He is the grand son of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan(Bacha Khan), the Freedom fighter and non-violent leader of the Pashtuns in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Saleem January was born in Peshawar, Pakhtunkhwa (North-West Frontier Province). He is the son of late Muhammad Yahya January who was married to the daughter of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, commonly known as Bacha Khan.
His banking career spanned over a period of 42 years in Pakistan, the middle east, the United Kingdom and in United States of America. He served as Chief Executive Officer and managing director of Union Bank and Bank of Punjab respectively. Later he was elected to the North-West Frontier Province Assembly in the 1946 general election from the Peshawar city constituency by defeating Sardar Abdul Rab Nister. Yahya January served as the education minister in Doctor Khan Sahib’s cabinet.
Saleem January’s paternal grandfather, Haji Ghulam Samdani, was a leading businessman and philanthropist of Peshawar city and is buried in Qasim Ali Khan Mosque, Kissakhwani Bazzar.
Saleem Jans maternal uncles were Khan Abdul Wali Khan, popular Pashto poet Abdul Ghani Khan and renowned educationalist Abdul Ali Khan. Saleem January did his matriculation from mission high school,Peshawar.
After graduating from Edwardes College he went on to Peshawar University to study for his Masters in Economics degree. While studying at University, he was offered a job at Grindlays Bank, which he accepted.
Having started his career with Grindlays Bank in 1968, he served in Bahrain, United States of America,United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. In 1987 he moved to the Middle East Bank in Dubai as Chief Manager Cr and Marketing.
In 1991 he returned to Pakistan and helped set up Union Bank and served as its Chief Executive Officer and President till 1999. He was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of The Bank of Punjab in March 2000, which he served until May 2003. His final assignment was as the Chief Executive Officer of the ‘Rehman Medical Institute’ in Peshawar, Pakistan for 5 years.
He was one of the contenders for the party ticket for NA1(Peshawar).
This was due to the fact that he was greatly respected by both PTI workers and rival party candidates, specifically the Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity. this can be gaged from the fact that before PTI announced its final candidate for the NA1 byelection, Alliance for Neighborhood Prosperity leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour went on record to say that he would not contest elections against him out of respect for the fact that Saleem January was the grand son of Bacha Khan.
On November 25, 2011,he joined Imran Khan led political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Saleem January joined the Imran Khan led political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 2011.
He is currently a member of PTI"s "Central Finance Committee" and the " PTI Accountability Committee". Saleem January is currently a member of both the "central finance committee" and the 4 member "PTI accountability committee".
