Muhammad Nawab Khattak, son of Ghaus Muhammad Khan, father of Engrs Muhammad Sohail Khattak and Fayyaz Khattak has been one of the most distinguished elders of the Khan- Khel Khattak as indeed of Khattaknama.
A nonagenarian, now in his early 90s, by and large, he is in excellent mental health though incapacitated due to a nerve problem in one of his feet but keeps himself mentally occupied through reading books, and newspapers, tuning- into news, and being a keen watcher of football and tv plays. In fact, always current on current affairs.
He has been one of the earliest students of Engineering having earned a degree in electrical engineering from the then Maclagan Engineering College, Lahore, the precursor of the UET, Lahore. ‘Maclagan Engineering College’, a name given to it in 1923 when Sir Edward Douglas Maclagan, the then Governor of the Punjab laid the foundation stone of the main building in 1932, now called the Main Block. In those days, there was no Engineering institute in the erstwhile NWFP and only ten students from the province would be selected on merit. Nawab Khan was one of them in the early 50s selected while he was a third-year student at Islamia College.
Nawab Khan joined the KP provincial service as an SDO but was seconded to WAPDA where he served at various levels from SDO, Nowshera to XEN, Mardan, Mardan, and thereafter in being the youngest chief engineer and Chairman Area Electricity Board, NWFP/ KP, later as Chairman of the Multan and Faisalabad Boards, headed the Grid Systems Operations and ultimately retiring as General Manager.
Nawab Khan to his credit has meritorious service and electrification of many villages in Khattaknamah and among the long list are Chashmai and Ameero to name a few. During his time, WAPDA expanded manifold, and therefore, his contribution and pioneering work go a long way in the development of Pakistan.
May his soul rest in eternal peace.