Yusuf Khattak

Muhammad Yusuf Khan Khattak (18 November, 1917 – 29 July, 1991) was a Pakistan movement activist . A scion of one of the most influential families in Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), he was a son of Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan Khattak, and brother to former Governor Aslam Khattak, Lt Gen Habibullah Khan and Kulsom Saifullah Khan, Yusuf Khattak was a Pakistan movement activist against the then NWFP Congress government under Dr Khan Sahib. A close confidante of Liaqat Ali Khan he became Secretary General of the Muslim League after partition. However, he fell out with Muslim League Chief Minister Abdul Qayyum Khan, who actively organised a campaign to oust him and his colleagues like Barrister Khan Saifullah Khan, from any role in provincial politics.

Frequently in the opposition, he was elected the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and was a prominent leader in the campaign of Fatima Jinnah against Field Marshal Ayub Khan's military government.

A prominent critic of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khans Pakhtunistan policy, he also rejected the National Awami Party's claim to be the sole representative of Pashtuns.

Reconciling with Qayyum Khan before the bye elections 1971 election, he joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Qayyum faction and contested and won the election from Qayyum Khan's vacated Peshawar seat.

As part of Qayyum Khan's alliance with the Pakistan Peoples Party, Yusuf Khattak was appointed Federal Minister for Fuel, Power and Natural Resources in Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's Cabinet. He was re-elected to his seat in the 1977 election despite the Qayyum League's rout.

In 1990 the Government of Pakistan gave him a gold medal for his services to Pakistan.

See also

*Aslam Khattak
*Abdul Qayyum Khan
*Liaqat Ali Khan

External links

* [http://zeejah.tripod.com/dad.html Muhammad Yusuf Khan Khattak ...A Daughter's Tribute] by Zeenath Jehan
* [http://www.pakpost.gov.pk/philately/stamps2003/mohammad_yousaf_khan_khattak.html PakPost]