Muhamad Yusuf Khan Khattak (18November 191729July 1991) was 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,

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

intellectual, lawyer, and noted Pakistan Movement activist 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 ...

. Although an early member of the Muslim League, he actively participated in politics through the left-oriented

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), which he served as the minister of petroleum under the government of Prime Minister

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

. He was a highly respectable statesman and represented Pakistan at various international conferences during his political career.

Biography

Early life and education

Yusuf Khattak was born into a prominent Pashtun '' Khattak'' family, of Karak, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. His father, Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan Khattak, was an influential figure in the nationalist politics of the then-NWFP. He was the youngest son of Quli Khan Khattak. His older brothers included Aslam Khattak, who served as the Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Habibullah Khattak, who enjoyed a distinguished career with the

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 ...

. After initially studying at the private 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 ...

, he made a transfer to the renowned Government College University (GCU) in Lahore. At GCU, he graduated with BA in

comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...

and poetry, and moved to the United Kingdom for higher studies. He attended the Oxford University where he earned a BA in history, followed by MA in

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

. At Oxford University, he passed the

bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

to practice law and was

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

. However, he returned to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to join the All India Muslim League and played a prominent role in the Pakistan Movement.

Political activism and the petroleum ministry

In November 1946, he led a group of 100 volunteers of Frontier Muslim League to Bihar for relief work after the massacre of Muslims there. During the Civil disobedience movement 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 ...

, Khattak was arrested and sent to jail along with other leaders of the Muslim League. ln spite of his release orders, he refused to come out of the jail and persistently defied the orders by remaining behind the bars till Muhammad Ali Jinnah gave a clarion call to the Muslim League leaders to fight the battle for referendum in North West Frontier Province. Yusuf Khattak led the Pakistan Movement section against the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Congress government under Dr Khan Sahib. A close confidante of Liaqat Ali Khan, he became secretary general of the Muslim League after the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status 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# ...

in 1947. However, he fell out with Muslim League Chief Minister Abdul Qayyum Khan, who actively organised a campaign to oust him and his colleagues like Barrister Khan Saifullah Khan, from any role in provincial politics. He was then elected secretary general of the Provincial Muslim League, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in 1949. He was soon elevated to the prominent position of secretary general of All Pakistan Muslim League the same year thereby succeeding Liaquat Ali Khan, prime minister of Pakistan as secretary general of the league.

Leader of the opposition

Frequently in the opposition, he was elected the leader of the opposition in 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 was a prominent leader in the campaign of Fatima Jinnah against Field Marshal Ayub Khan's military government.Yusuf Khattak elected member of the 5th National Assembly of Pakistan (!972 - 1977) on Government of Pakistan website
Retrieved 16 October 2019 A prominent critic of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan's Pakhtunistan policy, he also rejected the National Awami Party's claim to be the sole representative of

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...

. Reconciling with Qayyum Khan before the bye-elections of 1971, he joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Qayyum faction and contested and won the election from Qayyum Khan's vacated

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 ...

seat. As part of Qayyum Khan's alliance with the

, Yusuf Khattak was appointed Federal Minister for Fuel, Power and Natural Resources in Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Cabinet. He was re-elected to his seat in the 1977 election despite the Qayyum League's rout.Bhutto Announces Extensive Changes In Pakistan Cabinet
New York Times, Published 23 October 1974, Retrieved 16 October 2019

Commemorative postage stamp

Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor him in its 'Tehreek-e-Pakistan Ke Mujahid' series in 2003.

Death

Yusuf Khattak died on 29 July 1991 at

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, Pakistan after a long illness.Profile and commemorative postage stamp on Pakistan Philatelic Net website
Published 11 July 2009, Retrieved 16 October 2019

References

External links

Muhammad Yusuf Khan Khattak ...A Daughter's Tribute
by Zeenath Jehan {{DEFAULTSORT:Khattak, Muhammad Yusuf Khan 1917 births 1991 deaths Pakistan People's Party politicians Government College University, Lahore alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Pakistani MNAs 1972–1977 Pakistani MNAs 1977 Pakistani activists Pakistan Movement activists from the North-West Frontier Province Aitchison College alumni

Yusuf Yusuf ( ') is a male name meaning " God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning " YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English na ...