Khurshed Alam Khan

Khurshed Alam Khan (5 February 1919 - 20 July 2013) was an Indian politician and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress political party ^[1] and was the first Muslim to serve as a minister in the foreign office.

He was Governor of Karnataka from 1991 to 1999 and governor of Goa from 1989 to 1991. Before that he was Union minister of External affairs in Government of India. He was associated with Jamia Millia Islamia.

Early life

Khurshed Alam Khan was born in on February 5, 1919 at Pitaura Village in Farrukhabad District of Uttar Pradesh. After his early education, he joined the Agra University as a student of the prestigious St. John's College. Here, he obtained a Bachelor's degree with distinction and a Master's degree in History. He was also a student at the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., where he successfully completed a course on Management Studies.

Khan had an abiding interest in education. He was a member of the Governing Body of Dr.Zakir Husain Memorial College, New Delhi. He served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the YMCA Institute of Engineering, Faridabad. His abiding interest had been in the Jamia Millia Islamia University at Delhi.

Political career

It was through the efforts of Khan that Parliament enacted a Law hereby the Jamia Millia Islamia became an independent University. Khurshed Alam Khan was the Chancellor of this university. He was also member of Council of Indian Institutes of Technology.

Khurshed Alam Khan had the distinction of being a distinguished Parliamentarian for over 15 years as a member of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha. He was the member of the Rajya Sabha from 1974–84 and the member of the 8th Lok Sabha from 1984–89, representing Farrukhabad constituency. He was a Member of the Union Council of ministers and has handled various portfolios, namely, External Affairs, Tourism, Civil Aviation, Textiles and Commerce.

As minister for External Affairs, he toured extensively in the world. He had the distinction of addressing the United Nations as also the Security Council on a number of occasions. The Foreign ministers' Conference of Non-Aligned Countries at Delhi and Luanda was presided over by him. In 1988, he represented India at the Republican Party Convention of the U.S.A.

He resigned his Lok Sabha seat when he was appointed the Governor of Goa on July 18, 1989. He also officiated as the Governor of Maharashtra He has been the Governor of Karnataka since January 6, 1991. He also officiated as the Governor of Kerala.

The areas of special interest to Khrushed Alam Khan were education, tourism, transport and urban development. Reading and Horticulture were favorite pastimes to which he devoted considerable time. Khurshed Alam Khan was the son-in-law of one of Dr. Zakir Hussain. Salman Khurshid, former Union Minister for External Affairs (Indian Foreign Minister), is the son of Khurshed Alam Khan.

References

External links

• Rajbhavan Karnataka