Iskander Mirza
Iskander Mirza (13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969) was a Bengali politician, statesman and military general who served as the Dominion of Pakistan's fourth and last governor-general of Pakistan from 1955 to 1956, and then as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan's first president from 1956 to 1958.
Quotes
[edit]- However, it must be plainly stated that while we are anxious to maintain friendly relations with India we must and shall defend our territory. We must maintain our territorial integrity by every means within our power.
- In reaction to the incidents in India–Pakistan border, quoted in "Pakistan Cautions India On Territory", The New York Times, 26 March 1956.
- Democracy without education is hypocrisy without limitation.
- Proclamation on abolition of the assemblies, quoted in PAKISTAN: To Be Happier & Freer, Time, 20 October 1958.
- The elections were a peculiar type of elections which I have not understood from that day to this. I was elected by a Punjabi group to represent Sialkot, a place I had never been to.
- About 1955 Pakistani Constituent Assembly election, quoted in "Chapter 28: One Unit", Iskander Mirza: Rise and Fall of a President (1997), Ahmed Salim, reproduced by Sami Panhwar (2022), page 108.
- My cardinal error was that, I trusted persons whom I knew, and helped, for twenty years; I regarded them as reliable and trustworthy friends.
- On the letter to the editor of The Times sent on 13 September 1967, quoted in Iskander Mirza Speaks: Speeches, Statements and Private Papers (1997), compiled and edited by Ahmad Salim, Gora Publishers. Excerpted from the official website of Khurram Ali Shafique
- Now, when a prime minister of the country comes to the president and tells him to shoot him, [that] he has made too many mistakes and he is almost weeping, the only conclusion the president can arrive at is the man has lost his nerves and is no longer able to continue as prime minister.
- About prime minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali during an interview with Abul Hassan Ispahani on 23 September 1967, quoted in Honor-bound to Pakistan in Duty, Destiny & Death: Iskander Mirza, Pakistan's First Elected President's Memoirs from Exile (2023), Syed Khawar Mehdi, Lightstone Publishers, ISBN 9789697162581. Excerpted from PAKISTAN’S EARLY PALACE INTRIGUES, Dawn, 3 September 2023.
Quotes about him
[edit]- When the history of our Country is written by objective historians, your name will be placed even before that of Mr. Jinnah.
- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto on his confidential letter sent to Mirza in April 1958, quoted in "A letter from Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto", Hurriyat News, 26 June 2011. Excerpted from Talkhaba.com
- Iskander Mirza’s strong-armed diplomacy along with the able guidance of Prime Minister Sir Firoz Khan Noon’s government throughout the acquisition process was instrumental in achieving the desired results. It was the only time since the initial accession of the princely states in 1947-8 that Pakistan’s territory had increased.
- Syed Khawar Mehdi in Honor-bound to Pakistan in Duty, Destiny & Death: Iskander Mirza, Pakistan's First Elected President's Memoirs from Exile (2023), Lightstone Publishers, ISBN 9789697162581, page 215, quoted from Iskander Mirza: His Own Story, In His Own Words, The Friday Times, 13 August 2023.
