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Ijaz Hussain Batalvi

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Ijaz Hussain Batalvi a Lincoln's Inn Barrister, Jurist and Scholar born in Batala, India, sub-Continent before independence on September 7th, 1923. Later his family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Lahore. He graduated from Government College University in 1943, Lahore and went to London for higher studies of Law and admitted in Lincoln's Inn to become a Barrister 1949. He remained a Law Professor for about fifty years in University Law College, Punjab University. He worked for All India Radio, Delhi, then BBC Urdu in London during his studies of Law and Radio Pakistan. He died at age of 81 year due to prostate cancer.

He become popular after the Allama Mashraqi case he conducted. Then he appeared in Col. Gardezi case which taught in British Law School as a precedent. His colleague Barrister M. Anwar appointed Public Prosecutor in Bhutto murder trial and all of sudden Barrister M.Anwar died and Batalvi forced to accept to become Prosecutor of his Badge mate Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who lastly executed by General Zia ul Haq, a dictator who imposed Martial Law on July 5, 1977. He voluntarily appeared as a defense Lawyer for Nawaz Sharif when another Martial Law was imposed by the dictator by General Pervez Musharraf in October 1999 and succeeded to save him from execution resultantly Nawaz Sharif family went to Saudi Arabia for Exile.

Picture of Ijaz Hussain Batalvi with the pictures of Qauid-e-Azam and Asma Jahangir

Quotes

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  • It is easy to bear a person with empty stomach but it's very difficult to bear an empty mind person.
    • [1] Era of Justice...The News.


  • Here in Pakistan, there is a need to appoint a police man with every person to moniter him as everybody is compromised to indulge in corruption.
    • [2] Ijaz Hussain Batalvi memories Naeem Bokhari.


  • At the time of independence, Punjab had inherited 19 jails, whereas 21 more prisons had been commissioned after 1947. It was also at this Attock Fort that the trial of various officers of the country’s armed forces was held in 1973 and then in 1985.

Eminent lawyers like Manzur Qadir, SM Zafar, Ijaz Hussain Batalvi, Aitzaz Ahsan and Wasim Sajjad have been defending the disgruntled officers of armed forces in these Attock Fort trials.

    • [3] What makes Attock jail historical, where Imran was shifted post conviction.


  • In a case of bail which Mr Ijaz Hussain Batalvi was opposing, a very eminent attorney, while persuading the court to agree that the persons seeking bail would not abscond if allowed bail nor would interfere with the prosecution, vehemently urged.

"My Lords, my clients are not 'deperados" (he meant desperados, i.e. desperate men). Mr Batalvi, without pointing out the error, gravely concurred, "I entirely agree with my learned friend. His clients are not Deperados from El Dorado."


Quotes about Batalvi

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  • Mr. Batalvi never compromised on principles and always raised voice for the rights of the bar members.
    • [4] Tribute paid to Batalvi by Lahore High Court Bar Association.


  • My boy, he may not take you to court but would certainly take out your front teeth, with the blessings of the entire neighbourhood." Mr Batalvi bought a new blue colour Ford Cortina. On Aftab Gul's daring (so I still claim), I climbed on its roof to perform the 'twist' amidst loud clapping.
    • [5] Aftab Gul Recalling a Class act.


  • Maybe we now live in interesting times when they don’t make great men any more. I am also reminded of another memorable personality, Ijaz Hussain Batalvi. He was not just an ordinary barrister but one who had practiced in England as well as Pakistan. Being at the helm of his career during the 1970s, he became a prosecution lawyer against Z A Bhutto in the Kasuri murder case which resulted in his social boycott by fellow writers. Many amongst the legal community may not be aware of the fact that he was also a fiction writer. The community of intellectuals did not like the fact that he had represented the government.
    • [6] Where are those great men.


  • When I first arrived in London in 1953, my friend, Ijaz Hussain Batalvi whom I hadn’t seen for some years, had become a dandified Londoner. He had had all the required dinners at Lincoln’s Inn and was about to enter the Bar. He was now living, in what Roger Fry, called

“a society of elegant frivolity.” Batalvi took me under his wings. He showed me how to get tube connections and arranged to find digs for me in the same old Victorian block of apartments in Kensington where he had resided as a cherished guest for the last four years. Kensington was one of the most coveted residential areas in London and South Kensington, where we were lodged was, of course, crème de la crème.

    • [7] Zia Mohyeddin column Word is a Word is a World.


  • Ijaz Hussain Baralvi was a famous lawyer and author. He practiced law in Lahore and was well known in literary and political circles. He wrote an essay which was also delivered as an address to a conference in 1974. This Urdu essay is translated into English by Mohammad Akmal Makhdum. Pakistan has suffered imposition of martial laws repeatedly since its birth as a nation. First martial law was declared in 1958 that lasted 10 years. Subsequent martial laws saw political and democratic institutions destroyed, elected leaders murdered and civil liberties trampled upon. Rule of law and freedoms of assembly and expression were suppressed and courts of law oppressed. Political corruption increased and state civil services were corrupted. Social and collective mental impact are discussed in some detail with a wider view of history.
    • [8] Impact of Martial Law on Pakistani Society.


  • He did not deliver a lecture; he gave a performance. He viewed the teacher as the "principal actor in a one-act play." During one of his remarkable lectures on torts, Aftab Gul and I spontaneously responded with wah wah.


  • A well-known heckler would waive his hand vigorously in every class with cries of 'Sarr Sarr. Important Swal 'Yes, my boy' Mr Batalvi would yield. "Sarr, if my next door neighbour's sister is named Yasmin and I called my house Yasmin Cottage, can her brother take me to court and sue me for damages"?

"My boy, he may not take you to court but would certainly take out your front teeth, with the blessings of the entire neighborhood." Mr Batalvi bought a new blue color Ford Cortina. On Aftab Gul's daring (so I still claim), I climbed on its roof to perform the 'twist' amidst loud clapping.


  • The late Ijaz Husain Batalvi was a multi-dimensional personality — a short story writer, critic, poet, essayist, broadcaster, barrister and a teacher at Law College, Lahore. His literary career was spread over a span of half a century but surprisingly, he never published his work in a book form during his lifetime. Intizar Husain, in his article ‘Lazzat ki talash mein’, once asked him why it was so and the humble Ijaz sahib replied, ‘Mein koi sikkaband adeeb nahi hoon. Apni koi adbi haseeyat manwani maqsood nahin hai. Tabiyat idhar aaye likh liya, nahi aayee na likha. Asal mein main aik weekend writer hoon.’ (‘I am not some sort of stamp approved Litterateur. My objective is not to get an approval of my literary standing as such. When the feeling comes I write, if it doesn’t come I don’t write. Actually, I consider myself a weekend writer’.)

Agree to Muhammad Ali Jinnah

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  • Mr. Batalvi agree with Mr. Muahaam Ali Jinnah Qauid-e-Azam who beautifully elucidated in his quotation, "Islam established democracy, peace and justice to safeguard the rights of the oppressed" .
A Nation can never progress unless it marches in one formation.

" Islam came in the world to establish democracy, peace and justice; to safeguard the rights of the oppressed. It brought to humanity the message of equality of the rich and the poor, of the high and the low. The Holy Prophet fought for these ideals for the major part of his life. Is it not, therefore, the duty of every Muslim, wherever he may be, to do his level best to preserve the great ideals and the glorious tradition of Islam, to fight for the equality of mankind, the achievement of man’s legitimate rights and the establishment of democracy? We in India believe that Pakistan is our legitimate demand, our birthright. We believe that it is in consonance with democratic principles and justice. We are, therefore, determined to fight for it and Inshaallah we shall win. Message to editor Muslim Views, Colombo (Ceylon) on Holy Prophet’s birthday, Bombay, 5 February 1945 "


See also

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