Abdul Samad Achakzai’s autobiography launched

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says Pakistan’s history replete with distortions

The launching ceremony of the English translation of Khan Shaheed Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai's autobiography in Urdu "Meri Zindagi aur Zindgani" was held here on Thursday.

Former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Supreme Court judge Qazi Faiz Isa, Former Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani, Senator Mushahid Hussain, Special Representative of the Embassy of Ukraine Elena Anatolyuna, Former President Supreme Court Bar Advocate Latif Afridi, Senator National Party Tahir Bizenjo, Former Senator of BNP Sana Baloch, Former Senator Afrasiab Khattak, Abdul Khaliq Junejo, Bashir Matta, Sahibzada Imtiaz, advocate Hamid Khan, former Governor Balochistan Muhammad Khan Achakzai and Chairman Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Mahmood Khan Achakzai address the launching ceremony.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that “I was in 10th class when Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai was martyred. At that time impression was given that a traitor was killed. The whole history of this country has been distorted. Those who were introduced to us as traitors turned out to be the real heroes.”

He said that “I learned the politics of principle and the struggle for the rule of law from Achakzai. There is no country (except Pakistan) whose majority has left its minority. We politicians and the judiciary are so weak that we cannot even form a fact-finding commission. I hope we will learn something from Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai.”

Raza Rabbani said that some forces are still conspiring against the 18th amendment. He accused that this country has not yet been de-colonised. He demanded that the NFC award be revisited. The limited provincial autonomy granted by the 18th amendment must be pursued. The state is also on the verge of ending it.

He said that this book of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai is very important. “Even today, in the curriculum of Punjab, the benefits of military dictatorship are taught, the fall of Dhaka is told to be the conspiracy of Hindus, politicians are called traitors and military dictators are called national protectors. The state is brainwashing the youth with false stories.”

Justice Qazi Faiz Isa said that “my father Qazi Muhammad Issa and Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai were good friends”. “The British were afraid of the Pashtuns that they would snatch the British colony and, therefore, considered them as their enemy. They were afraid of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai's party, Anjuman-e-Watan and his Istaqlal newspaper, and they continued terminating or restricting them by imprisoning him.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed said that he had read the entire book of Khan Shaheed. It was fortunately translated by Khan Achakzai as if it was written by Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai himself in English.

He said that two statements of Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai are very important to me. One is his address to Anjuman-e-Watan in 1939 and the other is his written statement given in the court in Lahore in 1956 and his answers in court.

Special Representative of the Ukrainian Embassy Elena Anatolyona said that the people of Ukraine were fans of great leaders, and it was an honour for Ukrainians who not only were the first to translate Khan Shaheed's book into Ukrainian but we also delivered it to libraries throughout Ukraine. “I myself was a part of this great work and made my students acquainted with the thoughts of this great leader of the world.”

Latif Afridi said that Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai was one of the few leaders of the subcontinent who introduced important knowledge to the region.

National Party Senator Tahir Bizenjo said that since Gandhi considered the Anjuman-e-Watan movement as his ideology, he gave the title of Balochistani Gandhi to Khan Shaheed.

Former BNP senator Sana Baloch said that Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai presided over the All India Baloch Conference Hyderabad, which is still the largest gathering of Baloch people. He introduced theories. It is not possible to discuss his social, literary and political insights in one sitting.

Former Senator Afrasiab Khattak said that Nawaz Sharif had brought a dictator to the court. But until all dictators were brought to book, the country's politics, democracy and other spheres will continue to be interfered with.

On this occasion, Abdul Khaliq Junejo said that Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai spent almost his entire life (40 years) in jail.

Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai said the country was going through the worst crisis. The world destroyed countries like Iraq and Syria under various pretexts. But the real goal was to seize the resources there.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st, 2022.