Ajmal Khan Khattak (; ; 15 September 1925 – 7 February 2010) was a Pakistani politician, writer and

Pashto language Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

poet from North-West Frontier Province (now

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

), who served as the President of Awami National Party. He was a close friend of Khan Abdul Wali Khan.From Khudai Khidmatgar to National Politician : An interview with Ajmal Khattak, ''The NEWS'' Islamabad, 11 February 1994. His early student life was marked by active protests against the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

, which was followed by his joining of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement and anti-colonial Pashto poetry. Following the

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1947, he joined the National Awami Party and became a close friend of Abdul Wali Khan. He 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 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Ajmal Khattak fled into exile to

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

. He returned in 1989 and was elected in 1990 to the

National Assembly of Pakistan The National Assembly of Pakistan, also referred to as ''Aiwān-ē-Zairīñ'', is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, with the upper house being the Senate of Pakistan, Senate. As of 2023, the National Assem ...

, he was then elected President of the Awami National Party following the retirement of Wali Khan. 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 and retired from active politics.

Early life

Born in Akora Khattak on 15 September 1925, Ajmal Khattak as a child was greatly influenced by Bacha Khan. By the time he turned 17, he was already an active member of the Quit India Movement. He was a student then at the Government High School, Peshawar, but he left to contribute more to the movement. It was the beginning of a political career that stretched over five decades during which his literary pursuits and education took several painful turns. However, he did return to his studies completing a masters in Persian from Peshawar University. At Islamia College, Peshawar, he was among the pioneers who put Pushto literature on the 'modern' track. Linking it to European literature, particularly English, he was able to give it new direction and was acclaimed as a progressive poet. He has had a long career in both the

Indian Independence Movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...

against the British in the

(then NWFP) of what was then undivided India as well as part of the National Awami Party (NAP) in its various incarnations in Pakistan. His early political career began during the Quit India movement after he came under the influence of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement. He was forced to leave the school due to his involvement in the Quit India Movement. As a writer he served as editor of various Newspapers and periodicals, including Anjam, Shahbaz, Adal and Rahber as well as script writer for Radio Pakistan.Ajmal Khattak: revolutionary Pushtun poet (1976) Louis Dupree. American Universities Field Staff

Political career

He was defeated in the 1970 election in his home constituency. After the resignation of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa cabinet in protest at President

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

's dismissal of the Balochistan government led by Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Ajmal Khattak became the Secretary General of the National Awami Party. He was the organiser and stage secretary at the United Democratic Front rally held at Liaquat Bagh

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

on 23 March 1973, when shots were fired at the UDF leaders, including Khan Abdul Wali Khan. In the general melee that followed, a number of UDF and NAP workers were killed by the authorities in their attempt at ending the rally.

Exile

Since Ajmal Khattak was a prominent figure in the National Awami Party, he was wanted by the Federal Security Force as part of the general crackdown on NAP. To avoid arrest and possible torture, he fled into self-imposed exile to

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and stayed there for 16 long years. During this time he was closely associated with the Pakhtunistan movement. During his years in

, Ajmal Khattak was a close confidant of Badshah Khan, and also enjoyed excellent relations with leaders of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, including General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki, Babrak Karmal and Dr. Mohammad Najibullah.

Writing and poetry

A committed Marxist-Leninist he was the author of many books in

Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

and had written 13 books in Pushto and Urdu including a ''History of Pushto Literature (in Urdu)'', ''Pakistan Main Qaumi Jamhoori Tehrikin'', ''Da Ghirat Chagha'', ''Batoor'', ''Gul auo Perhar'', ''Guloona auo Takaloona'', ''Jalawatan ki Shairee'', ''Pukhtana Shora'' and ''Da Wakht Chagha''. In 2006, the Torlandi Pukhto Adabi Tolana, Swabi, conferred on Ajmal Khattak the title of Baba-e-Nazam at a big public mushaira. His work has been the subject of renewed interest by the South Asian Studies Department at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, which has translated his works into English. However, in November 2006, when the government informed him that he was in line for the lucrative award of Sitara-i-Imtiaz, he refused it with a polite note. He was also awarded the Kamal-e-Funn Award 2007 by the Pakistan Academy of Letters.

Return to Pakistan

He ended his exile in 1989 after the Awami National Party (ANP), the successor of the NAP, entered into an electoral alliance with Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League- led Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI). In the general election of October 1990, Ajmal Khattak was elected from his home district of Nowshera to the

, defeating Pervez Khattak of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) is a political party in Pakistan and one of the three major List of political parties in Pakistan, Pakistani political parties alongside the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. With a Cent ...

(PPP). These elections also signalled the retirement of Khan Wali Khan after his electoral loss to Maulana Hassan Jan of the

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (, abbreviated as JUI, translated as Assembly of Islamic Clergy) is a Deobandi Sunni Muslim organization that was founded on 26 October 1945 by Shabbir Ahmad Usmani as a pro-Pakistan offshoot of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH ...

. Ajmal Khattak was elected as the President of the ANP when Khan Wali Khan stepped down from the post.

President of ANP

In the 1993 general elections, Ajmal Khattak lost his re-election bid in Nowshera to the PPP candidate Major General Naseerullah Babar. As a leading critic of the PPP, it was important for the ANP – IJI alliance to have Ajmal Khattak in parliament, and he was therefore nominated to the

Senate of Pakistan The Senate of Pakistan, Constitution of Pakistan, constitutionally the House of the Federation, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan. As of 2023, It has a maximum membership of 96, of which 92 are elected by the Member of th ...

in March 1994. His two terms as President of the Awami National Party were noted primarily for the close alliance with former opponents, the Muslim League, after the alliance collapsed in January 1998 over the renaming of the province of NWFP to Pakthunkhwa and Khattak role in leading the Awami National party briefly into joining an alliance known as the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM). The decision to join PONM was made despite strong pressure from party critics who preferred the ANP to ally themselves with a Federal party like the Peoples Party. Eventually, Khattak succumbed to party pressure and the Awami National Party left PONMQazi, Raza Rahman Khan (September 2005) Abdul Rahim Mandokhel: Essentially Pakhtun. The NEWS on Sunday. Jang Group. Available online a

joining the Grand Democratic Alliance which included the

. He was ousted as ANP President in 2000, after a protracted power struggle with Nasim Wali Khan, wife of Khan Abdul Wali Khan, triggered by accusations of his closeness to Pervez Musharraf and his criticism of corrupt politicians in a press conference.Interview with Ajmal Khattak.(2001) Umer Abdul Aziz. ''The Friday Times''. Deciding to leave the party he briefly led a splinter group called National Awami Party of Pakistan. His Party was routed in the 2002 general elections amidst the religio-political parties alliance, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), sweep of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. After the shock victory of the MMA, he rejoined the Awami National Party after efforts by Khan Wali Khan. He retired from active politics in 2003 and was given the title of party patron in Chief.

Death

Khattak died at a local hospital in

Peshawar Peshawar is the capital and List of cities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by population, largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan, with a district p ...

on Sunday, 7 February 2010. He was 85. He had left politics years earlier and had been residing at his native village, Akora Khattak. He was laid to rest a day after his death. On 12 May 2012, Khattak's shrine was blown up by unknown militants in Akora Khattak village.Militants blow up shrine of Pashto poet, politician Ajmal Khattak
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References

External links

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Books of Ajmal Khattak written in Pashto
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khattak, Ajmal Awami National Party politicians National Awami Party politicians Pashtun politicians Pashtun nationalists Pashto-language poets 1925 births 2010 deaths People from Nowshera District University of Peshawar alumni Pakistani emigrants to Afghanistan 20th-century Pakistani poets