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Qayyum Nazar Chauhdry, Mohsin-e-Milat: Chaudhry Muhammad Ali, published by Al-Qamar, Lahore, 2013, pp.184, price, Rs.250/-.
Chaudhri Muhammad Ali figures prominently in the history of Pakistan as he served as a senior civil servant and prime minister of the country. Before independence, though he was in the service of the colonial regime, he was quite close to the leadership of the Muslim League. His engagement with the government service gave him the knowhow about the organizational structure, its order and behavior and also the merits and demerits of its working. His contribution in the establishment and development of Pakistan civil service soon after the creation of the country, earned him the support of the Quaid-i-Azam who had posed his trust and faith in him.
After independence Chaudhri Muhammad Ali played very active role in statecraft. Pakistan was created in very unusual circumstances. As the Secretary General of the new government he had to work with all the ministries and had to remove differences and misunderstanding among different ministries. He was assigned the task to lay down the rules of business and to work out the rights and duties of the ministers. Quaid-iAzam had himself appointed him as the Secretary General of the new state.
The Finance Minister Ghulam Muhammad also relied heavily on him, for preparing the budget. Chaudhry Muhammad Ali had also won the confidence of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan. Ayub Khan goes to the extension to mention in his book that 'Liaquat Ali Khan was under the considerable influence of Chaudhry Muhammad Ali'.2 As Secretary General he helped ministries, on safety and peace issues particularly with respect to the provinces. Despite being a civil servant he made unusual interventions in country's politics; he also played an important role in devising Pakistan's policy on Kashmir.
Laying down, along with others senior civil servants, parameters of Pakistan's foreign policy, establishment of its administrative infrastructure, resolving the rehabilitation problem of the migrants, etc., were some of the many noticeable tasks performed by him. Some people thought that the post of Secretary General was created just for him. Ali himself wrote about it in his...