Life After The Partition and Death
After the Indo-Pak partition, Nawab M. Ismail Khan remained a member of the Legislative Assembly of India. He accepted in 1947 to become the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University for the second time, only to confront the challenge facing the very existence of the Muslim character of the Aligarh University – it was Nawab M. Ismail Khan who invited Jawaharlal Nehru and Mrs. Sarojini Naidu to the convocations of the University whereby giving it the official recognition of the Indian Government. The moment he sensed that the University might suffer on account of his presence, he resigned immediately and returned to Meerut in 1948. His association with the Aligarh University was deep rooted due to his father, Nawab M. Ishak Khan; who had served the institution with passion and devotion as its Trustee and Secretary when it was the M.A.O. College. Nawab M. Ismail Khan also served the University for many years as its Trustee.
Several efforts were made to bring him to Pakistan and it is said that when he first visited the country, Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan offered him a carte blanche, but, as has been aptly said by the Raja Sahib of Mehmoodabad, “His self-respect and great nobility of character did not allow him to accept any such offer”.
After withdrawing from politics, he visited Pakistan twice, once in 1951 and then in 1955-56. His three sons G.A. Madani, Iftikhar Ahmed Khan (Kaiser) and Iftikhar Ahmed Khan (Adani) were all members of the Civil Service of Pakistan. G.A. Madani and I.A. Khan (Kaiser) started their careers in the Indian Civil Service in 1937 and 1939 respectively and rose to the highest civil offices in the bureaucracy. His youngest son, dotingly known as 'Adani' was a literary figure and wrote books on Ghalib and Urdu poetry.
Nawab Mohammad Ismail Khan, after having spent a lifetime of wholeheartedly rendering his services for the welfare of Muslims, died on the 28th of June, 1958 on the night of Eid-ul-Azha in Meerut. It was Nawab M. Ismail Khan’s Grandfather, Nawab Mustafa Khan Shefta who had earmarked an area at the shrine of Hazrat Niazmuddun for the family graveyard. This is where the great freedom fighter and a founding father of Pakistan, also lies buried alongside three of his preceding generations. His residence, the historical Mustafa Castle in Meerut built in 1901 in memory of Nawab Shefta, was the headquarters of the Uttar Pradesh Muslim League and the hub of bustling, great political activity for over four decades.
The Raja Sahib further said that Nawab M. Ismail Khan was “the product of the generation which had inherited all that was good and gracious in our culture”.
Read more about this topic: Mohammad Ismail Khan (Indian Politician)
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