Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta (Karachi, 7 January 1886-1 August 1952) was the first elected Mayor of Karachi and remembered as the "Maker of Modern Karachi". He was also a notable figure in the Pakistan Boy Scouts Association

Pakistan Boy Scouts Association

The Pakistan Boy Scouts Association is the national Scouting organization of Pakistan and has 526,626 members . Scouting was founded in Pakistan as part of the British Indian branch of The Scout Association...

.

Public life

In 1918, Mehta was elected a councillor of the Karachi Municipal Corporation. He was soon elected the President of the Corporation. He served in that capacity for 12 years and become the first Mayor of the city. He transformed the city into a great and important metropolis in his years as local politician.

As a member of the Sindh

Sindh

Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...

 Legislative Assembly, he served every field of human life and activity. He was the father of Scouting

Scouting

Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

 in Sindh as well as in Karachi and one of the founder members of the Boy Scout Movement

The Bharat Scouts and Guides

The Bharat Scouts and Guides is the national Scouting and Guiding association of India.Scouting was founded in India in 1909 as an overseas branch of the Scout Association and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1938...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, and later on in Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. He was the Deputy Chief Commissioner of the GHQ and its Honorary Treasurer. Pakistan's Sea Scout landing craft is named after him.

Memorials

A commemorative postage stamp of Rs. 3 was issued by the Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

Post Office on January 7, 1988. Jamsheed Memorial Hall is located on MA Jinnah Road, Karachi.

Further reading

• In Remembrance of Jamshid Nusserwanjee Mehta The Maker of Modern Karachi Zoroastrian Educational Institute Retrieved 2 October 2010.
• Jamshed Nusserwanji Mehta-A Life Sketch, World Zoroastrian Organization