ISLAMABAD:Renowned musician Ahmed Ghulam Ali Chagla, who wrote the score for the national anthem of Pakistan‚ in 1950 was remembered on his birth anniversary.
Ahmed Chagla was born into a prominent Karachi family on May 31, 1902.
He attended the Sindh Madrassat-ul-Islam in Karachi and took lessons in classical Indian music in 1910 and western musical composition in 1914.
After the creation of Pakistan in 1948‚ Chagla was chosen as a member of the National Anthem Committee (NAC) of Pakistan‚ chored with creating a fresh national anthem.
The NAC examined several different tunes and selected a tune presented by Chagla which was submitted for formal approval.
Chagla then produced the musical composition in collaboration with other committee members including Radio Pakistan’s first director-general Zulfiqar Ali Bukhari and musician Nihal Abdullah and assisted by the Pakistan Navy band.
He was also an author journalist and writer with most of his articles written prior to the partition of India in 1947. He also composed music for numerous Urdu Gujarati Sindhi and English plays and composed music on Eastern and Western instruments for different films.
He died in 1953‚ before the national anthem was formally approved in 1954. His role in the national anthem was acknowledged by the government of Pakistan in 1996‚ when he was posthumously awarded the “President s Pride of Performance Award”‚ which was offered to his family on March 23‚ 1997.