PESHAWAR: Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), leader and Central Secretary General of PML-N, Iqbal Zafar Jhagra Friday took oath as new Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during a ceremony held here at Governor House.
Earlier, Chief Secretary Amjad Ali Khan read commission of appointment of Iqbal Zafar Jhagra as Governor KP issued by President Mamnoon Hussain.
Chief Justice, Peshawar High Court, Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel administered the oath to the newly appointed Governor at lush green ground of Governor House, jam packed to the capacity by PML-N activists, workers and office bearers from all parts of the province.
The oath taking ceremony was attended by Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pervez Khattak, Governor Punjab Rafique Rajwana, Federal Minister for SAFRON Lt Gen (Retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Advisor to the Prime Minister, Engr. Amir Muqam, Senator Raja Zafarul Haq, Senator Nehal Hashmi and Senator Raheela Magsi.
Former Governors KP including Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, Lt Gen (Retd) Iftikhar Hussain Shah and Commander (Retd) Khalil ur Rehman, PML-N leader and former Chief Minister KP Pir Sabir Shah, PML-N leader from Balochistan Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir, senators, members national assembly (MNAs), provincial ministers, members provincial assembly (MPAs), leaders and office bearers of Pakistan Muslim League-N in large number also attended the ceremony.
Engineer Iqbal Zafar Jhagra is the 28th Governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sir George Cunningham was the first Governor of the province, while PML-N leader Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan was the last governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Iqbal Zafar Jhagra belongs to PML-N and was elected as a member of the Senate in 1997 for the six year term. He was also Chairman of the Standing Committee on Defence, Defence Production and Aviation. He was also member of the Standing Committees on Petroleum and Natural Resources and Interior, Narcotics Control and States and Frontier Region.
Hailing from Jhagra, a village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the provincial capital Peshawar, he actively participated in the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) against Musharraf regime.
He was also a secretary general of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), a coalition of political parties which endorsed the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
Iqbal Zafar Jhagra born in 1947 to Malik Muzafar Khan Jhagra. His grandfather, Malik Ibrahim Khan Jhagra was an active member of Pakistan Movement.Iqbal Zafar Jaghra did civil engineering from Peshawar Engineering College in 1969 and posted as SDO in Irrigation Department in 1970.
However, he proceeded to Saudi Arabia in 1977 for job.
He formally joined PML-N in 1984 and became PML-N Peshawar President in 1988. Jhagra was elected to the Senate first time in 1997 and on a vacant seat in 2008. He also contested for a Senate seat in 2012 but lost.
The former senator had served as chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence, Defence Production and Aviation. He has also been a member of several other standing committees of the Senate, among them are Petroleum and Natural Resources, Interior, Narcotics Control, States and Frontier Region.
He had been a longstanding critic of PML-Q for the support it offered to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and called the party a group of opportunists formed by the establishment.
Jhagra was re-elected secretary general of the PML-N in 2012.
His name was finalized for the position reportedly after Sartaj Aziz's refusal to accept the assignment on account of personal reasons.
The PML-N stalwart has been vocal on matters of national interest and is known for being an advocate of the restoration of the Constitution to its original 1973 form.
In March 2013, Jhagra was made secretary of PML-N central parliamentary board, which was tasked with the selection of candidates for the 2013 general election.
The governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since 1947 included Sir George Cunningham (15 Aug 1947-9 Apr 1948), Sir Ambrose Dundas Flux Dundas (19 Apr 1948 to 16 Jul 1949), Sahibzada Mohammad Khurshid (16 Jul 1949 to 14 Jan 1950), Justice Khan Bahadur Muhammad Ibrahim Khan of Chenna (14 Jan 1950 to 17 Feb 1950), Ismail Ibrahim Chundrigar (17 Feb 1950 to 23 Nov 1951), Khwaja Shahabuddin (24 Nov 1951 to 17 Nov 1954), Qurban Ali Shah (17 Nov 1954 to 14 Oct 1955). Provinces merged to form West Pakistan (14 October 1955, 1 July 1970), Lt Gen K.M. Azhar Khan (1 Jul 1970 to 25 Dec 1971), Hayat Sherpao (25 Dec 1971 to 30 Apr 1972), Arbab Sikandar Khan (29 Apr 1972 to 15 Feb 1973). Aslam Khattak (15 Feb 1973 to 24 May 1974), Maj Gen Syed Ghawas (24 May 1974 to 1 Mar 1976), Maj Gen Naseerullah Babar (1 Mar 1976 to 6 Jul 1977), Abdul Hakeem Khan (6 Jul 1977 to 17 Sept 1978), Lt Gen Fazl-Haq (11 Oct 1978 to 12 Dec 1985), Nawabzada Abdul Ghafoor Khan Hoti (30 Dec 1985 to 18 Apr 1986), Syed Usman Ali Shah (18 Apr 1986 to 27 Aug 1986), Fida Mohammad Khan (27 Aug 1986 to 16 Jun 1988), Bri Gen Amir Gulistan Janjua (16 Jun 1988 to 19 Jul 1993), Maj Gen Khurshid Ali Khan (19 Jul 1993 to 5 Nov 1996), Justice Said Ibne Ali (5 Nov 1996 to 11 Nov 1996), Lt Gen Arif Bangash (11 Nov 1996 to 17 Aug 1999), Miangul Aurangzeb 18 Aug 1999 to 21 Oct 1999), Lt Gen Mohammad Shafiq (21 Oct 1999 to 14 Aug 2000), Lt Gen Iftikhar Hussain Shah (14 Aug 2000 to 15 Mar 2005), Commander Khalilur Rehman (15 Mar 2005 to 23 May 2006), Lt Gen Ali Jan Aurakzai (24 May 2006 to 7 Jan 2008), Owais Ahmed Ghani (7 Jan 2008 to 9 Feb 2011), Syed Masood Kausar (10 Feb 2011 to 10 Feb 2013), Shaukatullah Khan (10 Feb 2013 to 25 March 2015), Mehtab Ahmed Khan Abbasi (15 April 2015 to 08 February 2016) and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra (March 4, 2016 till date).
As many as thirty-six governors performed as constitutional head of the KP giving last 84 years. Since 1932 till the independence of Pakistan in 1947, all the governors were British. Seven governors ruled the province till one unit and twenty-three after the one unit was abolished.
In all eight british governor, 12 sitting and former military officers, six Muslim Leaguers, four PPP leaders, two ANP, one JUI and two from FATA were posted as Governor of the province since 1932. Georg Cunningham ruled the province twice before and after partition.
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