Forum Pakistan

Urdu-speaking Muslim immigrants from northern India, who settled mostly in *East Pakistan and also *West Pakistan after 1947. According to the 1961 census, they numbered 311,000, or 0.6 per cent of the East Pakistan population.
Bilgrami, Syed Hasan, Dr. Major (d. 1915) Syed Hasan Bi1grami was a physician who joined the British Army. He had helped his brother, Nawab Imadu1 Mu1k, to draft the memorandum to Lord Minto at Simla. He was elected Honorary Secretary of the * AllIndia Muslim League in March 1908. In the same month he sailed for London as a member of the Council of the Secretary of State for India. Bilgrami, more than any other leader, was responsible for the successful campaign for separate electorates for Muslims. This was an issue on which both Lords Minto and Morley had been non-committa1. After a very contentious debate, both in India and England, it was included in the Morley-Minto Reforms 1909. Bi1grami retired from politics in 1910 and died five years later.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Matiur Rahman, 'From Consultation to Confrontation', London, 1970; 'Liaquat Ali Khan and the Freedom Movement', Karachi, 1997.