ISLAMABAD, Feb 10: A Pathan Odyssey, a book by Mohammad Aslam Khan Khattak, an autobiography written in the backdrop of the struggle for independence and the political history of Pakistan, was formally launched here on Thursday.
The book, edited by James Spain, is packed with some interesting historical facts and the authors struggle to help his countrymen attain a respectable position among the comity of free nations by dispelling their conviction that their "fate on earth is predestined to commonplace existence".
In his book, Mr Khattak has claimed that the Quaid-i-Azam believed firmly on a united India and that it was intransigence of the Congress under Jawahir Lal Nehru that made this impossible.
He writes: "Nowadays, the Quaid-i-Azam has been raised to the status of a saint. His statements are quoted alongside those of the Prophet. I for one, disagree with this. He was a great and incorruptible statesman. He believed firmly in a united India...In that (united) India, Mohammad Ali Jinnah would have been the top man, a distinction Nehru wanted for himself.
Once the Congress stood that way, the Quaid-i-Azam stood fast for Pakistan with single-minded resolve that nothing could thwart".
Independence, the author says, brought great turmoil. Communal riots broke out all over India with Hindus killing Muslims and Muslims killing Hindus.
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.
The book reveals that a 'notorious' hostile tribesman, the Pir of Manki Sharif, was the titular head of this anti-Hindu operation.
The book reveals that in early 1946, Iskander Mirza, posted in Delhi, urgently asked Mr Khattak's father, Kuli Khan, to come to the capital. Mr Khattak said on return from Delhi his father told him that Pakistan was in fact a coming reality.
The authors says funds were put at his father's disposal "to try to affect the situation positively". Mr Khattak said his father told him to approach Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan to inform him about the coming scenario confidentially and try to get his blessing and support.
"The scheme was to mobilize the tribes under professional officers from the Frontier Corps to enter and occupy Kashmir on the day Pakistan came into existence," the book narrates.
Mr Khattak said he talked to Sadullah Khan, Dr Khan Sahib's eldest son, who spoke to Ghaffar Khan, his uncle. After a while, the Dr Khan brought a reply. Ghaffar Khan condemned the whole scheme as a diabolic plot of the British using old toadies like Iskander Mirza and Kuli Khan.
The author has termed as 'undesirable' and 'constitutionally incorrect' the dismissal of Dr Khan Sahib's ministry in the NWFP by installing Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, who did not have a majority. The move, he says, was like opening a Pandora's box of corruption and electoral manipulation that contributed so much to our subsequent chequered history.
PML President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain was the chief guest at the book launching ceremony. Those who spoke on the occasion included Hamayun Gohar and Pareeshan Khattak. Indian High Commissioner Shevshankar Menon, Senate Deputy Chairman Khalilur Rehman, Asghar Khan and Let-Gen (retired) Sir Sahibzada Yaqoob Khan were also present on the occasion.
