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{{short description|Pakistani military general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Wajid Ali Khan Burki
| image =
| caption =
| spouse =
| children = Nausherwan Burki (son)
| birth_date = 28 October 1900
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1989|01|17|1900|10|28}}
| birth_place = Basti Baba Khel, [[Jalandhar]], [[Punjab, British India]]
| death_place =
| placeofburial =
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial_coordinates = 
| nickname =
| birth_name =
| allegiance = Pakistan
| branch =
| serviceyears = 1928 – 1968
| rank = [[Lieutenant general (Pakistan)|Lieutenant General]]
| servicenumber =
| unit = [[Pakistan Army Medical Corps]]
| commands = {{ubl|[[Pakistan Army Medical Corps]]|[[Army Medical College]]|[[Combined Military Hospital]]|[[Ministry of Health (Pakistan)|Ministry of Health]]}}
| battles = {{ubl|[[World War II]]|[[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947|Indo-Pakistani war of 1947]]|[[Indo-Pakistani war of 1965]]}}
| battles_label =
| awards = [[Order of the British Empire]]
| relations = {{ubl|[[Javed Burki]] (nephew)|[[Imran Khan]] (nephew)}}
}}

[[Lieutenant-General]] '''Wajid Ali Khan Burki''' (28 October 1900 – 17 January 1989) [[Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|CBE]], was a high-profile Pakistani military official who served as Minister-in-Charge of the [[Ministry of Health (Pakistan)|Ministry of Health]] under the [[Military occupation|military government]] of Field Marshal [[Field Marshal Ayub Khan|Ayub Khan]].<ref name=RCP/>

==Early life and education==
Wajid Ali Burki was born in Basti Baba Khel, [[Jalandhar]], [[Punjab, British India]] on 28 October 1900, in a [[Punjabi Language|Punjabi-speaking]] [[Pathans of Punjab|Pashtun]] family.<ref name=RCP/> His father Jehan Khan Burki was a landowner there. He received his early and basic education in Jalandhar and then came to the UK to study medicine at the [[University of St. Andrews]]. He also started working as junior clinical assistant at the [[Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital]]. Burki received his MD degree in 1926. In 1927, he joined the [[Indian Medical Service]] and worked in military hospitals at Jalandhar, [[Quetta]] and [[Karachi]]. He then returned to the UK for further studies in medicine and received his DOMS degree in 1932. He was then appointed as an eye specialist at [[Meerut]], British India.<ref name=RCP/>

Burki married Iqbal Khanum in 1935 and they had three sons and two daughters in this marriage.<ref name=RCP/>

==Military and civil career==
After the [[independence of Pakistan]] in 1947, he chose to live in Pakistan and became the first deputy director of the [[Army Medical Corps (Pakistan)]].<ref name=RCP/> He was promoted to major general in 1952. In 1953, he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed director-general of the Armed Forces Medical Services.<ref name=RCP/>

Burki was one of the leading active-duty military official who played an influential role in advising and formulating the health reforms and policies of the Ayub Khan Military administration. General Burki was [[Ayub Khan (Field Marshal)|Ayub Khan]]'s right-hand man, and was instrumental in Ayub Khan's rise to power.<ref name=RCP/>

Until today the three families (Ayub, Burki and Nawab of Kalabagh) retain adjoining houses in [[Islamabad]] as part of their service in the creation of the city of Islamabad. He served as the Vice-Prime Minister of Pakistan,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pakistan Vice Prime Minister - Signed Xmas Card by Army Surgeon Lt Gen W A Burki|url=https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NBgAAOSwiuxawUpW/s-l400.jpg|access-date=2020-10-07|website=eBay|language=en-gb}}</ref> and the commander in chief in the Prime Minister's absence.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sayeed|first=Khalid B.|date=1959|title=Martial Law Administration in Pakistan|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3024211|journal=Far Eastern Survey|volume=28|issue=5|pages=72–79|doi=10.2307/3024211|issn=0362-8949}}</ref>
He and another person at the time were the two major founders of the capital city of [[Islamabad]], forming it from a mostly barren area of land. In many different ways, he played an important part in the history of Pakistan.<ref name=RCP>{{Cite web|title=Wajid Ali Khan Burki (a profile)|url=https://history.rcplondon.ac.uk/inspiring-physicians/wajid-ali-khan-burki|access-date=22 May 2021|website=Royal College of Physicians UK website}}</ref>

==Achievements and positions held==
* An army surgeon by training, General Burki played a significant role in the development of the Army's medical facilities, especially the [[Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (Pakistan)]] in Rawalpindi and the [[Combined Military Hospital]] Network in Pakistan.<ref name=RCP/>
* General Burki was the founding president of the [[College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan]] in 1962. 'The General Wajid Ali Burki Medal' is awarded to one deserving graduating student each year by this college at its convocation each year.<ref>[https://www.dawn.com/news/1178444 Over 500 doctors get degrees at CPSP convocation] Dawn (newspaper), Published 27 April 2015, Retrieved 23 May 2021</ref>
* From 1962 to 1964, he was Pakistan's ambassador to the Scandinavian countries.<ref name=RCP/>

==Awards and recognition==
* Appointed a [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire]] as Major, Indian Medical Service in recognition of distinguished services in the Middle East in the London Gazette 30 December 1941.<ref>Supplement to The London Gazette, dated 30 December 1941, page 7239. www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35396/page/7329</ref>
* He was promoted to a [[Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire]] on 15 November 1945 by [[King George VI]] in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in [[Burma]] during [[World War II]].<ref>Supplement to The London Gazette, Published 13 November 1945, Retrieved 23 May 2021</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Imran Khan}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burki, Wajid Ali Khan}}
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:Burki family|Wajid Ali Khan]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Pakistani generals]]
[[Category:Pakistani military doctors]]
[[Category:Pashtun people]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of St Andrews]]
[[Category:Government College University, Lahore alumni]]
[[Category:Federal ministers of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Pakistan to Sweden]]
[[Category:Pakistani Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Indian Medical Service officers]]

Wajid Ali Khan Burki - Revision history

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