Fida Mohammad Khan ( 24 November 1919 – 20 December 2007) was a Pakistani conservative economist and lawyer who served as the

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

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

Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (12 August 192417 August 1988) was a Pakistani military officer and statesman who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until Death of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, his death in an airplane crash in 1988. He also se ...

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 founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...

for its Northwest Frontier Province chapter before 1947.Fida Khan passes away

Dawn (newspaper) ''Dawn'' is a Pakistani English language, English-language newspaper that was launched in British Raj, British India by Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1941. It is the largest English newspaper in Pakistan, and is widely considered the country's newspap ...

, 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 (; ; ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The university is one of the oldest universities in the provi ...

, graduated and earned his BA degree in economics from the Edwardes College, 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 is a Collegiate university, collegiate, Central university (India), central, and Research university, research university located in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Kh ...

in 1945. During this time, Fida Khan joined

and actively participated in

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement was a religiopolitical and social movement that emerged in the early 20th century as part of a campaign that advocated the creation of an Islamic state in parts of what was then British Raj. It was rooted in the two-nation the ...

, serving as the leading

activist Activism 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 common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

of Pakistan Movement in

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

. Fida Muhammad Khan was a veteran Muslim Leaguer 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 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 ...

(MNA). He had represented Pakistan in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

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 (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monotheistic teachings of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, ...

's visit to Khyber Agency. Due to opposition by the Congress party of India 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 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 The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) (; ) is the aerial warfare branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces, tasked primarily with the aerial defence of Pakistan, with a secondary role of providing air support to the Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy when re ...

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) is the premier Pakistani Intelligence community, intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant t ...

Director-General Hamid Gul 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 repr ...

, but found victory in the Punjab Provincial Assembly under

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms, first serving from 1990 to 1993, then ...

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

PML-N The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right, Conservatism in Pakistan, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate of Pakistan, Senate and the larges ...

Pakistan Football Federation

Fida served as president of the

Pakistan Football Federation The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the national governing body of association football in Football in Pakistan, Pakistan. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of Association football, football, and affiliated to the A ...

between 1978 and 1981.

Death, awards and recognition

Nishan-e-Imtiaz The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (; ) is one of the state organized Civil decorations of Pakistan, civil decorations of Pakistan. It is awarded for achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or outstanding service for the country. However, the awa ...

Award by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

for his servicesFormer NWFP governor Fida Mohammad Khan passes away

Business Recorder ''Business Recorder'' is an English-language financial daily newspaper in Pakistan, founded by Muhammad Ahmed Zuberi in 1965. The publication is owned by the Business Recorder Group. Newspaper founder's eldest son, Wamiq Zuberi, is the edit ...

(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 Presidents of the Pakistan Football Federation