Abdur Rab Nishtar

Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar (13 June 1899 – 14 February 1958; Pashto: ‫ )سردار عبد الرب نښتر‬was a Muslim
League stalwart, a Pakistan movement leader and activist and later on a Pakistani politician from North-
West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Abdul Rab Nishtar was born on 13 June 1899 into a religious household in Peshawar, British India. His
father, Maulvi Abdul Hannan was a prominent figure from the Pashtun Kakar tribe that had fiercely
opposed the British raj in India.[1][2] Nishtar's ancestors hailed from Zhob district in north Balochistan
but had later settled in Peshawar, British India. He completed his early education in a Christian mission
school and later Sanathan Dharam High School in Bombay, (now 'Mumbai' in India). He eventually
graduated from the Edwardes College in Peshawar and then later on completed his Bachelor of Arts
degree from the Punjab University, Lahore in 1923. He later went to Aligarh and received an LL.B degree
with honours from Aligarh Muslim University in 1925.

A man of deep religious convictions, he also had a deep interest in Islamic mysticism, a fact which
probably reflects the influence of his parents and also his associate Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar.
From 1919 to 1920, both of them actively participated in the Khilafat Movement. Later, Sardar Abdur
Rab Nishtar remained member of Indian National Congress from 1927 to 1931, was elected Municipal
Commissioner, Peshawar Municipal committee, successively from 1929 to 1938, joined All-India Muslim
League, became a confidante of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. From 1932 to 1936, Nishtar
was a member of All India Muslim League (AIML) Council, member NWFP (Northwest Frontier Province)
legislative Assembly 1937 to 1945, Finance Minister NWFP 1943–45, member AIML Working Committee,
1944–1947, represented the All India Muslim League at the Simla Conference in 1945.[3][1]

Abdur Rab Nishtar was ousted from provincial politics through the political maneuvers of a rival political
leader Abdul Qayyum Khan in 1946.[2] Abdul Qayyum Khan was an outcaste from the Indian National
Congress Party, who then vigorously opposed that political party after his ouster from it,[4] especially he
was against the union of the Indian subcontinent in a single country and was working for the creation of
an independent Muslim state.

After the Dominion of Pakistan was created, Nishtar was appointed Minister for communication in
Pakistan and served in that position from 1947 to 1949. He introduced the use of Urdu language in
Pakistan railways and Pakistan Post Office. After the dismissal of the Punjab Provincial government in
1949, Sardar Nishtar was appointed Governor of Punjab (the first Pakistani governor in Pakistan's
history, till that time the British government had still continued governing with previous English
Governors). He effectively ran the Governorship for two years paving the way for restoration of an
elected government in 1951