Shaukat Hayat Khan | |
|---|---|
 Khan, c. 1942 | |
| Member of theNational Assembly of Pakistan | |
| In office 26 March 1977 – 5 July 1977 | |
| Constituency | NA-42 (Campbellpur-II)[1] |
| In office 14 April 1972 – 10 January 1977 | |
| Constituency | NW-30 (Campbellpur-I)[2] |
| Member of theConstituent Assembly of Pakistan | |
| In office 10 August 1947 – 24 October 1954 | |
| Constituency | Campbellpur District |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Shaukat Hayat Khan 24 September 1915 Amritsar,Punjab,British India |
| Died | 25 September 1998(1998-09-25) (aged 83) Islamabad,Pakistan |
| Nickname(s) | SHK Shark |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Branch/service |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1937–42 |
| Rank | Major[3] |
| Unit | 16th Light Cavalry 1st Duke of York's Own Skinner's Horse |
| Battles/wars | |
MajorShaukat Hayat Khan (Punjabi,Urdu:شوكت حيات خان; 24 September 1915 – 25 September 1998) was an influentialpolitician,military officer, andPakistan Movementactivist who played a major role in the organising of theMuslim League in theBritish-controlledPunjab.
Educated at theAligarh Muslim University and served in theBritish Indian Army in theMiddle East theatre of theSecond World War, he actively participated in the politics through theMuslim League platform. After a brief retirement, he made his comeback in politics during thegeneral elections held in 1970 and was an instrumental negotiator in trying to settle the political issues with theAwami League.
Shaukat Hayat Khan was born inAmritsar,Punjab of theBritish Indian Empire, on 24 September 1915.[4] His family hailed from the famous HayatKhattar clan ofWah[5] inAttock, and he was the eldest son of SirSikandar Hayat Khan (1892–1942), the famousPunjabi statesman andfeudal baron, from his first wife Begum Zubaida Khanum, a lady from a prominentKashmiri family settled inAmritsar,British India.[6]
After his mother's early demise in 1919, the young Shaukat and his siblings were taken care of by their aunt and in due course, he was sent to study at theAitchison College and theAligarh Muslim University, briefly, before he was sent, in keeping with family tradition, to join theBritish Indian Army, upon passing the qualifying examinations.[7]
Upon completing his military training orcadetship at theIndian Military Academy, he was formally commissioned as aSecond Lieutenant on the Special List with effect from 15 July 1937.[8] He was then attached to the 1st battalion Northamptonshire Regiment for a year then in August 1938 joined the16th Light Cavalry.[9][10] After some service on theNorth West Frontier, when theSecond World War broke out, he volunteered to go abroad for active service with any cavalry regiment being sent out to the Front, and was therefore seconded toSkinner's Horse.[11] He thereafter served inSomalia, theMiddle East andNorth Africa from 1940 to 1942, first promotedCaptain April - July 1941, after that as a temporary Major until after his father's death in December 1942, when he quit military service to take up his political role in the Punjab. Upon taking his release he was regularized with the rank ofmajor. He stayed inLondon for a short period during 1943.
On taking up his late father's political mantle, he was duly elected to the Punjab Assembly and made a member of the cabinet under the new Punjab premier,Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana, and subsequently served as Minister for Public Works in theUnionist Muslim League government. Dismissed in 1944 for his increasingly pro-Muslim League and pro-Jinnah ideals and policies, he was subsequently elected Deputy Leader of the Punjab League. Re-elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1946, he became one of the most prominent activists in the Muslim League's "Direct Action" campaign through its paramilitary wing theMuslim National Guard and the most famous and popular of the League's young leadership, winning the title of "Shaukat-i-Punjab "(Shaukat[12] of the Punjab) from Jinnah himself.[13] He played a significant role in eventually winning over thePunjabi Muslims in large numbers, to the cause of the League and of anindependent Pakistan.[14]
After partition he left the Muslim League party amidst conflicts withMian Mumtaz Daultana and briefly joined the Pakistan Azad Party along withMian Iftikharuddin. Between the 1950s and 1970s, in his own words, he was 'an unlucky witness to the gradual destruction of the Quaid's (i.e.Jinnahs) Pakistan',[15] at the hands of greedy and corrupt politicians and themartial law regimes.
Elected again from Attock in the 1970 general elections, he played a key role in the opposition negotiations withZulfiqar Bhutto which led to the passage of Pakistan's first interim constitution.[16] He was also one of the few Pakistani statesmen in 1970–71, who tried to negotiate amicably with theAwami League, to try to salvage former East Pakistan, which seceded and becameBangladesh soon afterwards.[17] Disillusioned, Khan soon afterwards resigned permanently from political life.[18]
He died inIslamabad on 25 September 1998 and is survived by two sons and four daughters. His son Sikander Hayat Junior has twice fought provincial elections from the PPP.[4]
He wrote his memoirs entitledThe Nation That Lost Its Soul: Memoirs of a Freedom Fighter (Lahore: Jang, 1995), its Urdu version being calledGumgashtah Qaum : Ek Mujāhid-i Āzādī Kī Yād Dāshten̲.
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