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Feroz Khan Noon

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Sir
Feroz Khan Noon
KCSI KCIE OStJ
فیروز خاں نون
7th Prime Minister of Pakistan
In office
16 December 1957 – 7 October 1958
PresidentIskander Mirza
Preceded byIbrahim Ismail Chundrigar
Succeeded byAyub Khan (as president)
Nurul Amin (1971)
Minister of Defence
In office
16 December 1957 – 7 October 1958
Preceded byMumtaz Daultana
Succeeded byMuhammad Ayub Khuhro
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
12 September 1956 – 7 October 1958
Prime MinisterHuseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Preceded byHamidul Huq Choudhury
Succeeded byManzur Qadir
Chief Minister of Punjab
In office
3 April 1953 – 21 May 1955
GovernorMian Aminuddin
Habib Ibrahim Rahimtoola
Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani
Preceded byMumtaz Daultana
Succeeded byAbdul Hamid Khan Dasti
Governor of East Pakistan
In office
31 March 1950 – 31 March 1953
Chief MinisterNurul Amin
Preceded byFrederick Chalmers Bourne
Succeeded byChaudhry Khaliquzzaman
Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations
In office
1945–1946
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySamar Sen
Minister of Defence in Viceroy's Executive Council
In office
1942–1945
Governors GeneralThe Marquess of Linlithgow
Archibald Wavell
Minister of Labour in Viceroy's Executive Council
In office
1941–1942
Governor GeneralThe Marquess of Linlithgow
Succeeded byB. R. Ambedkar
High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom
In office
1936–1941
Preceded byBhupendra Nath Mitra
Succeeded byAzizul Haque
Provincial Minister of Punjab for Education
In office
1931–1936
GovernorMalcolm Hailey
Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency
Herbert William Emerson
Sikandar Hayat Khan
Provincial Minister of Punjab for Local Government
In office
1927–1931
GovernorMalcolm Hailey
Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency
Preceded byFazl-i-Hussain
Member of Punjab Legislative Council
In office
1921–1936
President of Republican Party
In office
1957–1958
Personal details
Born(1893-05-07)7 May 1893
Hamoka, Punjab, British India
(now in Punjab, Pakistan)
Died9 December 1970(1970-12-09) (aged 77)
Nurpur Noon, Punjab, Pakistan
Political partyRepublican Party (1955–1958)
Other political
affiliations		Muslim League (1947–1955)
All-India Muslim League (1945–1947)
Unionist Party (1921–1945)
SpouseViqar un Nisa Noon
ChildrenNur Hayat Noon (son)
Manzoor Hayat Noon (son)
Alma materUniversity of Oxford

Sir Malik Feroz Khan Noon[a] (7 May 1893 – 9 December 1970)[1] KCSI KCIE OStJ, best known as Feroze Khan, was a Pakistani politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Pakistan from 16 December 1957, until being removed when the President Iskandar Ali Mirza imposed martial law, though he himself got ousted in the 1958 Pakistani military coup.

Trained as a barrister in England, Noon served as High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom before serving as a military adviser, over issues pertaining to the British Indian Army, to Prime Minister Winston Churchill's war ministry from the India Office.[1]

Noon was one of the Founding Fathers of Pakistan who helped to negotiate and establish the Federation of Pakistan as a nation-state on 14 August 1947, resulting from the successful constitutional movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Early life and education

[edit]

Feroz Khan Noon was born in the village of Hamoka, located in Khushab District, Punjab in the then British India on 7 May 1893 into a Punjabi family.[2] He came from an aristocratic landowning Jat family that were known for their wealth and reputation in social circles.[3][4][5][6] His father Nawab Malik Sir Muhammad Hayat Khan Noon was a nominated member of the Council of State from 1935 to 1937 while his cousin Malik Sardar Khan Noon was a politician as well.[7]

After his initial schooling, Noon attended Aitchison College in Lahore before being sent to England in 1912.[8] The India Office arranged for him to stay with the family of a Reverend Lloyd in Ticknall, South Derbyshire. From there he applied to study at Oxford University, initially being rejected by Balliol College, he was then accepted by Wadham College. Noon stayed with Lloyd's family until 1913, and had a close relationship with them until going to Oxford.[1]

Noon graduated from Wadham College with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in history in 1916.[9] He was a keen soccer player and played collegiate field hockey for Isis Club.[1]

He interacted with very few Indian students while at university, heeding his father's advice to learn English culture, and lacked time to attend any Indian cultural festivals because he was concentrating on his studies. His sojourn in Britain left in him a lifelong admiration for Britain and during his career within the Pakistani state, he was always known to be an Anglophile.[1]

After graduation, Noon moved to London to sit the law examination. He qualified as a barrister-at-law from the Inner Temple in 1917 before returning to India.[10]

Political career

[edit]

Law practice and legislative career in India

[edit]

Noon returned to India in September 1917, and in January 1918 began practising law at the District Court in Sargodha.[11] He later moved to the Lahore High Court, establishing his reputation in civil law until 1927.[8]

In 1920–21, Noon entered national politics and was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly on the platform of the Unionist Party. During this time, he formed a close acquaintance with Jogendra Singh.[12] From 1927 until 1931, he joined the cabinet of the Governor of Punjab, Malcolm Hailey and held the portfolio of provincial Ministry of Local Government until 1930.[13]

Between 1931 and 1936, Noon was in the cabinets of Governors Geoffrey Fitzhervey de Montmorency, Sir Sikandar Hyat, and Herbert William Emerson where he held provincial portfolios of Ministries of Health and Education.[14]

In December 1932, Noon was appointed as an Officer of the Venerable Order of Saint John.[15] In 1933, Noon was knighted in the 1933 New Year Honours List.[16] He was appointed as Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in the 1937 Coronation Honours List[17] and appointed as Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI) in October 1941.[18]

Diplomatic career: World War II and Pakistan Movement

[edit]

In 1936, Noon resigned from his public service in Punjab when he was appointed as the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom.[14]

Over the issue of the Immigration Act of 1924 in the United States, the British Government directed Noon to Washington D.C. He was accompanied by Nevile Butler of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1941 to address issues of American exploration in Baluchistan, and the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status between the United States and the United Kingdom, in light of the Anglo-American Trade Agreement signed in 1938. Noon showed great reluctance to grant American petroleum companies access to Baluchistan due to the Indian government's difficulty maintaining control in remote areas adjacent to Iran and Afghanistan, especially when Indians were being barred from entering the United States.[19]

After the start of World War II in 1939, Noon, who had pro-British views, supported British efforts against the Axis powers, lobbying for deployment of the British Indian Army in Africa and the Middle East.[20] In 1940, he strongly supported Egyptian plans to establish the grand mosque in London.[21] During the height of the anti-British Quit India Movement in India, Noon played a crucial role by convincing Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the support of Indian Muslims for continued British rule there.[22]

Feroz Khan Noon (right) with Jawaharlal Nehru, First Prime Minister of India (centre) and Feroz's spouse Viqar-un-Nisa Noon (left)

Khan later joined the Viceroy's Executive Council's cabinet as a labour minister, and played a crucial role in advising against the Independence of India, without addressing the push of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and other leaders for the Muslim question.[23][24][clarification needed]

In 1944–45, Churchill appointed Noon to the War Department, leading his own department alongside Sir Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar that provided representation for British India in the Pacific War Council.[25][26] In 1945, he was appointed as Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, attending the first UN session in San Francisco, California.[27]

By late 1945, it became clear that the new Labour government in Britain intended to transfer power and leave India. The impending loss of their British allies weakened the Unionist Party, and Noon joined others in defecting to the Muslim League.[28] His departure was an important one, and encouraged more members to switch parties.[29] The bolstered Muslim League won the 1945-46 Indian general election by a landslide in the Punjab.[28]

Governorship of East Bengal and Chief Minister of Punjab

[edit]

In 1947, Noon retained his constituency and became a Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan (MNA) of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, following the establishment of Pakistan as a result of the Partition of India.[27]

In October 1947, Jinnah, now Governor-General of Pakistan, appointed Noon as a special envoy and dispatched him to Saudi Arabia and the Islamic world to introduce Pakistan and explain the reasons for its creation, to familiarize the Muslim countries with its internal problems, and to get moral and financial support from the brother countries. Noon performed the role assigned to him in a successful manner.

In 1950, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan removed Feroz Noon from the Foreign Ministry, appointing him as the Governor of East Bengal. However, he was less interested in the politics of East Bengal and focused towards the provincial politics of Punjab in Pakistan, contesting with Mumtaz Daultana for the post of Chief Minister.[citation needed] He had little interest in strengthening the political program of the Muslim League in Bengal and offered no political action when the popular Bengali Language Movement took place in 1950–51. On 25 July 1952, he returned to Punjab in Pakistan and left the post to Abdur Rahman Siddiqui, returning to his post on 10  November 1952.[30] Noon left Dhaka to become the Chief Minister of Punjab on 26 March 1953.[31]

After the 1953 religious riots in Lahore that resulted in Daultana's resignation, Noon was appointed Chief Minister of Punjab.[32]

Foreign ministry in coalition administration

[edit]

In 1955, Noon parted from the Muslim League when he helped to establish the Republican Party, supporting the cause of the One Unit programme that laid establishment[clarification needed] of West and East wings of Pakistan. He took over the presidency of the Republican Party, and joined the coalition of the three-party government composed of, the Awami League, the Muslim League, and the Republican Party that endorsed Iskander Mirza for the presidency. Noon had been ideologically very close to Mirza and was appointed in the coalition cabinet of Prime Minister Huseyn Suhrawardy.

In 1956–57, Noon attempted to hold talks with India over the Kashmir issue, and insurgency in Eastern India, but was unable to make any breakthrough.[33]

Prime Minister of Pakistan (1957-58)

[edit]
Main article: Feroze Khan administration

After the resignations of the Awami League's Huseyn Suhrawardy and the Muslim League's I. I. Chundrigar, Noon was the last candidate from the three-party coalition government, and started his support for the premiership on a conservative-Republican Party agenda.

Noon successfully forged an alliance with the Awami League, the National Awami Party, the Krishak Sramik Party, and the parliamentary groups in the National Assembly that allowed him to form the government as its Prime Minister. [citation needed]

Malik Feroz Khan in London, 1958.

Negotiation for Gwadar

[edit]

On 16 December 1957, Noon took an oath from Chief Justice M. Munir and formed a coalition government.[citation needed] During this time, Noon entered into complicated but successful negotiations with the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman for the cession of Gwadar, which was taken into the Federation of Pakistan on 8 September 1958, for the price of US$3 million.[34][35]

Noon's ability to get Gwadar into the Federation, and settlement of political issues in the country generally, threatened President Mirza who saw him as an obstacle to Mirza obtaining absolute power.[citation needed] Noon tried to obtain a compromise with India regarding the Kashmir problem.[36]

A Satellite image of the Modern port of Gwadar, once in the hands of Muscat & Oman, now in the hands of Pakistan due to Feroz Khan Noon.

In his memoirs, From Memory, Noon writes, "With Gwadar in foreign hands, I had felt we were living in a house in which the back room with another door, was occupied by a stranger who could, at any time, sell us out to a power inimical to Pakistan…".[37][38] The wife of Feroz Khan Noon, Viqar-un-Nisa Noon, also played a large role in the accession of Gwadar to Pakistan. She visited London in 1956 to see the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and to lobby the British Parliament for their protectorate of Muscat and Oman to give custody of 'Gwadar Port' to Pakistan,[39] and get approval from the House of Lords.[40][41][42][38]

Noon had not endorsed the presidential re-election of Mirza as the three-party coalition had been negotiating their own president to replace Mirza in 1958.[43] At midnight on 7/8 October 1958, Mirza imposed martial law in a coup d'état against his own party's government, effectively dismissing his own appointed Prime Minister to usurp all political power into his own hands.[31]

Later and personal life, and death

[edit]

After the 1958 Pakistani coup d'état, Noon retired from national politics and became a political writer. He authored five books on the history of India and issues pertaining to law and politics in Pakistan.

Noon was married to Viqar-un-Nisa Noon, an Austrian, who was a prominent politician and a social worker by profession. He died on 7 December 1970 in his ancestral village of Nurpur Noon, Sargodha District, where he is buried.[31]

Books

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  • Wisdom From Fools (1940), short stories for children.[44]
  • Scented Dust (1941), a novel.[45]
  • India (1941)
  • Kashmir (1957)
  • From Memory (1966), autobiography.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Firoz Khan Noon". Making Britain. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  2. ^ Poel, Jean van der (2007). Selections from the Smuts Papers: Volume VII, August 1945 – October 1950. Cambridge University Press. p. 427. ISBN 9780521033701. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
  3. ^ Mandal, U. C. (1997). Bureaucracy Growth And Devel. New Delhi: Sarup & Sons. p. 96. ISBN 9788185431840. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  4. ^ Kamra, Sukeshi (2002). Bearing Witness: Partition, Independence, End of the Raj. University of Calgary Press. p. 393. ISBN 9781552380413. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  5. ^ Rajghatta, Chidanand. "View: Most Pakistanis are actually Indians". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  6. ^ "Noon clan" (PDF). Bitstream. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  7. ^ Korson (1 January 1974). Contemporary Problems of Pakistan. BRILL. p. 13. doi:10.1163/9789004474680. ISBN 978-90-04-47468-0.
  8. ^ a b Churchill, Winston; Gilbert, Martin (1993). The Churchill War Papers: The ever-widening war, 1941. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 1094. ISBN 9780393019599. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. ^ Noon, Firoz Khan (1966). From Memory. Lahore: Ferozsons. p. 73. OCLC 5671964. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  10. ^ Noon, Firoz Khan (1966). From Memory. Lahore: Ferozsons. pp. 73–74. OCLC 5671964. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  11. ^ Noon, Firoz Khan (1966). From Memory. Lahore: Ferozsons. p. 74. OCLC 5671964. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  12. ^ Malhotra, S. L. (1979). From civil disobedience to quit India: Gandhi and the freedom movement in Punjab and Haryana, 1932–1942. New Delhi: Publication Bureau, Panjab University. pp. 76–77. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  13. ^ Cell, John W.; Cell, John Whitson (2002). Hailey: A Study in British Imperialism, 1872-1969. Cambridge University Press. p. 141. ISBN 9780521521178. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. ^ a b Korson, J. Henry (1974). Contemporary Problems of Pakistan. Leiden: E. J. Brill. p. 13. ISBN 9004039422.
  15. ^ "London Gazette, 3 January 1933". Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  16. ^ "London Gazette, 2 January 1933". Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  17. ^ "London Gazette, 11 May 1937". Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  18. ^ "London Gazette, 10 October 1941". Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  19. ^ Malik, Iftikhar H. (1991). Us-South Asian Relations 1940–47: American Attitudes Toward The Pakistan Movement. New York: Springer. pp. 39–49. ISBN 9781349212163. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  20. ^ Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Co. 1958. ISBN 9780824201234. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  21. ^ Nasta, Susheila (2013). India in Britain: South Asian Networks and Connections, 1858–1950. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 89. ISBN 9780230392717. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  22. ^ Toye, Richard (2017). Winston Churchill: Politics, Strategy and Statecraft. Indiana, U.S.: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 9781474263863. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  23. ^ Hess, Gary R. (1971). America encounters India, 1941–1947. Johns Hopkins Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 9780801812583.
  24. ^ Hope, Ashley Guy (1968). America and Swaraj: The U.S. Role in Indian Independence. Public Affairs Press. pp. 58–59. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  25. ^ Ray, Jayanta Kumar (2007). Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World. Mumbai: Pearson Education India. pp. 395–396. ISBN 9788131708347. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  26. ^ "Conclusions of a Meeting of the War Cabinet held at 10, Downing Street, S.W. 1, on Tuesday, 3rd April, 1945, at 11-30 am" (PDF). filestore.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  27. ^ a b Lentz, Harris M. (2014). Heads of States and Governments Since 1945. Washington, DC: Routledge. p. 612. ISBN 9781134264902. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  28. ^ a b Mohiuddin, Yasmeen Niaz (2007). Pakistan: A Global Studies Handbook. ABC-CLIO. pp. 69–70. ISBN 9781851098019.
  29. ^ Jalal, Ayesha (1994) [First published 1985]. The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League and the Demand for Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. pp. 144–145. ISBN 9780521458504. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  30. ^ "Siddiqui, Abdur Rahman". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  31. ^ a b c Jafar, Abu. "Noon, Malik Firoz Khan". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 15 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  32. ^ Mahmud, Syed (1958). A nation is born. Karachi: Feroz Printing Works. p. 26. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  33. ^ Pandey, Sudhakar (2015). Govind Ballabh Pant. Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. p. 189. ISBN 9788123026466. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  34. ^ Choudhry, Dr. Shabir (16 December 2016). "CPEC – A potential threat to turn Gilgit-Baltistan a battleground – II – Northlines". Northlines. London. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  35. ^ Noon, Firoz Khan (1966). From Memory. Lahore: Ferozsons. pp. 281–282. OCLC 5671964. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  36. ^ Salahuddin, Syed (15 May 2010). "Consensus on Kashmir". Dawn. Archived from the original on 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  37. ^ Ranjan, Amit (2018). Partition of India: Postcolonial Legacies. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780429750526. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  38. ^ a b Jones, Jeremy (2013). Oman, Culture and Diplomacy. ISBN 9780748674633. Archived from the original on 22 July 2023. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  39. ^ "Gwadar, Victoria and Aga Khan". ourbeacon.com. Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  40. ^ "Who do we thank for Gwadar?". Daily Times. 22 May 2018. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  41. ^ Dhillon, Ali Ahmad (17 January 2019). "Gwadar Ki Shaan, Begum Waqar Un Nisa Noon!". Daily Urdu Columns. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  42. ^ "Who do we thank for Gwadar?". Ismailimail. 25 May 2018. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  43. ^ Mazari, Sherbaz Khan (1999). A Journey to Disillusionment. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195790764. Retrieved 25 January 2018.
  44. ^ Indian Information, Volume 15 (1944), Page 312
  45. ^ Current Biography Yearbook, 1958, Page 411

Notes

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  1. ^ Urdu: ملک فیروز خان نون
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Feroz Khan Noon.
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of East Bengal
1950–1953 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Minister of Punjab
1953–1955 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Foreign Affairs
1956–1958 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Prime Minister of Pakistan
1957–1958 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Defence
1957–1958 		Succeeded by
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