PESHAWAR: A new Pashto book ‘Atalaan’ (heroes), showcasing brief biographies of important Pakhtun personalities, was launched here on Tuesday.

The book is a collection of 20 short biographies of legendary Pakhtun literary, spiritual and political personalities. The organisers of the ceremony said that copies of the book would be distributed free of cost to Pashto Academy, University of Peshawar and other known literary societies. They said the book was an attempt to appraise young generation of achievements of Pakhtun heroes.

Noted Pashto poet Rahmat Shah Sail while speaking as chief guest at the event said that Pashto poets and writers had been demanding due space on the state-run radio and TV but it had fallen on deaf ears. He said that credit went to free private media houses for creating public awareness regarding regional, national and international issues.

Abaseen Yousafzai in his remarks pointed out that though the book was not a research treaty yet it could inspire young scholars to conduct more research on their national heroes.

He said that Pakhtuns respected their leaders but soon forgot them because of their careless attitude. He said that the book would trigger spark of research among young students.

Senior research scholar Pervez Mahjoor Khesgi said that the book had some mistakes, which needed correction. He said the real name of Pir Roshan was not Sirajuddin but Bayazid Ansari.

Dr Fazal Rahim Marwat, the vice-chancellor of Bacha University, said that unfortunately most of the young students did not know about their heroes and elders. He said that he received a graduate student from South Waziristan who knew about Mughal King Zaheeruddin Babar but was not aware of Pir Roshan, a great literary and spiritual figure of 16th century belonging to Kaniguram, South Waziristan.

The book contains valuable information on Ameer Karor, Sher Shah Suri, Malak Ahmad Yousafzai, Pir Roshan, Khushal Khan Khattak, Darya Khan Afridi, Rahman Baba, Abdul Hammeed Momand, Syed Jamaluddin Afghan, Syed Rahat Zakehli, Wazir Mohammad Gul Khan Momand, Ghazi Amanullah Khan, Bacha Khan, Malang Jan, Sanubar Hussain Kakajee, Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, Abdul Hai Habibi, Abdur Rauf Benawa, Hamza Baba and Ajmal Khattak.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2015

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