Summary The 60th death anniversary of composer of national anthem is being observed today.
LAHORE: Ahmed Ghulam Ali Chagla was an inspiring musician who wrote the score for the national anthem of Pakistan‚ in 1950.
He was born in May 1902 into a well-known Karachi family. His father‚ Ghulam Ali Chagla was the third nominated president of the municipality of Karachi‚ helping from 1921 to 1922.
Ahmed Chagla went to the Sindh Madrassat-ul-Islam in Karachi and took lessons in classical Indian music in 1910 as well as western musical composition in 1914. In 1948‚ Chagla was chosen as a member of the National Anthem Committee (NAC) of Pakistan‚ chored with creating a fresh national anthem to restore an earlier one written by Jagannath Azad.
He died in 1953‚ before the national anthem was formally approved in 1954. His role to 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.
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.
