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Maulana Zafar Ali Khan was a most famous Urdu journalist in pre-partition India, being editor of the newspaper Zamindar, and a campaigner for Muslim political causes. He is listed on the “Hall of Fame” webpage of the website muslimindia.com. It has been said of him: “… he was the father of Urdu journalism, … The Zamindar newspaper, when Zafar Ali Khan was the proprietor and editor, was the Urdu paper for the Muslims.” Before 1920 Maulana Zafar Ali Khan had co-operated with Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din in some of the work of the Woking Muslim Mission in England. However, during the 1930s he turned against the Ahmadiyya Movement and waged a virulent campaign against it in his newspaper. Note that Maulana Zafar Ali Khan opens his statement above by describing himself as: “a British Indian Muslim who has the proud privilege of looking upon the Empire … as a political structure in whose stability Musalmans [Muslims] are as much interested as Englishmen” In the second paragraph he begins by saying that Indian Muslims look upon the British Government as: “a divine dispensation”, in other words, sent and established by God! He then goes on to add that Indian Muslims regard the British Government as: “a tolerably fair substitute for a Muslim Government.”
Maulana Zafar Ali Khan (1956–1873), was a writer, poet, and journalist who played an important role in the Pakistan Movement. He was born at Kot Mehrath, Sialkot during the time the area became part of British India. He belonged toJanjua family. He also played a role in the freedom movement against the British government in India. He received his early education in Mission High School, Wazirabad,Gujranwala District then he went to Aligarh Muslim University, and graduated from there.
After graduation he was appointed secretary to Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk who was then in Bombay. Then he worked for some time as a translator in Hyderabad, Deccan, rising to the post of Secretary, Home Department. He returned from Hyderabad and launched his daily Zamindar from Lahore which was founded by his father Maulvi Sirajuddin Ahmad.
Most of Maulana's life was spent in politics.He was against the muslim political party of India Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam and their leader'sSyed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari , Chaudhry Afzal Haq .He was a great poet, an orator, an essayist of exceptional merit and a journalist. His interest in poetry began in his childhood and his poems were full of religious and political sentiments. He was specially versed in impromptu compositions. His poetical output has been published in "Baharistan", "Nigaristan", and "Chamanistan". His other works are "Marka-e-Mazhab-o-Science", "Ghalba-e-Rum", "Sayr-e-Zulmet" and an opera "Jang-e-Roos-o-Japan". He was a devotee of Islam and of the Muhammad. His remains lie in Karamabad, Wazirabad.
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