Sahiwal

Sahiwal ساہیوال
District
Sahiwal
Location of Sahiwal in Punjab.
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
Capital	Sahiwal
Government
• District Nazim	Rai Hassan Nawaz
Area
• Total	3,201 km2 (1,236 sq mi)
Elevation	152.4 m (500.0 ft)
Population  (1998)
• Total	1,843,194
Time zone	UTC+5 (PST)
Calling code	40
Website	http://www.sahiwal.gov.pk

Scenic Jungle in District Sahiwal

Sahiwal (Punjabi, Urdu: ساہیوال) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan. This city was a small village on the Karachi-Lahore railway line in 1865 when it was renamed Montgomery after Sir Robert Montgomery, then Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab. It took its current name in 1966.It is the administrative centre of Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division.The districts of [Okara] and [Pakpattan] are under Sahiwal division. Sahiwal lies approximately 180 km from the major city of Lahore. And it is the biggest city between Lahore and Multan. The population is 207,388 (1998 Pakistan Census). Sahiwal District is included in the former Multan Division and lies between 30-39 north latitude and 73-06 longitude. The city lies in the densely populated region between the Sutlej and Ravi rivers. Irrigation in the region is provided by the Bari Doab Canal system. The principal crops are wheat, cotton, tobacco, legumes, and oilseeds. Cotton goods and lacquered woodwork are manufactured. About 18 miles Southwest of Sahiwal is Harappa, an ancient city of the world, oldest urban center of Harappan or Indus civilization in South Asia. About 28 miles (45 km) west of Sahiwal, at Kamalia, is the site of a Malli city captured by Alexander the Great in 325 bc. Pop. (1998) city, 207,388. The people of Sahiwal are known as Sahiwalians.

Climate

The climate of Sahiwal district is extreme, reaching 52 °C in summer, and down to -5 °C in winter. The soil of the district is very fertile. The average rainfall is about 2000 mm.

Industry

Sahiwal's industries include cotton ginning and pressing, tanning, textile (City cloth palace,City Fassion Center) , textile spinning,weaving, leather products, garments, pharmaceuticals, flour mills, food processing, oil mills, cold storage, potato, tobacco, vegetable ghee/cooking oil, biscuits, chip board, confectionery, and woollen textile spinning and weaving. The Sahiwal breed of cattle, recognised as productive among Zebu dairy breeds, originated here; they are now found throughout the tropics. The main crops of the Sahiwal district are wheat, cotton, sugarcane, maize and rice. Main fruits are citrus, mangoes and guava. Sahiwal is a green and fertile town with 11,522 acres (46.63 km²) under naturally grown forests. KSC is an electrical industry in Sahiwal, producing water heaters, water coolers, air coolers, fans and washing machines.

Educational institutions

Sahiwal houses several educational institutes of quality. Government College Sahiwal is one of big institute in the city. It has 100 acres of land which includes the college building, a separate library building, a recreational building having swimming pool inside two hostels named Jinnah Hall and Iqbal Hall and vast green playgrounds.

Government High School, Government High School Urban Area, Government Comprehensive High School, Government High School 86/6.R, Government High School 89/6.R and Government Pilot Higher Secondary School are the leading high schools of the city. Junior Model High School, Divisional Public School (DPS) and St. Mary's Convent School are also providing education. Educator School, Government College for Women, Sahiwal, also contains the Baha-u-Deen Zikria University (BZU) sub-campus. One of the oldest Institutes of Commerce is the Government College of Commerce, Sahiwal.

St. Mary's Convent High School, is a well reputed English medium institution run by Italian nuns. Many among the elite of Sahiwal send their children to St. Mary's.

A lot is being planned for the education sector in Sahiwal. BZU Multan is planning its separate sub-campus in Sahiwal, and land has been acquired for this purpose. It is hoped that the university will be complete in two years and will be called the 'University of Sahiwal'.

The Virtual University of Pakistan has opened its regional as well as private campus in Sahiwal, and offers distant learning programmes. Regional Campus is situated at college chowk upper building of Bakers Inn.

The private sector is playing a major role in primary education: renowned schools in this regard are The Educators, The Beaconhouse School System, Bloom Field, The City School and Pre-Forces Cadet School. A new building of The City School is under construction in front of Comprehensive School Sahiwal. After completion it will be the largest private school campus in Sahiwal. Another new school established in 2007 is the Dare-Aqram Model School.

The Educators College has separate campuses for boys and girls.

The Commission on Science and Technology and Sustainable Development, in the South, i.e., COMSATS has opened its sixth campus at Sahiwal. It is a Public Sector University, Chartered by Federal Government providing quality education in the field of Management Sciences and Computer Sciences at both undergraduate and post graduate level. COMSATS has an edge over its competitor institutions and it has foreign qualified and experienced faculty at its Sahiwal campus.

There are two Government Colleges for Technical Education that offer three years DAE & B.Tech in various disciplines. There are many Private Technical Education Institutes that offer DAE & B.Tech. Allama Iqbal Polytechnic Institute is the first institute to offer DAE in Mechanical Technology (since 2003).

Faridia Islamic University is also located at Sahiwal.

Twin city

Sahiwal is twinned with the town of Rochdale, in Greater Manchester, North West England. There is direction sign in Rochdale town centre pointing in Sahiwal's direction with "Sahiwal 3000 miles" written on it.

Politicians and people

The oldest political families of Sahiwal are the Araians, Chatthas, Khaggas, Jeevyka, Rajputs and Lodhis. These family were exceptionally vigorous during partition of 1947 and played a fundamental role in the region and were great supporters of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Chaudhary Nouraiz Shakoor Khan: One of the old political families of Sahiwal are the Rajput Chaudhary's. They have been part of local, provincial and national level politics of Sahiwal, Punjab and Pakistan for last 55 years. After partition in 1947, the late Ch.Abdul Shakoor moved from India to Pakistan to settle in one of the District's of Punjab 'Sahiwal'. In 1960's, he became the first Deputy Mayor of Sahiwal and later the Mayor. His friendship with late Zulifqar Ali Bhutto (twice prime minister) made him join Pakistan People's Party in 1968. He contested twice on a PPP MPA ticket in 1972 and 1977; he died in 1983. His son, Chaudhry Nouraiz Shakoor Khan contested all member National Assembly Elections from 1985-2008 on the PPP ticket, except 1985 and 2008. In the history of Sahiwal he is the only politician who has been elected thrice, in 1988, 1993 and 2002 as Member National Assembly. In 2002 Nouraiz formed the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians Patriots (PPPPP) and became the Senior Vice President of the party. Recently, PPPPP merged with the ruling Pakistan Muslin League (PML) and he is now senior member of the ruling PML. He contested the 2008 elections on the PML ticket and lost.

During these tenures Ch. Nouraiz Shakoor as Federal Cabinet Minister, Pakistan rendered dedicated services as Parliamentary Secretary for Communications in 1993-95, as the Federal Minister of State for Communications and Youth Affairs in 1995-97. He then held the office of the Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources from 2002-04. From 2005-2007, he held the portfolio of Minister of Science and Technology. He is an Advocate and an Agriculturist by profession. He is one of the senior most politicians of Pakistan who has a strong visionary political background. In his life long services as a triumphant political leader Ch. Nouraiz Shakoor held the membership of Standing Committee on Finance Economics Affairs in 1988-90 and 1993-96, Standing Committee on Production 1988-90, Standing Committee on Planning and Development and Parliamentary Kashmir Committee 1993-96. Being on these titles Ch. Nouraiz Shakoor attended many national and international Conferences, Workshops and Seminars as part and leader of the delegations. He has represented Pakistan on many official tours around the World and has visited regions within U.S.A, Europe and Asia. Married, he is the father of two sons (Late Muhammad Jaffer Shakoor and Muhammad Ali Shakoor) and three daughters. An avid fan of sports, he is President of the Cycling Association Pakistan, President Sahiwal Club and Member Tennis Association, Punjab.

In 2002, his cousin Rana Aftab Ahmed got elected on a PPP ticket as Member Provincial Assembly, Punjab. He also contested in 1997 as MPA on the same PPP ticket but lost. After winning the elections in 2002, he also joined PPPP-Patriots co-founded by Nouraiz. From 2003-2007, he served in the Provincial Cabinet of Punjab as Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture Marketing and Production. Nouraizs' other cousin, Chaudhary Iftikhar Ahmed holds their family Nazim seat in his village. This Nazim seat has been won by Chaudhary's for last 50 years.

Rana Abdul Hamid Khan (Late): The elder brother of Rana Khudadad Khan, an ex MLA and minister of West Pakistan during the Ayub era, Rana sb was a true representative of the nobility of the age.

Rana Khudadad Khan (Late): The founder of the Rana Tractors Ltd. (later, the Millat Tractors Paksitan Ltd.), President of the Paksitan Muslim League, Punjab, was the most prominent politician of national stature from Sahiwal. Rana sahib will always be known as among the few top politicians of Pakistan who never compromised on principles and whose courage, honesty and piety remained above board.

Barrister Rana Mohammed Hanif Khan (Late): A renowned lawyer, law-maker and a politician who had been well-known for his honesty and strength of character. Rana sb. had been assigned seven portfolios at one time during his tenure as a federal minister of Pakistan.

Rao Khursheed Ali Khan (Late): The late elder of the Rajputs of Sahiwal District, who had been elected to the National Assembly from the platform of the Pakistan Peoples Party and is well known for his matter of fact speeches in the Parliament of the time.

Rao Abdul Sattar Khan (Late):’’’ The Leader of the House in the Senate of 1973-77 after being elected by the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan: The incumbant Zila Nazim of the Sahiwal District Assembly. A man of character who won his second consecutive term as the Zila Nazim by defeating the candidate of the then Chief Minister of the Punjab.

Syed Imran Wali Shah belongs to Pakistan Muslim League (N). He was elected for the first time as an MNA in 2008 general elections.He is presendent of Jamat-e-Ahlesunnat Sahiwal.

Malik Nadeem Kamran belongs to Pakistan Muslim League (N). He was elected for the second time as an MPA in 2008 general elections.

Ch. Zahid Iqbal became MNA on the platform of PPPP in General Elections, 2008 by defeating Rai Aziz ullah.

Ahmed Shah Khaggha was one of the most prominent politician of Sahiwal. He is an old member of Muslim league.

Late Rana Mohammad Hanif Khan served as the Finance Minister of Pakistan from 1974-1977.

Abu-Nasar Manzoor ahmad Shah is a famous spirtual leader of City.

Marshall Arjan Singh of the Indian Air Force was educated in Sahiwal (then Montgomery) before the partition of India.Muhammad Hafeez Akhtar Chaudhary is elected as MPA from Harrapa in 2008 elections on PPP ticket, by defeating Arshed khan lodhi.

Broadcast media

There are various radio and cable networks broadcasting in the city, such as Sun Rise FM 96 Sahiwal radio and cable networks like Voltas Cable Network, Galaxy Cable Network and Geo Cable network. The main companies providing dial-up internet facilities are BrainNet and CyberNet. World Call Wireless has also started its operation in Sahiwal. World Call provides wireless telephones at low call rates and a wireless internet facility which is much faster than the dial-up service providers in the city. Recently, Wateen Telecom has also opened its office in Sahiwal. Wateen offers landline telephone, cellular phone, HAQ television, high-speed internet and WiMax.

Information Super Highway

Sahiwal is on the Information superhighway after getting a High Speed DSL Internet Facility by Multi Net. Multi Net offer 256kb, 512kb, 1mb & 2mb shared speed & there is also Wateen Telecom who have started their service with high speed DSL via WIFI. A lot more development is being done in the field of IT and telecoms. Sahiwal is connected with backbone fiber that connects all the major cities of Pakistan. All Govt. Schools in Sahiwal have the latest PIV Based Computer Lab from the Government of Punjab IT and Computer Labs Project. Roughly one million rupees is spent on each lab; these furnished labs contain 16 of the latest PIV (Core 2 Duo) computers, air conditioner, printer and Internet facility. Each lab has dedicated IT staff including an IT Teacher, working on 17 Scale and Lab In charge. The government hopes that this project will improve the IT education standard in Sahiwal. Asia's biggest television broadcaster is located in the city.

Medical care

The District Hospital commonly referred to as the Civil Hospital is the largest hospital of Sahiwal. It has a nursing school and also offers different laboratory courses. Many well known doctors of the city have served their House Jobs here. However adequate medical facilities, especially emergency specialist equipment, are often not available and patients are referred to Lahore (the capital city of the Punjab), which is inconvenient and risky.

Coordinates: 30°40'48"N 73°6'9"E

See also

• Quaid-e-Azam Stadium