Aslam Khattak

Muhammad Aslam Khan Khattak (Pashto: محمد اسلم خان خټک) (Urdu: محمد اسلم خان خٹک) (5 April 1908 – 10 October 2008) was a Pakistani politician and diplomat[1] who was the Governor of North-West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from 1973 to 1974).[2]

SPk
Muhammad Aslam Khan Khattak
10th Governor of North-West Frontier Province
In office
15 February 1973 – 24 May 1974
PresidentZulfikar Ali Bhutto
Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry
Preceded byArbab Sikandar Khan
Succeeded bySyed Ghawas
Personal details
Born5 April 1908
Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
DiedOctober 10, 2008(2008-10-10) (aged 100)
Islamabad, Pakistan
RelationsYusuf Khattak (brother)
Habibullah Khan Khattak (brother)
Kulsum Saifullah Khan (sister)
Anwar Saifullah Khan (nephew)
Salim Saifullah Khan (nephew)
Humayun Saifullah Khan (nephew)
Mark Humayun (maternal grandson)
AwardsSitara-e-Pakistan (Star of Pakistan) Award by the Government of Pakistan in 1958

Early life and education

Aslam Khattak used to play tennis, do some swimming and mountaineering in his younger years.[3] Khattak studied history at Brasenose College, Oxford, from 1929 to 1932.[4]

Career

Born into a Pashtun Khattak family on 5 April, 1908 at Karak, British India.[2] Aslam Khattak was the President of a student organization supporting Pakistan Movement in the U.K. in the 1930s, serving alongside Dr. Abdur Rahim as Vice President and Chaudhry Rehmat Ali as Secretary. This organization gave the world the name "PAKISTAN". Aslam Khattak was among the three people that signed the pamphlet called 'Now or Never', written by Chaudhry Rehmat Ali in 1933.[5][2]

Aslam Khattak worked closely with Dr Khan Sahib in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's provincial government during his career as a civil servant, and after the independence of Pakistan in 1947, he was assigned a position in Afghanistan where he played a key role in the failed negotiations for a confederation between Pakistan and Afghanistan.[2] In the 1970 elections, he was elected as an independent to the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from Karak.[1][2] He then became speaker of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in 1972. He also served as Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa briefly after the ouster of the NAP-JUI governor as well, twice posted overseas as an Ambassador of Pakistan.[1]

He was promoted as Minister of Pakistan to Kabul in 1956 and appointed as Ambassador to Australia in December 1959. As a diplomat, he served as ambassador to Iran (1974–1977), Iraq and Afghanistan.[2][3]

Nominated to Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's Majlis-e-Shura in the 1980s,[3] he became a trusted political confidante of the Martial Law ruler.[2]

He was elected MNA from his constituency and served as deputy Prime Minister to Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo in 1985.[2] After the restoration of democracy in Pakistan in 1988, he joined the Pakistan Muslim League (N), but was defeated in the Pakistani general election, 1988. Re-elected again in 1990, he again served as Federal Minister in Nawaz Sharif’s first government. Defeated in the 1993 elections, he left the PML (N) shortly before the 1997 election over a difference in the distribution of party tickets for his grandson and son-in-law.[2]

Death

He died, after a protracted illness, at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital, Islamabad on 10 October 2008 at age 100. He also had a history of heart disease.[1][2]

Awards and recognition

See also

Bibliography

Aslam Khattak spoke, read and wrote Pashtu, Urdu, Punjabi, Persian, Arabic, French and English.[3] He stated that he did a journalism course from Brussels, and introduced freestyle essays in Pashtu literature in his booklet "Gul Masti". He also said he wrote a Pashtu play, "Da Veno Jam". This was highly commended in the literary supplement of `The Times' (London), when it was later translated into English.

  • 'A Pathan Odyssey', an autobiography by Muhammad Aslam Khattak[6]

References
  1. Aslam Khattak passes away at 100 Dawn (newspaper), Published 11 October 2008, Retrieved 9 March 2023
  2. "Aslam Khattak dies after protracted illness". Associated Press of Pakistan website. 10 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  3. Zeenat Jahan. "Profile of Aslam Khattak". Khyber.org website. Archived from the original on 27 September 2006. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  4. Bowers, John (16 February 2021). "Principal's Blog: 16th February 2021". Brasenose College, Oxford. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  5. Khalid Hasan (28 August 2004). "Resurrecting Chaudhri Rehmat Ali (scroll down in the article to read this title)". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  6. A Pathan Odyssey launched Dawn (newspaper), Published 11 February 2005, Retrieved 9 March 2023
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