Dr. Khan Sahib | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1st Chief Minister of West Pakistan | |
| In office 14 October 1955 – 27 August 1957 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| President | Iskander Mirza |
| Governor-General | Iskander Mirza |
| Governor | Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan |
| 2nd and 4thChief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province | |
| In office 7 September 1937 – 10 November 1939 | |
| Governor | George Cunningham |
| Preceded by | Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum |
| Succeeded by | Governor rule |
| In office 16 March 1945 – 22 August 1947 | |
| Governor | George Cunningham Olaf Caroe |
| Preceded by | Sardar Aurangzeb Khan |
| Succeeded by | Abdul Qayyum Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1883[1] |
| Died | 9 May 1958(1958-05-09) (aged 74–75)[1] |
| Party | Republican Party |
| Domestic partner | Mary Khan |
| Relations | Abdul Ghaffar Khan (brother) Mariam Khan (daughter) Jaswant Singh (son-in-law)[2] |
| Parent | Khan Abdul Bahram Khan |
Abdul Jabbar Khan (Pashto:خان عبدالجبار خان) (born 1883,Utmanzai, Charsadda – 9 May 1958,Lahore), popularly known asDr. Khan Sahib (ډاکټر خان صاحب), was a pioneer in theIndian Independence Movement and later, aPakistani politician.[3] He was the elder brother of the Pashtun activistAbdul Ghaffar Khan, both of whomopposed the partition of India.[4] Upon independence, he pledged his allegiance toPakistan and later served as the FirstChief Minister of West Pakistan.
As theChief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province, Dr Khan Sahib along with his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan and theKhudai Khidmatgars boycotted theJuly 1947 NWFP referendum about the province joining India or Pakistan after thepartition of India, citing that the referendum did not have the options of the NWFP becomingindependent or joining Afghanistan.[5][6]
Upon independence and establishment of Pakistan, Khan Sahib joined the national politics and was later elected the first Chief Minister of West Pakistan.
He was born in the village ofUtmanzai, Charsadda, in theNorth West Frontier Province (NWFP) ofBritish India (now inKhyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) to aMuhammadzaiPashtun family. His father, Bahram Khan was a local landlord. He was eight years older than his brother,Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan).[1]
After matriculating from the Edwards Mission High School in Peshawar, Khan Sahib studied atGrant Medical College,Bombay. He subsequently completed his training fromSt Thomas' Hospital in London. During theFirst World War, he served in France. During his stay in France, he met a Scottish girl Mary. They fell in love and soon they got married, though his younger brother Bacha Khan was against this marriage. After the war, he joined theIndian Medical Service and was posted inMardan with theGuides regiment. He resigned his commission in 1921, after refusing to be posted inWaziristan, where theBritish Indian Army was launchingoperations against his fellowPashtun tribes (1919–20).[1]
In 1935, Khan Sahib was elected alongside Peer Shahenshah of Jungle Khel Kohat as representatives of the North-West Frontier Province to theCentral Legislative Assembly in New Delhi.
Along with his brotherAbdul Ghaffar Khan and theKhudai Khidmatgar, Jabbar Khan stronglyopposed the partition of India, favouring a united country.[4]
With the grant of limited self-government and announcement of1937 Indian provincial elections, Dr. Khan Sahib led his party to a comprehensive victory. The Frontier National Congress, an affiliate of theIndian National Congress emerged as the single largest party in the Provincial Assembly.
In the 1940s, a Sikh family was killed in theHazara District of colonial India, with their daughter Basanti being married off to a Muslim man.[7] Basanti asked to be sent to her Sikh relatives and Jabbar Khan agreed with this.[7] The All India Muslim League, however, agitated against Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan's decision, "and made the woman’s return to Islam the principal demand of its civil disobedience movement in the Frontier Province."[7]
In the same district, Jabbar Khan fined the villages of the Hazara District for riots that targeted Hindus and Sikhs.[7] When a crowd of pro-separatist Muslim League supporters arrived at his residence, Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan stated that he did what he considered his rightful duty.[7]
At the time of thecreation of Pakistan in 1947, he was appointed the Chief Executive of the province inBritish India.[8] Later he was jailed byAbdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri's government. After Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri's appointment to the central government and the personal efforts of the Chief Minister of the NWFPSardar Bahadur Khan, he along with his brotherBacha Khan and many other activists were released.
He joined the Central Cabinet ofMuhammad Ali Bogra as Minister for Communications in 1954. This decision to join the government led to his split with his brotherBacha Khan.[9]
In October 1955, he became the firstChief Minister ofWest Pakistan following the consolidation of the provinces and princely states under theOne Unit Scheme.[1] However, after differences with the rulingMuslim League over the issue of Joint versus Separate Electorates, in the same month he created theRepublican Party with the help of thenGovernor-General of PakistanIskander Mirza.[10]
He resigned in March 1957 after the provincial budget was rejected by the assembly. In June, he was elected to theNational Assembly of Pakistan representing the constituency ofQuetta, the capital ofBalochistan.
He was assassinated by Atta Mohammad at approximately 8:30 am on 9 May 1958, according to some sources on the orders ofAllama Mashraqi, leader of theKhaksars.[11]
InAllama Mashriqi Narrowly Escapes the Gallows: Court Proceedings of an Unpardonable Crime Against the Man Who Led the Freedom of the Indian Subcontinent, scholar and historian Nasim Yousaf, Mashriqi’s grandson, provides a day-by-day account of the court proceedings.[12]
This tragic incident occurred while Dr. Khan Sahib was sitting in the garden of his son Sadullah Khan's house at 16 Aikman Road, GOR, Lahore.[13] He was waiting for Colonel Syed Abid Hussein of Jhang to accompany him to a meeting organised in connection with the scheduled February 1959 General Elections. The assailant was a "Patwari" (Land Revenue Clerk) fromMianwali who had been dismissed from service two years previously. Despite his appeal in court, the assailant had not been reinstated to his position as 'Patwari'.[1]"In his first public address after the assassination of his elder brother in Lahore, Abdul Ghaffar said on May 19 that he felt that Dr. KhanSahib had been done to death by those people for whom he had forsaken his own people, discarded his party and thrown to the winds the position he held as a result of a glorious political career."[14]
The body of Dr. Khan Sahib was taken to his villageUtmanzai, Charsadda about 30 miles from Peshawar, where he was laid to rest by side of his European wife Mary Khan.[15]
Speaking of his passing, Pakistani PresidentIskander Mirza said, about him that he was "the greatest Pathan of his times, a great leader and a gallant gentleman whose life-long fight in the cause of freedom, his sufferings and sacrifices for the sake of his convictions and his passion to do good to the common man were the attributes of a really great man."[16]
A major shopping district inNew Delhi, India, theKhan Market, is named in his honour. The market was established in 1951 for refugees of thePartition of India from theNorth West Frontier Province. Dr. Khan who was the Chief Minister of NWFP during the partition had helped many families to escape without harm.[17]
Founded in 1951, the Khan Market was named after Muslim Indian independence activist Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan.
"This market was set up for those who had been displaced; refugees who had migrated from the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) ..." said Sanjiv Mehra, president of Khan Market Traders' Association and owner of Allied Toy Store.It was aptly named after popular NWFP leader Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan or Dr Khan Sahib, the elder brother of Pashtun Independence activist Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan or Frontier Gandhi.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1937–1939 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | 2nd term 1945–1946 | Succeeded by 3rd term |
| Preceded by 2nd term | 3rd term 1946–1947 | Succeeded by Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri |
| Preceded by Office created | Chief Minister ofWest Pakistan 1955–1957 | Succeeded by |
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