PAKISTAN TIMES ANNUAL 1948 15TH AUGUST
QUAID’S FOREWORD AND CHUGHTAI ART

A painting of the ‘Calligrapher’ on the cover and an earlier version of the etching Mujahid inside, the Pakistan Times annual of 15th August, 1948 was well represented with the Art of Abdur Rahman Chughtai. The very same day Pakistan Postal Stamp Office released the first Pakistani Postal Stamp with a design made by M.A. Rahman Chughtai. It was an international prize winner.

Quaid-e-Azam’s familiarity with Abdur Rahman Chughtai gets established with incidents here and there. The first was the attempt at flag designing for which the artist sent many designs of Pakistani flags to Delhi for inspection of the Quaid-e-Azam. Liaquat Ali Khan was conducting the selection. The many designs for the FIRST POSTAL STAMPS were selected by the Quaid-e- Azam himself, but as there were no finances to print all of them at that moment, one was actually selected for printing. It was judged as one of the four most beautiful stamps of the wold by International Postal Union Berne. Interesting the Union had a Chughtai painting hanging in their headquarters at Berne.

This Pakistan Times Annual was printed in the life time of the Quaid and he was sent a copy on priority basis. He also wrote a foreword to it. We reproduce the cover of the Annual as well as the Foreword of the Quaid here. A rare image anywhere. The new country was reacting to the presence by declaration of Chughtai as Musawwar e Mashriq and the National Artist of Pakistan. To this day he stands alone as an icon in the hall mark of Pakistani paintings.