I. I. Chundrigar

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar

| native_name = {{nobold|ابراہیم اسماعیل چندریگر}}

| native_name_lang = ur

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar.jpg

| image_size =

| image_upright =

| smallimage =

| 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 =

| primeminister =

| taoiseach =

| chancellor =

| governor =

| vicepresident =

| viceprimeminister =

| deputy =

| lieutenant =

| succeeding =

| parliamentarygroup =

| 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 =

| primeminister2 = H. S. Suhrawardy
(1956–57)
Muhammad Ali
(1955–56)

| chancellor2 =

| taoiseach2 =

| governor2 =

| vicepresident2 =

| viceprimeminister2 =

| deputy2 =

| lieutenant2 =

| succeeding2 =

| predecessor2 =

| successor2 =

| parliamentarygroup2 =

| constituency2 =

| majority2 =

| prior_term2 =

| order3 = Leader of the Opposition

| office3 =

| alongside3 =

| term_start3 = 16 December 1957

| term_end3 = 23 March 1956{{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

| primeminister7 = Liaquat Ali Khan

| order8 = Minister of Commerce and Trade

| office8 =

| term_start8 = 15 August 1947

| term_end8 = 1 May 1948

| primeminister8 = Liaquat Ali Khan

| order9 = Minister of Commerce and Industry

| office9 =

| term_start9 = 2 September 1946

| term_end9 = 15 August 1947

| president9 = {{List collapsed|Louis Mountbatten
(1947)
Archibald Wavell
(1946–47)

}}

| vicepresident9 = 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 = {{List collapsed|Sir John Colville
(1943–46)
The Earl of Scarbrough
(1937–43)

}}

| parliamentarygroup10 = 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}}{{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}}

| 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{{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}}

| death_cause = Haemorrhage

| resting_place = Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

| resting_place_coordinates =

| citizenship = British India (1897–47)
Pakistan (1947–60)

| nationality =

| party = Muslim League (1936-1960)

| otherparty =

| height =

| spouse =

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| relations =

| children = 3 sons, including Abdullah, Abu Bakr, and Iqbal.

| parents =

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| education =

| alma_mater = University of Bombay
(BA in Phil. and LLB)

| occupation =

| profession = Lawyer, diplomat

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| signature =

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| website = [http://storyofpakistan.com/ibrahim-ismail-chundrigar I. I. Chundrigar]
[http://www.pmo.gov.pk/former_pms.php Official website]

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}}

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.

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.{{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}}{{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}}

Biography

=Early life and law practice=

Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar, a Muhajir, was born in Godhra, Gujarat, in India on 15 September 1897.{{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}}{{Disputed inline|Place of birth disputed|date=April 2024}} He was an only child.{{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}}

Chundrigar was initially schooled in Ahmedabad where he finished his matriculation and moved to Bombay for his higher studies. He attended the University of Bombay where he earned a BA degree in philosophy, and later the LLB degree in 1929.{{cite book|last1=Bombay|first1=University of|title=The Bombay University Calendar|date=1929|publisher=University of Bombay Press|location=Bombay, India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1k4mAQAAIAAJ&q=chundrigar |page=101 |access-date=24 January 2018|language=en}}{{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}}{{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}} From 1929 till 1932, Chundrigar was a lawyer for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.{{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}}

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. During this time, he became acquainted with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, sharing similar ideology and political views.

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.{{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}}

From 1937 till 1946, Chundrigar practiced in the Bombay High Court.

=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.{{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}}

In 1946, he was elected to the assembly from a Muslim urban constituency in Ahmedabad.{{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}} He was appointed Commerce Minister under the presidential administrations of the Viceroys of India, Archibald Wavell (1946) and Louis Mountbatten (1946-47). Peter Lyon, a reader emeritus in international relations, described Chundrigar as a "close supporter" of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the Pakistan Movement.{{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}}

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.{{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}}

In May 1948, Chundrigar left the Commerce Ministry and was appointed Pakistan's Ambassador to Afghanistan.{{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}}{{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}} 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.{{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}}

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.{{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}} In 1950, Chundrigar was appointed governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a position he held until 1951. 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.

=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. He was appointed minister of law and justice.{{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}} During this time, he also acted as a leader of the opposition.{{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}}

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".

Prime Minister of Pakistan (1957)

=Third shortest tenure=

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.{{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}} 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. On 18 October 1957, Chundrigar became the Prime Minister of Pakistan, receiving his oath of office from Chief Justice M. Munir.

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.{{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}} 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.

Chundrigar served the third-shortest term of any Prime Minister in Pakistan: 17 October 1957{{snd}}11 December 1957, 55 days into his term.

Death and reputation

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

In his honour, the government of Pakistan renamed McLeod Road in Karachi after him.{{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}}