Former bureaucrat Roedad Khan has passed away at the age of 101.
Mardan-based Khan's funeral prayers will be offered today after Zuhr prayers in Islamabad, after which he will be buried in the H-11 graveyard.
Roedad Khan was born on September 28, 1923, in Mardan, and was the most senior bureaucrat of Pakistan. He joined the civil service in 1949 in the District Management Group.
Khan worked with five presidents and three prime ministers and held important positions in many important institutions throughout his civil services career, including the chief secretary of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and adviser to the president and prime minister.
After retirement, he regularly wrote for major publications and even authored two books.
Politician Mushahid Hussain Syed mourned Khan's death with a post on his X account, calling him a "national Icon & Legend (sic)".
"He lived a full life of service to Pakistan during our tumultuous periods + post-retirement: pioneered Environmental Protection for Islamabad, authored books & became Bold Activist for Democracy & Human Rights! Truly a unique, multifaceted personality of our times! He will be missed by his countless admirers!"
Mourning passing away of National Icon & Legend, Roedad Khan sahib, 101; he lived a full life of service to Pakistan during our tumultuous periods + post-retirement: pioneered Environmental Protection for Islamabad, authored books & became Bold Activist for Democracy & Human… pic.twitter.com/5obbYYJRXx
— Mushahid Hussain Sayed (@Mushahid) April 21, 2024
Journalist Moeed Pirzada reshared Syed's post with his own caption, praying for the departed soul and recalling how the two used to cross paths during morning walks around Faisal Mosque.
May Allah bless his soul! I used to come across him during morning walks around Faisal Mosque! Roedad Khan was a living walking history of Pakistan, with his departure country has lost its connection with the past - and is hurtling like a spaceship into an uncertain unknown… https://t.co/A2gFadZyKv
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) April 21, 2024
"Roedad Khan was a living walking history of Pakistan, with his departure country has lost its connection with the past - and is hurtling like a spaceship into an uncertain unknown future!"
Journalist Hamid Mir also shared a picture from 2007 on his X account from a protest against the rule of former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf in which Roedad Khan could be seen sitting between poet Ahmed Faraz and journalist Minhaj Barna.
A historical picture of 2007. Former bureaucrat Roedad Khan sitting between Ahmad Fraz and Minhaj Barna in a protest against the rule of Gen Musharraf.I was banned on TV those days and these senior citizens came to support me at the protest. Roedad Khan passed away today at 101. pic.twitter.com/bciLZndP6f
— Hamid Mir حامد میر (@HamidMirPAK) April 21, 2024
He recalled how senior citizens came out to support him during those days when he was banned on TV.
PTI leader and former senator Faisal Javed Khan called Roedad Khan the "young boy" of the party's 2014 Islamabad sit-in and prayed for his soul.
میرے دوست اور بزرگ اور دھرنے کے "ینگ بوائے" روئیداد خان ہم میں نہیں رہے-ایک سو سالہ روئیداد خان کی خواہش تھی کی وہ عمران خان سے اڈیالہ جیل میں ملاقات کر سکیں! انکے لبوں پر بس ایک ہی بات تھی جو وہ بار بار کر رہے تھے "مجھے عمران سے ملنا ہے جی! مجھے عمران سے ملنا ہے جی!
— Faisal Javed Khan (@FaisalJavedKhan) April 21, 2024
اللّٰہ… pic.twitter.com/DZeRaRMXhl
He claimed that the veteran bureaucrat wished to meet Imran Khan in Adiala Jail and kept repeating just one sentence: "I want to meet Imran Khan."
