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''[[Khan Bahadur]]'' Captain '''Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KBE}} (5 June 1892 – 26 December 1942), also written '''Sikandar Hyat-Khan''' or '''Sikandar Hyat Khan''', was an Indian politician and statesman from the [[Punjab (British India)|Punjab]] who served as the [[Prime Minister of the Punjab|Premier of the Punjab]], among other positions.<ref name=SOP>{{cite web|url=http://storyofpakistan.com/sir-sikandar-hayat-khan|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 October 2018|website=Story Of Pakistan website|title=Profile of Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan|access-date=16 January 2023|date=1 January 2007
==Early life==
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In 1937, soon after winning the general elections, confronted by internal pressure from many of his Muslim parliamentary colleagues and conscious of the need to maintain a balanced, equitable stance in a volatile and much-divided Punjabi political milieu,<ref> According to the first-hand account of Sir [[Penderel Moon]], who was then serving under Khan as a British [[Indian Civil Service]] officer, in discussions in 1937 and 1938, Khan explained to him the vital need for (a) maintaining the unity and integrity of the Punjab as a whole, and (b) at the same time striking a 'fine balance' in ensuring the rights of all Punjabi communities and communal factions; and he opined that rather than let things slide into anarchy and chaos, he would try his level best to do his 'utmost' to keep talking and making necessary concessions to all sides. While well-intentioned, this was probably attempting too much in circumstances that were inevitably headed towards divisiveness and beyond his control. See Moon, ''Divide and Quit'', London: Chatto & Windus, 1962, pp. 19–20.</ref> Khan decided to also negotiate with the Muslim elements under the leadership of [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]].<ref>See Syed Amjad Ali, Memoirs, Lahore, 1985, p 278: the author said that 'Thanks to the agreement reached between Jinnah and Sir Sikandar in Lucknow, the dream of Pakistan became real. All Pakistanis today should be thankful to these two great Muslim leaders and their wisdom', 192 ; and Wolpert 1999, aa, where Wolpert states that 'The Punjab was more than just a bare Muslim majority [like Bengal] ; the Punjab meant Pakistan, made Pakistan possible', pp 150–51</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heeger |first=Gerald A. |date=1 January 1972 |title=The Growth of the Congress Movement in Punjab, 1920–1940 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=39–51 |doi=10.2307/2053177 |jstor=2053177|s2cid=154447365 }}</ref>
Khan and [[Jinnah]] signed the Jinnah-Sikandar Pact at [[Lucknow]] in October 1937,<ref name=SOP/> merging the [[Muslim]] elements of his powerful Unionist force with the [[All India Muslim League]], as a move towards reconciling the various Muslim elements in the Punjab and elsewhere in India, towards a common, united front for safeguarding their community rights and interests.<ref>Stanley Wolpert, ''Jinnah of Pakistan'', Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 150–151. {{ISBN|0-19-577389-6}}</ref> Within the agreement, Khan announced he was "advising all the Muslim members of the Unionist Party in Punjab to join the League."<ref name=TFT/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heeger |first=Gerald A. |date=1 January 1972 |title=The Growth of the Congress Movement in Punjab, 1920–1940 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=39–51 |doi=10.2307/2053177 |jstor=2053177|s2cid=154447365 }}</ref> Later, he was also one of the chief supporters and architects of the [[Lahore Resolution]] of March 1940, calling for an autonomous or semi-independent Muslim majority region within the larger Indian confederation.<ref name=TFT/><ref>Syed Amjad Ali, aa; and IH Malik, aa</ref> Sikandar Hayat Khan, however, [[Opposition to the partition of India|opposed the partition of India]] and condemned "any reference to the 'Lahore Resolution' as the 'Pakistan Resolution'."<ref name="Mansingh2006">{{Cite book |last=Mansingh |first=Surjit |title=Historical Dictionary of India |date=2006 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=9780810865020 |language=en |quote=Both Sikandar Hayat Khan and his successor, Khizr Hayat Khan Tiwana, vehemently opposed the idea Partition when it was mooted in the early 1940s, partly because as Punjabi Muslims they did not agree with Jinnah on the need for a Pakistan and largely because the thought of partitioning Punjab, as an inevitable consequence, was so painful.}}</ref><ref name="Malik1985">{{Cite book |last=Malik |first=Iftikhar Haider |title=Sikandar Hayat Khan (1892–1942): a political biography |date=1985 |publisher=National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research |page=17 |language=en}}</ref> To Khan, the "partition meant disrupting the Punjab and the Unionist Party, and he was not prepared to accept this".<ref name="Malik1985" />
Khan's final days as Punjab's premier were extremely troublesome and marred by controversies and bitterness:<ref>Mansergh and Lumby (eds), ''Transfer of Power Documents'', London, 1971, Vol. III, p. 431.</ref> since 1940 the [[Khaksars]] had been constantly giving trouble; he was having a rough time within the Muslim League with [[Malik Barkat Ali]] and others; and in the Legislative Assembly [[Bhai Parmanand]] and Master [[Tara Singh Malhotra|Tara Singh]] were questioning his increasingly inconsistent stance over Pakistan and Punjabi unity.<ref>Detailed review in the ''Civil and Military Gazette'' newspaper, 8 and 10 November 1942.</ref> Khan's legacy was challenged when Malik Khizar Hyat refused to comply with League demands in 1944, leading Jinnah to repeal the Sikandar-Jinnah Pact from 1937.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gilmartin |first=David |date=1 January 1979 |title=Religious Leadership and the Pakistan Movement in the Punjab |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=485–517 |doi=10.1017/s0026749x00007228 |jstor=312311|s2cid=144573384 }}</ref> Trying to yoke together an impossible 'political mosaic'<ref>Letter, [[Lord Linlithgow]] to Sir [[Leo Amery]], 28 December 1942, British Library/IOR, Accession No. L/1/1/1427</ref> took a drastic toll on Khan's health, probably resulting in his early fatality. In a letter from [[Victor Hope, 2nd Marquess of Linlithgow|Viceroy Linlithgow]] to Sir [[Leo Amery]] dated two days after Khan's death, the Viceroy offered a lengthy personal evaluation of Khan:
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Among his grandchildren are [[Tariq Ali]], the British-Pakistani socialist writer and [[Yawar Hayat Khan]], former senior director/producer of PTV (Pakistan Television); among his great-grandchildren is the noted Pakistani poet and scholar Omer Tarin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ilyas Khan |date=November 2011 |title=Interview of poet Omer Tarin |url=https://ilyask2.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/interview-with-poet-omer-tarin-2011/ |access-date=7 July 2020
|website=WordPress.com website}}</ref> Sardar Sikandar Hayat, grandson of Sir Sikandar Hayat and eldest son of Sardar [[Shaukat Hayat Khan]] participated actively in constituent politics and remained MPA twice from Fatehjang (Attock) and also served as provincial minister.▼
▲Sardar Sikandar Hayat, grandson of Sir Sikandar Hayat and eldest son of Sardar [[Shaukat Hayat Khan]] participated actively in constituent politics and remained MPA twice from Fatehjang (Attock) and also served as provincial minister.
==See also==
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