PESHAWAR: Paying tribute to the veteran politician and poet, Ajmal Khattak, for his political and literary contributions, speakers at an event arranged in connection with his death anniversary said on Friday that he was a strong voice of the oppressed and marginalised segments of the society.
The function was held under the auspices of Pakhtun Students Federation (PSF) here at Maulana Abdul Qadir Hall, Pashto Academy. Young literati, PSF workers and political and rights activists participated in the event to mark the 10th death anniversary of the noted politician and Pashto poet.
The speakers said that the late politician never comprised on principles and always raised voice for the oppressed and marginalised segments of the society.
“Ajmal Khattak fought on many fronts against martial law and to get rights of his people. He gave a new direction to Pashto poetry and political vision, setting new trends,” they said.
Young poet Tariq Pakhtunyar in his speech pointed out that Ajmal Khattak’s thoughts and vision played a significant role in creating the PSF and also his unflinching struggle for the Pakhtun cause proved a launching pad for the youth. He said that Ajmal Khattak was a strong voice of poor masses whose revolutionary poetry softened the hearts of the ruling elites. He said that Ajmal Khattak suffered imprisonments for promoting the non-violence philosophy of Bacha Khan as he had envisioned a forward-looking and progressive Pakhtun society.
“He always stood up to raise voice at every forum for genuine rights of the masses,” Mr Pakhtunyar said.
Earlier, Jamshid Wazir, provincial chief of PSF, presented a paper on the life and career of Ajmal Khattak. He said that Ajmal Khattak was a great politician, writer, poet, Khudai Khidmatgar, former president of Awami National Party and close friend of the late Wali Khan.
He said that Khattak’s early student life was marked by active protests against the British Raj, which was followed by his joining of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement and anti-colonial Pashto poetry. After the independence of Pakistan, he joined the National Awami Party and became a close friend of Abdul Wali Khan.
Mr Wazir said that late Khattak had served as secretary general of the National Awami Party from 1969-1973. He was defeated by Abdul Haq in the 1970 general election. However following a crackdown against the party by the government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Ajmal Khattak went into exile to Kabul. He returned in 1989 and was elected in 1990 to the National Assembly. Following a power struggle in 2000, he briefly formed a breakaway party which was routed in the 2002 election. He rejoined the Awami National Party shortly afterwards.
Malak Hasnain, Prof Noorul Amin Yousafzai and Shaukat Swati also addressed the event.
Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2020
