Khan, Ghulam Faruque

Khan, Ghulam Faruque (1899-1992) Governor of East Pakistan. He was born on 7 October 1899 at village Shaidu in Nowshera district of the North West Frontier Province. Khan Bahadur Ghulam Faruque Khan graduated from the Aligarh Mohamedan Anglo Oriental College and joined the Bengal-Nagpur Railway in 1921 as Assistant Traffic Superintendent. He also served as Transport Advisory Officer of the Railway Board (1940-1942), Controller of Coal Distribution (1942-1946), Transport Manager of Bengal-Nagpur Railway (1946), Chief Operating Superintendent (1946) and General Manager of East Indian Railways (1946-1948). Later he served as chairman of Pakistan Jute Board and Cotton Board (1949-52), chairman of the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) (1952-58) and served as chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factory. Ghulam Faruque was also entrusted to set up the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and became the chairman of EPWAPDA in 1958. He was responsible for concluding the Indus Water Treaty. Later on, he held important government posts such as Governor of East Pakistan (1962); Federal Minister for Commerce, and Defence Advisor (1965-1967); chairman, Investment Corporation of Pakistan, Secretary of Ministry of Industry, and Minister for Finance, Planning and Development of NWFP Province. He also held posts in the National Assembly, Federal Council and the Senate.

Ghulam Faruque was appointed Governor of East Pakistan in 1962 and took oath of office on 11 May. He made significant contributions to the development and extension of the Jute Industry in East Pakistan. In view of the political upheaval in East Pakistan, Ghulam Faruque initiated a dialogue with the political leaders led by H.S Suhrawardy. They demanded annulment of the new Constitution (1962) of Pakistan along with the report of the Education Commission. At the same time the students were in a movement to protest against the controversial recommendations of the National Education Commission known as Sharif Commission. In such a situation Ghulam Faruque decided to resign from the governorship and his resignation was accepted on 28 October 1962.

Ghulam Faruque was also a prominent entrepreneur. He founded the Ghulam Faruque Group in 1947, a prominent commercial and industrial house in Pakistan.

Ghulam Faruque was adorned with a number of insignia such as Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1944), Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (1946), Commander of the Order of Merit, Spain (1956) and Hilal-e-Pakistan (1958). He died in 1992. [Abu Jafar]