Dr. Khan Sahib
1st Chief Minister of West Pakistan
In office
14 October 1955 – 27 August 1957
MonarchElizabeth II
PresidentIskander Mirza
Governor‑GeneralIskander Mirza
GovernorMushtaq Ahmed Gurmani
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySardar Abdur Rashid Khan
2nd and 4th Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province
In office
7 September 1937 – 10 November 1939
GovernorGeorge Cunningham
Preceded bySahibzada Abdul Qayyum
Succeeded byGovernor rule
In office
16 March 1945 – 22 August 1947
GovernorGeorge Cunningham
Olaf Caroe
Preceded bySardar Aurangzeb Khan
Succeeded byAbdul Qayyum Khan
Personal details
Born1883[1]
Utmanzai, Punjab, British India
(Now, Utmanzai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan)
Died9 May 1958(1958-05-09) (aged 74–75)[1]
Lahore, West Pakistan, Pakistan
(Now, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan)
Political partyRepublican Party
Domestic partnerMary Khan
RelationsAbdul Ghaffar Khan (brother)
ParentKhan Abdul Bahram Khan

Dr. Khan Sahib (Pashto: ډاکټر خان صیب; Urdu: ڈاکٹر خان صاحب; 1883 – 9 May 1958), mistakenly named as Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (خان عبدالجبار خان), was a pioneer in the Indian Independence Movement and later, a Pakistani politician.[2] He was the elder brother of the Pashtun activist Abdul Ghaffar Khan, both of whom opposed the partition of India. [3] Upon independence, he pledged his allegiance to Pakistan and later served as the First Chief Minister of West Pakistan.

As the Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province, Dr Khan Sahib along with his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars boycotted the July 1947 NWFP referendum about the province joining India or Pakistan after the partition of India, citing that the referendum did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan.[4][5]

Upon independence and establishment of Pakistan, Khan Sahib joined the national politics and was later elected the first Chief Minister of West Pakistan.

Early life

He was born in the village of Utmanzai, Charsadda, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of British India (now in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). His father, Bahram Khan was a local landlord. He was eight years older than his brother, Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan).[1]

After matriculating from the Edwards Mission High School in Peshawar, Khan Sahib studied at Grant Medical College, Bombay. He subsequently completed his training from St Thomas' Hospital in London. During the First World War, he served in France. During his stay in France, he met a Scottish girl Mary. They fell in love and soon they got married, though his younger brother Bacha Khan was against this marriage. After the war, he joined the Indian Medical Service and was posted in Mardan with the Guides regiment. He resigned his commission in 1921, after refusing to be posted in Waziristan, where the British Indian Army was launching operations against his fellow Pashtun tribes (1919–20).[1]

Contribution to the Indian independence movement

In 1935, Khan Sahib was elected alongside Peer Shahenshah of Jungle Khel Kohat as representatives of the North-West Frontier Province to the Central Legislative Assembly in New Delhi.

Along with his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgar, Jabbar Khan strongly opposed the partition of India, favouring a united country.[3]

With the grant of limited self-government and announcement of 1937 Indian provincial elections, Dr. Khan Sahib led his party to a comprehensive victory. The Frontier National Congress, an affiliate of the Indian National Congress emerged as the single largest party in the Provincial Assembly.

In the 1940s, a Sikh family was killed in the Hazara District of colonial India, with their daughter Basanti being married off to a Muslim man.[6] Basanti asked to be sent to her Sikh relatives and Jabbar Khan agreed with this.[6] The All India Muslim League, however, agitated against Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan's decision, "and made the woman’s return to Islam the principal demand of its civil disobedience movement in the Frontier Province."[6]

In the same district, Jabbar Khan fined the villages of the Hazara District for riots that targeted Hindus and Sikhs.[6] When a crowd of pro-separatist Muslim League supporters arrived at his residence, Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan stated that he did what he considered his rightful duty.[6]

Politics in Pakistan 1947 – 1954

At the time of the creation of Pakistan in 1947, he was appointed the Chief Executive of the province in British India.[7] Later he was jailed by Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri's government. After Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri's appointment to the central government and the personal efforts of the Chief Minister of the NWFP Sardar Bahadur Khan, he along with his brother Bacha Khan and many other activists were released.

Back in government

He joined the Central Cabinet of Muhammad Ali Bogra as Minister for Communications in 1954. This decision to join the government led to his split with his brother Bacha Khan.[8]

In October 1955, he became the first Chief Minister of West Pakistan following the consolidation of the provinces and princely states under the One Unit Scheme.[1] However, after differences with the ruling Muslim League over the issue of Joint versus Separate Electorates, in the same month he created the Republican Party with the help of then Governor-General of Pakistan Iskander Mirza.[9]

He resigned in March 1957 after the provincial budget was rejected by the assembly. In June, he was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan representing the constituency of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.

Assassination

He was assassinated by Atta Mohammad at approximately 8:30 am on 9 May 1958, according to some sources on the orders of Allama Mashraqi, leader of the Khaksars.[10]

In Allama Mashriqi Narrowly Escapes the Gallows: Court Proceedings of an Unpardonable Crime Against the Man Who Led the Freedom of the Indian Subcontinent, scholar and historian Nasim Yousaf, Mashriqi’s grandson, provides a day-by-day account of the court proceedings. [11]

This tragic incident occurred while Dr. Khan Sahib was sitting in the garden of his son Sadullah Khan's house at 16 Aikman Road, GOR, Lahore.[12] He was waiting for Colonel Syed Abid Hussein of Jhang to accompany him to a meeting organised in connection with the scheduled February 1959 General Elections. The assailant was a "Patwari" (Land Revenue Clerk) from Mianwali who had been dismissed from service two years previously. Despite his appeal in court, the assailant had not been reinstated to his position as 'Patwari'.[1] "In his first public address after the assassination of his elder brother in Lahore, Abdul Ghaffar said on May 19 that he felt that Dr. Khan Sahib had been done to death by those people for whom he had forsaken his own people, discarded his party and thrown to the winds the position he held as a result of a glorious political career."[13]

The body of Dr. Khan Sahib was taken to his village Utmanzai, Charsadda about 30 miles from Peshawar, where he was laid to rest by side of his European wife Mary Khan.[14]

Speaking of his passing, Pakistani President Iskander Mirza said, about him that he was "the greatest Pathan of his times, a great leader and a gallant gentleman whose life-long fight in the cause of freedom, his sufferings and sacrifices for the sake of his convictions and his passion to do good to the common man were the attributes of a really great man."[15]

Legacy

Khan Market is a major high-end shopping district in New Delhi

A major shopping district in New Delhi, India, the Khan Market, is named in his honour. The market was established in 1951 for refugees of the Partition of India from the North West Frontier Province. Dr. Khan who was the Chief Minister of NWFP during the partition had helped many families to escape without harm.[16]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Profile of Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (Dr. Khan Sahib)". Story of Pakistan website. 22 October 2013. Archived from the original on 2 July 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  2. ^ Larres, Klaus (31 October 2021). Dictators and Autocrats: Securing Power across Global Politics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-46760-4. Founded in 1951, the Khan Market was named after Muslim Indian independence activist Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan.
  3. ^ a b Hamdani, Yasser Latif (21 December 2013). "Mr Jinnah's Muslim opponents". Pakistan Today (newspaper). Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  4. ^ Meyer, Karl E. (5 August 2008). The Dust of Empire: The Race For Mastery In The Asian Heartland – Karl E. Meyer – Google Boeken. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9780786724819. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  5. ^ Yasser Latif Hamdani (25 December 2011). "Was Jinnah democratic? — II". Daily Times (newspaper). Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e Ashraf, Ajaz (20 January 2018). "On Frontier Gandhi's death anniversary, a reminder of how the Indian subcontinent has lost its way". Scroll.in.
  7. ^ Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan on Dawn newspaper website, Published 20 October 2002, Retrieved 14 April 2023
  8. ^ Victoria Schofield Afghan (2004)Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia. Tauris Parke Paperbacks,
  9. ^ Dr Khan Sahib (Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan) on Encyclopedia Britannica website Retrieved 14 April 2023
  10. ^ Dr Ali Muhammad Khan, 'Allama Mashriqi, Khaksar Tehreek aur uss ki Qatilana Siyasat' (Urdu: Allama Mashriqi, the Khaksars and the Politics of Assassination') pub Lahore: Rang Mahal Publishers, 1978, pp 121-123
  11. ^ Allama Mashriqi Narrowly Escapes the Gallows: Court Proceedings of an Unpardonable Crime Against the Man Who Led the Freedom of the Indian Subcontinent. AMZ Publications. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  12. ^ Khan, p 121
  13. ^ Tendulkar, D. G. (1967). Abdul Ghaffar Khan: Faith is a Battle. Gandhi Peace Foundation. p. 506. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Khan Sahib assassinated". The Hindu (newspaper). 10 May 1958. Archived from the original on 18 November 2008. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  15. ^ Frontier Post, 27 May 2004 Dr Khan Sahib Remembered By Syed Afzaal Hussain Zaidi
  16. ^ Lakhani, Somya (17 May 2019). "Khan Market's humble beginnings: Meant for refugees, 'doomed to fail'". Indian Express. Retrieved 14 October 2021. "This market was set up for those who had been displaced; refugees who had migrated from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) ..." said Sanjiv Mehra, president of Khan Market Traders' Association and owner of Allied Toy Store.It was aptly named after popular NWFP leader Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan or Dr Khan Sahib, the elder brother of Pashtun Independence activist Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan or Frontier Gandhi.

Notes

See also

Political offices Preceded bySahibzada Abdul Qayyum Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1937–1939 Succeeded bySardar Aurang Zeb Khan Preceded bySardar Aurang Zeb Khan 2nd term 1945–1946 Succeeded by3rd term Preceded by2nd term 3rd term 1946–1947 Succeeded byAbdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri Preceded byOffice created Chief Minister of West Pakistan 1955–1957 Succeeded bySardar Abdur Rashid Khan
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