Liaquat Ali Khan’s State Visit, 1950
In 1950, three years after independence, Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s first Prime Minister, visited MIT during an official State Visit to the United States.
Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan tests a high voltage generator at MIT, 1950 Courtesy Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Prime Minister Khan and his wife, Begum Ra'ana Khan in front of the United States Air Force aircraft, 1950 Courtesy Harry S. Truman Library & Museum
Khan and his wife, Begum Liaquat Ali, also toured Harvard, Wellesley and Tufts during their time in Boston. After flying into Boston from New York on May 25th, Khan was greeted by city officials, Pakistani students training for diplomatic service at Tufts, and Harvard student Manzar Bashir, son of the Pakistani ambassador to Turkey. The next morning, Khan and his wife also attended a breakfast given by Massachusetts governor Paul Dever in the Copley Plaza.
Boston Globe, May 25, 1950
Boston Globe, October 16, 1951
The day before Khan’s speech at MIT, Begum Liaquat Ali gave a speech to Wellesley students while the Prime Minister was touring Harvard. While there is no report of this speech, it is likely very similar to her riveting words at a press conference held in Washington DC during the same state visit. The Begum, who was also present during Khan’s speech at MIT, began her speech stating “‘I came to see the women’” and immediately launched into a discussion of misconceptions regarding customs of marriage in Pakistan. Astutely aware of her and her husband’s perceived appearance to an audience of white Americans, the Begum’s conscious decision to reframe cultural differences into similarities enabled her to establish a shared connection for her subsequent key messages. Colloquially referred to as the “Mrs. Roosevelt of Pakistan”, the Begum described her successful efforts in organizing Pakistani women to address the country’s recent refugee crisis. She ended her speech with a call to American nurses, teachers, and social workers to share their expertise and form collaborations with Pakistani service associations including the ones she had founded.
The Khans’ emphasis on building state connections was not just a mechanism of establishing their new nation among influential global powers, but served as a direct message of Pakistan’s stance in the Cold War. Pakistan had allied itself with the United States, with Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan declaring that Communism would not “gain a foothold in his country”.
During their visit to Boston, the Prime Minister and his wife were invited to visit MIT by President James Killian. After concluding their campus tour, on the afternoon of May 26th, Khan delivered his powerful speech titled “Pakistan, a New Country in the Modern World” to MIT’s students, faculty, and staff.
Letter from President Killian to MIT staff members regarding Liaquat Ali Khan’s visit to MIT in May 1950.
Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan’s speech at MIT in May 1950
In 1950, there were only 5 Pakistani students at the Institute. Although this was a comparatively small number, in making the much-publicized stop at MIT during his State Visit, Khan emphatically asserted his government’s desire to establish a close relationship with the Institute.
Throughout his speech, Khan spoke on the need to cultivate a strategic alliance between MIT and Pakistan in the realms of education and politics to establish Pakistan as a burgeoning world leader. Aware of Nehru’s recent visit to MIT, Khan portrayed Pakistan as a geopolitically uniquely positioned country to bring peace and independence to all of South and Southeast Asia.
“In this way I thought I would help the people of the United States of America to discover Pakistan. For I was sure they would be glad to know and realize that a free democracy — and moreover one which was more free and more unified than most democracies in asia, — had been born in the heart of that continent — with one part bordering on Burma, the other on Iran and Afghanistan, and thus with vital interests in both South-East Asia and in the Middle East.” - Khan’s speech at MIT
By describing Pakistan’s geographical location and emphasizing its status as a free democracy, Khan wisely advertised the nation as a lucrative ally for the United States in both the Cold War and in global trade affairs. His speech was also a call-to-action for MIT and other technological leaders to work with Pakistan and help ensure the nascent nation’s stability, growth and success.
“We are resolved, netherless, to make the greatest contribution we can in our circumstances, to the maintenance of world peace; and we know that our responsibility in this respect is to keep our own house in order and to go ahead with the enormous task ahead of us, of developing our resources and educating our people. This is a long task but how else, without international cooperation can we give greater weight and substance to our contribution?”- Khan’s speech at MIT
“But we have been out of step with the march o[f] civilisation for at least two centuries. Is it an easy task, do you think, to make up for lost centuries in a few years or even a few decades?” - Khan’s speech at MIT
“Let us all play our part in discovering this new world, where prosperity may be secure, where peace and freedom may dwell unmolested, and aggression and aggressors may be reduced to the position of unpleasant but harmless anomalies.” Khan’s speech at MIT
As highlighted in his speech to MIT, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan was keen to establish educational initiatives in Pakistan through collaborations with the Institute. However, less than two years after his visit to MIT, Khan was assassinated on October 16, 1951. As the United States built military alliances with Pakistan and the country became America’s strongest ally during the Cold War, Pakistani ambassadors embraced Khan’s vision for their nation and continued to correspond closely with President Killian and other MIT leaders.
Boston Globe May 27, 1950
“Khan reminded his MIT audience that centuries of colonial rule had caused wide-scale suffering and underdevelopment in countries like Pakistan. He turned the concept of “white man’s burden” on its head by encouraging prosperous nations to bring less prosperous ones to an equal level not as an act of charity, but one of strategy. A statesman speaking on behalf of his new nation, Khan came to the United States not to ask for an unbalanced relationship, but to establish a mutual alliance for the greater peace and well-being of the world.” - Amulya Aluru, 2023, SM 2024, Student Researcher