Hayat Muhammad Khan Sherpao
Encyclopedia
Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao (February 1, 1937 – February 8, 1975) was the 15th Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan
and one of the co-founders of the Pakistan Peoples Party
. He also served in various capacities as a federal minister, including Minister of Interior, and as a provincial minister of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. His political life was full of turmoil but he proved to be a popular leader. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan Peoples Party made him the party head in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa when he formed the PPP in 1967. Hayat Sherpao was later assassinated in 1975 in a bomb explosion.
. A Muhammadzai by tribe, he was born in the influential Sherpao family of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. He was the fifth son of Khan Bahadar Ghulam Haider Khan Sherpao, a Pakhtun aristocrat who was a key player in the Pakistan movement. Hayat Khan was also the older brother of veteran Pakistani politician Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao
.
Hayat Khan's impressive family tree and cross-marriages in other influential families gave him an edge over others in influence and politics. Hayat Khan's family (known as the Khans of Sherpao) has for long been a prominent and influential family in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. His father Khan Bahadur Ghulam Haider Khan Sherpao was a key figure in the Pakistan freedom movement and an influential political leader. From his mothers side, Hayat descends from the line of the Khans of Prang.
Hayat is renowned to having belonged to a family of Khan's and Feudal Lords but lived in the hearts of the poor masses that saw him as their saviour.
, Peshawar
, where he also worked for student rights. He joined the front ranks in Fatima Jinnah’s electoral campaign, when she challenged the Genera Ayub Khan's dictatorship.
(PPP). On December 25, 1971 Sherpao became the 15th Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa shortly after Bhutto had become President of Pakistan. At the age of 34, Sherpao is youngest person to have held the office of a Governor of a Province in the history of Pakistan. He continued to hold this office till April 30, 1972. Sherpao also remained a Federal Minister in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's cabinet and a Senior Minister in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet.
Hayat Khan Sherpao's rise in politics was of almost meteoric proportions. The surge in his popularity in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as well as the rest of Pakistan is said to have cast many jealous eyes upon him and earned him a number of enemies, quite often in the form of seasoned and already established politicians from other mainstream political parties. This popularity and political success, however, also led to him being dubbed the "Lion of the Frontier" or "Sher-i-Sarhad" by the Pakistan Peoples Party
, and more specifically by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Asfandyar Wali Khan
, the leader of National Awami Party (Wali)
was named as the primary accused by the Bhutto government. His death led the government to target the National Awami Party of Khan Abdul Wali Khan, which banned the party and arrested its leaders on the charge of his murder, a charge they were eventually acquitted off.
Hayat Sherpao's assassination was a considered a national disaster with many still mourning his loss today. To pay tribute to the slain PPP leader many places, roads, and institutions were named after him. The famous town of Hayatabad
and Hayat Shaheed Hospital in Peshawar District
, Sherpao Bridge in Lahore and the many Sherpao colonies in different parts of Pakistan including Rawalpindi and Karachi are some examples of this.
Hayat Sherpao mantel is now carried by his younger brother Aftab Sherpao, who learned politics and diplomacy form his elder brother. Carrying forward the mission, he now formed his own PPP faction, which is also a leading provincial force. The Sherpao faction has raised a voice for the rights of the Pukhtoon and the province, avoiding negative politics. It goes to Sherpao’s credit that he has arranged public gatherings every year to commemorate his brother’s death anniversary.
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
and one of the co-founders of the Pakistan Peoples Party
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...
. He also served in various capacities as a federal minister, including Minister of Interior, and as a provincial minister of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. His political life was full of turmoil but he proved to be a popular leader. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the leader of Pakistan Peoples Party made him the party head in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa when he formed the PPP in 1967. Hayat Sherpao was later assassinated in 1975 in a bomb explosion.
Early life
Hayat Sherpao was born in 1943 to Khan Bahadar Ghulam Haider Khan Sherpao who was a leader in the Pakistan MovementPakistan Movement
The Pakistan Movement or Tehrik-e-Pakistan refers to the historical movement to have an independent Muslim state named Pakistan created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent, partitioned within or outside the British Indian Empire. It had its origins in the...
. A Muhammadzai by tribe, he was born in the influential Sherpao family of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. He was the fifth son of Khan Bahadar Ghulam Haider Khan Sherpao, a Pakhtun aristocrat who was a key player in the Pakistan movement. Hayat Khan was also the older brother of veteran Pakistani politician Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao
Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao
Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao is the head of Pakistan Peoples Party and was the 35th Federal Interior Minister of Pakistan. Prior to this assignment he was working as the Federal Minister for Water and Power , Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas and States & Frontier Regions and...
.
Hayat Khan's impressive family tree and cross-marriages in other influential families gave him an edge over others in influence and politics. Hayat Khan's family (known as the Khans of Sherpao) has for long been a prominent and influential family in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. His father Khan Bahadur Ghulam Haider Khan Sherpao was a key figure in the Pakistan freedom movement and an influential political leader. From his mothers side, Hayat descends from the line of the Khans of Prang.
Hayat is renowned to having belonged to a family of Khan's and Feudal Lords but lived in the hearts of the poor masses that saw him as their saviour.
Education
Hayat Sherpao graduated from Islamia CollegeIslamia College (Peshawar)
Islamia College is a renowned educational institution located in the city of Peshawar in the Khyber-Pukhtoonkhwa province of Pakistan. It was founded in October 1913 by regional leader Nawab Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum and then Chief Commissioner of the province Sir George Roos-Keppel in an effort...
, Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
, where he also worked for student rights. He joined the front ranks in Fatima Jinnah’s electoral campaign, when she challenged the Genera Ayub Khan's dictatorship.
Lion of the Frontier
Sherpao was a close ally of the former President and Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and a Co-founder of the Pakistan Peoples PartyPakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...
(PPP). On December 25, 1971 Sherpao became the 15th Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa shortly after Bhutto had become President of Pakistan. At the age of 34, Sherpao is youngest person to have held the office of a Governor of a Province in the history of Pakistan. He continued to hold this office till April 30, 1972. Sherpao also remained a Federal Minister in Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's cabinet and a Senior Minister in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet.
Hayat Khan Sherpao's rise in politics was of almost meteoric proportions. The surge in his popularity in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as well as the rest of Pakistan is said to have cast many jealous eyes upon him and earned him a number of enemies, quite often in the form of seasoned and already established politicians from other mainstream political parties. This popularity and political success, however, also led to him being dubbed the "Lion of the Frontier" or "Sher-i-Sarhad" by the Pakistan Peoples Party
Pakistan Peoples Party
The Pakistan Peoples Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Pakistan affiliated with Socialist International. Pakistan People's Party is the largest political party of Pakistan...
, and more specifically by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Assassination
He was assassinated on February 08, 1975, in a bomb explosion on the campus of University of PeshawarUniversity of Peshawar
The University of Peshawar is a public sector university in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan. The university was established in October 1950 by Mr...
Asfandyar Wali Khan
Asfandyar Wali Khan
Asfandyar Wali Khan is a democratic socialist and the current the President of the Awami National Party in Pakistan.His father, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first President...
, the leader of National Awami Party (Wali)
National Awami Party (Wali)
The National Awami Party was formed after a split between Maulana Bhashani and Khan Wali Khan ostensibly over Bhashani's siding with China and Professor Muzaffar Ahmed along with Khan Abdul Wali Khan sided with U.S.S.R in the Sino-Soviet split...
was named as the primary accused by the Bhutto government. His death led the government to target the National Awami Party of Khan Abdul Wali Khan, which banned the party and arrested its leaders on the charge of his murder, a charge they were eventually acquitted off.
Hayat Sherpao's assassination was a considered a national disaster with many still mourning his loss today. To pay tribute to the slain PPP leader many places, roads, and institutions were named after him. The famous town of Hayatabad
Hayatabad
Hayatabad is a posh, modern suburb on the south-western fringe of Peshawar, the capital of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It was named after Hayat Sherpao late Governor of NWFP & notable leader of Pakistan Peoples Party...
and Hayat Shaheed Hospital in Peshawar District
Peshawar District
Peshawar is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Until divisions were abolished as part of local government reforms in 2000 it was part of Peshawar Division. The city of Peshawar, as well as being the provincial capital, is the capital of the district...
, Sherpao Bridge in Lahore and the many Sherpao colonies in different parts of Pakistan including Rawalpindi and Karachi are some examples of this.
Salutations
On the death anniversaries of Hayat Mohammad Khan Sherpao, politicians and other citizens renew their pledge for the establishment of an egalitarian society. His death in a bomb explosion at Peshawar University is unforgettable in Pakistan’s troubled political history and is an historical event for workers of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) as it exposes the violent tendencies in our political culture.Hayat Sherpao mantel is now carried by his younger brother Aftab Sherpao, who learned politics and diplomacy form his elder brother. Carrying forward the mission, he now formed his own PPP faction, which is also a leading provincial force. The Sherpao faction has raised a voice for the rights of the Pukhtoon and the province, avoiding negative politics. It goes to Sherpao’s credit that he has arranged public gatherings every year to commemorate his brother’s death anniversary.