Fida Mohammad Khan

Fida Mohammad Khan (Urdu: فدا محمد خان; 24 November 1919 – 20 December 2007) was a Pakistani conservative economist and lawyer who served as the Governor of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province under the military government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq from 1985 until 1988. He was the founder of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and served as its president and subsequently retired from the national politics.

Biography

Born in 1919 into the ethnic Pashtun family, Fida Khan educated at the Peshawar University, graduated and earned BA in Economics from the Edwardes College, and LLB in Economic law from Aligarh Muslim University in 1945. During this time, Fida Khan joined All-India Muslim League and actively participated in Pakistan Movement, serving as the leading activist of Pakistan Movement in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Fida Muhammad Khan was a veteran Muslim Leaguer and former Governor of NWFP. He had also served as an ex-senator, federal minister, provincial minister, MNA and was the head of Pakistan Muslim League. He had represented Pakistan in United Nations also at an early age of 27. As a young man, Fida Mohammad Khan took part in the independence movement. As Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Peshawar chapter president, he played a role in the 1947 referendum in the NWFP in which majority of voters opted for their province to become part of Pakistan. The controversial referendum was rejected and boycotted by nationalists led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.

He also remained active in the Muslim League National Guards and Muslim Students Federation. He subsequently served as central and provincial president of the PML. Twice during his political career, Fida Mohammad Khan was elected member of the Senate. However, he never contested an assembly election. During General Ziaul Haq's martial law regime, he served as federal housing minister. He remained governor of the NWFP from 1986 to1988.

Fida Mohammad was fond of narrating the story of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's visit to Khyber Agency. Due to opposition by the Congress and its ally, Khudai Khidmatgar movement, Jinnah's trip to Khyber Agency was considered risky. But Fida Mohammad Khan volunteered to drive Jinnah to Landikotal, where his father Tehmas Khan was serving as political Tehsildar.

This was a historic trip as tribesmen gave a warm welcome to the Quaid-i-Azam and announced their allegiance to the Muslim League. Quaid-i-Azam was driven to Torkham on the border with Afghanistan and brought back by Fida Mohammad Khan to Peshawar. For the young Fida, this was a memorable event and he never missed an opportunity to narrate the story. Though Fida Mohammad Khan always remained a Muslim Leaguer, he did join one or the other factions of the PML on different occasions. Once he joined the Nawaz Sharif faction and was made its head after a political coup removed Mohammad Khan Junejo as president of the PML.

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