Shahzada Mohiuddin (; 5 August 1938 – 27 April 2022) was a Pakistani

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, a Federal and Provincial Minister, and Member of the National Assembly of

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# ...

. He served as Minister of State for Tourism and

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

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 ...

Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

on Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas. He was the grandson of Sir Shuja ul-Mulk. His eldest son Shahzada Iftikhar Uddin was elected as the MNA from

Chitral Chitral () is a city situated on the Kunar River, Chitral River in northern area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Lower Chitral District, and was previously the capital of Chitral District, and before ...

in 2013.

Background

Shahzada Mohiuddin was born into the ruling family of

on 5 August 1938. He is the grandson of Sir Shuja ul-Mulk, the Mehtar of Chitral. His family's reign extended from 1571 to 1969, when the Princely State of

was incorporated completely into

. He completed his

Master of Economics The Master of Economics (MEcon or MEc) is a postgraduate master's degree in economics comprising training in economic theory, econometrics, and/or applied economics. The degree is also offered as an MS or MSc, MA or MCom in economics; var ...

from the University of Peshawar in 1963. During his time at

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, he was the Captain of

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

West Pakistan West Pakistan was the western province of Pakistan between One Unit, 1955 and Legal Framework Order, 1970, 1970, covering the territory of present-day Pakistan. Its land borders were with Afghanistan, India and Iran, with a maritime border wit ...

combined Universities football team. He is the nephew of former

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Burhan-ud-Din and the father-in-law of Shahzada Masood ul-Mulk.

Political career

Shahzada Mohiuddin entered politics on the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

(PPP) platform in 1972. He was elected ''Chairman District Council'' Chitral in 1983 and once again in 1987. Following the 1985 general elections he became a Member of the

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, and additionally served as ''Parliamentary Secretary for Communications'' till the dissolution of the Assembly. He lost his seat to

Nusrat Bhutto Begum Nusrat Bhutto (; ; ; []; 23 March 1929 – 23 October 2011) was an Iranian-born Pakistani public figure who served as the First ladies and gentlemen of Pakistan, First Lady of Pakistan from 1970 Pakistani general election, 1971 to Operat ...

in the 1988 general elections but won the National Assembly elections again in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. Leading up to the 1990 elections he was appointed ''Minister for Excise and Taxation'' in the interim provincial government of NWFP. Following it he was appointed ''Minister of State for Tourism'' (1990–1993) in Prime Minister

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 ...

's cabinet. He was again elected as MNA in the general elections of

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

and served as ''Chairman National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Government Assurances'' (1997–1999). Shahzada Mohiuddin was elected as District

Nazim Subahdar, also known as Nazim, was one of the designations of a governor of a Subah (province), Subah (province) during the Khalji dynasty of Bengal, Mamluk dynasty (Delhi), Mamluk dynasty, Khalji dynasty, Tughlaq dynasty, and the Mughal era who ...

of Chitral in the local body elections of 2001. He became a Member of the

for the fourth time in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and was appointed ''Chairman National Assembly's Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan''. In that capacity he was a proponent of peace and the idea that both countries should promote trade and other means of people-to-people contacts across the

Line of Control The Line of Control (LoC) is a military control line between the Indian and Pakistanicontrolled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary, but ser ...

to pave way for resolving the

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

issue Issue or issues may refer to: Publishing * ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company * ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine * Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public * '' ...

. One of the greatest landmarks in Shahzada Mohiuddin's political career is his work on restarting the

Lowari Tunnel Lowari Tunnel (, ''Lowari Surang'') consists of two separate tunnels, and the combined length of both tunnels is 10.4 kilometers (6.5 miles). It is a vehicular tunnel under the Lowari Pass of the Hindu Kush mountains, between Dir and Chitral ...

Project which has opened avenues of progress and prosperity for the remote district. Due to its geographical situation, Chitral would remain totally cut off from the rest of the country for up to five months every winter due to heavy snowfall on the 10,200-feet-high Lowari Pass; one of the only two land routes connecting the district to other parts of the country. Thousands of people had lost their lives while trying to cross over the Lowari pass.

General Pervez Musharraf Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 – 5 February 2023) was a Pakistani general and politician who served as the tenth president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008. Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and :Pakistan Army ...

had sanctioned funds while in power for the Lowari Tunnel project for providing an all-weather road linking Chitral with the rest of Pakistan. In acknowledgement Shahzada Mohiuddin vacated his parliamentary seat in favour of the Former President. Shahzada Mohiuddin was particular in pursuing infrastructure projects for his constituency. He was an outspoken critic of the PIA management for frequent cancellation of flights on the

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 ...

route on technical grounds. He mentioned on record that his

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

was remote and poor, consequently he often supported sitting governments just for securing development project and funds for his constituency.

Retirement from political life

Shahzada Mohiuddin retired from active political life after completing his term in 2013. He had dominated politics in the district for well over a quarter of a century. His son Shahzada Iftikhar Uddin contested the general elections in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and won the National Assembly seat in Chitral. Shahzada Mohiuddin died on 27 April 2022, at the age of 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohiuddin, Shahzada 1938 births 2022 deaths People from Chitral Pakistani MNAs 1985–1988 Pakistani MNAs 1990–1993 Pakistani MNAs 1997–1999 Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013