Afrasiab Khattak

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Afrasiab Khattak (Urdu: افراسیاب خٹک ) is a former student leader, Pakistani politician, writer and prominent human rights activist. He has been the president of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), which is believed to be the largest human rights organisation in the country.

Khattak hails from Karak in southern NWFP. He was an active leftist politician during the 1970s and 1980s. He spent many years in self-exile in Afghanistan in the 1980s, due to his strong opposition to General Zia-ul-Haq's military rule.

After his return from Afghanistan, Khattak contested the general elections from his ancestral town Karak but lost too Aslam Khattak. Khattak joined the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in 1989, and served as the Vice Chairman of HRCP/Frontier Province, for thtree years. In April 1999, he was threatened by extremist factions for demonstrating against “honour” killing in Peshawar. On May 2, 1999, he was unanimously elected Chairperson of HRCP for a three-year-term. Re-elected in 2002, he resigned from the post after he rejoined the Awami National Party. He is also a known constitutional expert and a practicing lawyer of Supreme Court and High court.