Former Karachi Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, known to be the architect of the Tameer-e-Karachi programme, passed away on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. He was 90.
His funeral prayers will be offered near Jamaat-e-Islami's city headquarters, the Idara Noor-e-Haq, on the New M A Jinnah Road, on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for the Jamaat-e-Islami said.
A lawyer by profession and a dynamic social worker, Niamatullah Khan was a man of many dimensions.
After becoming the Nazim in 2001 he successfully convinced the then president, Gen Pervez Musharraf (retd), to involve all of the city's stakeholders to develop the metropolis on modern lines.
Musharraf agreed and launched the Tameer-e-Karachi programme worth Rs 29 billion, which greatly changed the city's outlook. He conceived dozens of uplift schemes and executed them, including hospitals, water and sanitation projects, roads, flyovers, parks, underpasses, pedestrian bridges and many more which continue to facilitate the people of this very city.
Under Khan's leadership, the city council approved various projects, including 18 flyovers, six underpasses, two signal-free roads and a huge water supply scheme for the people of Karachi. It was for the first time in the history of Karachi that all the stakeholders of Karachi were enlisted for the developmental work of the city.
Naimatullah Khan was born in Ajmer in India on October 1, 1930. During his school days he was an active worker of the Pakistan Movement. He accompanied his elders and other notables of Shahjahanpur to the "All India Muslim Legislators Conference" convened by the Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He was later elected deputy chief of the Muslim League national guards of District Ajmer. His family migrated from Shahjahanpur, India, to Pakistan in 1947. The family's early days in Pakistan were quite tough, and they lived in camps and slums for many years. Niamatullah Khan struggled very hard to get higher education while sustaining his family through odd jobs and private tuitions. He graduated from the University of Punjab and did his masters in Persian literature from Karachi University.
He also did a diploma in journalism at Karachi University. However, he opted for law as his career and after earning an LLB degree in Karachi he started his practice in income tax law. From 1958 until 1991 he practiced as a successful lawyer and an established adviser on income tax issues.
Niamatullah Khan was elected Member of the Sindh Assembly in 1985 and during the three-and-a-half-year tenure of that assembly he remained leader of the opposition.
The elections for local government system in 2001 brought Niamatullah Khan into the office of city Nazim, a highly challenging assignment due to the ambiguity in the newly introduced system which both the traditional politicians and bureaucrats were reluctant to accept. During his tenure as Nazim he was invited to attend various conferences all over the world. He was selected as one of the best mayors of the world.
Being the head and founder of the Al-Khidmat Welfare Society, he had been active in various welfare and development schemes for the low-income population of Karachi. These welfare schemes included hospitals, schools, dispensaries etc. He also led effective relief operations.
In Tharparkar, Niamatullah Khan initiated a massive well-digging Project which resulted in 450 wells of potable water, providing relief to thousands of dwellers of the area.
He initiated Al-Ilm Project which constructed schools in 45 villages, contributing to increasing the rate of literacy in Tharparkar. He was made coordinator for earthquake victims in Azad Kashmir and the then NWFP in 2005. He donated his entire earnings to the tune of about two million rupees which he earned during his tenure as Nazim to the earthquake victims.
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