Yusuf Khattak | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources | |
| In office 14 August 1974 – 5 July 1977 | |
| President | Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry |
| Prime Minister | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| Preceded by | VAdmSM Ahsan |
| Succeeded by | Lt. Gen.Yaqub Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Muhamad Yusuf Khan Khattak (1917-11-18)18 November 1917 |
| Died | 29 July 1991(1991-07-29) (aged 73) Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Citizenship | British Subject (1917–47) Pakistan (1947–91) |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Political party | Pakistan Peoples Party |
| Other political affiliations | Muslim League |
| Relations | Aslam Khattak (brother) Habibullah Khan (brother) Mehr-un-Nisa (sister) |
| Alma mater | Government College University Oxford University |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Cabinet | Z.A. Bhutto Government |
Muhamad Yusuf Khan Khattak (18 November 1917 – 29 July 1991) was aPakistani politician,left-wing intellectual, lawyer, and notedPakistan Movement activist fromKhyber Pakhtunkhwa.[1]
Although an early member of theMuslim League, he actively participated in politics through the left-orientedPakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which he served as theminister of petroleum under the government of Prime MinisterZulfikar Ali Bhutto.[2]
He was a highly respectablestatesman and represented Pakistan at various international conferences during his political career.[1]
Yusuf Khattak was born into a prominentPashtunKhattak family, ofKarak,North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.[1] His father, Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan Khattak, was an influential figure in the nationalist politics of the then-NWFP.[1]
He was the youngest son of Quli Khan Khattak. His older brothers includedAslam Khattak, who served as theGovernor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, andHabibullah Khattak, who enjoyed a distinguished career with thePakistan Army.
After initially studying at the privateAitchison College inLahore, he made atransfer to the renownedGovernment College University (GCU) in Lahore. AtGCU, he graduated with BA incomparative literature and poetry, and moved to the United Kingdom for higher studies. He attended theOxford University where he earned a BA in history, followed by MA inmodern history. AtOxford University, he passed thebar exam to practice law and wasLincoln's Inn.[1]
However, he returned toIndia to join theAll India Muslim League and played a prominent role in thePakistan Movement.[1]
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.[1] During theCivil disobedience movement inBritish India, Khattak was arrested and sent to jail along with other leaders of the Muslim League.[1] ln spite of his release orders, he refused to come out of the jail and persistently defied the orders by remaining behind the bars tillMuhammad Ali Jinnah gave a clarion call to the Muslim League leaders to fight the battle for referendum in North West Frontier Province.[1]
Yusuf Khattak led thePakistan Movement section against the Khyber-PakhtunkhwaCongress government underDr Khan Sahib. A close confidante ofLiaqat Ali Khan, he became secretary general of theMuslim League after theindependence ofPakistan in 1947.[1] However, he fell out with Muslim League Chief MinisterAbdul 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.[1]
Frequently in the opposition, he was elected the leader of the opposition in theNational Assembly of Pakistan and was a prominent leader in the campaign ofFatima Jinnah against Field MarshalAyub Khan's military government.[3][4][1]
A prominent critic ofKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khan'sPakhtunistan policy, he also rejected theNational Awami Party's claim to be the sole representative ofPashtuns.
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 vacatedPeshawar seat.
As part of Qayyum Khan's alliance with thePakistan Peoples Party, Yusuf Khattak was appointed Federal Minister for Fuel, Power and Natural Resources in Prime MinisterZulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Cabinet. He was re-elected to his seat in the 1977 election despite the Qayyum League's rout.[2]
Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp to honor him in its 'Tehreek-e-Pakistan Ke Mujahid' series in 2003.[1]
Yusuf Khattak died on 29 July 1991 atIslamabad, Pakistan after a long illness.[1]
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