Baba Haider Zaman (1934 – 24 October 2018) was a political personality of
Hazara,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. He was known for
Hazara Province Movement
Hazara Province Movement (Urdu/Hindko: ) is a movement aimed at creating the Hazara Province in the Hazara division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
History of the movement
This movement began in 1957, when regional lawyers Mufti Idrees and Abdul Kha ...
, a protest campaign against changing the name of
Sarhad Province
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
. Baba joined Hazara Qumai mahaz on 17 January 2009 for supporting late Asif Malik cause of Hazara province. In 2010, the whole political leadership of
Hazara Division
Hazara Division is an administrative division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located along the Indus River and comprises eight districts: Abbottabad, Mansehra, Haripur, Battagram, Upper Kohistan, Kolai-Palas, Lower ...
was united under his guidance and a demand of separate
Hazara Province was strengthened by a division-wide protest. He was previously a Provincial Minister and District Nazim of Abbottabad.
Biography
Haider Zaman Khan was born in the
Dewal Manal village of
Abbottabad District
Abbottabad District () is a district of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is part of Hazara Division and covers an area of 1,969 km2, with the city of Abbottabad being the principal town. Neighbouring districts are Mansehra to ...
in 1934 to the
Karlal
The Karlal (Urdu: کڑلال), also known as ''Karral'', ''Kiraal'', and '' Sardar'' is a Hindko and Pahari speaking tribe dwelling mostly in the Abbottabad District of the Hazara Division region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Etymology an ...
tribe. He completed his FA in the 1950s and joined the Pakistan Air Force. After retirement, he entered politics in 1962 but failed to win a provincial seat.
His first political win was when he got elected to the NWFP assembly from Abbottabad in 1985. The then chief minister Arbab Jehangir Khan appointed Zaman as the labour and human resource minister in his cabinet.
During his tenure as nazim he shot to prominence for opposing the renaming of the NWFP to
Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
. He criticised the President of Pakistan,
Asif Ali Zardari
Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...
, for referring to the province as Pakhtunkhwa - saying this was unconstitutional and done to please coalition partners.
Zaman said he was in contact with the nazims of the southern districts and all five nazims of the erstwhile Hazara Division opposed the name change. If the district was renamed in line with the proposal from the
Awami National Party
The Awami National Party (ANP; ur, , ps, اولسي ملي ګوند; lit. ''People's National Party'') is a Pashtun nationalist, secular and leftist political party in Pakistan. The party was founded by Abdul Wali Khan in 1986 and its curr ...
then, according to Zaman, a creation of a Hazara Province would be justified.
He was also involved in a petition against the provincial government of the NWFP claiming that they were curtailing the powers of district government. In March 2006, five months after a
devastating earthquake struck the region, Zaman said repatriation of people from tent villages (set up in the aftermath of the earthquake) might be held up due to lack of resources possessed by the district governments. That year he also supported an initiative to raise awareness of the effects of the earthquake.
In 2007 he criticised Pakistani tour operators for the way they organised the
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
and
Umrah
The ʿUmrah ( ar, عُمْرَة, lit=to visit a populated place) is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia) that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the ...
arrangements for pilgrims in
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
, he also claimed that the tour operators were fleecing pilgrims and pilgrims were unable to get rid of greedy tour managers.
In 2010 following the renaming of the North-West Frontier Province, Khan has again been prominent by his opposition to the new name, he became the head of the Action Committee for Hazara province - he stated that the new name of the province is on an ethnic basis and so deprived the people of Hazara of their identity. In August 2010 Khan stated that the people of Hazara would stop payments of utility bills until their demands were met. He died on 24 October 2018.
See also
*
Hazara province movement
Hazara Province Movement (Urdu/Hindko: ) is a movement aimed at creating the Hazara Province in the Hazara division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
History of the movement
This movement began in 1957, when regional lawyers Mufti Idrees and Abdul Kha ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaman Khan, Haider
1936 births
2018 deaths
Mayors of places in Pakistan
People from Abbottabad
Hindkowan people
Pakistan Muslim League (J) politicians