Khurram Khan Panni had served as the Chief Whip of the

East Pakistan Provincial Assembly The East Pakistan Provincial Assembly, known as the East Bengal Legislative Assembly between 1947 and 1955, was the provincial legislature of East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. It was known as the East Bengal Assembly from 1947 to 1955 when the ...

and former Ambassador to Pakistan.

Early life and education

Khurram Khan Panni was born in 1921, to the

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

family known as the Zamindars of Karatia. His father, Masud Ali Khan Panni, was descended from a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

belonging to the Panni tribe, who had migrated from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

to Bengal in the 16th century where the family became

culturally assimilated Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or assume the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group whether fully or partially. The different types of cultural assi ...

. He studied at

St. Paul's School, Darjeeling St. Paul's School is an independent boarding school for boys in the town of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. It is known as "Eton of the East" because it is thought to follow the similar cultural and traditional values of Eton College. St. Paul' ...

, St. Xavier's Collegiate School, and Presidency University.

Career

Panni was elected to East Bengal Legislative Assembly but was unseated as he was underage, below 21. Panni contested the April 1949 election from Tangail as a Muslim League candidate against former Muslim League politician

Shamsul Huq Shamsul Huq (1918–1965) was a Bengali politician who led a parliamentary committee in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to advocate for the recognition of the Bengali language during the Language movement of the 1950s. He was also the firs ...

. On 26 April 1949, he lost the election to Huq for representing Nagarpur, Mirzapur and Basail. In 1954, Panni lost the election to

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengalis, Beng ...

, candidate of the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political a ...

. In 1962, Panni was elected to the East Pakistan Provincial Assembly and went on to become whip of the ruling party. In 1963, Panni was appointed the High Commissioner of Pakistan to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. During Bangladesh Liberation war, Panni served as the ambassador of Pakistan to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1971. He declared allegiance to Bangladesh during the war along with two other Bengali Pakistan ambassadors,

Abdul Momin Abdul Momin (; ; 1788 – 29 May 1885) was the 24th Sultan of Brunei from 1852 until his death in 1885. Early life He was the son of Pengiran Shahbandar Pengiran Anak Abdul Wahab and grandson of Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin I. He was also the brot ...

and

Abul Fateh Abul Fateh (16 May 1924 – 4 December 2010) was a Bangladeshi diplomat, statesman and Sufi who was one of the founding fathers of South Asian diplomacy after the Second World War, having been the founder and inaugural Director of Pakistan' ...

. In 1974, Panni was appointed the ambassador of Bangladesh to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. He retired in 1975 and moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington, United States.

Personal life

Panni was the grandson of

Wajed Ali Khan Panni Wajed Ali Khan Panni (also known as Chand Mian; 14 November 1871 – 25 April 1936) was a Bengali politician, educationist and the zamindar of Karatia. Early life Panni was born into a Bengali Muslim family in Karatia Union, Karatia, Tangail D ...

, the zamindar of

Karatia Zamindari Karatia Zamindari ( bn, করটিয়া জমিদারী, Korotiya Zomidari) was a zamindari family based in the Tangail District of Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in ...

. His maternal grandfather was

Abdul Halim Ghaznavi Sir Abdul Halim Khan Ghuznavi (1876 - 1953), (also spelled Sir Abdul Halim Ghaznavi) was a politician, zamindar, and industrialist. He was a member of the Central Legislative Assembly of British India. Early life Abdul Halim was born in Deldu ...

, for whom he worked as a Private secretary.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panni, Khurram Khan Bengali politicians People from Tangail District Politicians from Dhaka Division Karatia Zamindari family 1997 deaths 1921 births Pakistani politicians Pakistani expatriates in Kenya Pakistan Muslim League politicians High Commissioners of Pakistan to Kenya Pakistani expatriates in the Philippines Ambassadors of Pakistan to the Philippines Pakistani expatriates in Indonesia Bangladeshi expatriates in the United States Bangladeshi diplomats Ambassadors of Bangladesh to Indonesia 20th-century Bengalis Bengal MLAs 1946–1947 East Bengal MLAs 1947–1954