Ghulam Muhammad

Infobox Governor General
name = Ghulam Muhammad


imagesize = 200px
birth_date = 20 April 1895
birth_place = Lahore, Punjab
death_date = death date and age|1956|09|12|1895|04|20
death_place =Lahore, Pakistan
office = 3rd Governor-General of Pakistan
monarch = George VI
Elizabeth II
term_start = 17 October 1951
term_end = 6 October 1955
primeminister = Khawaja Nazimuddin, Muhammad Ali Bogra and Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
predecessor = Khwaja Nazimuddin
successor = Iskander Mirza
office2 = 1st Finance Minister of Pakistan
term_start2 = 15 August 1947
term_end2 = 19 October 1951
primeminister2 = Liaquat Ali Khan and Khawaja Nazimuddin
predecessor2 = Office Created
successor2 = Chaudhry Muhammad Ali
religion = Sunni Islam

Malik Ghulam Muhammad (Urdu: ملک غلام محمد) served as Governor-General of Pakistan from 1951 until 1955, shortly before his death in 1956.

Early life

Born in Lahore, Punjab, British India, in 1895, Ghulam Muhammad attended Aligarh Muslim University, after which he worked in the accounting field. He set up a company in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed, which is now largest SUV maker in India. Later, after the partition of India, Mr. Ghulam Muhammad migrated to Pakistan and became that nation's first finance minister.

Political career

When Pakistan was formed in 1947, Ghulam Muhammad served as its first Finance Minister of Pakistan, owing to his experience in that sector. Suffering from bad health, Ghulam Muhammad was almost removed by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.Fact|date=February 2007 After Liaquat's assassination in 1951, Khawaja Nazimuddin became Prime Minister of Pakistan and Ghulam Muhammad was made the Governor-General. From this position Ghulam Muhammad extended his control over Pakistan. Nazimuddin challenged Ghulam Muhammad's actions, but the latter exercised the reserve powers of the Governor-General's office, dismissing Nazimuddin's government and effectively removing him from office. Muhammad Ali Bogra was installed as the new prime minister.

Governor-General

In 1954, the Assembly of Pakistan tried to change the constitution to establish checks on the Governor-General's powers. In response, Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the Assembly, an action that was challenged in the Supreme Court. Ghulam Muhammad emerged victorious when the Court upheld the dismissal in a split decision, despite the dissenting opinion written by the renowned Justice (later Chief Justice) A. R. Cornelius, and despite protests from the members of the Assembly. This action is now seen as the beginning of “viceregal” politics in Pakistan, in which the military and civil bureaucracy, not elected officials, govern the country and maintain substantial influence over society and the provincesFact|date=October 2007.

Dismissed and Death

Ghulam Muhammad's health deteriorated, and he took a leave of absence in 1955. The acting Governor-General, Iskander Mirza, dismissed him, and Ghulam Muhammad died the next year in 1956.

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box |title=Finance Minister of Pakistan
years=15 August, 1947 - 19 October, 1951
before=Office created| after=Chaudhry Muhammad Ali

succession box |title=Governor-General of Pakistan
years=17 October, 1951 - 6 October, 1955
before=Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin
after=Iskander Mirza