Ghulam Muhammad

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**Ghulam Muhammad**

Date of Birth:	1895
Date of Death:	1956
Governor-General of Pakistan
Tenure Order:	3th Governor-General
Took Office:	17 October, 1951 – 6 October, 1955
Predecessor:	Khwaja Nazimuddin
Successor:	Iskander Mirza

Malik Ghulam Muhammad (Urdu: ملک غلام محمد) served as Governor-General of Pakistan from 1951 until 1955, shortly before his death in 1956.

[edit] Early life

Born in Lahore, Punjab in 1895, Ghulam Muhammad attended Aligarh Muslim University, after which he worked in the accounting field.

[edit] Political career

When Pakistan was formed in 1947, Ghulam Muhammad served as its first finance minister, owing to his experience in that sector. Suffering from bad health, Ghulam Muhammad was almost removed by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan.^{[citation needed]} After Liaquat's assassination in 1951, Khawaja Nazimuddin became Prime Minister of Pakistan and Ghulam Muhammad was made the Governor-General. From this position Ghulam Muhammad extended his control over Pakistan. Nazimuddin challenged Ghulam Muhammad's actions, but the latter exercised the reserve powers of the Governor-General's office, dismissing Nazimuddin's government and effectively removing him from office. Muhammad Ali Bogra was installed as the new prime minister.

In 1954, the Assembly of Pakistan tried to change the constitution to establish checks on the Governor-General's powers. In response, Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the Assembly, an action that was challenged in the Supreme Court. Ghulam Muhammad emerged victorious when the Court upheld the dismissal in a split decision, despite the dissenting opinion written by the renowned Justice (later Chief Justice) A. R. Cornelius, and despite protests from the members of the Assembly.

Ghulam Muhammad's health deteriorated, and he took a leave of absence in 1955. The acting Governor-General, Iskander Mirza, dismissed him, and Ghulam Muhammad died the next year in 1956.