn Newspapers, 1960" /> Abu Bakr,<ref name="Dawn Newspapers, 1960" /> and Iqbal. | parents =  | mother =  | father =  | relatives = | education = | alma_mater = University of Bombay (BA in Phil. and LLB) | occupation = | profession = Lawyer, diplomat | known_for = | salary = | net_worth =  | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | blank1 = | data1 = | blank2 = | data2 = | blank3 = | data3 = | blank4 = | data4 = | blank5 = | data5 = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = [http://storyofpakistan.com/ibrahim-ismail-chundrigar I. I. Chundrigar] [http://www.pmo.gov.pk/former_pms.php Official website] | nickname = | allegiance = | branch = | rank = | unit = | commands = | battles = | mawards =  | military_blank1 = | military_data1 = | military_blank2 = | military_data2 = | military_blank3 = | military_data3 = | military_blank4 = | military_data4 = | military_blank5 = | military_data5 =  | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | footnotes = }}

'''Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar''' {{Efn|{{langx|ur|ابراہیم اسماعیل چندریگر}}}} (15 September 1897 – 26 September 1960) was a Pakistani politician who served as the sixth prime minister of Pakistan, appointed in this capacity on 17 October 1957. He resigned due to a vote of no confidence on 11 December 1957, against him.<ref name="Biographical Research Institute, Pakistan., 1961"/>

He was trained in constitutional law at the University of Bombay and was one of the Founding Fathers of the Dominion of Pakistan. Having served for just 55 days, Chundrigar's tenure is the third shortest served in the parliamentary history of Pakistan, after those of Shujaat Hussain and Nurul Amin, who served as prime minister for 54 and 13 days, respectively.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield, Burki, 2015">{{cite book|last1=Burki|first1=Shahid Javed|author-link1=Shahid Javed Burki|title=Historical Dictionary of Pakistan|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|page=136|isbn=9781442241480|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rk-sBwAAQBAJ&q=I+I+Chundrigar+shortest+prime+minister&pg=PA136|access-date=24 January 2018|language=en-us |chapter=§I.I. Chundrigar}}</ref><ref name="Deep & Deep, Grover & Arora, 1995">{{cite book|last1=Grover|first1=Verinder|last2=Arora|first2=Ranjana|title=Political System in Pakistan: Role of military dictatorship in Pakistan politics|date=1995|publisher=Deep & Deep|page=244|isbn=9788171007387|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-fRtAAAAMAAJ&q=Chundrigar|access-date=24 January 2018|language=en}}</ref>

==Biography==

===Early life and law practice=== Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar was born in Godhra, Gujarat, in India on 15 September 1897.<ref name="Biographical Research Institute, Pakistan., 1961" /><ref name="Contemporary Targett, Goradia, 2003">{{cite book |last1=Goradia |first1=Prafull |title=Muslim League's unfinished agenda |year=2003 |publisher=Contemporary Targett |location=New Delhi |page=53 |isbn=81-7525-376-2 |quote=Chundrigar ... hailed from Godhra in Gujarat}}</ref>{{Disputed inline|Place of birth disputed|date=April 2024}} He was an only child.<ref name="st25Nov2012">{{cite news |title=The Chundrigar Diaries |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A309946682/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=84b74d76 |url-access=limited |work=Sunday Times |location=Islamabad |date=25 November 2012 |quote=The only child of his parents ... in total consonance with Mr. Jinnah's vision}}</ref>

Chundrigar moved to Bombay for his higher studies. He attended the University of Bombay where he earned a BA degree, and later the LLB degree in 1920.<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al., 2003 (Biography)">{{cite web |title=Former Prime Minister of Pakistan: Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar |url=http://storyofpakistan.com/ibrahim-ismail-chundrigar |website=storyofpakistan.com |publisher=Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust |access-date=24 January 2018 |location=Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan |date=1 June 2003}}</ref><ref name="Institute of Pakistan Historical Research">{{cite book |last1=Saʻīd |first1=Aḥmad |author2=Institute of Pakistan Historical Research (Lahore, Pakistan) |year=1997 |title=Muslim India, 1857-1947: a biographical dictionary |publisher=Institute of Pakistan Historical Research |page=111 |oclc=246043260}}</ref> From 1929 till 1932, Chundrigar was a lawyer for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.<ref name="Pan-Asia Newspaper Alliance.1957">{{cite book |title=The Asia Who's Who |url=https://archive.org/details/asiawhoswho19570000unse/page/90/mode/1up |year=1957 |location=Hong Kong |publisher=Pan-Asia Newspaper Alliance |page=90 |url-access=registration |oclc=1514422}}</ref>

From 1932 until 1937, Chundrigar practiced civil law, and moved to practice and read law at the Bombay High Court in 1937, where he established his reputation.<ref name="Institute of Pakistan Historical Research"/> During this time, he became acquainted with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, sharing similar ideology and political views.<ref name="st25Nov2012" />

In 1935, Chundrigar was chosen by the Muslim League to give a response to the Government of India Act 1935 introduced by the British government in India. Notably, concerning the role of the Governor-General as head of state, Chundrigar denied that the Governor-General enjoyed the powers supposedly granted by the Act.<ref name="Cambridge University Press, Newberg, 1935">{{cite book |last1=Newberg |first1=Paula R. |title=Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |page=50 |isbn=9780521894401 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbSeGQO3xdsC&pg=PA50 |access-date=24 January 2018 |language=en |chapter=Constituting the State}}</ref>

From 1937 till 1946, Chundrigar practiced in the Bombay High Court.<ref name="Pan-Asia Newspaper Alliance.1957" />

===Legislative career in India and Pakistan Movement===

Chundrigar stood for the Bombay Legislative Assembly as a Muslim League candidate in the 1937 provincial elections, and was elected from the Ahmedabad district rural constituency. From 1940 to 1945, he was president of the Bombay provincial Muslim League.<ref name="Biographical Research Institute, Pakistan., 1961" /><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Singh |editor-first=Nagendra Kumar |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Muslim biography: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh |title=Chundrigar, Ismail Ibrahim (1897 — 1960) |year=2001 |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |volume=II |location=New Delhi |isbn=81-7648-232-3 |page=196}}</ref>

In 1946, he was elected to the assembly from a Muslim urban constituency in Ahmedabad.<ref name="Manohar, Sho, 1998">{{cite book |last1=Sho |first1=Kuwajima |year=1998 |title=Muslims, Nationalism, and the Partition: 1946 Provincial Elections in India |location=Mumbai |publisher=Manohar |page=172 |isbn=978-81-7304-211-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VnKNAAAAMAAJ&q=Chundrigar |access-date=29 January 2018 |language=en}}</ref> He was appointed Commerce Minister under the presidential administrations of the Viceroys of India, Archibald Wavell (1946) and Louis Mountbatten (1946-47).<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al., 2003 (Biography)" /> Peter Lyon, a reader emeritus in international relations, described Chundrigar as a "close supporter" of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the Pakistan Movement.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lyon |first1=Peter |year=2008 |title=Conflict Between India and Pakistan: An Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLwOck15eboC&pg=PA42 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=42 |isbn=978-1-57607-712-2}}</ref>

==Public service in Pakistan==

===Diplomacy and governorships===

After the partition of India by the act of the British Empire that established Pakistan, Chundrigar endorsed Liaquat Ali Khan's bid for the premiership{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} and was retained as the commerce minister in the administration of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan on 15 August 1947.<ref name="Routledge, Lentz, 2014">{{cite book |last1=Lentz |first1=Harris M. |title=Heads of States and Governments |year=2013 |orig-year=First published 1994 |publisher=Routledge |page=612 |isbn=978-1-134264-90-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D6HKAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA612 |access-date=24 January 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

In May 1948, Chundrigar left the Commerce Ministry and was appointed Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan.<ref name="Sang-e-Meel Publications, Pāshā, 1991">{{cite book|last1=Pāshā|first1=Aḥmad Shujāʻ|title=Pakistan: a political profile, 1947 to 1988|date=1991 |page=88 |publisher=Sang-e-Meel Publications |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v_1tAAAAMAAJ&q=i.i.+chundrigar+appointed+ambassador+1948|access-date=24 January 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Quaid-i-Azam University Press">{{cite book|last1=Dani|first1=Ahmad Hasan|title=World Scholars on Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah|date=1979 |page=342 |publisher=Quaid-i-Azam University Press |language=en}}</ref> Although his appointment was favorably received in Afghanistan, Chundrigar was at odds with the Afghan government (supported by India as early as 1949) over the issue of Pakistan's north-west border with Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Yunas|first1=S. Fida|title=Afghanistan: The Peshawar Sardars' branch of Barakzais|year=2002|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qC1WAAAAYAAJ&q=I+I+Chundrigar+Afghanistan |pages=220–221 |access-date=24 January 2018|language=en}}</ref>

Chundrigar's tenure as ambassador was short. He was recalled to Pakistan by the Foreign Office, which viewed his inability to understand the Pashtun culture as a possible factor in fracturing Afghan-Pakistan relations.<ref name="Pakistan, Ministry of Foreign Affai">{{cite journal|title=Foreign Affairs Pakistan|journal=Foreign Affairs Pakistan|date=July 2008|volume=35|issue=7–9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aU0PsDV0Aa8C&q=lacked+knowledge|access-date=24 January 2018 |page=487 |publisher=Pakistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}</ref> In 1950, Chundrigar was appointed governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a position he held until 1951.<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al., 2003 (Biography)" /> A Cabinet reshuffle in 1951 allowed him to be appointed the governor of Punjab but he resigned in 1953 due to differences with Governor-General M.G. Muhammad when he enforced martial law at the request of Prime Minister K. Nazimuddin to control violent religious riots that occurred in Lahore, Pakistan.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield, Burki, 2015" />

===Law ministry in coalition administration===

In 1955, Chundrigar was invited to join the central government of a three-party coalition: the Awami League, the Muslim League, and the Republican Party.<ref name="Rowman & Littlefield, Burki, 2015" /> He was appointed minister of law and justice.<ref>{{cite book|title=Constituent Assembly (Legislature) of Pakistan Debates: Official Report|date=1956|publisher=Manager of Publications|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3UzBPjJAbQC&q=I+I+chundrigar+ |page=19 |access-date=25 January 2018|language=en}}</ref> During this time, he also acted as a leader of the opposition.<ref name="Mittal Publications, Akbar, 1997">{{cite book|last1=Akbar|first1=M. K.|title=Pakistan from Jinnah to Sharif|year=1997|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=9788170996743|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcIniHQAHfUC&pg=PA149 |page=149 |access-date=25 January 2018|language=en}}</ref>

At the National Assembly, he established his reputation as more of a constitutional lawyer than a politician, and gained a lot of prominence in public for his arguments in favour of parliamentarianism when he pleaded the case of "''Maulvi Tamizuddin vs. Federation of Pakistan''".<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al., 2003 (Biography)" />

==Premiership (1957)== {{See also|Chundrigar government}} After the resignation of Prime Minister Suhrawardy in 1957, Chundrigar was nominated as the Prime Minister and was supported by the Awami League, the Krishak Sramik Party, the Nizem-i-Islam Party, and the Republican Party.<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al, 2003 (II Becomes PM)">{{cite web |title=I. I. Chundrigar Becomes Prime Minister|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/i-i-chundrigar-becomes-prime-minister|website=storyofpakistan.com|publisher=Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust|access-date=25 January 2018|location=Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan|date=1 June 2003}}</ref> However, this coalition of mixed parties weakened Chundrigar's authority to run the central government, and divisions within the coalition would soon hamper his efforts to amend the Electoral College.<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al., 2003 (Biography)" /> On 18 October 1957, Chundrigar became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, receiving his oath of office from Chief Justice M. Munir.<ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al, 2003 (II Becomes PM)"/>

At the first session of the National Assembly, Chundrigar presented his plan to reform the Electoral College which was met with great parliamentary opposition by even his Cabinet ministers from the Republican Party and the Awami League.<ref name="New Publishers, Zakaria, 1958">{{cite book|last1=Zakaria|first1=Nasim|title=Parliamentary Government in Pakistan|date=1958|publisher=New Publishers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Be4DAAAAMAAJ&q=Chundrigar+resigned+ |page=62 |access-date=25 January 2018|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al, 2003 (II Becomes PM)"/> With the Republican Party leaders{{emdash}}party president Feroz Khan and President of Pakistan Iskander Mirza{{emdash}}exploiting and manipulating the opponents of the Muslim League, a successful vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly led by the Republicans and the Awami Party effectively ended Chundrigar's term. He resigned on 11 December 1957.<ref name="New Publishers, Zakaria, 1958"/><ref name="Nazaria-i-Pakistan Trust, et.al, 2003 (II Becomes PM)"/>

Chundrigar served the third-shortest term of any Prime Minister in Pakistan: 17 October 1957{{snd}}11 December 1957, 55 days into his term.<ref name="Deep & Deep, Grover & Arora, 1995"/><ref name="Rowman & Littlefield, Burki, 2015"/>

==Death and reputation==

In 1958, Chundrigar was appointed president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, a position he held until his death.<ref name="Dawn Newspapers, 1960" /> In 1960, Chundrigar traveled to Hamburg where he addressed the International Law Conference and suffered a hemorrhage while visiting in London.<ref name="Dawn Newspapers, 1960" /> For treatment, he was taken to the Royal Northern Hospital and suddenly died.<ref name="Dawn Newspapers, 1960" /> His body was brought back to Karachi in Pakistan, where he was buried in a local cemetery.<ref name="Dawn Newspapers, 1960" />

In his honour, the government of Pakistan renamed McLeod Road in Karachi after him.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=I. I. Chundrigar Road — Developing Attraction at the Financial Hub |date=2007 |magazine=Pakistan & Gulf Economist |volume=26 |page=19 |issn=0030-9745}}</ref>

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090402114442/http://therepublicofrumi.com/47.htm Chronicles of Pakistan]

{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=Mohammad Ibrahim Khan Jhagra Acting}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|years=1950–1951}} {{s-aft|after=Khwaja Shahabuddin}} |- {{s-bef|before=Abdur Rab Nishtar}} {{s-ttl|title=Governor of Punjab|years=1951–1953}} {{s-aft|after=Mian Aminuddin}} |- {{s-bef|before= Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy}} {{s-ttl|title=Prime Minister of Pakistan|years=1957}} {{s-aft|after=Feroz Khan Noon}} {{s-end}}

{{PakistaniPMs}} {{Governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}} {{Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India)}} {{Jinnah}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chundrigar, Ismail Ibrahim}} Category:1897 births Category:1960 deaths Category:Pakistani MNAs 1955–1958 Category:People from Panchmahal district Category:Politicians from Ahmedabad Category:University of Mumbai alumni Category:20th-century Indian philosophers Category:20th-century Indian lawyers Category:All-India Muslim League politicians Category:Leaders of the Pakistan Movement Category:Pakistani people of Gujarati descent Category:Pakistani people of Arab descent Category:People from Karachi Category:First Pakistani Cabinet Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Afghanistan Category:Governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Category:Governors of Punjab, Pakistan Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Turkey Category:Pakistan Muslim League politicians Category:Pakistani legal scholars Category:Lawyers from Karachi Category:Law ministers of Pakistan Category:Pakistani philosophers Category:Prime ministers of Pakistan Category:University of Karachi people Category:Members of the Pakistan Philosophical Congress Category:Deaths from bleeding Category:Scholars from Ahmedabad Category:Members of the Council of the Governor General of India Category:Indian emigrants to Pakistan

I. I. Chundrigar

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