Asfandyar Wali Khan (; ; born 19 February 1949) is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

politician from

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, currently serving as the president of the

Awami National Party The Awami National Party (ANP; , ; 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 current president is Aimal Wali Khan, g ...

(ANP). He is the son of Abdul Wali Khan, the party's founding president. Wali Khan is the current president of the

. He has served as Member of

Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa The Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is located in Peshawar, the provincial capital. It was established under Article 106 of t ...

, as a Member of the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

, and a senator in the

Senate of Pakistan The Senate of Pakistan, Constitution of Pakistan, constitutionally the House of the Federation, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. As of 2023, It has a maximum membership of 96, of which 92 are elected by the Member of th ...

. He is credited with achieving provincial autonomy in Pakistan and renaming the North-West Frontier Province to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the support of coalition partner PPP during the 18th Amendment in 2010.

Family background

Asfandyar Wali Khan was born in Charsadda, a small village near

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

. He is the eldest son of Abdul Wali Khan and his first wife, Taj Bibi. His father married Taj Bibi's death in February 1949 Nasim Wali Khan in 1954. Sangeen Wali Khan, is the eldest son of this marriage and was Asfandyar's half-brother. He is the grandson of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, better known as ''Bacha Khan'', wo founded the non-violent political movement Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of the God") in the NWFP during British colonial rule in India and a companion of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

. Wali Khan's granduncle, Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan, served as the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

's Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province, during the final days of the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

and early days of independent

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Education

Asfandyar Wali Khan received his early education at Aitchison College in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, completed high school at Islamia Collegiate School, and earned his

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from Islamia College, University of Peshawar, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Political career

Asfandyar Wali Khan began his political activism as a student, joining the opposition against Ayub Khan. In 1975, he was imprisoned and tortured by the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto due to his father's opposition to Bhutto. He endured severe mistreatment, including having his nails and hair forcibly removed, and was kept in a C-class jail. Convicted as part of the Hyderabad tribunal, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. After his release in 1978, Asfandyar stayed away from electoral politics until 1990. Asfandyar Wali Khan led the Pakhtun Student Federation before being elected to the Provincial Assembly in the 1990 election. In the 1993 election, he was elected to Pakistan's National Assembly, a seat he retained in the 1997 election. During this period, he served as the Parliamentary Leader of the ANP and chaired the Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination. In 1999, Asfandyar Wali Khan was elected president of the ANP for the first time. Although he was defeated in the 2002 election due to a tactical alliance formed by "anti-ANP groups", mirroring his father's defeat in 1990, he resigned as party president only to be re-elected unopposed in the subsequent party election. In 2003, he was elected to the Senate for a six-year term. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in the February 2008 parliamentary elections, leading his party to power both provincially and nationally — the former for the first time since 1947 and the latter since 1997. In September 2008, he was elected as chairman of the standing committee on foreign affairs. In 2008 it was reported by

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

that he made a secret visit to the United States in which he made high level contacts with the U.S Central Command.

Assassination attempt

On 3 October 2008, Wali Khan survived an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber while greeting guests during

Eid ul-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide because it marks the ...

.Retrieved October 4, 2008
/ref> Despite the attack, he remained steadfast and continued to challenge the terrorists. Contrary to opposition claims that he fled to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Asfandyar stayed in Charsadda and led his party in the fight against terrorism.

References

External links