First finance minister of Pakistan, Zafrullah Khan was remembered on his death anniversary on Saturday. Zafrullah Khan was born on February 6, 1893, in Sialkot, Pakistan.
He was a diplomat, first Asian President of the International Court of Justice, President of the UN General Assembly, Pakistan’s first foreign minister and a renowned international jurist.
In October 1947, Zafrullah Khan represented Pakistan in United Nations General Assembly as the head of Pakistan’s delegation and advocated the stand of Muslim world on the Palestinian issue. That year, he was appointed as Pakistan’s (first) foreign minister, a post he held for seven years.
In 1948 to 1954, he represented Pakistan at the Security Council (UN) and admirably advocated the case of liberation of the occupied Kashmir, Libya, Northern Ireland, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco, and Indonesia.
In 1954, he became judge of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which he held until 1961. He became the Vice President of the International Court of Justice, the Hague, in 1958, and remained so until 1961.
From 1961 to 1964, he was Pakistan’s Permanent Representative at the UN, and in 1962 for two years, was President of the UN General Assembly.
In 1970, he was elected President of the International Court of Justice, The Hague, a post he held until 1973.
He lived in England for the period 1973 to 1983 and went back to Lahore, Pakistan in 1983 and died on September 1, 1985, after a protracted illness.
