Ghulam Ishaq Khan

Ghulam Ishaq Khan غلام اسحاق خان
7th President of Pakistan
In office 17 August 1988 – 18 July 1993 Acting until 12 December 1988
Prime Minister	Benazir Bhutto Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi (Interim) Navaz Sharif Balakh Sher Mazari (Interim)
Preceded by	Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Succeeded by	Wasim Sajjad
2nd Chairman of the Senate
In office 21 March 1985 – 12 December 1988
Preceded by	Khan Habibullah Khan
Succeeded by	Wasim Sajjad
12th Minister of Finance
In office 5 July 1977 – 21 March 1985
President	Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
Preceded by	Abdul Hafiz Pirzada
Succeeded by	Mahbub ul Haq
10th Secretary-General of Ministry of Defence
In office October 9, 1975 – July 5, 1977
President	Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry
Prime Minister	Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Preceded by	MGen Fazal Muqeem Khan
Succeeded by	LGen Ghulam Jilani Khan
Personal details
Born	(1915-01-20)20 January 1915 Ismail Khel, Punjab, British India
Died	27 October 2006(2006-10-27) (aged 91) Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan
Political party	Independent
Alma mater	University of Peshawar
Profession	Chemist Economist
Website	Presidential library

Ghulam Ishaq Khan (Template:Lang-ps, Template:Lang-ur; January 20, 1915 – October 27, 2006), abbreviated as GIK, was the seventh President of Pakistan, serving from 1988 to 1993. The only president to have came from the civil bureaucracy, Khan had previously served as the Chairman of the Senate, and as the Defence Secretary from 1975 until 1977.

Born and hail from Bannu District, Khan completed his education from the Peshawar University in Nuclear chemistry, but started his bureaucratic career from Indian Civil Service. Opting for citizenship of Pakistan, his national bureaucratic career started after being appointed as the first chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority by President Field Marshal Ayub Khan in 1961 and served until 1966, before appointing as Finance Secretary— a post he kept until 1970. In 1971, Ishaq Khan was appointed by Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the Governor of State Bank, and in 1975, Bhutto personally gave authorization for appointing him as the Defence Secretary during which he effectively played an integral role in the development and success of the atomic bomb project, most notably the Kahuta Project. In spite of being close to Bhutto, Khan was appointed as minister of Treasure Ministry, and was one of the leading civil statemen in the the military government of General Zia-ul-Haq, from 5 July 1977 until his election as Chairman of Senate in 1985.

Although, he escalated the Soviet war in Afghanistan, he subsequently ended the Soviet involvement in 1989. The Foreign policy was revised by new Prime minister Benazir Bhutto, of which he had a few interest, and his influence in nuclear deterrence was effectively ended by Benazir Bhutto in 1990. Khan's term saw a economical embargo, resignation of his close associate Rahimuddin Khan and a continuing series major currency crises that weakened the country's economy. Authoritative and executive problems further escalated with people-elected Prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, costing Khan's mush of public support. After dismissing Benazir Bhutto on alleged charges on corruption, mismanagement, nepotism, law and order situation, Khan attempted to use the same allegation on conservative Nawaz Sharif, that led the collapse of his support and on July 18 of 1993, Khan resigned in after approach by Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Shamim Allam and Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army General Abdul Waheed Kakar. After his retirement, Khan served as rector of Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in his native province, and undertaking many rehabilitate his public image as an elder statesman. After suffering from Pneumonia, Khan died on October 27 October of 2006 in his home.

Early life

Khan was born on January 20, 1915 in a small village - Ismail Khel - in the suburbs of Bannu District located in the now Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region. In 1933, he attended Peshawar University where he received his double B.S. in Chemistry and Botany, followed by his M.S. in Nuclear chemistry in 1940. Despite his educational field, Khan joined the Indian Civil Service and became a career bureaucrat in the Government of British Indian Empire. He was appointed to the prestigious Civil Service of Pakistan after independence in 1947.

His son-in-law is senior politician Anwar Saifullah Khan. A grand-daughter of his is married to Omar Ayub Khan, who is the grandson of former Pakistani President Ayub Khan and son of Gohar Ayub Khan.

Government offices

After holding various regional posts in the Sindh Government, Khan was appointed as the Chairman of the West-Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (W-WAPDA) in 1961 by President Field Marshal Ayub Khan. In 1966, Khan was relieved and was made Finance Secretary of the Ministry of Finance until 1970 when he resigned from his position in favor of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. After witnessing the disastrous Indo-Pakistani Winter War of 1971, Khan was tasked to run the retail and commercial services, since the economy was in fragile state. This task was considered quiet difficult and challenging for a country that was dismembered as a result of this war. In 1971, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed him as the Governor of State Bank of Pakistan when he was tasked to carry out monetary and credit policy in accordance to Government policy with influence of socialism. In the latter position, he questioned the wisdom of a number of the economic policies of then Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who was keen to intensify his nationalization and socialist influence in the financial institutions that marked the slow down of the economy.

Tenure as Secretary of Defence

In 1977, Bhutto subsequently moved Khan from the bank and appointed as the Secretary of Ministry of Defence, a prestigious post for the statesman and stateswoman in the Government. Although an unusual post for a senior economics expert, it proved to be fortuitous in that it brought him into close contact with the senior officers of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Among them was General Zia-ul-Haq, then-Chief of Army Staff appointed by Bhutto, who later ousted Bhutto and turned the management of the economy over to Ishaq Khan.

Operation Fair Play

Ouster of Bhutto was notably a major event in his life. The time Bhutto was forcefully being removed under the Fair Play, Khan was preparing to meet with Bhutto to present the assessment report. Khan came in initial state of shock when he received a call from Pakistan Army Combatant General Headquarters (GHQ) that Bhutto has been forcefully removed by Chief of Army Staff General Zia-ul-Haq. Therefore, Khan immediately went to meet General Zia-ul-Haq. At the meeting with General Zia-ul-Haq and his top military generals, Khan had told General Zia-ul-Haq that this action was going to harm the country, but since it could not be reversed, they should do their best to salvage whatever they could.

During the General Zia-ul-Haq's Martial law regime, Ishaq Khan's titles changed, but he was responsible for all important economic decisions. Among other things, he supported the Zia government's efforts to Islamized the economy by changes in the fiscal and banking systems.

Senate Secretariat

Khan successfully campaigned and won the 1985 parliamentary elections for the Senate Secretariat. Khan was unanimously voted for Chairing the Senate Secretariat and assumed this office on 21 March 1985. After the controversial and mysterious aviation accident occurred in Bahawalpur, Khan appeared in national television where he announced the death of General Zia-ul-Haq. In 1988, Khan became acting President in accordance with the Constitutional rules of succession, and was formally elected to the position in December of that year. He held the position of President until 1993.

Presidency

As President, Pakistan's economy suffered with economic and political upheavals. During his Presidency, the economic issue was considered a national highest priority. However, after the Pressler amendment came in affect by the United States, a large military and economic embargo was forced on Pakistan, and and many commercial relations to Pakistan were cut off. During his time, the nuclear development, economic issues, and political stability, was considered his presidency's highest priority. But, Khan's presidency failed to arrest the control of currency and a new currency crises hampered the Pakistan economy badly. Khan repeatedely dismissed democratically elected governments of Benazir Bhutto and Navaz Sharif that seriously undermined Khan's effort to improve the economy. At the end, Khan was forced to resigned from the Presidency and a call for new elections were made.

Appointment of Chiefs of Armed Forces

Khan reportedly vetoed the appointment of Lieutenant-General Hamid Gull, a former Director-General of Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan Army, appointing the moderately reformist General Asif Nawaz Khan Janjua instead. Khan's presidency also saw the resignation of General Rahimuddin Khan from the post of Governor of Sindh, due to differences between the two after Khan started restricting Rahimuddin's vast amount of legislative power.

Khan appointed Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan as Chief of Air Staff of Pakistan Air Force on the advice of Bhutto. Khan later promoted Vice-Admiral Yastur-ul-Haq Malik as 4-star Admiral, and appointed him as Chief of Naval Staff of Pakistan Navy. On Prime minister Benazir Bhutto's recommendation and advice, Khan approved Admiral Iftikhar Ahmed Sirohey, former Chief of Naval Staff, as Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

Dismissing the Governments of Bhutto and Sharif

Khan's presidency was also marked by his use of Eighth Amendment reserve powers to check the government. While the Prime Minister is the Head of Government, Khan, as President of Pakistan, was able to dismiss the governments of both prime ministers, Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif on charges of corruption, mismanagement, and nepotism, thereby triggering new elections, which the incumbent parties lost. The second dismissal of government exacerbated institutional and political opposition to Khan, leading to his resignation in 1993.

Currency crisis

During the early 1990s, Khan's administration failed to arrest the 30 per cent fall in the value of the Pakistani Rupee from 21 to 30 to the US Dollar.

Atomic bomb programme

Ghulam Ishaq Khan was one of the vital administrator of Pakistan's integrated atomic bomb project, and was one indirectly associated personalities of the project. For Ishaq Khan, the nuclear deterrence was his top priority and channeled funds for the development of the atomic bombs during his role as Treasure minister.

Ishaq Khan was the administrator of the board that supervised the construction of Kahuta Project, and in 1975, Brigadier-General Zahid Ali Akbar submitted a survey and map of Kahuta and the Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL) to Khan as he was Defence Secretary to Bhutto's premiership cabinet. As the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers, under Zahid Ali Akbar, supervised the Project-706, Khan had maintained extremely closed relationship with Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, and remained his staunch loyal. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, as President of Pakistan, established Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology (GIKI) that offers world-class programmes in engineering science and technology in the country. In 1990, he invited Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan to become institute's executive member, and with his support, Abdul Qadeer Khan became the Chairman of Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering. Khan also inivited Asghar Qadir, a PAEC mathematician, to become a head of Department of Mathematics. However, Khan did not become the head of the nuclear weapons programme until Munir Ahmad Khan retired. After Munir Ahmad Khan took retirement from Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), President Ghulam Ishaq Khan eventually become the administrative head of Nuclear weapons programme. Under his presidency, the nuclear weapons program periodically progressed.

In 1972, when Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto started the nuclear weapons research program; Khan, as then-Defence Minister, played an important and central role in the programme as he also served as an administrator. And, he also provided funds for the construction of the nuclear test laboratories where weapons are made and tested. In 1983, as Chairman of Senate, he was one of the invited high civil officials, who reportedly, were supposed to be present at the Cold test, along with Lieutenant-General Zahid Ali Akbar — E-in-C of Corps of Engineers— General Khalid Mehmud Arif — Vice Chief of Army Staff — Air Vice-Marshal Michael John O'Brian— AOC of Sargodha Air Force Base— and Chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Munir Ahmad Khan.

Retirement and death

Despite coming to an arrangement with the PPP government to be re-elected to the presidency after the 1993 elections, he was eventually dropped as a candidate in favour of Farooq Ahmed Khan Leghari. He subsequently retired from politics and avoided contact with the international and national media. He died on 27 October 2006 after a bout of pneumonia.

He has to his credit the establishment of Rs 2.2 billion Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Swabi, Topi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

See also

• Establishment (Pakistan)
• Pakistan
• President of Pakistan
• Finance Minister of Pakistan

External links

• Ghulam Ishaq Khan Profile Story of Pakistan
• Ghulam Ishaq Khan taking oath as the President of Pakistan
• In depth history of Khan's presidency
• Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology
• BBC News report of his death
• "Ghulam Ishaq Khan passes away" Report on the Dawn Newspaper website