Muhammad Aslam Khan Khattak

Muhammad Aslam Khan Khattak (Pashto: محمد اسلم خان خټک‎) (Urdu: محمد اسلم خان خٹک‎) (April 5, 1908 – October 10, 2008) was a Pakistani politician and diplomat who was the Governor of North-West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from 1973 to 1974.

Early life

Born into Pashtun Khattak family, Aslam Khattak was the President of Pakistan Movement in U.K., serving alongside Dr. Abdur Rahim as Vice President and Chaudhry Rehmat Ali as Secretary. This Organisation gave the world the name "PAKISTAN". Aslam Khattak served closely with Dr Khan Sahib in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's provincial government during his career as a civil servant, and after the independence of Pakistan in 1947 he was posted to Afghanistan where he played a key role in the failed negotiations for a confederation between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the 1970 elections, he was elected as an independent to the KPK Provincial Assembly from Karak. He then became speaker of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly in 1972. He also served as Governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa briefly after the ouster of the NAP-JUI governor as well twice posted as ambassador.

He was promoted as Minister of Pakistan to Kabul in 1956 and appointed as Ambassador to Australia in December 1959. As a diplomat, he served as ambassador to Iran (1974–1977), Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nominated to Zia ul Haqas Majlis-e-Shura, he became a trusted political confidante of the Martial Law ruler.

He was elected MNA from his constituency and served as deputy Prime Minister to Prime Minister Junejo. After the restoration of Democracy in 1988, he joined the Pakistan Muslim League, but was defeated in the 1988 elections. Re-elected again in 1990, he again served as Federal Minister in Nawaz Sharif’s first government. Defeated in the 1993 elections, he left the PML shortly before the 1997 election over a difference in party tickets for his grandson and son-in-law. He died on the 10 October 2008 after a long illness.