Qazi Mohammad Isa, a trusted lieutenant, who worked day and night under the leadership of Jinnah for the cause of independent Pakistan, opened his eyes in a small village of District Pishin on July 17, 1914. He was educated at Sundeman High School and Government High School Quetta. In 1933 he went to England for higher studies, and after getting degree in law from the Middle Temple, he joined the Bar in England. After one year he came back to his own country and started his profession as a lawyer at Bombay court in 1938. There he met Jinnah, with whom his lifelong friendship developed. Jinnah’s vision and the policies of League, which aimed at achieving an independent State for the Muslims, impressed Qazi Isa, who dedicated himself to the Pakistan Movement. Due to the immense hard work of Qazi Isa Muslim League for the first time was organized in Balochistan in 1939. He was the great supporter of League in his own province due to which League got roots in the hearts of Balochs. The first Conference of League was organized on June 10, 11 1939 at Quetta presided over by Qazi Isa. When Muslim League passed the historic resolution of Pakistan on March 23, 1940 at Lahore, Qazi Isa spoke on the occasion as the representative of Balochistan and vehemently supported the resolution. In the same year he was elected as the youngest member of the working committee of the All India Muslim League. In 1946, he was made Chief of Publicity Committee of the All-India Muslim League for the general elections 1945-46. He was later entrusted a task to organize the Muslim League in NWFP, which he successfully fulfilled within a year. Thus Qazi Isa Qazi Isa played a pivotal role in the referendum of NWFP as well as the vote for Pakistan in Balochistan.
In less than seven years 1940-47 he traveled more than 300,000 miles distance to campaign for Pakistan. In February 1948, he was appointed as a Member of the Advisory Council of Agent to the Governor General in Baluchistan. He held various important political offices in the party. In 1951, he was made Pakistan’s Ambassador to Brazil and served in that capacity for two years. He had been a member of Pakistan delegations to the United Nations in 1950, 1954 and 1974 respectably. He was also member of the Committee on Minorities in the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
Whenever the Quaid came to Quetta, he was highly impressed by the hospitality and warmness of Qazi Isa. He realized the future importance of Balochistan in the development of a separate homeland for the Indian Muslims and advised the Balochis to be politically united, as it was indispensable to their future stability. It was the initiative of Quaid’s visit to Balochistan, which led to ‘Balochistan: Case and Demand’, a pamphlet, written by Qazi Muhammad Isa. Comprising 11 chapters, it was a blueprint for the package of reforms to be implemented under the guidance of the Quaid-i-Azam. The work on the ‘Case and Demand’ for Balochistan partially started after independence but was put into cold storage soon after the death of the Quaid in the wake of volatile struggle for power, which ultimately led to a series of undemocratic rules.
He was also the founder of pro-League weekly “Al-Islam” which aimed to introduce message of the Muslim League to the inhabitants of the province. Qazi Isa devotedly served the Muslim League for 37 years. He died on June 19, 1976.
This article was last updated on Monday, Jan 01, 2007
