Return of hero’s remains: Court admits plea after removal of objections

Petitioners seek return of Chaudhry Rehmat Ali’s remains

ISLAMABAD: The capital’s high court admitted a petition seeking the return of the mortal remains of Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, the man who coined the name ‘Pakistan’ after removal of objections raised by the registrar office.

IHC Justice Athar Minallah issued the directions for fixing a date for hearing the petition filed by a citizen requesting the court to bring back the remains of the former Pakistan Movement leader from Cambridge, England, for burial in Islamabad.

Ali is credited with coining the name for the country. He passed away in 1951 and was buried at the Cambridge City cemetery.

Chaudhry Ansar Manzoor, through his counsel Chaudhry Khurram Manzoor, requested the court to direct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan High Commission in the United Kingdom and Capital Development Authority (CDA) to bring back the remains of Ali from England and make arrangements for burial in the capital.

The petitioner maintained that Ali was a leading figure in the creation of Pakistan, and arrived in the country on April 6, 1948, with the intention to stay, but was ordered to leave the country. He added that after his death, Ali was buried at English cemetery temporarily.

Manzoor lamented that no effort had been made to retrieve the remains of such a national hero, even sixty years after the country’s creation. He argued that many countries brought back remains of their deceased leaders, including Che Guevara and Jamaluddin Afghani, who were initially buried in foreign lands.

Further, he argued that Matiur Rehman, who killed Rashid Minhas, the recipient of Nishan-e-Haider, was buried in Karachi till a visit by Bangladesh’s Prime Minister in 2006, after which Rehman’s body was handed over to Bangladesh.

“Ali deserves a piece of land in the country which he struggled for,” said the petitioner.

The petitioner also contended that the CDA may be asked to make arrangements for the burial by building a mausoleum in the capital.

In January, it was reported that the prime minister asked for action on a request seeking land in Shakarparian for a mausoleum in Ali’s name.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2016.