Muhammad Hamza

He has done Master of Arts in Economics from the University of the Punjab in 1951.[8]

Hamza was born on 20 March 1929 in Ludhiana, Indian Punjab. His father Moulvi Abdullah was a prominent figure among Muslims in India.[9]

He received his early education from Islamia School in Wait Ganj. Before partition he used to live in Muhalla Dholewal on Brown Road in Ludhiana.[10] He migrated to Pakistan during his final year of Bachelor's. In Punjab, Government College, Lahore, used to be the number one college while the Government College for Boys, Ludhiana, used to be the next in those days. He pursued BA economics in Ludhiana, but completed the third year in Pakistan after Partition.[11]

During his visit to Ludhiana in 2015, he expressed his love for the place where he was born. Reciting the verse of great Persian poet Sheikh Saadi he said, "A place where a person is born is better for him than being the ruler of Egypt."[10] He migrated to his hometown of Gojra in Pakistan, in 1947.[10]

He has done Master of Arts in Economics from the University of the Punjab in 1951.[12]

M. Hamza is known for his neutral views in Pakistani politics. He remained vocal on political issues for almost six decades.[7] He was one of a few West Pakistan Assembly members who were very much vocal against military dictator General Ayub Khan on assembly floor. He as MNA remained critic of his own Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif but when Pervaiz Musharraf removed Nawaz Sharif, Hamza stood by him in his bad days.[7]

He was a member of the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly from Lyallpur-VI Constituency from 1962 to 1965[13] and again from 1965 to 1969.[14] During his tenure as member of the West Pakistan Legislative Assembly, he was very vocal against then President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan.[15] He was one of the three opposition members, supported by Fatima Jinnah who were elected through BD system. He was considered as a close aide to Fatima Jinnah in the presidential elections of 1965. Toba Tek Singh was the only city other than Karachi in West Pakistan where Fatima Jinnah won.[16][17]

Hamza used to hold public protests across the country during the 1968 Movement in Pakistan against military regime of Ayub Khan [18] and was taken into custody on numerous occasions. President Ayub Khan resigned in the face of growing public protests, and was succeeded by General Yahya Khan. He stood against the Marshal Law of General Yahya Khan and was front-line leader for the civil democracy in Pakistan.[19]

He was a very fierce opposition to the ruling party of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the 70's. Hamza was amongst the prominent leaders of Pakistan National Alliance (PNA), a nine party coalition against the ruling party of PPP. He was elected as the President of Pakistan National Alliance in Punjab.[20] Under his leadership several protests were staged in Punjab against alleged rigging in 1977's general elections.[21] The protests of 1977 called for overthrow, Zia ul Haq became Chief Marshal Law Administrator after declaring Martial Law in country in 1978.

He was selected as the member of Majlis e Shura (Federal Council) in 1982. With his efforts, his constituency 'Gojra' was awarded the status of 'Tehsil' [22] of District Toba Tek Singh.[23]

He was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan from Constituency NA-80 (Toba Tek Singh-III) in 1985 Pakistani general election.[24] He remained a prominent member of treasury benches led by PM Muhammad Khan Junejo, but remained critic on many issues against his own government.[25][26]

Hamza's was the only voice of opposition in the parliament the day when 295-C was passed immediately. During his speech in 1986, Hamza argued that the Islamic texts being cited by those advocating for the death penalty needed to be comprehensively reviewed by religious scholars before any change in the law could be passed. He claimed parliament was being irresponsible by avoiding a deeper debate on the issue. "I have a firm opinion," said Hamza, "you cannot run the country on selective justice. What is the purpose of the law if it's destructive for the society? Our people lack depth, they are unreasonably emotional about religion, so I knew that the law will be misused - that's why I am opposing."[27][5]

He ran for the seat of the National Assembly as a candidate of Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI) from Constituency NA-73 (Toba Tek Singh-III) in 1988 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received 52,137 votes and lost the seat to Haji Muhammad Ishaq, a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).[28] He remained highly critic of then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.[29]

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of IJI from Constituency NA-73 (Toba Tek Singh-III) in 1990 Pakistani general election. He received 69,499 votes and defeated Haji Muhammad Ishaq, a candidate of Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDA).[28] He was appointed as the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee. He remained vocal against the corruption of former ruling party,[4] and was considered a trustworthy and close aide to PM Nawaz Sharif.

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) from Constituency NA-73 (Toba Tek Singh-III) in 1993 Pakistani general election. He received 48,419 votes and defeated Haji Muhammad Ishaq, a candidate of PPP.[28]

He was re-elected to the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-73 (Toba Tek Singh-III) in 1997 Pakistani general election. He received 43,931 votes and defeated Amjad Ali Warraich, an independent candidate,[28] and became the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee for the second term.[30] During his second tenure as Chairman of Public Accounts Committee in National Assembly, he remained a high critic of his Prime Minister.[31] He became close to Nawaz Sharif following the 1999 Pakistani coup d'état.[15] He was among the notable leaders who resisted the Emergency imposed by the Army Chief General Musharraf.[7]

He ran for the seat of the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-92 (Toba Tek Singh-I) in 2002 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received 51,416 votes and lost the seat to Amjad Ali Warraich, a candidate of Pakistan Muslim League (J).[32]

He ran for the seat of the National Assembly as a candidate of PML-N from Constituency NA-92 (Toba Tek Singh-I) in 2008 Pakistani general election but was unsuccessful. He received 57,203 votes and lost the seat to Farkhanda Amjad.[33] Despite losing his seat, Hamza remained active in politics and was a central figure of opposition party PMLN.[34] He took active participation in Lawyers Movement and spent 5 days in solitary confinement in Dera Ghazi Khan jail at the age of 79.[34][35]

In 2012, he was allocated PML-N ticket to contest the 2012 Senate election.[36] He was awarded Senate ticket by party chief Nawaz Sharif although he had not applied to the party for it. He was a member of Senate's five standing committees including National Food Security and Research Committee, National Health Services Regulation and Coordination Committee, Energy Committee, Privatization and Statistics Committee and Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Committee.[37][38][39][40]

During his visit to his place of birth in Ludhiana in 2015, Hamza was awarded with the title of "Fakhar-e-Ludhiana" (Pride of Ludhiana). Emotional after reaching his birthplace, he said, "I feel very happy to be in Ludhiana again but also feel pain for not seeing people who were with me in the city before Partition."[41]

In February 2018, he was noted amongst the 52 members of the Senate who were set to retire on 11 March 2018.[42] This ended the 56 years of parliamentary political struggle of one of the most prominent opposition leaders of Pakistan.[7]

In July 2018, he quit PML-N and joined PTI. He also announced to not remain active in politics due to his old age.[43]