Khawaja Nazimuddin, Bangladeshi-Pakistani politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan (d. 1965)
Sir Khwaja Nazimuddin (Bengali: খাজা নাজিমুদ্দীন; Urdu: خواجہ ناظِمُ الدّین; 19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964) was a Pakistani conservative politician and one of the leading founding fathers of Pakistan. He is noted as being the first Bengali to have ruled Pakistan, first as a Governor-General (1948–51), and later as a Prime minister (1951–53).Born into an aristocratic Nawab family in Bengal in 1894, he was educated at the Aligarh Muslim University before pursuing his post-graduation studies at the Cambridge University. Upon returning, he emabarked on his journey as a politician on the platform of All-India Muslim League. Initially, his political career revolved around advocating for educational reforms and development in Bengal. However, later on he started supporting the cause for a separate Muslim homeland under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
He held the office of Prime Minister of Bengal from 1943 to 1945. His tenure saw the Bengal famine of 1943, which was disastrously handled by his administration. After Partition he became the first Chief Minister of East Bengal, an office he held until his ascension to Governor-General in 1948, following the death of Jinnah. In 1951, he relinquished the post of Governor-General to Sir Ghulam Muhammad and took control of the Federal Government as Prime Minister after the assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan.As a Prime Minister, he struggled to run the government effectively on both the internal and foreign fronts, and thus his tenure was short-lived. On the home front, he was unsuccessful in maintaining law and order and imposed martial law in Lahore following religious riots of 1953 and economic stagnation. He also faced a populist language movement in his native Bengal that eventually led to the shutdown of its provincial government. On the foreign front, diplomatic relations with the United States, Soviet Union, Afghanistan, and India soured as republicanism and socialism gained popularity at home. Eventually, he was forced to step down in favor of diplomat Mohammad Ali Bogra by his own appointed Governor-General Sir Malik Ghulam in 1953. He also conceded defeat in elections held in 1954 in Bengal. Shortly after retirement from national politics, he suffered a brief illness and died in 1964. He was buried at a Mausoleum in Dhaka.