Naseebullah Khan
Naeem Azad is a Pashtoon literacy figure who has been writing on myriad of literary topics. He has authored 21 books which include 3 books of pashto poetry, 6 research books, 2 novels, 9 translations, and 1 travelogue respectively. The current book is a reserach oriented in nature about the life and services of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai in which the writer has traced the political struggle of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai and has also talked about the historic struggle of the Pashtuns against the foreign invaders. The under reviewed book is of 504 pages and is divided into thirteen chapters. The title of the book has been designed by Raz Muhammad, while the book was published in 2021 by Azad research center Pishin.
The first Chapter is about the family background of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai in which as per the author Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai was born in 1907 in a village Inayatullah Kareez Gulistan. The writer has keenly provided information about the Father, mother, wives, sons and daughters of Khan Shaheed.
Naeem Azad traces the historical background of the ancestors of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai and says that one of his ancessters Barkhordar Khan was the commander of Ahmad shah Abadali who participated in the war of Panipat and commanded 3000 army personnels against the Marhatas. The writer is of the opinion that members of Khan Shaheed family had been the rulers of Balkh and Kashmir. Bostan Khan who was the son of Barkhordar Khan is said to be the Victorian of Turkistan. While, Abdullah Khan who was Jalaizai (the tribe of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai ) fought against the British in the first Anglo afghan war in 1841.In Chapter 2 the writer talks about the childhood of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. On page 62 the writer says that Khan Shaheed,s parents were religious who used to be the guardians of Orphens. It was that atmosphere in whichKhan Shaeed was brought up. Naeem Azad opines that Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai read Gulistan and Bostan books of sheikh Sadi, Jurisprudence, Tafseers, and Hadth books in his Childhood.Chapter 3 sheds light upon the Education of Khan shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. The writer Naeem Azad is of the opinion that Khan Shaheed got Scholership of Middle class and stood first in the province. The writer quotes Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai that he had decided not to do a governance job. Hence, time and again he rejected the offers of the British imperialism about perks and privileges such as the offer of making him the Chief of Achakzai tribe and the provision of the EEC job. In the same chapter Naeem Azad talks that Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai used to read Commerade and Hamderd newspaper during his childhood that testifies his quest for political struggle and love for freedom from the occupation of the British Raj.Chapter 4 of the said book contains the activities of his youth age and causes of resistance of Khan shaheed. Naeem Azad quotes Khan Shaheed that he was against inhuman customs and worked for a prosperous society by taking stpes against drug addiction in the area. The writer also talks on page 113 about the atrocities of the British authorities on Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai when he was in the prison.Chapter 5 and 6 are the most important chapters of this book that sheds light upon the political struggle of Khan shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. Naeem azad traces the history of the struggle of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai and asserts that in his young age Khan Shaheed started his political activists against the British Raj. It was a time when the relations of the British and Pashtun as a nation were not good as Afghanistan had gotten freedom from British in 1919.Naeem Azad says that Pashtun as a nation is resistance centic and never accepted the occupation and invasion of its land whether it was Alexander the great or the British, they all faced tough resistance. He further says that Afghanistan has prime strategic importance owing yo which it has become a buffer zones and has been a place of wars and international games. It has been the epicenter of great game, different wars such as of 1841, 1879, and 1919 and many more skirmishes of Pashtuns with British that took place time and again. Naeem Azad also talks about the Gandamak agreement, Durrand Line agreement, the East India Company, the Cold war and British Colonial legacies. Naeem Azad quoted Allam Iqbal who opines that Afghanistan is the heart of Asia. If there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be peace in Asia and if there will be insecurity in Afghanistan, there will be insecurity in while Asia.Anjman Islah afghna was established by Abdul Ghaffar Khan aka Bacha Khan the contemporary of Khan shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. The writer says that Khan Shaheed had huge respect for Bacha Khan. Naeem Azad also talks about
Khan shaheed,s meeting with Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Gandhi.This chapter also talks about the literature of the time against British. For instance, Pashtuns Afghan Magzine was started in 1910, Hamdard Afghan in 1927, Khyber in 1931, Azad Pashtun in 1935, Zalmai Pashtun in 1935, Istaqlal in 1938, and much more respectively.
The writer has talked about the Struggle of Khan Shaheed for the rights of Balochistan with Baloch leadership Yousef Aziz Magsi and Agha Abdul Kareem. In this regard Khan shaheed was shoulder by shoulder with the Baloch leadership and participted in the Jecobabad conference. At the same time, Khan Shaheed also struggled for the Pashtuns of Balochistan. Chapter 7 contains the life events of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai and his struggle after the partition of India. He was arrested time and again. Naeem Azad also talks about the demand of Pashtunistan by Khan shaheed, the formation of his party Wror Pashtun in 1956, Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai struggle against the One Unit, his struggle in the NAP, and his arrest in 1955 on the ground of Traitor mantra. Naeem Azad quotes Khan shaheed who said that he wanted a Federation of Pakistan where all provinces have equal opportunities.
Another chapter contains information about the non violence attitude of Khan shaheed and the writer compares him with Gandi, Bacha khan, and Abul Kalam Azad, while, at the same time Naeem Azad ignores Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was also a non violent leader and who believed on constitutional struggle.
Another chapter contains the information of Khan shaheed literary services. Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai is said to be the father of journalism in Balochistan who worked hard for press act in Balochistan and was the pioneer of journalism in the province who started Istaqlal newspaper in 1938. He could read and write Arabi, Urdu, English, Brahwi, along with mother tongue Pashto. He translated Gulistan and Bostan books of Sheikh Sadi, Tarrjuman ul Quran of Azad, Imam ghazali book Kaimya Sadat, Siratul Nabi, and Future of freedom of Charlet Dyson. He also authored Pashto dictionary and Pashto grammer. Some other chapters of the under reviewed book are the importance of his literary services, importance of new grammer rules written by Khan shaheed, Khan shaheed in the eyes of writers and Khan shaheed,s statement in the Court when he was arrested.
Undoubtedly, this research oriented work is plausible particularly in Pashto literature where there is a huge dearth of research. At the same time, in this book sources have been taken mostly from Pashto literature and Urdu while there is much academic research on Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai in English language. There are rarely references included from English sources. Meanwhile, Muhammad Naeem Azad talks about many points in an abrupt and unexplained manner. For instance, he talks economic depression of 1930s but he does not mention as to how it is related with the British Raj in Afghanistan and India with respect to the title of the Book and Khan Shaheed,s life and services. In addition, though, he sheds light upon the strategic importance of Afghanistan but he doesn’t not explain it in a hollistic and coherent manner deeply. He has further failed to explain as to how the Pashtun as a nation has been the victim of its strategic location, its geography, and its natural resources.
Muhammad Naeem Azad has given the title of the book, Khan shaheed in the light of his autobiography. In this regard, he has talked immensely out of contexts. He talks much from his own and drags it from his own whims and wishes just to fill the pages. This books name should not have been such rather it should have been British imperialism, Pashtun Historical movement and Khan shaheed. Last but not least is that Naeem Azad has talked much about the family background of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai but is silent over his political and intellectual successors as to how and in which direction they have been taking the legacy of Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai. This book looks an incomplete manifesto of the PKMAP.
