Board of Directors
BKTEF is governed by an independent board of directors (BOD) comprising of professionals form a diverse background. The BOD is the highest policy making body that gives strategic direction and maintains management oversight over the activities of the BKTEF. The BOD meets on every first Monday of the first week of the month after a period of two months to review progress or important decision-making.
Brief Profiles of the Members of the Board of Directors
Afrasiab Khattak (Chairperson)
Mr. Afrasiab Khattak is a lawyer, political and human rights activist, journalist, author and a commentator on regional affairs with special interest in democracy, human rights, regional issues, ethnic conflicts and security. He was vice chairperson of HRCP for 3 years (1996-99). He was unanimously elected the Chairperson of HRCP on 2nd May 1999 for a three years term. Then he was re-elected as chairperson of HRCP for the second term in 2003. He has been working as the central executive member of the Pak-India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy, a non-governmental organization working for peace in South Asia. He was elected Chairperson of the Pak India Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy in September 2003. He joined Awami National Party, a secular, liberal and democratic political organization on July 4 2003 and was nominated member of the central executive of the party. He resigned from the chairmanship of HRCP, and was elected as Additional Secretary General of ANP. He is the founding member of South Asian’s for Peace (SAHR), founded in Alwar, Rajhistan, India in July 2000. He was coordinator of National Steering Committee working on a Human Rights Charter for Pakistan, a project of Democratic Commission for Human Development (DCHD). Afrasiab Khattak is a prolific writer. He contributed a weekly column on current affairs to the English language Daily “The Frontier Post” for five years. (1994–1999).
Dr. HumayunKhan(Co Chair)
Dr Kahn has had a distinguished career as a civil servant in Pakistan and for the Commonwealth. He is Former Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi and in London, and also served as Pakistan Foreign Secretary, the top civil service post in the department. He was then appointed Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, based in London, where he served with distinction for many years. He was a founding Trustee of the Sir Firoz Khan and Lady Viqarunnisa Noon Educational Foundation and a close friend of Lady Noon, serving as Chairman in the mid-1990s.
Muhammad Raza (Member) 
Muhammad Raza is the co-founder of the Baacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation. Muhammad Raza did LL.M. from Georgetown University (GU), Washington D.C. with distinction in May 2006. He was on the Dean’s List of the GU Law Center (2005-2006), and also obtained a Certificate in International Human Rights Law during the same period. He is a Fulbright scholar, and was among the three Fulbright nominees for the New Leaders Group Award for International Understanding, 2005-2006. Muhammad Raza is member of the American Bar Association (ABA), and the International Law Society of GU. Before joining GU, he worked as an in-house legal counsel for the University of Peshawar. In volunteer capacity, he was associated with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) as consultant in its Afghan Desk at Peshawar. In 1997, he was the founding member of a private education system that aimed at providing education to the under-served areas of NWFP. He has worked on legal, administrative, socio-cultural and political issues of Pakistan, particularly the NWFP, the federally administered tribal area (FATA), and Afghanistan; and has written several articles.
Khadim Hussain (Managing Director/Secretary)
(January 2010 to date)
Khadim Hussain is the Managing Director of Baacha Khan Trust Educational Foundation since January 2010 to date.
With a research degree in Sociolinguistics, Khadim Hussain has worked as Professor for Linguistics and Communication at Bahria University Islamabad, Pakistan. He has some 20 international research publications and scores of media articles on education, human security, social transformation, culture, linguistics, extremism and terrorism and regional cooperation to his credit besides participation in more than 12 international conferences over the last 15 years.
He has been a co-researchers for NWFP in the project titled ‘Mode and Scale of Conflict in Iran, Turkey and Pakistan’ by School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences based in Paris besides working as a resource person for the workshops organized by Faculty Research Development Programme launched by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. Khadim Hussain has been regularly invited as resource person by several national and international organizations to their workshops and conferences on the themes mentioned above.
Khadim Hussain has also been engaged in literary creativity, socio-political activism and advocacy for the last 15 years on the issues mentioned above. He has been regularly writing on the editorial pages of the daily Dawn, Pakistan, on the issues of militancy, social development and religious extremism in FATA and Pukhtunkhwa for the last five years. He also coordinates the research activities of Aryana Institute for Regional Research and Advocacy (AIRRA)—a regional research and advocacy group.
Dr. Syed Waqar Ali Shah 
Dr. Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah did his Masters in History and Pashto and M. Phil in History from the University of Peshawar, where he also taught for a year. Later, he joined the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research, Islamabad as a Research Fellow. He joined the Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University as Assistant Professor in 1990. In 1993, Dr. Shah went to the University of Oxford (UK) and completed his D. Phil in 1997. He did his doctoral research on the Khudai Khidmatgars and the politics of the N-WFP, the first of its kind any where in the world, published by the Oxford University Press entitled Ethnicity, Islam and Nationalism: Muslim Politics in the North-West Frontier Province, 1937-1947. In 1999, Dr. Shah has been awarded the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at the University of Heidelberg (Germany). Presently he is Professor of History and Chairman at the Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
Bushra Gohar
Bushra Gohar is an eminent scoial and political activist. She did her higher education from the United States of America and is the founding member of the HRMDC, a non-profit that aims at capacity building of the vulnerable groups of the society, especially of women. She is currently Member of the National Parliament of Pakistan and is the head of the Committee on Women Affairs of the Parliament.
Dr. Fazal Rahim Marwat 
Dr. Fazal-ur-Rahim Marwat is Associate Professor in Pakistan Study Centre, University of Peshawar, NWFP (Pakistan). He did his Masters in Political Science, M. Phil and Ph. D from the Area Study Centre (Central Asia), University of Peshawar. Dr. Marwat has to his credit several articles and books about the history and politics of South East Asia. He is member of several national and international organizations and institutions. Currently he is Fellow of Social Science Research Council (South Asia Regional Fellowship Program) 2004-2005 and Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Baacha Khan Research Centre. He has contributed a number of articles and research papers to journal and newspapers of national and international repute on the history, culture and politics of Afghanistan, Central Asia and NWFP.
Dr. Ijaz Khan Khattak 
Mr. Ijaz Khan did Masters in International Relations from UK and completed his Ph.D from the University of Peshawar where he is now serving as Professor. He is the author of a recently published book ‘Pakistan’s Strategic Culture and Foreign Policy Making; A study of Pakistan’s Post 9/11 Afghan Policy Change’.
Ms. Gulmina Bilal
Ms. Gulmina Bilal received her Masters f Philosophy from Quaid-e-Azam University and Her Masters of Science in Psychology from the University of Peshawar. She has strong interest in political systems and advocacy and has worked with a number of leading organizations both within Pakistan and outside. She has penned reports documenting the experiences of women parliamentarians titled “Women Parliamentarians: Swimming Against the Tide” and another about the need for reforms in the Election Commission of the country. She regularly writes for the opinion pages of leading Pakistani English Newspapers and political magazines.
Asma Jehangir
Asma Jahangir is currently the Chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) – a reputed and independent human rights organization in Pakistan. She has been the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the Commission on Human Rights since 2004. Previously, she served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. She is a founding member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and has served as Secretary-General and later Chair of the organization. Asma Jahangir is also law partner and co-founder with her sister Hina Jilani of Pakistan's first all-female law practice. In 1995, Jahangir received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
Kamran Arif
Kamran Arif is a lawyer and a human rights activist based at Peshawar. Since joining the Bar in 1991 he has been active in Human Rights litigation. He has also remained a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Peshawar and at the Human Rights Studies Centre, University of Peshawar. His research interest includes the rights of the marginalized groups, rights of children and the criminal justice system in the country. Kamran Arif has a long association with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). He has been the member of the Executive committee of the HRCP since 1999 and has been elected the Vice-Chair (NWFP) in 2002 and again in 2005. At the HRCP he has worked, amongst other things, on the issues relating to the administration of justice, rights of the people of the Northern Areas of Pakistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. He has also remained the National Coordinator of the ‘Campaign to Roll-back the Death Penalty’ initiated by the Democratic Commission for Human Development.
Jamila Gilani
Jamila Gilani did MSc Psychology and B.Ed from the University of Peshawar. She has worked with theHuman Rights Commission of Pakistan for six years. She is currently Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
Ms. Sarwat Jehan
Ms. Sarwat Jehan is a grade-20 government employee in the education department. She remained on various administrative positions including the position of Managing Director of the department of Elementary Education in Frontier Education Foundation.
Ms. Musarrat Khattak 
Ms. Musarrat Khattak is currently working as the Director British Council Peshawar for the last four years. Prior to this she had been associated with the British Council as their Educational Consultant and has a rich experience in providing educational consultancy and services during her career.