From 1942 to 1947, Khan was active as a leading Punjabi member of the All India Muslim League and assisted the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in the efforts to obtain a separate Muslim nation-state when the British left India. In 1946, he was given the title of "Shaukat i Punjab" (The pride of the Punjab: a play on his name) by Jinnah himself.