Mufti Fida Mohammad Khan ( ur, مفتی فدا محمد خان 24 November 1919 – 20 December 2007) was a Pakistani conservative economist and lawyer who served as the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province under the military government of General

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...

from 1986 until 1988. He was one of the founding members of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcont ...

for its

Northwest Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...

chapter before 1947.Fida Khan passes away

Dawn (newspaper) ''Dawn'' is a Pakistani English-language newspaper that was launched in British India in 1941. It is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, and also serves as the country's newspaper of record. ''Dawn'' is the flagship publication of the ...

, Published 21 December 2007, Retrieved 8 August 2017

Early life and career

Born in 1919, Fida Khan was educated at the

Peshawar University The University of Peshawar ( ps, د پېښور پوهنتون; hnd, پشور یونیورسٹی; ur, ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a Public university, public research university located in Peshawar, Khy ...

, graduated and earned his BA degree in economics from the

Edwardes College Edwardes College Peshawar is a semi-government degree The college's undergraduate and graduate degree programs lead to the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.), 4 year BS Programme in English and Computer Science, Master of Bus ...

, and LLB degree in

economic law Economic law is a set of legal rules for regulating economic activity.Ferdinand Joseph Maria Feldbrugge, Gerard Pieter van den Berg, William B. Simons (1985) "Encyclopedia of Soviet Law", '' BRILL'', O. S. (Olimpiad Solomonovich) Ioffe, Mark W. Ja ...

from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

in 1945. During this time, Fida Khan joined

and actively participated in

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

, serving as the leading

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

of Pakistan Movement in

Khyber-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 ...

.Fida Mohammad Khan's interview remembered by a veteran print journalist
The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 22 November 2014, Retrieved 8 August 2017 Fida Muhammad Khan was a veteran

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

r and former Governor of NWFP. He had also served as an ex-senator, federal minister, provincial minister and a member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, Romanization, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower house, lower legislative house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which al ...

(MNA). He had represented Pakistan in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

also at an early age of 27. As a young man, Fida Mohammad Khan took part in the independence movement. As All-India Muslim League - Peshawar chapter president, he played an active role in the 1947 referendum in the NWFP in which majority of voters opted for their province to become part of Pakistan. The referendum was rejected and boycotted by the Pashtun nationalists led by Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan. He also remained active in the All-India Muslim League's ''National Guards'' and ''Muslim Students Federation''. He subsequently served as central and provincial president of the Muslim League. Twice during his political career, Fida Mohammad Khan was elected member of the Senate. However, he never contested an assembly election. During General Ziaul Haq's martial law regime, he served as federal housing minister. He remained governor of the NWFP from 1986 to 1988. Fida Mohammad was fond of narrating the story of Quaid-i-Azam

Mohammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

's visit to Khyber Agency. Due to opposition by the

Congress party of India The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and its ally, Khudai Khidmatgar movement, Jinnah's trip to Khyber Agency was considered risky. But Fida Mohammad Khan volunteered to drive Jinnah to Landikotal, where his father Tehmas Khan was serving as political Tehsildar. This was a historic trip as tribesmen gave a warm welcome to the Quaid-i-Azam and announced their allegiance to the All-India Muslim League. Quaid-i-Azam was driven to Torkham on the border with Afghanistan and brought back by Fida Mohammad Khan to Peshawar. For the young Fida, this was a memorable event and he never missed an opportunity to narrate the story. The PML under

Mohammad Khan Junejo Mohammad Khan Junejo (Urdu: ; Sindhi: ; 18 August 193216 March 1993) was a Pakistani politician and an agriculturist who served as the tenth prime minister of Pakistan, having elected in this capacity in 1985 until being dismissed in 1988. Junej ...

formed the government in the so-called 'non-party' elections of March 1985, but the President, General Zia ul Haq dismissed it on 29 May 1988 on account of challenges to Zia's power. Following this, Fida Khan lead a break-away faction of the PML, the so-called PML-F, which remained loyal to Zia. After Gen. Zia's death in a mysterious

Pakistan Air Force , "Be it deserts or seas; all lie under our wings" (traditional) , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = ...

crash in August 1988 the Supreme Court of Pakistan mandated free and fair multi-party general elections to be held in November 1988. The PML-F, under pressure from

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

Director-General

Hamid Gul Lieutenant General Hamid Gul ( ur, ‎; 20 November 1936 – 15 August 2015) was a three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army and defence analyst. Gul was notable for serving as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligenc ...

merged with the Jamaati Islami and a few smaller parties to form the ' Islami Jamhoori Ittihad.' The IJI under Fida Khan failed to achieve a majority in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

, but found victory in the Punjab Provincial Assembly under

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi language, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime ...

. As a result Sharif soon eclipsed Khan as leader of the IJI, and its main successor, the

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a centre-right and liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Part ...

Death, awards and recognition

* Nishan-e-Imtiaz Award by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...

for his servicesFormer NWFP governor Fida Mohammad Khan passes away

Business Recorder ''Business Recorder'' is a financial daily newspaper in Pakistan which was founded by M.A. Zuberi. The publication is owned by the Business Recorder Group.

(newspaper), Published 21 December 2007, Retrieved 8 August 2017 * Fida Mohammad Khan died on 20 December 2007 in Peshawar after a protracted illness at age 88.

References

External links

Fida Mohammad Khan's interview, before his death, on YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Fida Mohammad 1919 births 2007 deaths Governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan Muslim League (N) politicians Pakistan Movement activists Military government of Pakistan (1977–1988) Pakistani economists Aligarh Muslim University alumni Faculty of Law, Aligarh Muslim University alumni Edwardes College alumni Recipients of Nishan-e-Imtiaz Pakistani political party founders