Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Shuja Khanzada (‎; 28 August 1943 – 16 August 2015) was a Pakistani politician and

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

colonel, who served as the

Home Minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergenc ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

from 2014 until his assassination on 16 August 2015. As an army officer, Khanzada fought in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war, before partaking in the

Siachen conflict The Siachen conflict, sometimes referred to as the Siachen Glacier conflict or the Siachen War, was a military conflict Indo-Pakistani wars and conflicts, between India and Pakistan over the disputed Siachen Glacier region in Kashmir. The conf ...

in 1983. Retiring from the military, Khanzada entered politics in 1996. He was elected to the Punjab Provincial Assembly thrice, in 2002, 2008, and 2013; the latter as a

PML (N) The Pakistan Muslim League (N) or (PML(N)) is a centre-right, conservative political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third-largest party in the Senate and the largest in the National Assembly. The party was founded in 1993, when a num ...

candidate from his native constituency in Attock. Appointed Home Minister in 2014, Khanzada spearheaded the campaign against

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

and sectarian militancy in Punjab. On 16 August 2015, Khanzada was assassinated in a suicide attack at his political office in Shadi Khan, Attock. The militant group

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi The Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) , Army of Jhangvi) was a Deobandi terrorist organisation driven by a Takfiri Anti-Shia ideology based in Afghanistan. The LeJ was an offshoot of anti-Shia party Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). The LeJ was founde ...

(LeJ) claimed responsibility for the attack, in retaliation for the killing of LeJ chief Malik Ishaq during Khanzada's tenure. A number of his family members had been killed in a suicide attack on a funeral near

Mardan Mardān is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). ...

, two years earlier.

Early life

Born to a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family of the

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

tribe, Khanzada's grandfather Captain Ajab Khan was a member of the

Indian Legislative Assembly * Central Legislative Assembly * State legislative assemblies of India The State Legislative Assembly, also known as the Vidhan Sabha or the Saasana Sabha, is a legislative body in each of the states and certain union territories of India. Me ...

(in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

) and his uncle Taj Muhammad Khanzada was a member of 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 ...

and Punjab Provincial Assembly from the 1950s to the late 1990s. He matriculated at the Public School Nowshera, followed by FSc. and graduation from the Islamia College in Peshawar with a bachelor's degree in arts in 1966. In 1967, he was commissioned into the Pakistan Army. Khanzada was married and had three children. His son, Jahangir Khanzada, succeeded him as a member of the provincial assembly in by-elections on 6 October 2015 from the family's native constituency of PP-16, following Shuja's assassination. Three of his cousins died in the Mardan funeral bombing in 2013. Another family member, Major Javed Alam Khanzada was a senior bureaucrat in

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 ...

Military career

During his military career, Khanzada fought in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war, served as an instructor in 1974–1978 and 1982–1983, and commanded the

13th Lancers The 13th Lancers is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in 1923 as 13th Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers by the amalgamation of 31st Duke of Connaught's Own Lancers and 32nd Lancers. On Partition of India in 1947, the regiment wa ...

in 1983–85. He was also present at the

Siachen Glacier The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern Karakoram range of the Himalayas, just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the Line of Control between India and Pakistan ends in northeastern Kashmir. At long, it is the longest glaci ...

in 1983. In 1988, he was awarded the

Tamgha-e-Basalat Tamgha-i-Basalat () is an award of the Pakistan Armed Forces. See also * Awards and decorations of the Pakistan Armed Forces References External links Decorations and Medals of PakistanMilitary Awards of Pakistan
(archived 5 July 2009 ...

for his services. In 1992–1994, he was posted as a military attaché at the Pakistani embassy in Washington, D.C. He was also a field officer of the

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 ...

(ISI), working for the intelligence agency for over a decade from the 1980s to the mid-1990s, during which he specialised on affairs related to

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Political career

Following his retirement from the military, Khanzada entered politics in 1996. For some time, he was affiliated with the

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is a political party in Pakistan established in 1996 by cricketer and politician Imran Khan, who served as the country's prime minister from 2018 to 2022. The party is led by Gohar Ali Khan since late 2023. ...

as a founding member, before joining the

Pakistan Muslim League (Q) The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League" (officially registered as the Pakistan Muslim League) is a political party in Pakistan. As of the 2024 parliamentary e ...

. He was elected as a member of the

Provincial Assembly of Punjab The Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, also known as the Punjab Assembly, is the supreme Legislature, legislative body of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. It convenes at the #Assembly building, A ...

from 2002 to 2007 as a PML (Q) legislator. He served as a special advisor to the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

and held a ministry portfolio. He was elected to the provincial assembly again in 2008 as an independent candidate, and in the 2013 elections as a

member, from his native Constituency PP-16. Khanzada was appointed Punjab Environment Protection Minister on 10 June 2013.

Home Minister

Khanzada was assigned the additional charge of the Home Ministry by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) provincial government on 14 October 2014, in a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

Death and legacy

On 16 August 2015, Khanzada's home office in Shadi Khan was attacked in a suicide blast, killing him and at least 18 other people, including a number of his relatives. According to a preliminary investigation, the attack may have been retaliation for the killing of

militant leader Malik Ishaq by the Punjab Police during Khanzada's term in office. The attack was strongly condemned throughout the country, including by 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 ...

and Chief of Army Staff General

Raheel Sharif General Raheel Sharif (Urdu: ; born 16 June 1956) is a retired four-star army general of the Pakistan Army who served as the ninth chief of army staff from 29 November 2013 to 29 November 2016. After his retirement as Pakistan's army chief, h ...

. The Lahore City District Government announced that a major new road inaugurated 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 ...

, connecting Karim Block and Jinnah Hospital, would be named after Shuja Khanzada.

Awards and Decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khanzada, Shuja 1943 births 2015 deaths Assassinated Pakistani politicians Islamia College University alumni Shuja Punjab MPAs 2013–2018 Military personnel from Punjab, Pakistan 2015 murders in Pakistan Pakistan Armoured Corps officers Pakistan Muslim League (N) MPAs (Punjab) Pakistan Muslim League (Q) MPAs (Punjab) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf politicians Pakistan Army colonels Pakistani expatriates in the United States Pakistani military personnel of the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pakistani terrorism victims Pashtun politicians People from Attock District People murdered in Punjab, Pakistan People of Inter-Services Intelligence Politicians from Punjab, Pakistan Recipients of Tamgha-e-Basalat Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa casualties Lashkar-e-Jhangvi attacks Recipients of Hilal-e-Shujaat Asian politicians assassinated in the 2010s Pashtun military personnel Politicians assassinated in 2015