October 16, 2023, marks the 72nd death anniversary of Pakistan’s first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan Shaheed. He was assassinated in a shocking incident during a public meeting in Rawalpindi on the same day in 1951. Despite the passage of more than seven decades, the mystery surrounding this tragic event, considered one of the worst in the nation’s history, remains unsolved. The incident took place at Company Bagh in Rawalpindi, later renamed Liaquat Bagh in honor of the late Prime Minister. According to the FIR registered at Police Station D Division Rawalpindi, Khan Liaqat Ali Khan had just started addressing the public when an individual sitting in front of the dais fired two or three shots at him with a pistol. The Prime Minister fell to the stage due to the bullets, and the assassin, Syed Akbar, was killed on the spot. An eyewitness to the tragic event, 98-year-old Abdul Majeed Kanwal, still remembers the circumstances and events of the meeting as deeply suspicious. Kanwal, who was present at the public meeting, vividly recalls the harrowing scene. He described the atmosphere as “strange and suspicious”. The nation continues to commemorate the life and legacy of Liaquat Ali Khan Shaheed, a prominent figure in Pakistan’s history, while the circumstances surrounding his tragic death remain enshrouded in mystery.
72nd death anniversary of Shaheed-e-Millat being observed today
