| Shahkir Ullah Durrani | |
|---|---|
| Governor State Bank Of Pakistan |
Shahkir Ullah Durrani (S.U.) was an Afghan/Pakistani International Banker and Entrepreneur originally from the Pashtun Popalzai tribe. This tribe is a branch of the Sadozai line of Ahmad Shah Durrani, who was the first royal in Afghanistan's history after its formation in the 18th century.
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Durrani was born in Sheikh Kali, an Afghan settlement in Charsada, NWFP, British India in the late 1910s. Although not much is known about his youth, he was the son of a military man; a soldier who fought in the Mesopatamian Regiment either for the Axis or Allies during World War 1. It is known that S.U. Durrani was an officer in the Pakistani Army and served in their special forces accomplishing the grueling, infamous Gurkan expedition. He was also a brilliant student and topped his classes at the University of Peshawer earning a degree in Economics. In the early 1960s Captain SU Durrani was assigned ADC to Malik Amir Mohammad Khan the so called 'Nawab of Kalabagh', a large landowner, who was Governor of West Pakistan. There he met Samina Hyat, the daughter of Nawabzada Liaquat Hayat Khan of Wah and his second wife Shamshad the daughter of an ex Prime Minister of Patiala State in India, whose position of Prime Minister was subsequenly taken over by Nawabzada Sir Liaquat Hyat Khan. Samina at this time was married to Nawabzada Hebat Ali Khan of Tank, the Nawab of Tank in the NWFP. Afterwards Samina divorced her husband and married Captain SU Durrani. From that time onwards, Shakirullah Durrani's career shot skywards. Through his powerfully well connected in laws, SU Durrani was posted at the Lloyds Bank in England. After some years there, he returned home to be appointed as Managing Director (CEO) of the newly set up NIT - the National Investment Trust - that was a government owned mutual fund developing the capital markets in Pakistan.
It was the era of President (General) Ayub Khan and the Hayat family of Wah were part of the inner circle of the military government in Pakistan that had come to power in a coup in 1958. Along with other military families, the Durranis also acquired contacts and wealth in that government. In late 1969 General Ayub Khan lost power and another military dictator took over. SU Durrani was moved first to PICIC, another government owned bank and then to head the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as chairman. Although acquiring a reputation for professional dynamism and important contacts in the establishment, like the military government he served, his days were numbered. In 1971 he was appointed Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan but when the military government lost a disastrous war against India in December, SU Durrani's meteoric rise was over. The next year, the democratic government dismissed him. As he had also married a second wife—Mrs Rehman who was his secretary at the State Bank—the support he was able to get from his in laws of his first wife (to whom he was still married) was diminished. However, the marriage to second wife did not last long and she was divorced in early 1990s. Using still powerful contacts that he developed while serving as Governor State Bank of Pakistan, he joined Citibank in New York in mid 1970s where he worked before trying to set up an investment bank in London. He also tried his hand at a venture in Canada. Both ended in failure.
In 1977 a military government again seized power in Pakistan and a few years later, SU Durrani set up two industrial projects in Pakistan. One was the National Fructose Company Limited (NFCL) at Hub Chowki near Karachi. The other, Frontier ceramics was set up at Charsadda, his home village, near Peshawar. Neither project worked well and suffered from ongoing teething problems with huge loan overruns running into hundreds of millions of rupees. He appointed Humayun Murad, a Chartered Accountant with whom he had been associated in the UK, to run National Fructose. The project was unable to break even but continued to run with large cash infusions from government owned banks.
Finally in the mid 1980s, Bankers Equity Limited (BEL) arranged a joint venture between him and a large Japanese leasing company --- Orient Leasing (later renamed ORIX). BEL took 25% equity;the Japanese took 40%; Durrani's business partner took 4% with Durrani taking the rest (31%). SU Durrani was appointed Chairman of the Orient Leasing Pakistan Limited (OLP) with Humayun Murad as General Manager and his nominee. The Japanese managed the company till 1990, when the company went public. The Japanese directors took up assignments in Europe with the 43year old Humayun Murad appointed as Managing Director (CEO). The Japanese company retained a 40% shareholding in OPL. 11% of the company was owned by the general public. In 1991 Orient leasing changed its name globally to Orix. Amongst many notable achievements he is co-founder of Royal Jordanian Airlines.
For a Pashtun from Charsadda, he had risen to quite a status back home, to which he later returned and took on a number of projects aimed at helping the Pashtuns and many Pakistanis (employments, funding humanitarian projects, development and charities). These projects include, a fructose factory and Frontier Ceramics; one of the largest in output of Italian style tiles and functional ceramics in Asia (at the time). He worked with and made good friends with Henry Kissinger and helped orchestrate the inauguration between Mao Zedong and Richard M. Nixon. .
After many years in Karachi, Shakirullah Durrani retired to Charsadda with his first wife, Samina Hayat, whose connections had proved instrumental in his rise to fame and success. One of his daughters, Tehmina Durrani, was married to a prominent politician - Mustapha Khar - on whom she wrote the best selling book My Feudal Lord. Tehmina is now married to Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of Punjab. Shakirullah Durrani died in Charsadda on 20 November 2009.