Gohar Ayub Khan

Gohar Ayub Khan (; 15 January 1937 – 17 November 2023) was a Pakistani politician, businessman, army officer, and a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (N), who held ministerial positions during the administration of prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Early life and military career Gohar Ayub Khan hailed from the village of Rehana, located in the Haripur District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and belonged to the Tareen tribe of ethnic Pashtuns. He was fluent in Hindko and Pashto. He was the son of military dictator former president and field marshal, Ayub Khan, and played an influential role in sustaining his father's presidential rule after the 1965 presidential election. Educated at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Gohar Ayub Khan was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1959. During his military service, he served as his father's aide-de-camp, travelling with him on several foreign trips. A native Hindko speaker, Gohar Ayub belonged to the Tareen tribe of Pashtuns. His father, Ayub Khan, was a senior commanding officer in the British Army and later ascended to staff and field operational assignments in the Pakistan Army. Ayub Khan subsequently became President of Pakistan through a bloodless military coup that commenced in 1958. Gohar Ayub joined the Pakistan Army in 1957, and trained at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom.

Political career

Role in the 1965 presidential election Gohar Ayub reportedly played an influential, but controversial, role in Karachi after his father's election in the allegedly rigged 1965 presidential election against Fatima Jinnah. This move led to fierce clashes between rival political groups. Gohar Ayub also faced criticism during that time on questions of family corruption and cronyism through his business links with his father-in-law. He first successfully contested a presidential election in March 1965 on a Muslim League platform. In 1977, he contested the National Assembly seat from Peshawar Jail and was elected on the ticket of Asghar Khan's Independence Movement party, defeating the candidate Akhtar Nawaz Khan of the Pakistan People's Party. He was succeeded by Yousaf Raza Gillani (later Prime minister) after the 1993 general election. Gohar Ayub also served as senior vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League from 1990 to 1993. After his re-election in 1993, Gohar Ayub became deputy leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. Although the prime minister was much more subdued, Gohar Ayub reportedly issued hostile statements and began to call for atomic tests in response to India. Gohar Ayub defected to the Pakistan Muslim League's splinter group in 2001. He was appointed the first secretary general of the party. Unable to contest the 2002 election because of a graduation degree restriction introduced by Pervez Musharraf, Gohar Ayub instead endorsed and provide vital support to his family. His younger son, Omar Ayub Khan, won his Haripur District seat, while his wife Zeb Gohar Ayub was elected MNA on the reserved women seats. Gohar Ayub's strongest political opponent in his constituency was former chief minister Raja Sikander Zaman. Once Nawaz Sharif preferred to leave country after signing an accord with General Musharaf, Gohar Ayub Khan left his party PMLN.

Post-retirement and controversies After his retirement from national politics in 2002, Gohar Ayub wrote Glimpses into the Corridors of Power and published his father's diary.

He opposed the proposal to rename the NWFP to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, while supporting the creation of a separate Hazara province.

Reconciliation with Nawaz Sharif After spending few years with the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) during the 2000s, he eventually rejoined PML-N in December 2012, following his reconciliation with Nawaz Sharif.

Business career Gohar Ayub Khan co-established an industrial firm under the business umbrella of Universal Insurance company Limited, founded by his father-in-law Habibullah Khan Khattak.

Gohar Ayub served as the Chief Executive of Universal Insurance and was on the board of several other companies in his in-laws, Khan Khattak family's corporation the Bibojee Group.

Death Gohar Ayub Khan died at Kulsum International Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan on 17 November 2023, at the age of 86 following a brief illness.

Books Glimpses Into the Corridors of Power, Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2007, 354 p. Autobiography. Testing Times as Foreign Minister, Islamabad: Dost Publications, 2009, 352 p. Autobiography. Shikar: In The Days Gone By, Islamabad: Dost Publications, 2009, 148 p. On hunting. Aivān-i Iqtidār Ke Mushāhidāt, Lahore: Sang-e-Mil Publications, 2018, 364 p. Autobiography.