Former Pakistan foreign secretary Shahryar Khan, who passed away in Lahore on March 23, was perhaps the last of the Pakistani diplomats and civil and military officials who belonged to, or had strong ties with, the families of the erstwhile princely states of India. Others who come to mind are Sahabzada Yaqub Khan and Sultan Muhammed Khan. The former became the country’s foreign minister, while the latter served as foreign secretary and was one of the architects of Pakistan-China relations.
Shahryar Khan’s father was Sarwar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Kurwai, a small state in what is now Madhya Pradesh. His mother, and the dominant figure in his life, was Abida Sultan, the eldest daughter of the Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan. Yaqub Khan was closely connected with the royal family of Rampur while Sultan Muhammed Khan came from Jaora, a small state near Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and was married to its ruler’s daughter. Their princely connections provided all three with the potential to gain high-level social, even political, access in India. While all of them ably served the cause of Pakistan, Shahryar Khan tried to build bridges between India-Pakistan. The other two did not show any such inclination.
Hamidullah Khan was an admirer of Jinnah and was loath to merge Bhopal with the Indian Union. Indeed, Bhopal merged with the Union only in 1949. Sarwar Ali Khan and Abida Sultan’s marriage did not last. In 1950, Abida Sultan along with her only child, Shahryar, moved to Pakistan. Sarwar Khan remained in India. Shahryar Khan largely associated himself with Bhopal and his mother’s family.
Hamidullah Khan died in 1960 and was succeeded by his second daughter, Sajida Sultan, married to the Nawab of Pataudi, Iftikhar Ali Khan, who had the distinction of playing test cricket for England and India. Shahryar, like his uncle, and cousin Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, was passionate about the game and became President of the Pakistan Cricket Association after his retirement.
After his mother went to Pakistan, Shahryar did his schooling and university in England. Earlier in India, he had studied at the Royal Indian Military Academy School in Dehradun and later at Daly College in Indore. Returning to Pakistan he competed successfully for the civil services examination and joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1957. He served in Pakistani missions in London and the Arab world and as he rose up the diplomatic ranks, he became Pakistan’s ambassador to Jordan and later to the UK in 1987-1990. Clearly, he was held in high esteem. After the conclusion of his London assignment, he was appointed foreign secretary in August 1990 and held that position till March 1994.
Two points have to be made about the period of Shahryar Khan’s foreign secretaryship. The first is that for a major part he served when Nawaz Sharif was Prime Minister, but after Benazir Bhutto won the 1993 elections, Shahryar Khan continued to remain in office for another five months till his retirement. Incidentally, his replacement Najmuddin Shaikh too had an Indian connection. His ancestor was a brother of the veteran Congress leader Acharya J B Kripalani who had converted to Islam.
The second issue, related to the period August 1990-March 1994, is significant from the standpoint of India-Pakistan ties. It was a time when Pakistan went all out to promote terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. While it is true that Pakistan’s India policy is controlled by its army, what is not clear is the advice Shahryar Khan gave to the generals and the political leadership. Did he, for instance, have an instinctive understanding of this country’s resilience and counsel his superiors that the path Pakistan had embarked on would prove counterproductive?
After his formal retirement, Khan led a productive life. He became Pakistan’s ambassador to France, the UN secretary general’s representative to Rwanda during the civil war in the country, an author — his publications included a book on the history of the Bhopal state — and a cricket administrator. He was also entrusted by the Pakistani government to be a back-channel negotiator with India. He visited India in 2014, after that exercise had ended, to advocate its renewal and to underline Nawaz Sharif’s commitment to good relations between India and Pakistan.
Shahryar Khan led a full life in which he displayed the urbane sophistication which defined the culture of the Indian subcontinent in a time that is now no more.
The writer is a former diplomat
Khan led a full life displaying urbane sophistication which defined the culture of the Indian subcontinent in a time that is now no more
15
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27.03.2024
Former Pakistan foreign secretary Shahryar Khan, who passed away in Lahore on March 23, was perhaps the last of the Pakistani diplomats and civil and military officials who belonged to, or had strong ties with, the families of the erstwhile princely states of India. Others who come to mind are Sahabzada Yaqub Khan and Sultan Muhammed Khan. The former became the country’s foreign minister, while the latter served as foreign secretary and was one of the architects of Pakistan-China relations.
Shahryar Khan’s father was Sarwar Ali Khan, the Nawab of Kurwai, a small state in what is now Madhya Pradesh. His mother, and the dominant figure in his life, was Abida Sultan, the eldest daughter of the Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan. Yaqub Khan was closely connected with the royal family of Rampur while Sultan Muhammed Khan came from Jaora, a small state near Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh and was married to its ruler’s daughter. Their princely connections provided all three with the potential to gain high-level social, even political, access in India. While all of them ably served the cause of Pakistan, Shahryar Khan tried to........
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