Khan Abdul Wali Khan Pashto:(خان عبدالولي خان) (b. January 11, 1917 – d. January 26, 2006) was a Pashtun freedom fighter against the British Raj, a senior politician in Pakistan and a writer.
His early years were marked by his involvement in his fathers non-violent resistance movement, the "red shirts" against the British Raj. Narrowly escaping an attempt on his life he was later sent to school at Dera Dhun.
In his late teens he became active in the Indian National Congress. After the formation of Pakistan, Khan became a controversial figure in Pakistani politics, he was referred to as both a hero and traitor during his political career because of his association to the Congress which opposed the creation of Pakistan.
A respected politician in his later years, he contributed to Pakistan's third constitution, led protests for the restoration of democracy in the 1960's and 1980's. In the 1970's, he also served as the parliamentry leader of opposition in Pakistan's first directly elected parliament.
his political career was marked by opposition from opponents who considered him to be stubborn and inflexible, due his criticisms of the political dominance of Punjab and the Pakistani Army.

Biography
Khan was born on 11 January 1917, to a family of local landlords in the town of Utmanzai in Charsadda district of the North-West Frontier Province(NWFP). His father, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, was a prominent Pashtun Nationalist and confidante of Gandhi. He was a non-violent freedom fighter who founded the pacifist Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of God) movement. His mother, Mehar Qanda, belonged to the nearby Razar village, married Bacha Khan in 1912; she died during the flu pandemic after World War I.
Khan, the second of three sons, received his early education from the Azad Islamia school in Utmanzai. In 1922, this school became part of a chain of schools his father had formed during his social reform activities. It was from this network of schools that the Khudai Khidmatgar movement developed, eventually challenging British authority in the North-West Frontier Province through non-violent protest and posing one of the most serious challenges to British rule in the region. His first wife died in 1949 while Khan was in prison. In 1954, he married Nasim Wali Khan, the daughter of an old Khudai Khidmatgar activist.

Early life

Main article: Khudai Khidmatgar Early politics

Main article: National Awami Party Politics: 1958–1972

Politics: 1972–1977
Khan, as the opposition leader, was contacted by Zulfiqar Bhutto, who wanted to lift martial law and set up a new constitution. Wali Khan's negotiations with now civilian Martial Law Administrator President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto led to the signing of an agreement with the government in 1972, called the Tripatriate Agreement.

Tripatriate agreement
On March 23, 1973, the Federal Security Force, a paramilitary force under the alleged orders of Bhutto,

Liaqat bagh massacre & Framing the constitution

Main article: Hyderabad tribunal Politics: 1977–1990
Although not widely known, Khan had previously written a book in Pashto on his father's non-violent movement, The Khudai Khidmatgar. In 1986, he published another book called Facts are Sacred.

Facts are Sacred

Main article: Awami National Party Awami National Party
After his defeat in the 1990 elections at the hands of opposition candidate Maulana Hasan Jan (a close confidante of the Afghan Pashtun leader Gulbadin Hekmatyar), Wali Khan opted to retire from electoral politics and turned down a senate ticket from his party and the offer from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of contesting from Lahore. When asked his reason for retirement, he said that he had no place in politics "when the mullahs and ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) decide our destiny and politics".
Wali Khan's final press conference was in 2003, when he announced his close friend and colleague Ajmal Khattak's return to the ANP, along with many other colleagues, who had briefly led a splinter faction of the party between 2000 and 2002.

Post retirement politics
His relationship with PPP leader and Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was characterised by a fierce rivalry and a powerful clash of egos. He used to criticise the Prime Minister for his "fascist tendencies" by calling him "Adolph Bhutto" and "Raja Dahir".

Relationships
Wali Khan served several stints in prison, and survived several assassination attempts during his 48 year political career. His first arrest was under the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) by the British Raj in 1943 for his role in the Khudai Khidmatgar movement.

Imprisonments
Khan struggled for most of his life with the twin legacies of his influential father Ghaffar Khan and the perception of his "Anti-Pakistani activities". As a result, he has been criticized for backing separatist ideals as well as causing social unrest in Pakistan. His critics blamed him for alienation of Pashtuns from the rest of Pakistan and for supporting "anti-Pakistani forces."

Criticisms
Critics argue that Khan made limited contributions to Pakistan's polarised and corrupt political system. They challenged his claim that he was the major or sole spokesperson for Pashtuns,
He is survived by his wife Nasim Wali Khan, three daughters and two sons. Asfandyar Wali Khan, his eldest son, true to the political traditions of Wali Khan's family, is a politician in Pakistan and the current President of the Awami National Party.

Legacy

Pashtuns
North-West Frontier Province
Pakhtunistan
Dr. Khan Sahib
Ajmal Khattak
Pashtunwali
Mian Ghulam Jilani
Pakistan National Alliance
List of political parties in Pakistan Footnotes

Mazari, Sherbaz Khan (1999) A Journey to Disillusionment.Oxford University Press Pakistan ISBN 0-19-579076-6
Pirzada, Sayyid A. S. (2000) The Politics of the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, 1971–1977 Oxford University Press Inc, USA ISBN 0-19-579302-1
Wolpert, Stanley (1993) Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: His Life and Times Oxford University Press Inc, USA. ISBN 0-19-507661-3
Khan, Adeel Pakhtun Ethnic Nationalism: From Separation to Integration. (Feb 2003) Asian Ethnicity, Volume 4, Number 1, February 2003 Carfax Publishing: Taylor & Francis Group. Available online at [15]. Last accessed on 27/05/2006
Newburg, Paula (2002)Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan (Cambridge South Asian Studies)Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-89440-9
Ziring, Lawrence (2004) Pakistan in the 20th Century: A Political History OUP Pakistan. ISBN 0-19-579276-9