Assassination
He was assassinated by Atta Mohammad at approximately 8:30 am on May 9, 1958. "Allama Mashriqi Maliciously Implicated in Murder Case"
This tragic incident occurred while Dr. Khan Sahib was sitting in the garden of his son Sadullah Khan's house at 16 Aikman Road, GOR, Lahore. He was waiting for Colonel Syed Abid Hussein of Jhang to accompany him to a meeting organized in connection with the scheduled February 1959 General Elections.
The assailant, 30-year-old Atta Mohammad was a “Patwari” (Land Revenue Clerk) from Mianwali who had been dismissed from service two years previously. Dr. Khan Sahib was rushed to the Mayo Hospital. However the severe bleeding and grievous injuries caused by the multiple stab wounds meant that the doctors were unable to save his life.
The body of Dr. Khan Sahib was taken to his village Utmanzai in Charsadda about 30 miles from Peshawar, where he was laid to rest by side of his English wife Mary Khan. All West Pakistan Government offices remained closed on May 9 and flags flew at half-mast in memory of Dr. Khan Sahib.
Speaking of his passing, Pakistani President Iskander Mirza said, about him that he was "the greatest Pathan of his times, a great leader and a gallant gentleman whose life-long fight in the cause of freedom, his sufferings and sacrifices for the sake of his convictions and his passion to do good to the common man were the attributes of a really great man."
Dr. Khan Sahib was survived by three sons; Sadullah Khan (a civil engineer from Loughborough University), Obaidullah Khan (a politician) and the youngest, Dr. Hidayatullah Khan.
After his death, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was elected to fill the vacancy arising in the National Assembly.
It is important to note that Dr.Khan Sahib's brother, Ghaffar Khan and his Red Shirt movement stayed away from the electoral politics.
Ghaffar Khan actively opposed the One Unit and Dr. Khan Sahib's government. No major Red Shirt leader or worker ever joined the Republican Party, founded by Dr. Khan Sahib. The Red Shirts or Khudai Khidmatgar (servants of God) joined hands with nationalist and progressive workers and leaders from both the then East Pakistan and West Pakistan to form the National Awami Party (National Peoples Party) in 1957.
Read more about this topic: Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan