Khan Sahib

Abdul Jabbar Khan (born 1883, Utmanzai, Charsadda – 9 May 1958, Lahore), popularly known as Dr. Khan Sahib , was a pioneer in the Indian Independence Movement and later, a Pakistani politician. He was the elder brother of the Pashtun activist Abdul Ghaffar Khan, both of whom opposed the partition of India. Upon independence, he pledged his allegiance to Pakistan and later served as the First Chief Minister of West Pakistan.

As the Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province, Dr Khan Sahib along with his brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars boycotted the July 1947 NWFP referendum about the province joining India or Pakistan after the partition of India, citing that the referendum did not have the options of the NWFP becoming independent or joining Afghanistan.

Upon independence and establishment of Pakistan, Khan Sahib joined the national politics and was later elected the first Chief Minister of West Pakistan.

Early life He was born in the village of Utmanzai, Charsadda, in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) of British India (now in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan) to a Muhammadzai Pashtun family. His father, Bahram Khan was a local landlord. He was eight years older than his brother, Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan).

In the same district, Jabbar Khan fined the villages of the Hazara District for riots that targeted Hindus and Sikhs. Later he was jailed by Abdul 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 NWFP Sardar Bahadur Khan, he along with his brother Bacha Khan and many other activists were released.

Back in government He joined the Central Cabinet of Muhammad Ali Bogra as Minister for Communications in 1954. This decision to join the government led to his split with his brother Bacha Khan.

In October 1955, he became the first Chief Minister of West Pakistan following the consolidation of the provinces and princely states under the One Unit Scheme.

He resigned in March 1957 after the provincial budget was rejected by the assembly. In June, he was elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan representing the constituency of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.

Assassination He was assassinated by Atta Mohammad at approximately 8:30 am on 9 May 1958, according to some sources on the orders of Allama Mashraqi, leader of the Khaksars.

In Allama 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.

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. 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) from Mianwali 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'. "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. Khan Sahib 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."

The body of Dr. Khan Sahib was taken to his village Utmanzai, Charsadda about 30 miles from Peshawar, where he was laid to rest by side of his European wife Mary Khan.

Speaking of his passing, Pakistani President Iskander 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."

Legacy

A major shopping district in New Delhi, India, the Khan Market, is named in his honour. The market was established in 1951 for refugees of the Partition of India from the North West Frontier Province. Dr. Khan who was the Chief Minister of NWFP during the partition had helped many families to escape without harm.