History
M. Rafi butt a young and enterprising industrialist from Lahore. belonged to that small nucleus of honest, well-meaning and patriotic middle-class professional who rallied around the Quaid-e-Azam and fought the battle for independence. The Quaid’s Charismatic personality and his total dedication to the cause of the Muslim freedom inspired him with a sense of selflessness and social commitment. He became an ardent disciple of the Quaid and staked his life for the cause of Muslim uplift.
M. Rafi Butt was born in 1909 in Nivan Katra, a modest locality in the walled city of Lahore. His father, Ghulam Nabi, had a small factory manufacturing surgical instruments near Anarkali. Soon after Rafi matriculated from Islamia School, his father, then aged 39, died unexpectedly. Thus at age 16, Rafi had to join and support his family business. With a knack for dealing with the dynamics of business, he soon managed to expand his small-scale operation into a flourishing empire – a unique accomplishment, especially for a Muslim, in the business climate of undivided India, He acquired advanced training in the steel industry at Birmingham, U.K., built a new factory on Ferozepur Road, and, within a decade established himself as the leading entrepreneur of the Punjab. His second venture was the establishment of the first Muslim Bank in northwestern India, the Central Exchange Bank, at Lahore in 1936. It was a huge access. It opened a branch in Amritsar in 1944 and planned to open several branches as far afield as Peshawar and Karachi.
Rafi Butt Travelled extensively while still young. He traveled to the U.S, Europe and England, Studying many industrial units and acquiring the latest know-how to expand and run his business concerns which now included air-conditioning, cold storage and fertilizer plants. The fact that he was included in the Indian industrial delegation to Germany in 1946 indicates the status he enjoyed in undivided India. He also attended the I.L.O moot at San Francisco in 1948 and took the opportunity of visiting the U.K to approach the Board of Trade in his personal capacity for the supply of the steel to Pakistan.
His Study tours and discussions with champions of the industries convinced Rafi Butt that metals, especially steel held the key to industrial development. I observed a great similarity between the natural resources of the United States and that of India. He wrote to the Quaid-e-Azam on October 2, 1945 after his return from a six-month study tour of the U.S.
“And do not see why our own great country cannot be developed economically on the same lines as America.”
His correspondence with the Quaid-e-Azam brings out an equally important dimension of Rafi Butt. Research into his life and times indicates that he was in contact with Quaid, at least from 1942, and that the Quaid visited his Ghulam Nabi & Sons Surgical Works early in December 1942. Besides Rafi Butt’s implicit faith in the idea of Pakistan and the Quaid’s leadership, Rafi’s correspondence shows that he was an astute economic planner who had some extremely bright ideas for the economic development of the new state. The letters also indicate the Quaid’s confidence in the young man from the Punjab. that Quaid not only appointed Rafi Butt member of the All-India Muslim League’s Planning Committee in 1944, but also asked Him to give names of the those “who can be of some help to us in this undertaking.” Rafi was named Chairman, Sub-Committee mining and Metal lurgy and Member, Sub-committee on Transport, Trade and Commerce.
For the mobilization of Muslims in Punjab. Rafi felt the need for an English daily. This was an issue he constantly highlighted in his correspondence. He contributed 25% towards the capital cost. The Pakistan Times was finally launched in February 1947. Another Problem that bothered Rafi was the lack of publicity, abroad by the Muslim League in contrast to the massive propaganda by the Congress. He suggested that his office which he was opening in New York might undertake the task of publicizing the League’s viewpoint.
His second venture was the establishment of the first Muslim Bank in northwestern India, the Central Exchange Bank, at Lahore in 1936. It was a huge access. It opened a branch in Amritsar in 1944 and planned to open several branches as far afield as Peshawar and Karachi.
Rafi Butt Travelled extensively while still young. He traveled to the U.S, Europe and England, Studying many industrial units and acquiring the latest know-how to expand and run his business concerns which now included air-conditioning, cold storage and fertilizer plants. The fact that he was included in the Indian industrial delegation to Germany in 1946 indicates the status he enjoyed in undivided India. He also attended the I.L.O moot at San Francisco in 1948 and took the opportunity of visiting the U.K to approach the Board of Trade in his personal capacity for the supply of the steel to Pakistan.
His Study tours and discussions with champions of the industries convinced Rafi Butt that metals, especially steel held the key to industrial development.
I observed a great similarity between the natural resources of the United States and that of India. He wrote to the Quaid-e-Azam on October 2, 1945 after his return from a six-month study tour of the U.S.
“And do not see why our own great country cannot be developed economically on the same lines as America.”
His correspondence with the Quaid-e-Azam brings out an equally important dimension of Rafi Butt. Research into his life and times indicates that he was in contact with Quaid, at least from 1942, and that the Quaid visited his Ghulam Nabi & Sons Surgical Works early in December 1942. Besides Rafi Butt’s implicit faith in the idea of Pakistan and the Quaid’s leadership, Rafi’s correspondence shows that he was an astute economic planner who had some extremely bright ideas for the economic development of the new state. The letters also indicate the Quaid’s confidence in the young man from the Punjab. that Quaid not only appointed Rafi Butt member of the All-India Muslim League’s Planning Committee in 1944, but also asked Him to give names of the those “who can be of some help to us in this undertaking.” Rafi was named Chairman, Sub-Committee mining and Metal lurgy and Member, Sub-committee on Transport, Trade and Commerce.
For the mobilization of Muslims in Punjab. Rafi felt the need for an English daily. This was an issue he constantly highlighted in his correspondence. He contributed 25% towards the capital cost. The Pakistan Times was finally launched in February 1947. Another Problem that bothered Rafi was the lack of publicity, abroad by the Muslim League in contrast to the massive propaganda by the Congress. He suggested that his office which he was opening in New York might undertake the task of publicizing the League’s viewpoint.
Rafi Butt’s services and accomplishments were rescued from oblivion by the tireless efforts of his son, Imtiaz Rafi Butt. He set up the Jinnah Rafi Foundation in 1989 and discovered his father’s great commitment to the Quaid and the Pakistan Movement. His researchers, in fact, led to a double discovery: a son discovered a father and a father discovered his own identity through the leader that he had found and acknowledged.
The Foundation has published two books so far, Namely. “My Dear Quaid-e-Azam”(Jinnah Rafi Correspondence) and “At Quaid’s Service” (A journey towards discovery).
M. Rafi Butt died in an air crash on November 26, 1948. He was only 39 within the short span granted to him on.
