Born on January 15, 1915, in Ismail Khel, a village in Bannu, former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan passed away on October 27, 2006. After obtaining a degree in chemistry, he had joined the Indian provincial civil service. When Gen Zia ul Haq was killed in a plane crash on August 17, 1988, he became president of Pakistan. Exercising his authority under Article 58(2) (b), he controversially sacked two elected governments led by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, alleging corruption and abuse of power.

In his book, Pakistan - A Dream Gone Sour, Roedad Khan writes of the former president: “Ghulam Ishaq Khan was brilliantly intelligent. No one met him without realising that he possessed a powerful mind and was quick to grasp facts. He had a memory that was remarkable not only for the huge amount of data it contained but also for the astonishing speed and accuracy with which he was able to retrieve the facts he wanted. He was a living data bank regarding agriculture, animal husbandry, forests, irrigation, energy, dams for hydroelectric power, finance, and every aspect of the economy of Pakistan. In these fields, he had no equal. His mastery of facts was dazzling. In all his meetings with civil servants and foreign dignitaries, he was the best-informed, best-prepared and most articulate person. Here was a man who did not merely respond to the system: he dominated it. Another facet of his personality, which one did not fail to notice, was that he was very shy (cautious). He loved debate and intellectual confrontation, but he never bullied or humiliated anyone.”

He was long associated with Pakistan’s nuclear weapons development programme. He served as president (August 17 1988-July 18 1993), finance minister (July 5 1977-March 21 1985), defence secretary (October 12 1975-July 5 1977) and governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (December 22 1971—November 30 1975).

Due to his long association with the project he was known in the American diplomatic circle as Mr Nuke. When a US delegation led by Congressman Stephen Solarz met him at the presidency in January 1989, he assured them that Pakistan’s nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes. He also asked the American delegation to give up discriminatory treatment towards Pakistan. He pointed out that India had conducted its first nuclear test in 1974.

“... his mastery of facts was dazzling. In all his meetings with civil servants and foreign dignitaries, he was the best-informed, best-prepared and most articulate person. Here was a man who did not merely respond to the system: he dominated it.”

After he left the presidency in 1993, he returned to his house in Shaheen Town adjacent to Speen Jumaat in Peshawar and stayed away from the media.

He did not utter a single word during this period about the dismissal of the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in 1990 and 1993, respectively.

There had been speculations that he planned to write a book that would have details of some interesting episodes during his days in the power corridors. Many people waited for detailed accounts of his 11 years under Gen Ziaul Haq, the air crash, the general elections, the early years of democracy, the dismissal of Mohammad Khan Junejo’s government, the governments of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, the polarised politics, the national economy, the role of establishment in making and breaking governments, the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, relations with India and the US tactics in Afghan war. However, he never wrote it.

A BBC article noted that, “Khan lived a quiet life in his Peshawar residence, making no public appearances and granting no interviews to the media.”

His lasting legacy is Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Swabi.

The Institute is a centre of excellence in engineering sciences and technology and meant to be an agent of change. It has so far produced 83 PhDs, 583 MS and 6,066 BS graduates. It currently offers courses in 12 engineering disciplines.

GIK once remarked that “the GIK Institute is as dear to me as a child to his parents. It gives me pleasure to see that the sapling we planted in 1993 is now a flowering tree providing its cool shade to seekers of knowledge.” An Islamabad campus is expected to be built soon.

The writer is a KP-based freelance   journalist.