MARDAN: Former bureaucrat Roedad Khan has passed away at the age of 101. Mardan-based Khan’s funeral prayers were offered after Zuhr prayers in Islamabad, after which he was to be buried at the H-11 graveyard.
Roedad Khan was born on September 28, 1923, in Mardan, and was the most senior bureaucrat of Pakistan. He joined the civil service in 1949.
Khan worked with five presidents and three prime ministers and held important positions in many important institutions, including the chief secretary of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adviser to the president and prime minister.
“Roedad Khan passed away today at 101,” veteran journalist and anchor Hamid Mir wrote on social media platform X.
Senior politician Mushahid Hussain Sayed paid tribute to Khan in a post on X, referring to him as a “national icon and legend.”
“He lived a full life of service to Pakistan during our tumultuous periods + post-retirement,” Syed wrote, crediting him for authoring several books and championing human rights.
“Truly a unique, multifaceted personality of our times! He will be missed by his countless admirers!“
Khan was born on September 28, 1923, in Pakistan’s northwestern city of Mardan before the country gained its independence from British colonial India in 1947. After entering the Pakistan Civil Service in 1949, Khan’s distinguished career as a bureaucrat allowed him to serve in many prestigious roles.
He served as the chief secretary of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and the chief secretary of KP and was also appointed as the managing director of the state-owned Pakistan Television. He also served as the secretary of the ministries of information, labor, tourism and interior throughout various governments.
Khan also served as the secretary-general of the interior ministry and as a former adviser to the prime minister.
The Pakistani civil servant served with five presidents and three former prime ministers, allowing him to be a witness to the country’s political upheavals.
He turned 100 last year on September 28, 2023.
