31.7.14 A Pathan Odyssey
Dr. Fazal-ur-Rahim Marwat
Title: A Pathan Odyssey
Author: Mohammad Aslam Khan Khattak
Edited (with Foreword): James W. Spain
Publisher Contact:
Oxford University Press,
Plot # 38, Sector 15,
Korangi Industrial Area, Karachi
Phone: 111-693-673
Email: [email protected]
ISBN: 0-19-597718-1
Pages: 271pp
Source: KhyberOrg
31.07.2014: Writing on one's own life in the form of an autobiography is a fascinating task, because it is virtually difficult to speak the truth, or even to hear truth in our society. Mohammad Aslam Khattak has fully established his proficiency in his life story A Pathan Odyssey. His language is fluent and his description of friends, fellow-travellers, places and events explicitly attractive with his personal bias, though one feels that he is subconsciously trapped in narcissism.
A. Khattak, a typical Pakhtoon of his own variety, tries to blend together secularity, religiosity and Pashtunwali, while attempting to speak frankly and boldly. Suffering from a typical love-hate relationship with the British, while serving British colonial masters to whom he was quite close, he also attempts to express his passion for freedom. Thus he discloses very well guarded secrets.
There are two aspects of the book, which make it a significant addition to the history of the Afghans/Pakhtoons and Asia. First, the book is by an indigenous personality, analyzing the men and movements of the period from his own perspective, and secondly, it has been well edited by James W. Spain, an eminent American scholar. He has also written the foreword for his old friend but failed to keep out his personal bias, therefore many people may disagree with Spain, who calls Aslam Khattak "a good and honest man - in diplomacy, politics and government".
In the preface, Mr Khattak simply confesses by writing "for me the most important aim in life has been and still is to justify my own existence". He attempts to project himself as a committed nationalist, while serving the British and later on the Pakistani rulers. A rural boy from the Khattak plains raised to the heights in the British and Pakistani institutions, he naturally developed love and affection for the British and Pakistani rulers, with the exception of Ayub Khan.
Another interesting aspect of the book are its two appendices. One is about the author's journey to India in the company of President Ziaul Haq and the other is, "Now or never", a historical document. He provides the readers first hand information on the word "Pakistan" coined by some students of the Khyber Union in Oxford. "In England, we Pathans had our Khyber Union. Sadullah Khan, the son of Dr Khan Sahib, Dr Abdur Rahim, Chaudhri Rehmat Ali and I produced a pamphlet "Now or never". Dr Rahim and I went to London to call on Jinnah who told us that he had read our pamphlet and was very unhappy about it."
Khattak's commentary on Sir G. Cunningham and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Dr Khan Sahib and Abdul Qayyum Khan is very informative, but while discussing his own home constituency in Karak, he gets extremely emotional, and uses derogatory language for late Master Khan Gul - his main political opponent.
While he was incharge of Peshawar radio station, both Mullahs and nationalist groups opposed it. Mullahs declared it as a "satanic instrument" introduced by an infidel government. The nationalist considered it as a propaganda tool of the Raj .
In A. Khattak's opinion "independence brought great turmoil... At first, there was little Muslim-Hindu tension in the Frontier, although the Muslim League leadership deliberately incited the people and hired hooligans to perpetrate murder and arson".
In this biography, Khattak tries to deviate from the traditional stereotypical approach about the Quaid-i-Azam by writing: "Nowadays the Quaid-i-Azam has been raised to the status of a saint. His statements are quoted alongside those of the Holy Prophet! I for one, disagree with this. He was a great and incorruptible statesman. He believed firmly in a united India and it was the intransigence of the Congress under Nehru that made this impossible. However, I do feel that the dismissal of Dr Khan Sahib's ministry by a dictatorial order was neither desirable nor constitutionally correct."
Khattak had a cherished dream of confederation between Pakistan and Afghanistan and he was supported by Iskander Mirza but unluckily Ayub Khan's martial law bulldozed the Pakistan-Afghanistan confederation scheme.
In three chapters he has said much about Pakistan-Iran relations and the rising tides of revolution. Khattak says that "once the Shah (of Iran) asked me in an informal meeting about the Red Shirts and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Did I know them personally? I said yes. I came from the Frontier and knew Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and Khan Abdul Wali Khan personally... The Red Shirt Movement had awakened the people and made them fight for the freedom of India...Unscrupulous people created distrust and misunderstanding between the Quaid and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. The Shah listened closely and I had the distinct impression that my remarks surprised him. He replied that he had assumed Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his people were communists but perhaps not and it might be in the interest of Pakistan if they could be brought into the service of the country."
Commenting on Zia's martial law he said: "I was convinced that it would not be possible for the army to rule the country for a long time without some political basis for its governance. Bayonets are not meant to cut cakes. More is needed. Lenin, Mao Zedong, Ataturk, Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, Nehru, Ayub and Bhutto were all dictators in fact, but all had political parties to back them."
The deteriorating political system and the delicate relationship between the army and politicians in Pakistan are deeply rooted in its history because "Mr Jinnah had resurrected a retired general and made him governor. He also dismissed the elected government of Dr Khan Sahib... Bhutto dragged a retired army chief into his PPP and made a young army major whose retirement he forced, chairman of the PPP. Did democracy permit this kind of things?"
One may not agree with the personal views of Aslam Khattak, but that does notmean that we can completely underrate his work, as one cannot deny the fact that this book is an informative and useful one for the students of political history of Asia. Moreover, from his discussion one learns about the wide difference between the old and new generations in Pakistan.