Naseebullah Khan
I neither use writing on personalities nor I am in fevor in using the oily tongue. I have neither met him nor had any face-to-face interaction ever. While going through his life events, I found that people like him__ committed, self_sacrificing, and lustering light in the darkness ___ are scarce. He deserves more and merely writing an opinion for him is injustice. An epitome of human rights, a social activist, a true Pashtun nationalist, a defender of democracy, the voice of the voiceless, a worrier for the protection of oppressed nations, an icon of the left and progressive thoughts, an iconoclast of dictatorship, a rudder for upbringing the new leadership, a nursery of ideas, and a symbol of resistance___ Mr. Afrasiab Khatak was born in Khadarkhail village near Lachi, Kohat District in 1951. He did his Matric from Bannu by securing third position in the province. He did his BA again from Bannu government college. He, later on, studied English literature and law at his alma mater__ the university of Peshawar. His life struggle can be categorized into three spheres vis_a_vis his political life, his struggle for the defense of human rights, and his intellectual services. Politically, at the last of 1960,s he started his political and literary career. He joined politics as a student leader from the platform of the College union as its general secretary. In 1968, when protests throughout the country erupted against the dictatorship of General Ayub Khan, Mr. Afrasiab Khatak became the secretary-general of PSF in Bannu college. After a short span, he also served in the Communist Party of Pakistan in the 1970s of whom he became the secretary-general. Later on, he joined National Awami Party (NAP). He, in 1990 joined the Pashtun nationalist party Awami National Party (ANP). He parted ways from ANP and found established Qaumi Iqqilabi Party (QIP) with renowned Pashtun nationalist Afzal Khan Lala. The party was split and Mr. Khattak formed his new party Pakhtunkhwa Qaumi Party (PQP) with like-minded people. Later on, he again joined ANP and became its provincial president of the then NWFP. Under his leadership, ANP succeeded in getting a majority in the NWFP in the 2008 election and got the reign of power for the first time in the province. He, later on, parted ways from ANP again. Onwards, he supported the Pashtun Tahafooz Movement (PTM). Last year, he formed a new Pashtun Nationalist Party National Democratic Party (NDM) along with seasoned politicians and nationalists Abdul Latif Afridi, Miss. Bushra Gohar, and Mohsin Dawar. He remained a member of the upper house of Pakistan (Senate) from 2009 to 2015 and played a key role in the 18th amendment by protecting the rights of the smaller nations and provinces. Owing to his committed stance on democracy, and human rights, and against both civil and military dictatorship; he has been behind the bars in notorious jails of Warsak, Haripur, Mach, and Hyderabad during Bhutto,s civil and Zia,s military dictatorship. In his book Sprout he says that when they were in jail, they used to say that Political prison is a pride, respect, and dignity in this world and virtue in the next world. Owing to the merciless tyranny of the then rulers, he went to Afghanistan in self-exile where he spent around eight and a half years from August 1989 to January 1989.In 2001, he formed the Afghanistan__Pakistan people,s friendship association for the cause of peace and prosperity in war-torn Afghanistan and the Pashtuns as a whole. He is famous for his bold stance on the independent foreign association for the cause of peace and prosperity in war-torn Afghanistan and the Pashtuns as a whole. He is famous for his bold stance on the independent foreign policy of the country. He has a key eye on regional politics with a special focus on Afghanistan. His analysis has been unbiased and his views about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan proved correct as he time and again said that the abrupt pull out of the US from Afghanistan will push the region specifically Afghanistan and Pakistan into deep security unrest. He is inspired by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan as he opines that his father was a member of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement. As a human rights activist, his services are admirable. In 1989, he became the vice-chairman of the human rights commission of Pakistan (HRCP) of the then NWFP. Later on, he served as the vice-chairman and then chairman of the HRCP in the country. He has been a voice for the missing persons, the Pashtun IDPs,s, Child rights, minorities, and womenfolk in the country. Literally, he has a good taste in writing. He has been writing for many newspapers, blogs, and research jurneals and has been regarded as one of the most quoted intellectuals on human rights issues, regional, and Afghan politics. He has been writing in Urdu, Persian, English, and his native language Pashto. His book of poetry Nawai Taygh (Sprout) has published in 2018 and in 2020 again. While reading the book, it reflects that Afrasiab Khatak has proved himself, the real heir of his forefather and the icon of resistance and Pashtun rights in Pashto literature Khushal Khan Khatak. Mr. Afrasiab Khatak also cries for peace, equality, and defense of rights in his book.Afrasiab Khatak merits further. A person who has no lust for power and no greed for power politics or parliamentary slots need to be admired. Ironically, we the Pashtuns have not benefited from his expertise and his intellectual thoughts yet. We, the Pashtuns, as a whole and the nationalists particularly, have failed to shine this iconic asset.
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