About: the British Indian and Pakistani politician of Kashmiri origin
For other uses, see Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum.
the Azad Kashmir politician
Template:Use Pakistani English
| File:Khan Bahadur Abdul Qayyum Khan.png
| |
| Office | 17th Minister for Interior |
|---|---|
| Office | 5th Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province
|
| Predecessor | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| Successor | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
|
| Born | 1901-06-16 |
| Born | Chitral, Chitral State, British India |
| Died | Template:Death date and age[1] |
| Place of death | Islamabad, Pakistan
|
| Political party | Qayyum Muslim League (1970-1981)
|
| Alma mater | Government College University, London School of Economics, Lincoln Inn
|
Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri (Template:Langx) (16 July 1901 – 23 October 1981[1]) was a major figure in British Indian and later Pakistani politics, in particular in the North-West Frontier Province, where he served as the Chief Minister from 23 August 1947 to 23 April 1953. He also served as the Interior Minister of Pakistan from 1972 to 1977.[1]
Early life
Abdul Qayyum Khan was born in the State of Chitral but had Kashmiri origin.Template:Sfn His father, Khan Abdul Hakim, was originally from the Wanigam village in the Baramulla district, Jammu and Kashmir,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn[2] but worked as a Tehsildar in the North-West Frontier Province (N.W.F.P., now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan in 2017) of British India.Template:Citation needed
Khan was educated at Aligarh Muslim University and the London School of Economics.Template:Sfn He became a barrister of the Lincoln's Inn.[3]
One of his brothers, Abdul Hamid Khan (Azad Kashmiri politician), was a prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir,Template:Sfn and another brother, Khan Abdul Rauf Khan, was a renowned lawyer.Template:Citation needed
Legal career
Abdul Qayum Khan was one of the eminent lawyers of N.W.F.P. During his professional career he conducted some very important cases. He used to practice in criminal law. Mirza Shams ul Haq was his most trustworthy colleague, who remained always close to him during profession and politics. Abdul Qayum was also assisted in his chambers by Muhammad Nazirullah Khan advocate, who later served as a provincial secretary general and senior vice president of Pakistan Muslim League.Template:Citation needed
Political career
Indian National Congress
Starting his political career in 1934 with the Indian National Congress, Khan quickly rose to serve as an elected member of the Central Legislative Assembly (1937–38) and the deputy leader of the Congress in the Assembly. At that time he admired Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. He authored a book, Gold and Guns on the Pathan Frontier,[4] in which he praised Ghaffar Khan and denounced Jinnah and the two-nation theory. Abdul Qayyum Khan said that the North West Frontier Province would resist the partition of India with its blood.[5] He switched his loyalties to the Muslim League in 1945.Template:Sfn He later claimed that Ghaffar Khan was plotting Jinnah's assassination.[6] He banned his own book after he became the Chief Minister in the N.W.F.P. The book however continued fetching royalties even after he joined the Muslim League.[7][8]
Muslim League and Partition
In the 1946 provincial elections, Khan campaigned for the All-India Muslim League along with Pir of Manki Sharif. However, the Muslim League won only 17 seats in comparison to the 30 seats of the Congress Party. The Congress Party formed the provincial government under the premiership of Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (popularly known as "Dr. Khan Sahib").Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Abdul Qayyum Khan was put in charge of destabilising the Congress government in the province through street agitations, ideological rhetoric and acquisition of sympathetic Muslim officers in the government.Template:Sfn The presence of a Congress government at the extreme north-west of the Indian subcontinent was anomalous, and the province became a bone of contention between the Congress and the Muslim League as part of the Partition of India.Template:Sfn Eventually, the British decided to hold a referendum to determine which dominion the province should go to. Abdul Ghaffar Khan demanded a separate nation of 'Pakhtunistan' comprising both the North-West Frontier Province and Pashtun parts of Afghanistan. When it was denied by the British Raj, he and his party boycotted the referendum held by the British government. The Muslim League won an easy victory for Pakistan (289,244 votes against 2,874 for India).Template:Sfn
Within a week of the independence of Pakistan, the Congress government was dismissed under orders from Governor General Jinnah. Abdul Qayyum Khan was put in charge of a minority government on 23 August 1947. Khan navigated through the troubled waters ably, winning the defection of enough Congress legislators to support his government.Template:Sfn[9]
First Kashmir War
Qayyum Khan was a key instigator of the First Kashmir War, if not the chief instigator.Template:Efn
North-West Frontier Province
As the premier of the NWFP, Qayyum Khan faced internal dissension. The Pir of Manki Sharif, who was a key figure in the campaign for referendum, was miffed that he was passed over for the post. He objected to Khan holding both the premiership of the state and the presidency of the provincial Muslim League. The Pir gathered disgruntled legislators and intended to bring a vote of no-confidence against Khan. Khan diffused his efforts. Then the Pir formed a separate party under the banner of All Pakistan Awami Muslim League. An exasperated Khan responded with "full fury and force". He forced out the Pir of Manki Sharif from the NWFP and imprisoned nine other leaders. Despite the crackdown, the Awami Muslim League contested the provincial elections in 1951 to win 4 seats.Template:Sfn
Qayyum Khan's administration was known for its development work in the province, including the construction of Peshawar University and the Warsak dam. He introduced compulsory free education up to middle school level in Frontier province, the first province of Pakistan to have this reform. He also made poor friendly amendments to the land revenue laws. He evoked opposition from a section of the feudal class due to his egalitarian policies. His political stand was opposition to the Khudai Khidmatgar movement of Ghaffar Khan.[10]Template:Failed verification His alleged role in ordering the Babrra massacre is one which he faces much criticism. He led the Muslim League to a landslide victory in the 1951 elections, despite opposition from the Khudai Khidmatgar movement and opposition from federally backed fellow Muslim league opponents like Yusuf Khattak.[11]
Qayyum Khan served as the Chief Minister till 23 April 1953.[9]
Central Government
Template:Unreferenced section He served as central minister for Industries, Food and Agriculture in 1953.
Arrested by the Ayub Khan regime, he was disqualified from politics and imprisoned for two years before finally being released.
Contesting the 1970 General Election in Pakistan from three seats as leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Qayyum faction, he won two National Assembly of Pakistan seats, one provincial seat and, in 1973, entered into alliance with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after East Pakistan broke away in the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Appointed federal interior minister by Zulfiqar Bhutto, he served in that post till the 1977 elections, when his party suffered a near total rout. After Zia-ul-Haq's assumption of power, Qayyum Khan tried to unify all the disparate Muslim League factions. His efforts were inconclusive and he died on 22 October 1981.[1]
He was always opposed by Khan Habibullah Khan; they were lifelong rivals since they were young classmates at Islamia College, Peshawar.Template:Citation needed
Criticism
Babrra massacre
Template:Main Under the orders of Abdul Qayyum Khan[12] the Babrra massacre occurred on 12 August 1948 in the Charsadda District of the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pukhtunkhwa) of Pakistan, when workers of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement protesting the jailing of their leader, anti-colonial independence activist Abdul Ghaffar Khan were fired upon by the provincial government.[13] According to official figures, around 15 protestors were killed while around 40 were injured. However, Khudai Khidmatgar sources maintained that around 150 were killed and 400 were injured.[14]
In September 1948, then Chief Minister, Abdul Qayyum Khan gave a statement in the provincial assembly, "I had imposed section 144 at Babra. When the people did not disperse, then firing was opened on them. They were lucky that the police had finished ammunition; otherwise not a single soul would have been left alive". Khan Qayyum said hinting at the four members of the opposition in the provincial assembly. He said; "If they were killed, the government would not care about them."[15]
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Obituary and profile of Abdul Qayyum Khan on New York Times newspaper website, Published 24 October 1981, Retrieved 26 May 2017
- ↑ Diplomat. Mirza Hashim Baig.
- ↑ Pathans of the Latter Day. Oxford University Press.
- ↑ Gold and Guns on the Pathan Frontier. Hind Kitabs.
- ↑ Saying No to Partition: Muslim leaders from 1940-1947. SabrangIndia(4 December 2015).
- ↑ M.S. Korejo (1993) The Frontier Gandhi, his place in history. Karachi : Oxford University Press.
- ↑ The Curtain Rises: Uncovered Conspiracies in Pakistan, Afghanistan. Royal Book Company(1 January 2002).
- ↑ Political Conspiracies in Pakistan: Liaquat Ali's murder to Ayub Khan's exit. Punjabi Pustak Bhandar.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Religious parties to rule NWFP a second time, Dawn, 20 October 2002.
- ↑ Jalal, Ayesha(1991)The State of Martial Rule: The Origins of Pakistan's Political Economy of Defence. Lahore. Vanguard
- ↑ Afzal, M. Rafique (2002). Political Parties in Pakistan: 1947–1958, Vol. 1. Islamabad, National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research.
- ↑ Pakistan: History and Politics, 1947–1971 (1 April 2002) by M.Rafique Afzal p38 OUP Pakistan Template:ISBN
- ↑ Miscreants and militants DAWN. Retrieved 15 September 2008
- ↑ Ghaffar Khan, Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Penguin Books India(1 January 2004)
- ↑ 12 August 1948: Remembering Pakistan's forgotten massacre at Babrra. The Nation.
Bibliography
- By George: The Cunningham Contribution. Epilogue({Template:Date).
- Punjab Cavalry: Evolution, Role, Organisation and Tactical Doctrine 11 Cavalry, Frontier Force, 1849-1971. Oxford University Press.
- The Great Divide: Britain, India, Pakistan. Hutchinson.
- Defence Media 1991. Inter Services Public Relations.
- Pakistan: Nationalism without A Nation. Zed Books.
- Early phase of electoral politics in Pakistan: 1950s.Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore
- Quarterly Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society, Volume 48. Pakistan Historical Society.
- A Nation in Turmoil: Nationalism and Ethnicity in Pakistan, 1937-1958. Sage.
- [{{{url}}} Kashmiris Fight for Freedom, Volume 2]. National Institute Kashmir Studies.
- Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris. Oxford University Press.
Further reading
- Hassan, Syed Minhaj-ul. NWFP Administration under Abdul Qaiyum Khan, 1947–53.
- Qaiyum, Abdul, Gold and Guns on the Pathan Frontier, Bombay, 1945
Template:S-start Template:S-off Template:Succession box
Template:Succession box Template:End Template:Pakistan Movement Template:Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Template:Interior Minister of Pakistan Template:Authority control