Abdul Wali Khan
Abdul Wali Khan عبدالولی خان عبدالولي خان | |
---|---|
Fakhar Imam | |
Succeeded by | Benazir Bhutto |
In office 14 April 1972 – 17 August 1975 | |
Preceded by | Nurul Amin |
Succeeded by | Sherbaz Khan Mazari |
Personal details | |
Born | Utmanzai, British India | 11 January 1917
Died | 26 January 2006 Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan | (aged 89)
Political party | Awami National Party (1986–2006) |
Other political affiliations | Khudai Khidmatgar Indian National Congress (Before 1947) National Awami Party (1957–1968) National Awami Party-Wali (1968–1986) |
Spouse | |
Relations | Abdul Ghani Khan (brother) Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (uncle) Khan Abdul Bahram Khan (Grand father) |
Children | Sangeen Wali Khan Asfandyar Wali Khan |
Parent(s) | Abdul Ghaffar Khan Meharqanda Kinankhel |
Education | Azad Islamia High School |
Khan Abdul Wali Khan (
His early years were marked by his involvement in his father's non-violent resistance movement, the "red shirts" against the
A respected politician in his later years, he contributed to Pakistan's third constitution and led protests for the restoration of democracy in the 1960s and 1980s.[5] In the 1970s, he also served as the parliamentary leader of opposition in Pakistan's first directly elected parliament.
Early life
Wali Khan was born on 11 January 1917, to a family of local
Wali Khan, the second of three sons, received his early education from the Azad Islamia School in Utmanzai. In 1922, this school became part of a chain of schools his father had formed during his social reform activities. It was from this network of schools that the Khudai Khidmatgar movement developed, eventually challenging British authority in the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) through non-violent protests and posing one of the most serious challenges to British rule in the region.[2]
In May 1930, Wali Khan narrowly escaped being killed during a military operation by the British Indian Army against his home village. In 1933, he attended the famous Colonel Brown Cambridge School in Dehra Dun. He did not pursue further education because of recurring problems with his eyesight, which led to him wearing glasses for the rest of his life.[2]
Despite his
Early politics
In 1942, Wali Khan a young man of 25 years, joined the Khudai Khidmatgar movement. Soon after, he formally stepped into politics by joining the
His decision to serve in a more prominent political role was said to have been influenced by his elder brother,
Despite his father's efforts against division and a brief attempt to instead create a new nation called
Like his father after the creation of
The
Politics: 1958–1972
By 1962, Ayub Khan introduced a new constitution and announced he would run in the next Presidential election. The opposition parties got united under the Combined Opposition Party alliance and fielded a joint candidate against Ayub Khan in the Presidential elections. As an opposition leader, Wali Khan supported the consensus candidate Fatima Jinnah, sister of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Wali Khan assisted Fatima Jinnah in her election campaign and served as her election agent.[10]
The opposition's election campaign however proved a failure and Ayub Khan was re-elected in 1964, in part due to alleged vote rigging by the central government, and also because of divisions within the opposition.
These divisions came to the surface in 1967, when the
Attempting to provide Ayub Khan with an honourable exit from power, negotiations between Ayub Khan and the opposition continued between 9 and 10 May 1969. However, despite a compromise agreement on some issues, it was alleged that the military leadership and its political allies did not want Ayub Khan to succeed.[14] Wali Khan held a separate meeting with Ayub Khan on 11 May to convince him to compromise. Ayub refused, and shortly afterwards Ayub resigned under pressure from the military.[14]
The new military leader,
Despite the results, the military government rejected the Awami League's victory. Shocked on hearing the news that the military junta would not transfer power to the majority Bengalis, Khan was to later tell A.P. journalist Zeitlin, "I remember Bhutto said that it had been arranged with the 'powers that are' that in East Pakistan Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would rule, and in West Pakistan, Mr. Bhutto would be the Prime Minister."[15]
In 1971, in an attempt to avert a possible showdown between the Military and the people of East Pakistan, on 23 March 1971, Khan, along with other Pakistani politicians, jointly met Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They offered support to Mujib in the formation of a government, but it was already too late to break the impasse as Yahya Khan had already decided on a full-scale military crackdown. Pakistan's increasing vulnerability and widespread international outrage against the military crackdown eventually created a situation that led to war in East Pakistan. This war proved disastrous and culminated in Pakistan's armed forces being defeated in East Pakistan and the creation of the new state of Bangladesh. Shocked by the defeat, Yahya Khan resigned from office and the military. Under General Gul Hassan Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was brought back from America and appointed the Civilian Chief Marshal Law Administrator and President.
During the martial law crackdown against East Pakistan, the National Awami Party under Wali Khan was one of a handful of parties that protested the military operation. In one case, Khan helped a senior East Pakistani diplomat's son escape to Afghanistan from possible internment in West Pakistan.[16] The military government, in retaliation against the protests, banned the party and launched mass arrests of party activists.[17]
Politics: 1972–1990
Tripartite agreement
In 1972, as the opposition leader, Wali Khan was contacted by
Liaquat Bagh massacre and framing the constitution
On 23 March 1973, the
Despite the massacre, Wali Khan continued to support talks with Bhutto over a new constitution. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed the leader of the opposition by joint agreement of all the opposition parties. He then led negotiations with Bhutto for the passage, in August 1973, of Pakistan's only "unanimous" constitution.
Last minute disagreements over issues ranging from provincial rights to the renaming of NWFP, according to federal negotiator
It was during this period that Wali Khan supported Bhutto's move toward the release of
Arrest and Hyderabad tribunal
In 1974, after
Refusing to participate in what he felt was a farcical trial, Wali Khan did not take part in his own legal defence.[24] In response to one of the charges before the Hyderabad Tribunal, that he had been sent Rs 20 million by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi through a certain emissary, Wali Khan sarcastically filed a civil suit against the emissary for the recovery of the Rs 20 million. He argued that, although he could not imagine why Indira Gandhi would send him such a large sum of money, he had never received the money, and obviously the emissary had embezzled the money.[25] As civil unrest was widely spread the country, the power struggle between PNA, Pakistan Armed Forces and Bhutto, including his colleagues, was triggered and, Wali Khan saw Bhutto's actions as his last stand.[clarification needed][26] In an open public seminar, Wali Khan quoted that "There is one possible grave for two people ... let us see who gets in first".[26]
Publication of books
Although not widely known, Wali Khan had previously written a book in
Awami National Party
In July 1986, Wali Khan and other former National Awami Party members formed the Awami National Party (ANP). Wali Khan was elected its first President and Sindhi Nationalist Rasool Baksh Palijo became the first Secretary General of the party.
The ANP, under Wali Khan's presidency, contested the 1988 national elections in alliance with former rivals the Pakistan Peoples' Party of Benazir Bhutto (Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's daughter). The ANP's success in the elections was limited to the NWFP and even then only certain regions of that province. In addition, Wali Khan lost his provincial seat to a PPP candidate, a sign of the decline in the ANP's popularity. The ANP-PPP alliance collapsed in 1989 after a perceived snub by PPP Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and a dispute over ministerial posts and the governorship of NWFP. After joining the opposition, Wali Khan started talks with the Army backed IJI (Islamic Democratic Alliance) and joined the alliance before the 1990 general elections.[28]
Post-retirement politics
After his defeat in the 1990 elections at the hands of opposition candidate
As Wali Khan withdrew from politics, his contact with the press and public became limited. This period in the 1990s would be marked by his party's assumption of power in alliance with former army-backed opponents, a focus only on provincial politics, the increasing influence of his wife in party affairs, corruption scandals hitting the once clean image of his supporters and in particular the focus on renaming the NWFP Pakhtunkhwa ('The Pashtun side/ territory').[30] The exception was in 1998, when in response to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's announcement of the construction of Kalabagh Dam, Pashtun and Sindhi nationalists opposed construction of the dam because they believed it would give control of Pakistan's water resources to the majority Punjabis. In response to the announcement, Wali Khan led a massive rally against the dam in the town of Nowshera.[31] The rally spurred other parties, in particular Benazir Bhutto's PPP, into leading a campaign against the construction of the dam. The campaign was successful and Sharif dropped the plan.
In another press conference in 2001, Wali Khan supported the US attack on the Taliban and said that had the US not attacked Afghanistan, the country would have turned into an Arab colony since Osama bin Laden had a well-equipped army of 16,000 people, which far outnumbered the trained soldiers in the Afghan army.[32]
Wali Khan's final press conference was in 2003, when he announced his close friend and colleague Ajmal Khattak's return to the ANP, along with many other colleagues, who had briefly led a splinter faction of the party between 2000 and 2002.
Relationships
His relationship with PPP leader and Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was characterised by a fierce rivalry and a powerful clash of egos. He used to criticise the Prime Minister for his "fascist tendencies" by calling him "Adolph Bhutto" and "
Wali Khan accused Zulfiqar Bhutto of attempting his assassination on the floor of Pakistan's parliament.
The fourth attack was carried out when he was about to address a public meeting in Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi, a stray bullet killed a youth standing close to Wali Khan on the stage. Convinced that Bhutto had orchestrated the attacks with the collusion of Khan's old rival
Debates between the two rivals remained bitter, in one case Bhutto had just returned from a successful trip abroad, and in a confrontational mood he lashed out at the opposition and Khan for slowing him down. When Bhutto was done, Wali Khan responded: "Mr. Bhutto, you stop telling lies about me and I will stop telling the truth about you.[36]
The brutality he and his family experienced at the hands of Bhutto's government led to little sympathy from Wali Khan in 1979 when Bhutto faced execution.[37]
Imprisonments
Wali Khan served several stints in prison, and survived several assassination attempts during his 48-year political career. His first arrest was under the
His third stint in prison was after Pakistani President
His final stint in prison was under Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's government. Khan considered this period his most difficult experience. His party was banned and a brutal crackdown was launched against his family and friends.[40] As part of the crackdown, his brother-in-law was forced into exile and his son was tortured.[41][42] In his book Facts Are Sacred,[43] he wrote of this stint in prison with some bitterness.[43]
This difficult experience prompted Wali Khan to be often ambivalent in his criticism of military dictator Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq[35] who in 1977 ousted Bhutto and in 1979 had him executed.[11]
Death and criticisms
After a long illness, Wali Khan died of a heart attack[44] on 26 January 2006 in Peshawar, Pakistan. He was buried in his ancestral village in Utmanzai, Charsadda. His funeral was widely attended by members of the public and senior political leaders including Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz; condolence messages were sent from Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.[44] He is survived by his wife Nasim Wali Khan, three daughters and two sons. Asfandyar Wali Khan, his eldest son, true to the political traditions of Wali Khan's family, is a politician in Pakistan and the current President of the Awami National Party.
Critics argue that Wali Khan made limited contributions to Pakistan's polarized and corrupt political system. They challenged his claim that he was the major or sole spokesperson for Pashtuns,[45] discounted the benefits of the 1973 constitution and the Simla agreement, and disagreed with his principles of not compromising with dictators. Others argue that if he had compromised with Pakistan's military establishment he may well have ended up Pakistan's Prime Minister, but that his principles proved to be his undoing.
Some Pashtun nationalists were also critical of Wali Khan, as many felt that he squandered a chance to unite all Pashtuns in NWFP (now Khyber Pukhtunkhwa), Baluchistan and
Wali Khan struggled for most of his life with the twin legacies of his influential father Ghaffar Khan and the perception of his "Anti-Pakistani activities".[3] As a result, he has been criticized for backing separatist ideals as well as causing social unrest in Pakistan. His critics blamed him for alienation of Pashtuns from the rest of Pakistan and for supporting "anti-Pakistani forces".[47] He remained tagged with the title of traitor by the state run media and Pakistan's ruling establishment for much of his political career.[48] Paradoxically he is criticised by democrats for his alleged lukewarm opposition to Zia-ul Haq, who allegedly offered him the Prime Ministership of the country.[49]
However writers like Lawrence Ziring[50] have rejected the charges against him. Syed went a step further, arguing that the clash between the National Awami Party under Wali Khan, "was not a contest between the state of Pakistan and a secessionist force ... but was more like a clash of rival political wills".[51]
His supporters disagree, and believe he promoted left of centre progressive and secular politics in Pakistan. Before his arrest in 1975, he was in fact striving for a more national role more in line with his position as Leader of the Opposition in government and he had started campaigning heavily in Punjab and Sind, where he was attracting large crowds.[52]
In his statements he left an ambiguity in his policies, exemplified in 1972 when a journalist questioned his loyalty and his first allegiance, to which his reply was, "I have been a Pashtun for six thousand years, a Muslim for thirteen hundred years, and a Pakistani for twenty-five."[53] However at the same time, before the 1990 general elections, he stated "The survival of the federation is the main issue in this election. Everyone considers themselves a Sindhi or Pashtun or Punjabi first. Nobody considers themselves a Pakistani. There has to be greater provincial autonomy".[54]
He also worked well with many politicians from Punjab including prominent
He was also accused of being a communist,
Khan, and by extension his party and family, maintained a long association with senior leaders in the Congress Party of India because of his father's close association with
Bibliography
- Abdul Wali Khan, Khan (1987). Facts are Facts: The Untold Story of India's Partition. Sangam. ISBN 9780861321872.
See also
- Dr. Khan Sahib
- Ajmal Khattak
- Mian Ghulam Jilani
- Abdul Ali Khan
- Pakistan National Alliance
- List of political parties in Pakistan
- Mir Gul Khan Naseer
- Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizenjo
- Ataullah Mengal
- Khan Amirzadah Khan
References
- ^ Interview with Wali Khan, Feroz Ahmed Pakistan Forum, Vol. 2, No. 9/10 (June – July 1972), pp. 11-13-18.
- ^ ISBN 1-86064-895-9
- ^ ISBN 0-19-579302-1
- ^ "Abdul Wali Khan". www.comminit.com. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ Chowk, Khan Abdul Wali Khan: His Father's Shadow? January 25, 2006 Archived 27 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Last accessed 23 June 2006.
- ^ Ghaffar Khan, (1983) Zama Zhwand au Jaddo Jehad (Pashto) Kabul
- ^ Bannerjee, Muklaika (Saturday, 4 February 2006). "Wali Baba, my adoptive father". Indian express. Retrieved 10 February 2006.
- ^ Wali Khan later explained his position, "I was amazed that the British, who had given India one government from the Khyber to Cape Comorin should break it up so quickly. It reminded me of when we were children and we used to sit on the river bank and make castles in the sand; and then in one movement we'd kick it all down."
- ^ Amir, Intikhab (27 January 2006). "Wali Khan: A life of struggle". The Dawn. DAWN group. Retrieved 10 November 2006.
- ^ a b "Awami National Party website. Last accessed on 07/19/09" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Ziring, Lawrence (November 2004). Pakistan in the 20th Century. A Political History. OUP Pakistan.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-579076-6
- ^ "Afzal Bangash Speaks: Class Struggle, Not a Tribal War" Source: Pakistan Forum, Vol. 2, No. 9/10 (June – July 1972), pp. 14–18. Published by: Middle East Research and Information Project.
- ^ ISBN 0-19-577647-X
- ^ Badruddin, Umar. (2002) Last phase of the dialogues Weekly Holliday. Last accessed on 19/07/07
- ^ Zeitlin, Arnold e-mail exchange with the author (14 June 2006)
- ^ HP (25 January 2006). "Khan Abdul Wali Khan: His Fathers Shadow?" Archived 27 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine Chowk.com. Retrieved 10 March 2006.
- ^ Ahmed Feroz Interview with Wali Khan,(Jun – Jul. 1972), Pakistan Forum, Vol. 2, No. 9/10 pp. 11–13+18
- ^ a b Khan, Hamid (4 March 2004) Constitutional and Political History of Pakistan. Oxford University press
- ^ "More autonomy for smaller provinces: Asfandyar Wali" (26 August 2003). DAWN, Dawn group. Retrieved 1/08/07.
- ^ Report on Shaukat's participation in election for UN secretary generalship all rubbish: Shujaat[permanent dead link] Friday 23 June 2006. Pak Tribune. Retrieved 1 August 2007
- ^ "Pakistan: Under the Velvet Glove". Time. 5 March 1973.
- ISBN 0-19-579160-6
- ^ ISBN 0-521-89440-9
- ^ Niazi, M.A. (27 January 2006) Wasted asset. The Nation. Nawa-e-Waqt Group. Available online at 2006/27/columns1.php Archived 11 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b q:Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
- ^ a b Ahmed, Sarfaraz (Monday, October 10, 2005). "Bugging Wali Bagh for history". Daily Times, Pakistan. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ Crossette, Barbara. "Bhutto Campaign Is Reeling Under Foes' Attacks in Court". The New York Times. 13 October 1990.
- ^ a b Zareef, Adil (26 January 2006). "Wali Khan — demise of a dream". Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine The Daily Times. Retrieved 1 February 2006.
- ^ Ghazali, Abdus Sattar. Islamic Illusions & reality. A comprehensive and detailed political history of Pakistan. Chapter X: Nawaz Sharif's Second Stint in Office. Page 3. "Pakhtoonkhwa: Renaming of the NWFP".
- ^ Ansar Naqvi & Wasim Shamsi (11 August 1998). "Benazir, Wali lead big anti-Kalabagh Dam rallies" at the Wayback Machine (archived 4 February 2003). The NEWS. Jang Group. Archived from the original on 4 February 2003.
- ^ Ahmed, Sarfaraz (10 October 2005). "'Bugging' Wali Bagh for history". Daily Times. Pakistan. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ Borders, William (9 May 1976). "Khan also added the line 'and no disrespect meant to Hitler' Trial in Pakistan Imperils Critics; Key Opposition Party Faces Crippling: 44 People Accused of Sedition". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
- ^ a b Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali. My Pakistan. Biswin Sadi Publications Ltd. New Delhi, India, 1979.
- ^ a b c d The NEWS Special Report: Wali Khan, an appraisal at the Wayback Machine (archived 24 April 2006) THE NEWS. Jang group. 5 February 2006. Archived from the original on 24 April 2006.
- ^ Dr. Malik, Farid (1 April 2006). "The story of a man of conviction". The Nation. Nawa-e-Waqt group.
- ^ I.A. Rehman (February 2006). "Fight Well Fought". Newsline. Accessed on 10-07-07.
- ^ a b c Wali Khan passes away. (Friday, 27 January 2006) The Nation. Nawa-e-Waqt. Available online at 2006/27/index3.php Archived 11 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gauhar, Altaf (1998) Ayub Khan: Pakistan's First Military ruler. Sang-E-Mill Publications. Lahore. p 465.
- ^ Khan, Hamid: Constitutional and political history of Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford UP. 2001.
- ^ Cowasjee, Ardeshir (21 June 1997). "Murtaza's murder". The Dawn. The DAWN Group.
- ^ Also see Cowasjee (25 April 1996) Old Hat. The Dawn. The DAWN group
- ^ a b Khan, Abdul Wali Khan (1986). Facts Are Sacred. Jaun Publishers.
- ^ a b Yousafzai, Ashfaq (21 January 2006). "Wali Khan passes away". DAWN. DAWN group. Retrieved 10 March 2006.
- ^ Khan, Adeel (February 2003). Pakhtun Ethnic Nationalism: From Separation to Integration. Asian Ethnicity, Volume 4, Number 1, February 2003 Carfax Publishing: Taylor & Francis Group.
- ^ Rahman, Tariq. Pashto Language & Identity Formation in Pakistan. Contemporary South Asia, July 1995, Vol 4, Issue 2, p151,20
- ^ "See Pakistan: Partition and Military Succession: Pashtunistan. Available online at icdc.com".
- ^ Ahmed, Sarfaraz (25 January 2006). "Wali Khan leaves behind his mark of treason". The Daily Times.
- ISBN 81-7017-253-5.
- ^ Ziring, Lawrence (July 1975) Pakistan: A Political Perspective", Asian Survey 15:7.
- ^ Syed, Anwar H. (1992) The Discourse and Politics of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. New York: St. Martin's Press. p 190.
- ^ Anwar Muzdakiy (1972). Wali Khan Key. Siyasat. Lahore: Tariq Publishers.
- ^ Hilton, Isabel (3 December 2001). "The Pashtun Code" at the Wayback Machine (archived 17 November 2006). The New Yorker. Retrieved 10 January 2007. Archived from the original on 17 November 2006.
- ^ "Chronology for Pashtuns (Pushtuns) in Pakistan". Minorities at Risk. Retrieved 3 July 2006. Archived 21 September 2005 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Emergence of the Federal Pattern in Pakistan. Malik Journal of Asian and African Studies.1973; 8: 205–215
Further reading
- Mazari, Sherbaz Khan (1999) A Journey to Disillusionment.Oxford University Press Pakistan ISBN 0-19-579076-6
- Pirzada, Sayyid A. S. (2000) The Politics of the Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, 1971–1977 Oxford University Press Inc, USA ISBN 0-19-579302-1
- Wolpert, Stanley (1993) Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: His Life and Times Oxford University Press Inc, USA. ISBN 0-19-507661-3
- Khan, Adeel Pakhtun Ethnic Nationalism: From Separation to Integration. (February 2003) Asian Ethnicity, Volume 4, Number 1, February 2003 Carfax Publishing: Taylor & Francis Group. Available online at khyber.org[usurped]. Last accessed on 27 May 2006
- Newburg, Paula (2002)Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan (Cambridge South Asian Studies)Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-89440-9
- Ziring, Lawrence (2004) Pakistan in the 20th Century: A Political History OUP Pakistan. ISBN 0-19-579276-9
External links
- bachakhan.com (website dedicated to Bacha Khan & Wali Khan)
- In Memoriam: Fight well Fought
- Awami National Party Archived 21 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- Wali Khan Funeral pictures[usurped]
- "Prime Minister expresses condolences at the passing away of Khan Abdul Wali Khan". Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. 27 January 2006.