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Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao (born August 20, 1944) is the head of Pakistan Peoples Party (Sherpao) and was the Federal Interior Minister in the cabinet of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz . Prior to this assignment he was working as the Federal Minister for Water and Power (WAPDA).

Biography

Aftab Khan was educated at Edwardes College, Peshawar and Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, Abbottabad. After passing out from Pakistan Military Academy with 34th Long Course in 1965, he joined Armoured Corps in the Probya's Horse Battalion, seeing action in both the '65 and '71 wars. Over a period of 12 years he rose to the rank of Major.

It was after the unfortunate assassination of his elder brother Hayat Sherpao in a bomb blast in 1975 that Aftab jumped into the political arena. The then Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto asked him to take an early retirement from his military career and afterwards nominated him as Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) provincial vice-president. Aftab Khan was thus a stalwart of the original unified Pakistan Peoples Party from Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan.

After the death of his political mentor Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto he wholeheartedly supported his daughter Benazir Bhutto and her struggle against the military dictatorship of General Zia-ul-Haq. He was a key political figure of Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) from NWFP. It was in 1988 elections to the Provincial Assembly that he orchestrated the downfall of the establishment backed Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and became the Chief Minister of the province. He took an extra-nationalist line to appease the nationalist forces, hostile to his party and thus broadened his political base in their stronghold areas. He was once again elected as the Chief Minister of NWFP in 1994. However, in the mid nineties he developed serious differences with Benazir Bhutto when Maj-Gen Naseerullah Babar mistakenly suspected his role in undercutting him through allotment of party tickets in Nowshehra. Finally leading to the formation of his own faction of the party called PPP (Sherpao). He fled Pakistan to Britain after the military came to power in 2002 amidst charges of corruption against him. Eventually he returned prior to the 2002 elections and after striking an electoral alliance with the religo-political parties he was elected to both the provincial and national assemblies and his party performed relatively well amidst the rout of his former party and the Muslim league in the frontier.

Siding with Pervez Musharraf after the 2002 elections he was rewarded by being appointed as federal minister for Water and power, and subsequently as Federal interior Minister he has been a prominent figure due to terrorist attacks and fighting in the tribal areas as well as Balochistan.

Aftab's family tree and cross-marriages in other influential families has given him a unique edge over his political opponents. His elder brother, late Wali Mohammad Khan's sister-in-law is the mother of former President of Pakistan Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari and grandmother of Sumera Malik and Ayla Malik (granddaughters of Malik Amir Mohammed Khan of Kalabagh. One of late Wali Mohammad Khan's daughter is married to the former President of Pakistan Sardar Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari, his son Dr.Mohammad Zubair Khan was a Commerce Minister and his grandson Awais Leghari was a Minister of Telecommunications and member of National Assembly. Aftab himself is the son-in-law of the brother of Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar. His elder son, Sikandar Hayat Sherpao, has already jumped into the Provincial Politics and is a member of the Provincial Assembly.

Militant attacks on Sherpao

28 April suicide attack

On April 28, 2007 he was injured in a suicide attack in his home area of Charsadda, 18 miles northeast of Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province. ¹ The attack shook his confidence in Musharraf’s policy toward the militants, which has included a series of peace deals and has prompted Sherpao to support a 15-page document also presented to the US National Security Council in June 2007 warning that Islamists are spreading beyond the country’s lawless tribal areas and that without “swift and decisive action,” the growing militancy could engulf the rest of the country.

21 December suicide attack

On December 21, 2007, Eid ul-Adha, a suicide bomb blast targeting Aftab Ahmad killed at least 57 and injured over 100 at Jamia Masjid Sherpao, located in District Charsadda in the Northwest Frontier Province. Aftab Ahmad survived the blast, but his younger son Mustafa Khan Sherpao, was injured. ²

Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao showed true characteristics of a proper pukhtun by attending all Janaza's (funerals) of the deceased and meeting and consoling all those injured in both blasts, despite strong opposition by the Federal Government and Provincial Government of the NWFP who were deeply concerned about his security.

Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao presiding over the first Pak-Aghan Peace Jirga in Kabul

‎

Pak-Afghan Joint Peace Jirga

To reaffirm and further strengthen the resolve of two brotherly countries to bring sustainable peace in the region, the Afghan-Pak Joint Peace Jirga was convened in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 9 to August 12, 2007. This was the first historic event of its kind that opened a channel of people-to-people dialogue in which around 700 people including members of the parliaments, political parties, religious scholars, tribal elders, provincial councils, civil society and business community of both countries participated. ³

This jirga was aimed at removing differences between the two countries and bring Pukhtuns on both sides of the border together to tackle problems and end terrorism and extremism. Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, being a prominent and respected Pukhtun leader as well as being a pioneer of this cause was given the honour of being nominated Chairman of this Pak-Afghan Joint Peace Jirga.

The Jirga, generally thought to be a success, agreed on a number of issues and made a six point recommendation list to be implemented by both governments. Unfortunately despite Sherpao's efforts and a succession of calls by a number of leaders on both sides of the border, the Jirga has not been convened again.

External links

Wikinews has related news:

Suicide bomber narrowly misses Pakistani Minister

• A profile of Sherpao Family
• Sherpao speaking at SAARC Conference

References

Wikipedia content modification information:

• This page was last modified on 17 November 2008, at 09:25.

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