Afrasiab Khattak is one of those rare species who believe in clinging to an ideology, come what may. Since the day he took a plunge into politics, the student uprising against Ayub Khan playing the catalyst, he has never budged from the principles he upheld. That is why among his peers, even die-hard adversaries, he has the reputation of indisputable integrity, which has earned him respect in a vocation which is infamous for pulling down the person on the other side of the fence. But remaining steadfast in a political world, where opportunism reigns supreme, has its own hazards, and Afrasiab has not been immune to those – almost 17 years in self-exile in Afghanistan, many years in gaol and a number of treason cases. He surely has enough to boast of!
Born to a middle class family in 1950, Afrasiab inherited interest in politics from his father, a supporter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s nationalist movement. His father’s library also played its part, making Afrasiab a die-hard nationalist at a pretty tender age. He had hardly crossed his teens when he joined Pukhtoon Students’ Organisation (PSO) – a nationalist, progressive party demanding an end to Ayub Khan’s dictatorial regime and abolition of One Unit. He pursued his interest in literature simultaneously, taking inspiration from his maternal grandfather, who was also a close friend of Allama Iqbal. “Dr Iqbal owed his interest in Pushto poetry to my grandfather and also wrote a poem, Mehrab Gul Afghan kay Afkar, on him,” informed Afrasiab.
After doing Masters in English Literature from Peshawar University (1971-73), Afrasiab studied law as he “”was not interested in doing a government job” and took more fancy to an independent profession. Meanwhile, he continued to take active part in politics. As a student leader of the Peshawar University, he enjoyed close terms with Dr Najeebullah, student leader of the Kabul University at that time who later became president of Afghanistan. PSO had merged into National Awami Party (NAP) after 1970 elections, when both its demands were met. Afrasiab, now in NAP, agitated against the Bhutto regime after it dissolved the Balochistan Government and the NWFP government resigned in protest.
“From here I started frequenting the gaol,” Afrasiab said in a sarcastic tone. When ban was imposed on NAP by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1975, he was among those 55 men who were charged with treason. After Zia-ul-Haq’s imposed Martial Law, he was released along with the others. “The Martial Law authorities wanted us to continue our campaign against Bhutto, but we declined their offer because our conflict with him was not a personal one,” Afrasiab informed. By that time, NAP had become National Democratic Party (NDP) with Sher Baz Mazari as its leader.
As NDP was in the favour of Martial Law, Afrasiab parted ways with it and formed National Progressive Party (NPP). “I was the General Secretary of this Leftist party, which strongly condemned the Martial Law regime. As a result, we had to face many hardships including imprisonment. I myself spent more than two years in gaol,” Afrasiab said. Later, he was acquitted but re-arrested only after a few days from Quetta. “I had addressed the High Court Bar and held a press conference. Summary military courts gave me two years in these two cases. I was released in June 1980,” he added. After spending some time in Pakistan, Afrasiab went into self-exile in Afghanistan.
But why did he chose to go into self-exile rather than continuing with his struggle for democracy within the country? “At that time, Zia-ul-Haq was making strategic relationships with the USA. Leftist politicians, who were against this policy, came under heavy fire from the Martial Law regime and plans were also made to eliminate them physically,” confided Afrasiab. “I came to know through some reliable sources that I was also in their hit list too. So, I left for Afghanistan thinking that my stay there would be temporary,” he continued. He was granted political asylum in Afghanistan as the revolutionary leadership there knew him personally. There, he devoted most of his time to academic pursuits like reading, writing, attending seminars, etc. Meanwhile, he also went to Berlin to do research on nationalist movements for a year.
Afrasiab also married in Afghanistan in September 1982. At present, he has two children – a son and a daughter. When Benazir Bhutto’s government came to power in 1988, she invited all those in self-exile back to the country. Availing this opportunity, he returned to Pakistan along with Ajmal Khattak and many others in January 1989. By that time, NDP and Mir Ghaus Bux Bizenjo’s Pakistan National Party (PNP) had merged into each other to form Awami National Party (ANP). Afrasiab joined it and was made a member of its central and provincial committee.
Afrasiab accepted the party’s decision to break alliance with PPP, but developed differences with its main leadership who wanted an alliance with Mian Nawaz Sharif’s Islami Jamhori Ittehad (IJI). “We opposed the alliance between ANP and IJI because it was unnatural and against our ideology,” he stressed. Consequently, Afrasiab left ANP to form Qaumi Inquilabi Party (QIP), biggest party of the Leftists in the country at that time which united the Left cadre of all the four provinces.
By 1990, Afzal Khan had also left ANP on the issue of IJI. Along with him and Lateef Afridi, Afrasiab formed Pukhtoonkhawa Qaumi Party (PQP), which went into electoral alliance with Pakistan Democratic Party (PDA) during the 1990 elections. He contested the elections from NA-10 (Karak), but lost it in a triangular fight. The same scenario was repeated in the 1993 elections, when he contested from the Pakistan Democratic Front (PDF) platform. During all these years, he remained an ally of the PPP in one way or the other (also a member of PDA’s central committee), as he could identify himself with the party’s ideology.
Afrasiab laments the fact that the PPP did deliver the goods as expected by the people. “While the party was in the opposition from 1990 to 1993, I tried to convince its leadership time and again that it should offer an alternate programme to transform the society. I talked of political and social democratization,” he said. “Unfortunately, nothing was done in this regard,” he regretted. When PPP came in power in 1993, Afrasiab publicly demanded that the party should do something to democratise and modernise the society. As no practical steps were taken to this end, Afrasiab “became quite disillusioned”.
Since then, Afrasiab is no more active in politics and gives more time to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). “I joined HRCP as soon as I returned from Afghanistan and became its Vice-Chairperson (provincial head for NWFP) in 1995,” he informed. When asked that keepings his Leftist inclination Isn’t it paradoxical that he is working for a NGO, a concept abhorrent to the Leftists initially? “No. A noble cause has no left or right. NGOs are a vital need of our society. I do not want to imply that they are a substitute for political parties – their activities are concentrated at micro-level and if the processes at the macro-level go in the opposite direction, they would also wipe out the work done on the micro-level,” he viewed.
Though Afrasiab is a practicing lawyer, he maintains that “his first love” is literature. He not only reads literature, but is also an Urdu poet of no ordinary merit himself. Talking of favourites, he said, “I like Faiz Ahmad Faiz the most among Urdu poets, while in Pushto I admire Ghani Khan and Rahmat Shah Sail.” Afrasiab also has a knack for languages. He is at home with Persian, thanks to his stay in Afghanistan. He also learnt a bit of German while studying in Berlin. Afrasiab is also interested in writing and has been regularly contributing a weekly column on social and economic issues for a local English newspaper since 1992. At present, he is working on a book on Afghanistan and Central Asia, for which he has “already accumulated all the relevant material”.
When asked about his favourite political leader, his immediate reply was Mir Ghaus Bux Bizenjo. All praise for the Baloch leader, he praised his political acumen in particular. Strangely enough, Afrasiab was not critical of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, despite the fact that he spent a good two years in gaol during his tenure. “I met ZAB before he came into power and was very impressed with his personality. I had high hopes that he would transform Pakistani society into a progressive and democratic one. But his personality was based on contradictions. While, on the one hand, he was impressed by the western political thought, on the other hand, because of his feudal background he had an authoritarian egoism, which later caused his downfall also. Anyway, ZAB’s style was populist and he knew how to communicate with the people. He was the master of galvanising the masses,” eulogised Afrasiab. “He was punished for his good deeds,” he lamented. Among international politicians, Afrasiab admires Gamal Abdel Nasser, Fidel Castro and Dr Najeebullah.
Commenting on the present situation in the country, the optimist he is, Afrasiab never once gave the impression that he has lost hope. Still, he minced no words to underline the need for a change. “I think there is a historic need for a new social and political change in Pakistan. Our landed gentry is being undermined economically, while the new elite has failed to find social recognition. The middle class is being squeezed both economically and politically, and should be brought in the mainstream politics to avert the crisis which faces us as a nation,” he opined. “To fill the political void, the enlightened middle class intelligentsia has to play a more positive role,” emphasised Afrasiab. Suggesting a solution, he concluded: “For a long-term solution, a liberal, progressive, democratic, broad-based party is the need of the hour.”
This article is written by Mr. Mustafa Nazir Ahmad
Born to a middle class family in 1950, Afrasiab inherited interest in politics from his father, a supporter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s nationalist movement. His father’s library also played its part, making Afrasiab a die-hard nationalist at a pretty tender age. He had hardly crossed his teens when he joined Pukhtoon Students’ Organisation (PSO) – a nationalist, progressive party demanding an end to Ayub Khan’s dictatorial regime and abolition of One Unit. He pursued his interest in literature simultaneously, taking inspiration from his maternal grandfather, who was also a close friend of Allama Iqbal. “Dr Iqbal owed his interest in Pushto poetry to my grandfather and also wrote a poem, Mehrab Gul Afghan kay Afkar, on him,” informed Afrasiab.
After doing Masters in English Literature from Peshawar University (1971-73), Afrasiab studied law as he “”was not interested in doing a government job” and took more fancy to an independent profession. Meanwhile, he continued to take active part in politics. As a student leader of the Peshawar University, he enjoyed close terms with Dr Najeebullah, student leader of the Kabul University at that time who later became president of Afghanistan. PSO had merged into National Awami Party (NAP) after 1970 elections, when both its demands were met. Afrasiab, now in NAP, agitated against the Bhutto regime after it dissolved the Balochistan Government and the NWFP government resigned in protest.
“From here I started frequenting the gaol,” Afrasiab said in a sarcastic tone. When ban was imposed on NAP by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1975, he was among those 55 men who were charged with treason. After Zia-ul-Haq’s imposed Martial Law, he was released along with the others. “The Martial Law authorities wanted us to continue our campaign against Bhutto, but we declined their offer because our conflict with him was not a personal one,” Afrasiab informed. By that time, NAP had become National Democratic Party (NDP) with Sher Baz Mazari as its leader.
As NDP was in the favour of Martial Law, Afrasiab parted ways with it and formed National Progressive Party (NPP). “I was the General Secretary of this Leftist party, which strongly condemned the Martial Law regime. As a result, we had to face many hardships including imprisonment. I myself spent more than two years in gaol,” Afrasiab said. Later, he was acquitted but re-arrested only after a few days from Quetta. “I had addressed the High Court Bar and held a press conference. Summary military courts gave me two years in these two cases. I was released in June 1980,” he added. After spending some time in Pakistan, Afrasiab went into self-exile in Afghanistan.
But why did he chose to go into self-exile rather than continuing with his struggle for democracy within the country? “At that time, Zia-ul-Haq was making strategic relationships with the USA. Leftist politicians, who were against this policy, came under heavy fire from the Martial Law regime and plans were also made to eliminate them physically,” confided Afrasiab. “I came to know through some reliable sources that I was also in their hit list too. So, I left for Afghanistan thinking that my stay there would be temporary,” he continued. He was granted political asylum in Afghanistan as the revolutionary leadership there knew him personally. There, he devoted most of his time to academic pursuits like reading, writing, attending seminars, etc. Meanwhile, he also went to Berlin to do research on nationalist movements for a year.
Afrasiab also married in Afghanistan in September 1982. At present, he has two children – a son and a daughter. When Benazir Bhutto’s government came to power in 1988, she invited all those in self-exile back to the country. Availing this opportunity, he returned to Pakistan along with Ajmal Khattak and many others in January 1989. By that time, NDP and Mir Ghaus Bux Bizenjo’s Pakistan National Party (PNP) had merged into each other to form Awami National Party (ANP). Afrasiab joined it and was made a member of its central and provincial committee.
Afrasiab accepted the party’s decision to break alliance with PPP, but developed differences with its main leadership who wanted an alliance with Mian Nawaz Sharif’s Islami Jamhori Ittehad (IJI). “We opposed the alliance between ANP and IJI because it was unnatural and against our ideology,” he stressed. Consequently, Afrasiab left ANP to form Qaumi Inquilabi Party (QIP), biggest party of the Leftists in the country at that time which united the Left cadre of all the four provinces.
By 1990, Afzal Khan had also left ANP on the issue of IJI. Along with him and Lateef Afridi, Afrasiab formed Pukhtoonkhawa Qaumi Party (PQP), which went into electoral alliance with Pakistan Democratic Party (PDA) during the 1990 elections. He contested the elections from NA-10 (Karak), but lost it in a triangular fight. The same scenario was repeated in the 1993 elections, when he contested from the Pakistan Democratic Front (PDF) platform. During all these years, he remained an ally of the PPP in one way or the other (also a member of PDA’s central committee), as he could identify himself with the party’s ideology.
Afrasiab laments the fact that the PPP did deliver the goods as expected by the people. “While the party was in the opposition from 1990 to 1993, I tried to convince its leadership time and again that it should offer an alternate programme to transform the society. I talked of political and social democratization,” he said. “Unfortunately, nothing was done in this regard,” he regretted. When PPP came in power in 1993, Afrasiab publicly demanded that the party should do something to democratise and modernise the society. As no practical steps were taken to this end, Afrasiab “became quite disillusioned”.
Since then, Afrasiab is no more active in politics and gives more time to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). “I joined HRCP as soon as I returned from Afghanistan and became its Vice-Chairperson (provincial head for NWFP) in 1995,” he informed. When asked that keepings his Leftist inclination Isn’t it paradoxical that he is working for a NGO, a concept abhorrent to the Leftists initially? “No. A noble cause has no left or right. NGOs are a vital need of our society. I do not want to imply that they are a substitute for political parties – their activities are concentrated at micro-level and if the processes at the macro-level go in the opposite direction, they would also wipe out the work done on the micro-level,” he viewed.
Though Afrasiab is a practicing lawyer, he maintains that “his first love” is literature. He not only reads literature, but is also an Urdu poet of no ordinary merit himself. Talking of favourites, he said, “I like Faiz Ahmad Faiz the most among Urdu poets, while in Pushto I admire Ghani Khan and Rahmat Shah Sail.” Afrasiab also has a knack for languages. He is at home with Persian, thanks to his stay in Afghanistan. He also learnt a bit of German while studying in Berlin. Afrasiab is also interested in writing and has been regularly contributing a weekly column on social and economic issues for a local English newspaper since 1992. At present, he is working on a book on Afghanistan and Central Asia, for which he has “already accumulated all the relevant material”.
When asked about his favourite political leader, his immediate reply was Mir Ghaus Bux Bizenjo. All praise for the Baloch leader, he praised his political acumen in particular. Strangely enough, Afrasiab was not critical of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, despite the fact that he spent a good two years in gaol during his tenure. “I met ZAB before he came into power and was very impressed with his personality. I had high hopes that he would transform Pakistani society into a progressive and democratic one. But his personality was based on contradictions. While, on the one hand, he was impressed by the western political thought, on the other hand, because of his feudal background he had an authoritarian egoism, which later caused his downfall also. Anyway, ZAB’s style was populist and he knew how to communicate with the people. He was the master of galvanising the masses,” eulogised Afrasiab. “He was punished for his good deeds,” he lamented. Among international politicians, Afrasiab admires Gamal Abdel Nasser, Fidel Castro and Dr Najeebullah.
Commenting on the present situation in the country, the optimist he is, Afrasiab never once gave the impression that he has lost hope. Still, he minced no words to underline the need for a change. “I think there is a historic need for a new social and political change in Pakistan. Our landed gentry is being undermined economically, while the new elite has failed to find social recognition. The middle class is being squeezed both economically and politically, and should be brought in the mainstream politics to avert the crisis which faces us as a nation,” he opined. “To fill the political void, the enlightened middle class intelligentsia has to play a more positive role,” emphasised Afrasiab. Suggesting a solution, he concluded: “For a long-term solution, a liberal, progressive, democratic, broad-based party is the need of the hour.”
This article is written by Mr. Mustafa Nazir Ahmad
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