Sardar Abdur Rashid Khan OBE (Urdu: سردار عبد الرشید خان) (1906 — 1995) was a senior police officer from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province and cabinet minister in Pakistan.
Abdur Rashid Khan | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Interior, Kashmir Affairs, States and Frontier Regions | |
| In office 4 August 1969 – 22 February 1971 | |
| President | General Yahya Khan |
| Preceded by | Abdul Qayyum Khan |
| Succeeded by | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto |
| Minister for Commerce and Industries | |
| In office 29 March 1958 – 7 October 1958 | |
| President | Iskander Mirza |
| Prime Minister | Feroz Khan Noon |
| Chief Minister of West Pakistan | |
| In office 16 July 1957 – 18 March 1958 | |
| Preceded by | Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan |
| Succeeded by | Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash |
| Minister for Health, Finance and Information of West Pakistan | |
| In office 1955–1957 | |
| Chief Minister of the North-West Frontier Province | |
| In office 23 April 1953 – 18 July 1955[1] | |
| Preceded by | Abdul Qayyum Khan |
| Succeeded by | Sardar Bahadur Khan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1906 Dera Ismail Khan |
| Died | 1995 (aged 88–89) |
| Political party | Republican Party |
| Awards | Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam (1969)[2] |
Early life
editBorn in Dera Ismail Khan, Sardar Rashid was educated at Islamia College Peshawar.
Professional life
editHe then joined the Indian Police Service (IP) and was serving as the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Peshawar City when Pakistan became an independent country on 14 August 1947.[3] He was one of the senior most police officers in the newly-emergent country.
Sardar Rashid rose to become the Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, but resigned from the police service on April 23, 1953, when he was appointed as the 8th Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.[3] His nomination was controversial in that he was handpicked by his predecessor Abdul Qayyum Khan. However, he proved to be a popular choice, and in November 1953, he was elected as the provincial president of the Muslim League despite the efforts of Abdul Qayyum Khan to retain the post for himself following his elevation to the Central Government.
He remained Chief Minister until 18 July 1955, when he was forced to resign because of his opposition to the ""One Unit Scheme"".[4][3] He was succeeded by Sardar Bahadur Khan (older brother of General Ayub Khan) who secured approval from the provincial assembly for the controversial scheme.
Sardar Rashid joined the Republican Party and was elected as a Member of the West Pakistan Assembly when the ""One Unit Scheme"" came into effect, and served in the cabinet of Dr Khan Sahib initially as Minister for Health and later as Minister for Finance and Information.[5]
On the resignation of Dr Khan Sahib in July 1957, Sardar Rashid was elected as the second Chief Minister of West Pakistan. He resigned from this position on 18 March 1958, and was succeeded by Nawab Muzaffar Ali Khan Qizilbash.[6]
Sardar Rashid (Republican) served as Minister for Commerce and Industries in the cabinet of Prime Minister Sir Feroz Khan Noon (Republican) from 29 March 1958 - 7 October 1958, when the cabinet was dismissed on the declaration of Martial Law by President Iskander Mirza.[7]
After the fall of the Ayub Khan government, Sardar Abdur Rashid served as Minister for Home Affairs (Interior), Kashmir Affairs, States, and Frontier Regions in the presidential cabinet of President and Chief Martial Law Administrator General Yahya Khan from 4 August 1969 - 22 February 1971.
References
edit- ^ "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Ministers Gallery". kp.gov.pk/. Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ "From The Past Pages Of Dawn: 1970: Fifty Years Ago: Qizilbash, Rashid awarded". Dawn. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ a b c Hassan, Syed Minhaj Ul; Gul, Asma (2018). "One Unit and Sardar Abdul Rashid Khan". Pakistan Perspective. 23 (1). ISSN 2707-899X. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ Afzal, M. Rafique (1986). Political Parties in Pakistan 1947-1958. Islamabad: National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research. pp. 28–29.
- ^ "Sardar Abdul Rashid Khan". cm.punjab.hov.pk. Office of the Chief Minister of Punjab, Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ "Punjab Assembly, Members - Provincial Assembly Fourth Profile". www.pap.gov.pk. Punjab Provincial Assembly, Government of The Punjab. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
- ^ Marwat, Safi Ullah Khan (2017). "From Pakhtũnistãn to Khyber Pakhtũnkhwã: A Journey of Pakhtũn Nationalists from Separation to Integration". Pakistan Journal of History and Culture. XXXVIII (2): 109. Retrieved 28 April 2024.