PESHAWAR: Poets, writers and intellectuals will shed light on various aspects of progressive Pashto poet Sanubar Hussain Kakaji to mark his 52nd death anniversary today (Saturday) at Kaga Wala village near Peshawar on Kohat Road. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter of Balochistan National Party (BNP) will conduct a seminar on Kakaji tomorrow (Sunday). Born in January 1897, Sanubar Hussain Kakaji received only 10th grade education from Islamia High School, Peshawar city.

He had rendered meritorious political, social and literary services. He wanted to reform Pashtun society based on equal distribution of wealth and dispensation of justice. He took up teaching as profession. Soon he quit it and began taking part in active politics and in 1926 he founded ‘Ajuman-i- Zamindaraan’ comprising poor village farmers to address their pressing issues.

Later, Kakaji expanded his political activities to city areas and became part of another organisation ‘Naujawanaan Bharat Sabha (NBS)’. He gave great strength to the politically charged organisation run mostly by young people and headed by Maulana Abdur Rahim Populzai. He was put behind bars for his radical ideas by the British authorities.

After undergoing imprisonment, he turned to be a visionary revolutionary who was determined to the cause of freedom of poor people from British slavery, poverty and ignorance. He wanted his people to be aware of their rights. He advocated progressivism, intellectual honesty and a quest for seeking knowledge. He was a poet, political thinker and journalist par excellence. He hated religious bigotry, khanism and suppression of poor.

Writers to discuss the Pashto poet’s political, literary services

Kakaji was aware of importance of written word. He launched a political-cum-literary magazine ‘Shola’ from Peshawar which was confiscated by the British government. It was followed by another journal titled ‘Sailab’ but that too faced the same fate. He wanted to create political awareness among masses.

He had a good command over Pashto, Urdu and Persian languages and also had a workable knowledge of English literature. He was among pioneers of progressive writer’s organisation in India. He was again put in jail when he was selected chief of the said literary body of the erstwhile Frontier province.

Kakaji translated selected poems of Iran’s revolutionary poet ‘Abul Qasim Lahouti’ and Umar Khayyam’s Rubiyat into Pashto. He rendered noted Egyptian scholars Dr Taha Hussain and Shah Waliullah’s books into Pashto. He wrote profile of Abuzar Ghafari (RA) – the Prophet’s companion. He also penned down complete profiles of freedom fighters and his close associates, Sahibzada Aslam and Hafiz Abdul Sattar. They had been killed during a raid by British troops.

He went into self-exile to tribal Mohmand Agency to avoid arrest by British government. There he joined another freedom fighter Fazle Wahid alias Haji Sahib Turangzai. He launched another magazine ‘Aslam’ after name of his slain comrade.

He left tribal area after Pakistan’s independence in 1947. Being old person he could not join active politics, however, he continued his struggle on intellectual front through powerful writings.

Sanubar Hussain Kakaji was one of the founders of the celebrated literary organization ‘Olasi Adabi Jirga’ (OAJ) in 1950 in Peshawar. The other two literary giants were Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari and Dost Mohammad Khan Kamil. The OAJ produced hundreds of literary critics, poets, writers and intellectuals. Despite his old age and deteriorating health, Pakistani authorities imprisoned Kakaji in Lahore’s Shahi Qilla in 1956. He was released only to die on January 3, 1963 and laid to rest at his Kaga Wala village’s graveyard.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2015

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