The Cheenwala Family
The Cheenwala family was one of the prominent Kashmiri families in Amritsar, India, with roots tracing back to Khawaja Ghulam Hassan, the son of Khawaja Jamaluddin, who had migrated from Jammu and Kashmir in the 1800s. Khawaja Ghulam Hassan was a successful businessman, specializing in the export of fine "Pashmina" cloth to China and the import of Chinese crockery to India, which earned his family the surname "Cheenwalay" (derived from "Cheen," the Urdu word for China). He was twice married, First with Nawab Begum a member of the highly respected Kitchlew family of Amritsar, which also produced the prominent freedom fighter Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew, whose arrest in 1919 sparked the tragic Jallianwala Bagh massacre. His second wife's name was Ghulam Fatima who was also from a very respectable family of Amritsar/India. Khawaja Ghulam Hassan had six sons, Khawaja Ghulam Sadiq, Khawaja Masood Sadiq, Khawaja Mahmood Sadiq, Khawaja Farooq Sadiq, Khawaja Humayun Sadiq, and Khawaja Mahboob Sadiq—and one daughter (Ms.Khursheed), who tragically died young. Khawaja Ghulam Hassan passed away before the Partition and was buried in Amritsar, while his both widows migrated to Lahore in 1947. His first wife (Nawab Begum) passed away in the year 1973 and was buried in Miani Sahib Graveyard Lahore where his second wife (Ghulam Fatima) was also buried in Lahore. Uniquely, the family was one of the few that traveled by air to Pakistan during the mass migration, rather than by land or train. Following is a brief of Khawaja Ghulam Hassan’s sons:
Khawaja Ghulam Sadiq was the elder one of six brothers who by profession was an Advocate.
At the time of partition, Khawaja Masood Sadiq was serving in British Army having his posting at GHQ Delhi, India. He also flew alongwith his family to Pakistan and resided in Rawalpindi. His last posting was at GHQ Rawalpindi before his retirement. After retirement he shifted to Lahore where he passed away and was buried alongside his mother in Miani Sahib Graveyard.
Khawaja Mahmood Sadiq initially served as a commissioned officer in the Royal Indian Navy. He was one of senior officers who came from Royal Indian Navy and were asked to join Pakistan Navy at senior positions. But, Khawaja Mahmood Sadiq due to his family pressure did not continue to serve Pakistan Navy was transitioned to Pakistan's civil services, holding the position of Settlement Commissioner Lahore in the Punjab government when he passed away in 1981 during his service as Settlement Commissioner and was buried alongside his mother in Miani Sahib Graveyard Lahore. It is also worth mentioning here that one of his colleague who was with Khawaja Mahmood Sadiq in Royal Indian Navy in the same rank was S.M. Ahsan. Mr.Ahsan had the honor to serve Quid-e-Azam as his ADC from Royal Pakistan Navy in 1947. He also became naval chief in 1966 till 1969 when Khawaja Mahmood Sadiq was serving as Additional Commissioner Sargodha Division. At that time layalpur(now Faisalabad) and Jhang were tehsils and were under the jurisdiction of Sargodha Division. Had Khawaja Mahmood Sadiq joined Pak Navy at the time of partition, he could have also become next Naval Chief of Pak Navy after S.M. Ahsan.
Khawaja Humayun Sadiq, a distinguished banker, rose to the position of Deputy Managing Director of National Bank of Pakistan, a role now equivalent to Deputy CEO in the banking sector. At the time of nationalization of banking sector in early 1970s by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Khawaja Humayun Sadiq left National Bank and Joined newly formed BCCI Bank by Agha Hassan Abidi at a very senior position. He served in BCCI in Gulf Region till 1985. He passed away in 2015 in Karachi, where he was buried.
Khawaja Mahboob Sadiq was in Delhi, India at the time of partition and opted to move Karachi, Pakistan, where he joined the Pakistan Foreign Service. His diplomatic assignments took him to various regions, including South East Asia, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union. In 1964, he chose to retire early and shifted his focus to law. He began his legal career at the renown A.K.Brohi Law Firm. Subsequently, he established his own legal practice as an advocate at the Sindh High Court. He was a multilingual individual, fluent in Urdu, English, Persian and Arabic. His passion included history, literature, psychology, classical music, and the performing arts. He passed away in 1988 and was laid to rest at the Sakhi Hassan Graveyard in Karach. His wife, Najma Dilnawaz Sadiq, later passed away in 2011 and was laid to rest in Islamabad. Together they are survived by their son, Khawaja Mujahid Sadiq, and their two daughters, Shahnaz Khairi and Farahnaz Imtiaz.
Maj.Khawaja Rizwan Farooq, Khawaja Zafaryab Hassan, Shahnaz Rafiuddin, Darakhshan Nighat, Air Cdre.Khawaja Mujahid Sadiq