M.A. Jinnah and the Habib Bank: Financial Administration of the Bihar Relief Fund (1946)

Sub title : Banking, Logistics, and Large-Scale Fund Disbursement in the Wake of Communal Violence

Subject: Bihar Riots (1946) | Humanitarian Relief | Muslim League | Financial Management

Date of publication: 1946

Language: English

Page: 14 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 27478

Keyword: M.A. Jinnah — Bihar Relief Fund — Habib Bank | Khwaja Nazimuddin —Feroze Khan Noon — 1946 Riots | Fund Disbursement —Financial Administration — Muslim League Relief

Abstract: This file contains official correspondence between M.A. Jinnah and the management of Habib Bank Limited in November 1946. It details the bank's appointment to manage the "Bihar Relief Fund," established in response to the catastrophic communal violence. The documents outline the bank's special procedures for collecting and remitting donations, daily reporting to Jinnah, and the logistical challenges faced. Crucially, it includes Jinnah's signed instructions for the disbursement of very large sums (Rs. 1,00,000 and Rs. 50,000) from his account to key Muslim League leaders, Khwaja Nazimuddin and Malik Feroze Khan Noon, in Patna, demonstrating the direct channeling of relief funds to the affected area.

Description: This collection provides a rare and detailed look into the sophisticated financial machinery activated by M.A. Jinnah and the Muslim League to address a major humanitarian crisis. Moving beyond political fundraising, these documents reveal Jinnah in the role of a chief executive, leveraging a national bank (Habib Bank) to create a transparent, efficient, and nationwide system for collecting and distributing relief. The specific payment orders to senior leaders in Patna show a direct, top-down approach to crisis management. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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