The family of a middle class agriculturist,
late Chaudhry Sardar Khan, is spread over two generations in their
62-year struggle from 1939 t o 2001. His two sons Chaudhry
Manzur Elahi and Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi and his grandsons Chaudhry
Shujat Hussain and Chaudhry
Parvez Elahi gained their present status due
to their hard work, devotion, sincerity and honesty. They are reaping
the fruits of the foundation laid by their forefathers. The social
service rendered by this family has also its history. Their efforts
for the development and prosperity of the area as well as help
and assistance to the needy are no more secret.
Chaudhry Manzur
Elahi, father of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi is the elder brother of
late Chaudhry Zahur Elahi raised in Gujrat,
Chaudry Manzur Elahi left his hometown in 1939 to pursue further
studies. He received his degree in textile engineering from Amritsar in 1940.
Upon his return from Amritsar, Chaudry
Manzur Elahi teamed up with his brother to develop their textile
business. In 1947-48,
he Established two textile units under the names of Gujrat
Silk Mills and Pakistan
Textile Mills. In 1950, the business
was expanded to Lahore where they established Parvez
Textile Mills, specializing in weaving, finishing and dyeing. In 1951-52,
Chaudhry Manzur Elahi went to Japan to import textile machinery
for his Gujrat and Lahore units. Armed with his textile education
and superior business ethics, Chaudry Manzur Elahi’s
textile units continued to flourish under his leadership. The
family continued to dedicate their energies to their business
and set up Modern Flour Mills in Lahore and Rawalpindi.
In 1956,
Chaudry Zahur Elahi decided to enter politics, however, Chaudhry
Manzur Elahi remained committed to the business. Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi was elected Chairman of the Gujrat District Board
in 1958, and thereafter devoted his efforts solely for the welfare
and uplift of the people of his area. The same year, Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi was also elected Director of the National
Bank of Pakistan. He was elected continuously as Director for the next
twelve years.
In 1958, General Ayub Khan came to power through
martial law. He enforced the Elected Bodies Disqualification
Order (EBDO)
for the disqualification of politicians for the next five years.
The politicians were given two options: either to retire voluntarily
or to face the consequences of the Government’s action.
Chaudhry Zahur Elahi was the only politician, in the entire West
Pakistan province, who challenged the EBDO. Despite being cleared
by the EBDO Tribunal for all charges, Chaudry Zahur Elahi was
victimized by the Martial Law regime and was sentenced to six
months imprisonment. He was elected Member of National Assembly
in 1962 and consequently became Secretary General of the Pakistan
Muslim League’s Parliamentary Party of United Pakistan.
Around this time the family purchased Pakistan Times.
Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi continued to gain popularity in the political scene
and was elected to the National Assembly in 1970. He was
among the few members of the Pakistan Muslim League to get elected.
East Pakistan was seceded in 1971 following emergence of Mr.
Z. A Bhutto in politics. On his coming to power, Z.A. Bhutto
nationalized a number of industries including flour mills. Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi was among the nine opposition parliamentary leaders
who were thrown out of the Parliament House by the Bhutto regime.
During the Bhutto regime, Chaudry Zahur Elahi was politically
harassed on a number of incidents such as the alleged buffalo
theft case and the so-called Iraqi arms for Balochistan case.
He was involved in several fabricated cases, one of which was
delivering an anti-government speech in Pearl Continental, Karachi.
A special tribunal sentenced him to imprisonment for five years.
He remained imprisoned in different jails but s erved mostly
in the Karachi jail. Bhutto also planned to assassinate Chaudhry
Zahur Elahi, and had in fact, given orders to the then Balochistan
Governor Akbar Bugti to eliminate Chaudry Zahur Elahi. Akbar
Bugti refused the orders. Pakistan National Alliance gained momentum
following the 1977 rigged elections, when General Zia-ul-Haq seized power and announced to hold fresh elections.
Chaudhry Zahur
Elahi was released from jail and he launched his election campaign
from Gujrat and Constituency No.3 of Lahore
against Bhutto. However, these elections were postponed. Due
to the deteriorating financial situation of the nationalized
industries, the Zia regime decided to return these industries
to their original owners. The Chaudhry family took charge of
their flourmills with a new determination.
Following General Zia’s
actions against the Bhutto family, Murtaza Bhutto formed Al
- Zulfiqar, a terrorist organization.
Chaudhry Zahur Elahi was the first victim of Al - Zulfiqar when
he was assassinated in Lahore in September 1981. Murtaza
Bhutto publicly accepted responsibility for the assassination in his
interview with BBC.
At this juncture, the Chaudhry family decided
that Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and Chaudhry
Parvez Elahi (sons
of the two brothers)
should take charge of the family business as well as to enter
politics. In 1982, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was elected Chairman
of District Council Gujrat and remained Chairman for several
years due to his popularity. In the 1985 non-party based elections,
Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi were elected
to the National Assembly and Punjab
Assembly respectively.
Despite
being their political responsibilities, both cousin brothers
attended to their business as well. In 1987, the family diversified
into the sugar industry. They set up two sugar mills, at Mian
Channu (Khanewal) and at Phalia (Mandi
Bahauddin). The family
also expanded their textile business by entering spinning and
cotton yarn in 1990-91 and consequently set up two separate units
in Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin.
In 1988 Benazir Bhutto came to
power and followed the footsteps of her family in victimizing
the Chaudhry family. Her government
issued orders to all banks to stop issuing working capital to
the industrial units owned by the Chaudries , thus making them
engineered defaulters. The family sought relief from the courts
and continued their business on borrowing from the private sector.
In 1997 when he interim Government announced that no one would
be allowed to contest in the elections without clearing their
loans, the family faced serious financial problems. They managed
to sell their sugar and cotton yarn in advance for coming two
years at lower rates to repay their loans. Upholding their family
values, the Chaudries have paid billions of Rupees in the form
of various taxes and duties and continues to do so. The family
has neither applied nor got any loan written off. Individually
Chaudhry Shujat and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi are among the politicians
paying highest taxes.
From 1993-97, several fictitious cases were
registered against Chaudhry Shujat Hussain and Chaudhry Parvez
Elahi. They were
detained in Adiyla Jail Rawalpindi for several months. In the
1997 election, the two cousins were elected to the National Assembly
and Punjab Assembly with majority votes and held important ministries.
Chaudry Shujaat Hussain was the Interior Minister while Chaudhry
Parvez Elahi was elected Speaker of the Punjab Assembly with
overwhelming majority.
Till date, the Chaudries continue to devote
their time towards the social and political welfare of Pakistan.
Chaudry Shujaat
Hussain and Chaudry Parvez Elahi are still an integral part of
the Pakistan Muslim League’s core and are committed in
doing their part for Pakistan’s prosperity. The modestjourney,
which started from Gujrat in 1939, continues. The present military
government awarded the Chaudries by awarding them a “Character
Certificate” in November 1999. On the business end, the
FPCCI honored Kunjah Textiles, with an award in textile export
excellence. Although the family has been plagued by victimization
from their political enemies and has suffered many hardships,
they continue to build the foundation laid by their forefathers.
The
family has the prayers of thousands of families and well-wishers
and hence, the march is continuing by the Grace of Allah. |
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