Shahryar Khan

Shahryar Mohammad Khan (Urdu: شہریار محمد خان‎; born 12 March 1934) is a former career Pakistan diplomat who became Foreign Secretary of Pakistan in 1990, and remained so until his retirement from service in 1994. He later served as UN SRSG to Rwanda (1994–1996). Since August 1999, he has intermittently served as the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board. He is the current president of Asian Cricket Council.^[1]

Family and education

Nawabzada Shaharyar Muhammed Khan is descended from the royal family of former princely state of Bhopal where his ancestors, who belonged to the old Orakzai Pashtun tribe of Tirah, now Pakistan, had emigrated to during first quarter of the eighteenth century. He was born in the Qasr-e-Sultani, Bhopal State (honoured with 19-gun salute until 1947) in British India. He is the only son and male heir of both Nawab Muhammad Sarwar Ali Khan, the ruler of former princely state of Kurwai and princess Abida Sultan (Suraya Jah, and Nawab Gauhar-i-Taj) Begum Sahiba, herself the Crown Princess and the eldest daughter of last ruling Nawab of Bhopal, Haji-Hafiz Sir Muhammad Nawab Hamidullah Khan, who reigned state of Bhopal after a prolonged era of Begums regime (the queens). His aunt Sajida Sultan became the Begum of Bhopal after her mother migrated to Pakistan, and she was married to cricketer Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the 8th Nawab of Pataudi. He has four children, the eldest being Faiz Mohammad Khan, father of Aalia Sultan Khan. He is the first cousin of the Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, who died on 22 September 2011. His nephew and niece Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan are film actors, the former of whom is married to actress Kareena Kapoor.^[2]

Khan studied at the following institutes:

• Daly College, Indore
• Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College, Dehradun
• University of Cambridge
• The Fletcher School–Tufts University

Career

He worked for a year with Burmah Shell Oil, and in 1957, joined the Pakistani foreign service. In 1960, he was posted as a Third Secretary in the Pakistani High Commission in London, and was promoted to Second Secretary in the Tunis embassy from 1962 to 1966. In 1976, Shahryar Khan became Pakistan’s ambassador to Jordan (1976–1982) and the United Kingdom (1987–1990)^[3][4] He also stayed as Pakistan Ambassador to France (1999–2001) and Chairman, Committee on Foreign Service Reforms, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1997–1999).^[5]

David Milliband with Mr Shahryar Khan at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), speaking at a talk organised by LUMUN on 18th Nov, 2014

He is currently teaching Pakistan's Foreign Relations at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) as part of the Social Sciences faculty. He teaches a course titled "Pakistan's Foreign Relations" in Fall semester and a senior level course titled "Critical Issues in Pakistan's Foreign Relations" in Spring semester. At LUMS, he is also the patron of the LUMS Model UN Society (LUMUN).

On 1 July 1994, he was appointed United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's Special Representative to Rwanda, succeeding Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh. As U.N. Special Representative, he represented the United Nations during the genocide and subsequent refugee crisis.^[6] He also remained the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board from 10 December 2003 till he resigned on 7 October 2006. On 16 August 2014 he was again appointed as the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.^[7]

In 2005 he was made an honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.^[8]

Retirement and literary career

In his retirement, Shaharyar Khan has written a number of books. The Begums of Bhopal is a history of the princely state of Bhopal. The Shallow Graves of Rwanda is an eye-witness account of his two-year stay in a country ravaged by what some might call genocide. Cricket – a Bridge of Peace, about India-Pakistan relations, is his third book. His most personal book has been the biography of his mother Princess Abida Sultaan – Memoirs of a Rebel Princess, which has been translated into Urdu. In 2013 with his son Ali Khan he wrote Cricket Cauldron: The Turbulent Politics of Sport in Pakistan. He has also co-authored a book titled as "Shadows across the playing field;60 years of India-Pakistan cricket" with renowned Indian writer and politician Shashi Tharoor.

Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board

He has been appointed Chairman after he was elected unanimously by the board of governors of Pakistan Cricket Board^[9] in the light of new constitution of the PCB 2014 which was approved by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Khan previously served as the PCB chief in 2003, taking over with the board in turmoil. His tenure is remembered more for Pakistan's 2006 forfeit of the Oval test after being penalised for ball tampering. He was once again appointed the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board on 18 August 2014. He served as one of the founders of the Pakistan Super League.As of May 2016, he is still the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

In March 2016, Pakistan was eliminated from the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 after losing 3 matches against India, New Zealand and Australia and only winning against Bangladesh. This caused great controversy over whose 'fault' it was. Khan was amongst those blamed and there were talks about him retiring from PCB after this. However, he later spoke out and said he would not resign.^[10] He also said it would be better to bring in a foreign coach, implying that Waqar Younis' coaching contract, which ends in June 2016, will not be renewed. Furthermore, he did not release any statements on who he thought was responsible for the loss ^[11] Instead, he said before the match that he will not change Afridi's position because he has been 'serving Pakistan for the last 20 years'. He added that changes will happen after the tournament but also added that the poor performance was from the whole team, except certain individuals.^[12]

See also

• Foreign relations of Pakistan

References

External links

• Profile of Author Shaharyar M. Khan
• Musharraf appoints Shahryar new PCB chief
• Pakistan cricket in turmoil as Shahryar Khan resigns