I wonder how many of us know who was Sardar Aurangzeb Gandapur?What were his contributions in the freedom movement? Almost all the history books that I have come across about the role of the Muslim League from its creation up to the Independence Day do not throw much light on this great freedom fighter for the reasons unknown to me.
Sardar Aurangzeb Gandapur who belonged to the Gandapur tribe of DIKhan was a close confidante of the founder of the nation. The correspondence between him and the Qaid shows that the latter greatly valued his suggestions and had had a great faith in his political acumen and sagacity. Sardar Aurangzeb not only represented Frontier at the second round table conference in London, he found the first Muslim league parliamentary party in the frontier assembly. He was a signatory, a seconder of the Lahore resolution and was one of the five speakers who addressed the AIML open session on 23 rd March 1940 at Minto park lahore. Within three years he consolidated Muslim league to an extent that he formed first ever Muslim league government in the congress dominated frontier province. The irony of situation is that whereas we have named places after many lesser people but no street, no road, no chowk, no institution, no airport and no university was named after him. This unsung Gandapur is not remembered in the print or electronic media even on 23 rd March or 14 th August.
So dejected and frustrated he was that soon after partition, after the death of the Qaid when he saw that Muslim league leaders have started deviating from the principles of the founder of the nation he silently retired from politics and settled in a secluded chak of Tehsil samundari in Faisal Abad away from the district and province of his domicile. He lies buried there in an unmarked grave.
Would some research scholar of Pakistan movement dig out material concerning contributions of this veteran both in the provincial legislature and outside it?
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