Khan Shakir Ali Khan

Khan Shakir Ali Khan (1904 - 1978), popularly known as Sher-e-Bhopal, was an Indian politician, activist, trade unionist and journalist. A leader of the labour movement in Bhopal, Khan led the struggles for the integration of Bhopal State with India. After Independence he served four tenures as state legislator, representing the Communist Party of India.

Early career Khan was an active Urdu journalist. Around 1926–1927 he worked at the Delhi-based Rayasat and the Calcutta-based Hind. In 1933 he founded the Anjuman Khuddam-e-Watan (League of Servants of Fatherland), serving as its secretary. Together with trade union leaders, he founded the Praja Mandal in 1938.

1952 elections In 1950 the Kisan Mazdoor Mandal ('Peasant Worker Association') was formed by mergerists that left the Indian National Congress en bloc. In the 1952 election to the Legislative Assembly of the Bhopal State, Khan contested the Jahangirabad seat as a KMM candidate. Khan finished in second place, with 2,581 votes (43.41% of the votes in the constituency). In the 1970s he served as chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Kisan Sangh and a member of the Madhya Pradesh State Council of CPI.

As a legislator, Khan was one of few prominent voices that protested against the setting up the Union Carbide Corporation chemical plant in Bhopal. In 1984 the Union Carbide Corporation plant was the site of a major industrial disaster with thousands of victims.

Memorials The Khan Shakir Ali Khan Hospital at Bhopal is named after him.