Mohammed Khalid Roashan (born 21 October 1923) was an Afghan politician and journalist.
Roashan was born on 21 October 1923.[1] He graduated from the Habibia High School and the Kabul University College of Letters.[1] He was a member of the Ariana Encyclopedia Department between 1943 and 1944.[1] Roashan worked as an editorial board member of the daily newspaper Anis between 1947 and 1948.[1]
He went on to pursue studies in the United States, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska in 1950 and a Master of Arts degree in journalism from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1953.[1] [2] His thesis at UCLA was titled The Anglo-Indian oil dispute and the American press.[2] In 1952 he was a member of the Foreign Publications Section at the Afghan Department of Press and Information.[1]
Having returned to Afghanistan, Roashan served as editor of Anis between 1953 and 1956.[1] Between 1956 and 1957 he served as Director-General of the Department of Press and Information.[1] He was then sent to London, where he worked as an information officer at the Royal Afghan Embassy to the United Kingdom between 1957 and 1960.[1] [3] In 1960 he was named President of the Bakhtar News Agency.[1] Between 1961 and 1963 he served as Vice President of the Department of Press and Information.[1] He also gave classes in Journalism at Kabul University.[1] He edited English-language publications such as Afghanistan-Ariana issued from Kabul and Afghanistan News issued from London.[1] [4]
Roashan completed military service in 1964.[1] In 1964 he helped draft the Afghan constitution. The following year he was appointed Deputy Minister of Press and Information.[1] He helped draft legislation allowing liberalization of the Afghan press in 1965.
Roashan was appointed as President of the Department of Tribal Affairs (a cabinet minister position) on 1 December 1965, placed in charge of the entity dealing with health, education and social development issues among the tribes in southern Afghanistan.[1] [5] He served in this role as a member of the Mohammad Hashim Maiwandwal cabinet until 12 October 1967.[6] [7] [8]
Roashan was appointed Deputy Minister of Information and Culture on 18 May 1968.[1] He remained in this post as of 1973, but his tenure in the national government ended with the fall of the monarchy.[9] [10] [11]
Roashan left Afghanistan in 1979.[11] He eventually returned to the United States, and settled down in Kirkland, Washington.[11] As of 1988, Roashan was the president of the Afghan-American Cultural Association in Seattle.[12]