Dr. Khan Sahib ( ps, ډاکټر خان صیب ) (born 1883, Utmanzai, Charsadda – 9 May 1958,

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

), mistakenly named as Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (), was a pioneer in the

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged from Bengal ...

and a Pakistani politician. He was the elder brother of the Pashtun activist

Abdul Ghaffar Khan Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...

, both of whom opposed the partition of India. Upon independence, he pledged his allegiance to

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 ...

and later served as the Chief Minister of West Pakistan. As the Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province, Dr Khan Sahib along with his brother Bacha Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars boycotted the July 1947 NWFP referendum about the province joining India or Pakistan after the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

, citing that the referendum did not have the options of the NWFP becoming

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

or joining Afghanistan.

Early life

He was born in the village of Utmanzai, Charsadda, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

(now in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan). His father, Bahram Khan was a local landlord. He was eight years older than his brother,

(Bacha Khan). After matriculating from the Edwards Mission High School in Peshawar, Khan Sahib studied at

Grant Medical College The Grant Government Medical College, Mumbai, is a public medical college, affiliated to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. Founded in 1845, it is one of the oldest institutions teaching medicine in South Asia. Its clinical affil ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. He subsequently completed his training from St Thomas' Hospital in London. During the

First world war World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, 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 The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...

was launching operations against his fellow

Pashtun tribes The Pashtun tribes ( ps, پښتانه قبايل), historically also known as Afghan tribes, are the tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who use the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali code of conduct. They a ...

(1919–20).

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

and the Khudai Khidmatgar, Jabbar Khan strongly opposed the partition of India, favouring a united country. With the grant of limited self-government and announcement of

1937 Indian provincial elections Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by the Government of India Act 1935. Elections were held in eleven provinces - Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Bombay Presidency, A ...

, Dr. Khan Sahib led his party to a comprehensive victory. The Frontier National Congress, an affiliate of the

Indian National Congress 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 ...

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. Basanti asked to be sent to her Sikh relatives and Jabbar Khan agreed with this. 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." In the same district, Jabbar Khan fined the villages of the Hazara District for riots that targeted Hindus and Sikhs. 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.

Politics in Pakistan 1947 – 1954

At the time of the creation of Pakistan in 1947, he was the chief executive of the province appointed in

.Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan on Dawn newspaper website
Published 20 October 2002, Retrieved 27 May 2017 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 North West Frontier Province at the time, Sardar Bahadur Khan, he along with his brother and many other activists were released.

Back in government

He joined the Central Cabinet of

Muhammad Ali Bogra Sahibzada Syed Mohammad Ali Chowdhury ( bn, সৈয়দ মোহাম্মদ আলী চৌধুরী; Urdu: سید محمد علی چوہدری), more commonly known as Mohammad Ali Bogra ( bn, মোহাম্মদ আলী ...

as Minister for Communications in 1954. This decision to join the government led to his split with his brother. In October 1955, he became the first Chief Minister of

West Pakistan West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...

following the consolidation of the provinces and princely states under the

One Unit The One Unit Scheme ( ur, ; bn, এক ইউনিট ব্যবস্থা) was a geopolitical programme launched by the Government of Pakistan led by Prime Minister Muhammad Ali Bogra on 22 November 1954 and passed on 30 September 1955 ...

scheme. After differences with the ruling Muslim League over the issue of Joint versus Separate Electorates, he created the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

with the help of then

Governor-General of Pakistan The governor-general of Pakistan ( ur, ) was the representative of the Pakistani monarch in the Dominion of Pakistan, established by the Indian Independence Act 1947. The office of governor-general was abolished when Pakistan became an Islami ...

Iskander Mirza Sahibzada Iskander Ali Mirza ( bn, ইস্কান্দার আলী মির্জা; ur, ; 13 November 1899 – 13 November 1969), , was a Pakistani Bengali general officer and civil servant who was the first President of Pakistan. ...

. 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 Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of th ...

, the former capital of

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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 The Khaksar movement ( ur, ) was a social movement based in Lahore, Punjab, British India, established by Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi in 1931, with the aim of freeing India from the rule of the British Empire. The Khaksars opposed the partition ...

. In a book entitled “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. 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. 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'.Profile of Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan
Updated 4 January 2008, Retrieved 27 May 2017 "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." 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. Speaking of his passing, Pakistani President

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."Frontier Post, 27 May 2004 Dr Khan Sahib Remembered By Syed Afzaal Hussain Zaidi

Legacy

A major shopping district in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

, India, the Khan Market, is named in his honour. The market was established in 1951 for refugees of the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: India and Pakistan. T ...

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.

References

Notes

*Mahmud, Makhdumzada Syed Hassan (1958). ''A Nation is Born''