->Ebbedlila at 15:11, 13 August 2021

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{{Short description|Indian politician}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
'''Khan Shakir Ali Khan''' (1904 - 1978), popularly known as '''''Sher-e-Bhopal''''', was an Indian politician, activist, trade unionist and journalist.<ref name="a">{{cite book|title=Madhya Pradesh Who's Who, 1975–76: Eminent Individuals Listed Professionwise|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gNJWAAAAMAAJ|year=1976|publisher=New Era Publications|page=171}}</ref><ref name="c">ummid.com. ''[http://www.ummid.com/news/2011/May/20.05.2011/exhibition_in_bhopal_freedom_fighter.htm Exhibition in Bhopal on life & work of freedom fighter Khan Shakir Ali Khan]''</ref> A leader of the labour movement in [[Bhopal]], Khan led the struggles for the integration of [[Bhopal State]] with India. After Independence he served four tenures as state legislator, representing the [[Communist Party of India]].

==Early career==
Khan was an active [[Urdu]] journalist. Around 1926–1927 he worked at the Delhi-based ''Rayasat'' and the Calcutta-based ''Hind''.<ref name="a"/> He worked a ''[[Naik (military rank)|naik]]'' at the Sultania Infantry of Bhopal, and later as a ''[[ryot]]warri moharrir'' in the administration of the Nawab of Bhopal.<ref name="d"/> He was well-versed in [[Persian language]].<ref name="e"/>

Khan was active in the struggle against the monarchy in the [[Bhopal State]], and was imprisoned on several occasions.<ref name="a"/> He was fired from his government job in 1932, following which he started to become known for his opposition activities.<ref name="d">{{cite book|author1=Shiri Ram Bakshi|author2=S.R. Bakshi And O.P. Ralhan|title=Madhya Pradesh Through the Ages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZKOBF2ST-0C&pg=PA423|year=2008|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-806-7|pages=423–424, 437 440}}</ref> In 1933 he founded the Anjuman Khuddam-e-Watan (League of Servants of Fatherland), serving as its secretary.<ref name="a"/><ref name="d"/> The organisation had a parochial character, arguing for the rights of the Bhopali population against the rule of Punjabi Muslims.<ref name="d"/>

===Struggle against Nawab rule===
Between 1934 and 1949 he worked at a number of different Urdu newspapers.<ref name="a"/> The publications that he was linked to in Bhopal were frequently banned by the Nawab's government.<ref name="c"/> He set up various trade unions at mills and factories in Bhopal.<ref name="a"/><ref name="c"/> Together with Tarzi Mashriqi (president of Anjuman Khuddam-e-Watan) he founded the newspaper ''Sabah-e-Watan'' in 1934.<ref name="d"/> Serving as its editor, he was jailed in the same year for having published a cartoon mocking the Bhopal judiciary.<ref name="b"/> He was sentenced to two months imprisonment for contempt of court.<ref name="d"/> The arrest provoked popular protests and after seventeen days the government decided to release him.<ref name="b">''The New Indian Express''. ''[http://www.newindianexpress.com/opinion/article182097.ece?service=print Bhopal gas tragedy and the forgotten crusader]''</ref> Together with trade union leaders, he founded the Praja Mandal in 1938.<ref name="c"/><ref name="d"/> He was the president of Praja Mandal, but soon resigned from the post. Khan was jailed for eight months. After his release he was again arrested. He was prosecuted under the [[Defense of India Rules]] and sentenced to two years imprisonment. He was jailed at Sehore jail.<ref name="d"/> Upon his release he founded the Mazdoor Sabha ('Workers Union').<ref name="e">{{cite book|author=Christophe Jaffrelot / Laurent Gayer|title=MUSLIMS IN INDIAN CITIES|date=December 2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ixrT-ldIWZMC&pg=PT162|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India|isbn=978-93-5029-555-7|page=162}}</ref>

==1952 elections==
In 1950 the [[Kisan Mazdoor Mandal]] ('Peasant Worker Association') was formed by mergerists that left the [[Indian National Congress]] ''en bloc''.<ref name="f"/> Khan was the president of KMM.<ref>{{cite book|title=State Politics in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYDNOpqJjSsC|year=1968|page=!45}}</ref> In the 1952 election to the Legislative Assembly of the Bhopal State, Khan contested the Jahangirabad seat as a KMM candidate.<ref name="f">{{cite book|author=Ashfaq Ali|title=Bhopal, Past and Present : a Brief History of Bhopal from the Hoary Past Up to the Present Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owMMAQAAIAAJ|year=1981|publisher=Jai Bharat Publishing House|page=447}}</ref><ref name="eci1952"/> He stood against Tarzi Mashriqi, who contested of behalf of the Indian National Congress.<ref name="eci1952">Election Commission of India. ''[http://eci.gov.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/SE_1951/StatRep_51_BHOPAL.pdf STATISTICAL REPORT ON GENERAL ELECTION, 1951 TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF BHOPAL]''</ref> Khan finished in second place, with 2,581 votes (43.41% of the votes in the constituency).<ref name="eci1952"/>

He set up the Bhopal State branch of the [[Communist Party of India]] in 1952, becoming the president of the state party organisation.<ref name="a"/><ref name="e"/> Khan played an important role in making Bhopal the capital city of the new [[Madhya Pradesh]] state.<ref name="c"/> He was elected to the Madhya Pradesh [[Vidhan Sabha|Legislative Assembly]] from the Bhopal constituency in 1957, 1962, 1967 and 1972.<ref name="a"/><ref name="e"/>

==Later political career==
Khan was a key figure in the Muslim milieu of Bhopal.<ref name="e"/> He served as chairman of the Madhya Pradesh [[Waqf]] Board between 19 January 1968 and 6 December 1969.<ref name="a"/><ref name="e"/><ref>Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board. ''[http://www.mpwaqfboard.org/Public%20Page/charPerlist.aspx List of the Chair Persons and Administrators of M.P. Waqf Board]''</ref> In the 1970s he served as chairman of the [[All India Kisan Sabha (Ajoy Bhavan)|Madhya Pradesh Kisan Sangh]] and a member of the Madhya Pradesh State Council of CPI.<ref name="a"/> He also served as the president of the Madhya Pradesh state unit of the [[All India Trade Union Congress]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Link, vol. 20, part 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ampDAAAAYAAJ|year=1978|publisher=United India Periodicals|page=158}}</ref>

As a legislator, Khan was one of few prominent voices that protested against the setting up the [[Union Carbide Corporation]] chemical plant in Bhopal.<ref name="b"/> In a 1969 assembly debate he stated that the setting up of the factory implied 'very high risks'.<ref name="b"/><ref>{{cite book|title=International Review of History and Political Science, vol. 23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTdnAAAAMAAJ|year=1986|publisher="Review" Publications|page=11}}</ref> In 1984 the Union Carbide Corporation plant was the site of [[Bhopal disaster|a major industrial disaster]] with thousands of victims.<ref name="b"/>

==Memorials==
The Khan Shakir Ali Khan Hospital at Bhopal is named after him.<ref name="b"/>

==References==
{{Portal|Organized Labour|Communism}}
{{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Shakirali}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India politicians from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Writers from Bhopal]]
[[Category:Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1957–1962]]
[[Category:Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1962–1967]]
[[Category:Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1967–1972]]
[[Category:Madhya Pradesh MLAs 1972–1977]]
[[Category:Journalists from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian journalists]]
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]

Khan Shakir Ali Khan - Revision history

->Ebbedlila at 15:11, 13 August 2021