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Mian Tufail Mohammad |
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He started his career as a Lawyer, working as junior to Justice Mohammad Sharif in 1938 in Jallendhar, but moved to his Kapur Thala State after one year. He was the first Muslim lawyer of the princely State. When Jama'at was instituted in August 1941, Mian Tufail Muhammad was one of its 75 founding members. He left the practice on 23rd January 1942 and joined a relative in business in Lahore. His vehemence and intense zeal for the Islamic movement were timely noticed. In the All India Conference of the Jama'at (March, 1944), he was appointed the first permanent Secretary General (Qayyam) of the party. He immediately abandoned his business in Lahore and moved to Pathankot. From that moment on, he was always in company of Sayyed Maududi -- attached to him physically and emotionally. Except for the periods when he was put in jail, he worked as Secretary General of the Jama'at till 1965. From January 1966 to 1972 he was Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, West Pakistan. In between, he also assumed the position of Ameer-e-Jama'at of Pakistan when occasion so demanded, particularly when Sayyed Maududi was ill and on leave. When Sayyed Maududi left as Ameer-e-Jama'at of Pakistan in October 1972, for health reasons, Mian Tufail Mohammad was elected as Ameer for five years. He was also elected for two more terms, when in 1987 he also regretted on the basis of his long ailment. As a result, Qazi Hussain Ahmad was elected to the top position. Mian Sahib confined himself to research work of the Idara-e-Ma'arif-e-Islamia in Mansoorah, Lahore. During the Ayub era, nine prominent leaders belonging to different political parties were tried for mutiny under the Official Secret Act - in fact, they had decided to initiate democratic movement; Mian Sahib was one of them. The trial lingered on for two years. Interestingly, the government, saying, there was no evidence whatsoever, took the case back. In 1965, the joint opposition was organized. Mian Sahib was one of its central leaders. Along with other leaders of the C.O.P., Mian Tufail Mohammad extensively toured the two wings of the country to create mass awareness and organize a strong national democratic movement. That was the movement, which gave the first big upset to Ayub's dictatorial rule. Mian Sahib then actively represented the Jama'at during the post-Tashkent period, in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and Democratic Action Committee (DAC). The result of these movements was the termination of Ayub rule in 1969 and the first ever-general elections of 1970 in the country. During July-August 1971 -- a period that no political leader from West Pakistan could dare step in the Eastern Wing -- Mian Sahib was busy combing through road and took the message of unity and Islamic brotherhood to various parts in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Mian Tufail Mohammad's role was central in the institution of U.D.F. in March 1973 and the United Democratic Mahaz/Pakistan National Alliance in January 1977. The Front was able to give the nation the 1973 Constitution, while PNA succeeded in putting an end to Bhutto's tyrant rule in 1977. Like Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Mian Sahib also could not have much time for literary activities. Yet some of his works, completed mostly in jail are widely hailed. The Urdu rendition of 'Kashaf-al-Mahjub' and Daw'at-e-Islami and Its Demands' (Urdu) co-authored with Sayyed Maududi and Amin Ehsan Islahi, are the prominent pieces. His articles and interviews to press are numerous and cover most scholarly and political topics. Invited by different world Islamic Movements, he has visited UK (1974), USA and Canada (1974), Iraq, Saudi Arabia (1975) and many more countries. He has been specially associated with 'Rabita-al-Aalam-e-Islami' and the 'Aalami Masajid Conference'; of the latter he has been one of 26 members. In 1976 he participated in the Islamic Fiqh Conference |
