Portal:Pakistan/Selected article/24

Ibrahim Ismail Chundrigar (Urdu: ابراہیم اسماعیل چندریگر), commonly known as I. I. Chundrigar, was Prime Minister of Pakistan for approximately 2 months from 17 October 1957 to 16 December 1957. He was born in 1897 in Midnapore, and educated at Bombay University. He first came to prominence in 1946, when Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the All-India Muslim League, was asked to nominate several members of Muslim League for the interim government of India under the transfer of power from British rule to independence. Chundrigar was appointed Minister for Trade and Commerce in the first cabinet of independent Pakistan in 1947. He later served as ambassador to Afghanistan, governor of the North West Frontier Province, governor of West Punjab, and Minister for Law. President Iskander Mirza appointed Chundrigar as the interim Prime Minister in October 1957. Being a nominated Prime Minister, Chundrigar held a weak position from the very beginning. He headed a coalition government including the Krishak Sramik Party, Nizam-i-Islam Party, the Muslim League and the Republican Party. Karachi's main business street, I. I. Chundrigar Road, has been named after him. (More...)