World Legendary Hero,s are Zeros by Pakistanis if they are from Pakthunkhwa as Pashtuns

By Shaan Agha
Published Jun 13, 2014 06:18pm

Pashtuns Jehangir Khan only Sports man in History of World to Win 555 Matches consequently and so is Yunis Khan who Gave us World cup after Imran Khan another Pashtun Legend and Shabaz Khan a Great Legend and yet we are so Baised and make them Zeros .



L-R Cricketer Younis Khan, squash legend Jahangir Khan and hockey star Shahbaz Ahmed.



As I warmed my chair to watch the Roland Garros final, I was warned by my Rafa crazed wife that dinner would only be served if Rafael Nadal went on to win a record 9th French Open title in his 5th consecutive bid. No man in history has comparable success or has dominated a single surface as has the 'King of Clay'. Novak Djokovic too was gunning for a career Grand Slam.

The scoreline stood at one set a piece going into the third, but the body language of the two players suggested that there was now a clear favourite. Nadal was on his way to win his 14th Grand Slam, only three shy of Roger Federer’s record 17. Djokovic said that beating Rafa at the French Open was not just the most difficult thing to do in Tennis, but perhaps in the entire sporting world; Nadal now has a 66 -1 Win/Loss record in his 10 years at the Parisian Slam.

As my wife ecstatically celebrated, I too was happy to witness a feat that might survive the test of time, and I was also relieved that dinner would finally be laid. During our meal we discussed how Rafa’s dominance and his aura of invincibility on red dirt bore a stark resemblance to a Pakistani legend that graced the squash courts and ruled them for over a decade; we reminisced the era of Jahangir Khan.

From 1981 to 1986, Jahangir was unbeaten in all competitive play. He won 555 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak by any athlete in any top level professional sport. He won ten consecutive British Open (the Wimbledon equivalent) championships, remaining unbeaten at squash’s most prestigious tournament between 1982 and 1991. Jahangir was, and for many will always be, the undisputed 'King of Squash'.

Unfortunately, the air that Jahangir created in the world of squash did not translate into the national stardom one would have expected or hoped for. I personally grew up playing squash and tennis at a club in Karachi that Jahangir sometimes visited, but he was always found in the Billiard Room and never at the squash courts. I seldom saw people stopping and asking for autographs or taking pictures with the legend. I now realise, I don’t have them either, next time though, I will make sure I intrude his stride and get one of each.

This brings us to a grave question that desperately begs to be answered by the Pakistani public. Why did a man of Jahangir Khan’s stature receive such mellow national celebrity status and relatively less popularity than his achievements and accolades warranted?

One can reason that squash is not a big sport; the cash flow does not allow the glitter and in Pakistan, glamour, it seems, is reserved for its only one true sporting passion: cricket. While all of the above could provide rational to the lack of fame or fortune for great Pakistani sportsmen, the rabbit hole is a lot deeper.

For many years, Pakistan produced the most talented and skilled stock of hockey and squash players in the world, but the lack of larger than life heroes has meant a dearth of aspiring followers. Economic non-viability and shortage (or mishandling) of resources has deprived sports its fare share and halted its progress, but it is the absence of inspiration for the Pakistani youth that has jolted its foundation and become the core of the prevailing quagmire.

Posters of Jahangir and Jansher Khan, or Samiullah and Kalimullah are from bedroom walls of the past. An entire generation in Pakistan has grown up without idolising a star from the sports Pakistan once ruled, many kids of today have never picked up a hockey stick or a squash racquet in their life. While squash and hockey are on an extremely slippery downward curve, cricketers too have lost the fan fare they once enjoyed. Sadly, instead of glorifying the players, the administrators have contributed in decimating the stardom of its most important asset.

The most recent victim of reproach at the hands of the authorities was Younis Khan who was initially demoted to a “B” category contract by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). With a Test batting average of 51.92 and 23 hundreds, Younis ranks among the best batsmen the country has ever produced. He captained Pakistan in all forms of the game and led the team to a glorious World T20 championship. According to reliable sources, a disappointed and dejected Younis had decided not to sign the contract, even if it jeopardized his future with the Pakistani team.

Also read: Nadal – God must’ve had a plan

The legacy of Younis Khan goes beyond statistics and numbers. Not as talented as his peers Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf, he has been able to achieve as much, and even more on certain accounts. He was one of the few who maintained a clean slate in a team rife with corruption and politics. He belonged to a small group of Pakistani cricketers of his era that went without a blemish on their integrity or accusations of disrupting team spirit.

Younis should have become the corner stone for a generation of cricketers to follow, the symbol of hard work, honesty and perseverance. Instead of being decorated with badges and medals of honour, he was made to look like an old man trying to cling onto a cricket contract at the twilight of his career, and more embarrassingly his self esteem.

What message was the PCB giving out to young cricketers? Who would want to be the next Younis Khan, if he was portrayed as a struggling, unsatisfied man trying to fight for his basic rights?

The decision of Najam Sethi to reverse the atrocious call on Younis Khan’s contract was much needed and has been welcomed by the entire cricket fraternity. Most importantly, Sethi is putting in place a clause that will automatically award an "A" category contract to any player that has represented Pakistan in over 300 matches and captained in all three formats.

PCB for once has taken a step in the right direction. Organisations, institutions and countries work most efficiently when there are adequate functional systems in place, and not through the whimsical accord of the powers that control them at a given time. With this new clause in PCB’s contractual framework, the chances of such mistakes being repeated should diminish.

In a recent lash out at the Pakistani public who apparently misbehaved on social media, Wasim Akram said he had a job in India and could not come to Pakistan to sell “amrood” (Guava), clarifying that he was a patriotic Pakistani. It is a tragedy for Pakistan that someone who should have been a national treasure needs to come on TV and explain which side of the border his loyalties remain. It is the job of the entire country to develop and maintain a climate where stars understand their responsibilities and they receive public love and respect in return. But far too often in Pakistan, both fail to maintain that balance.

While Nadal was recently named as the adopted son of Madrid, the highest honour given by the city hall in the Spanish capital, the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) has sealed the newly-built Jahangir Khan Sports Complex on Kashmir Road in Karachi. For right or for wrong, the Pakistani legend is sadly an accused outlaw in his own country and the Spanish maestro is their most adored hero.

Dreadfully, the Pakistani hockey team has also failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in its history.

The Pakistani government, media, corporations, institutions, and the civil society have failed to build systems or create an environment that could have nurtured and popularised national heroes. In fact, these stakeholders often play a part in defaming, slandering and marginalising the country’s most prized possessions; the damage of which is far reaching and beyond mathematical calculation.

There are some things money can’t buy; national pride, the psyche of an entire country and inspiration that can alter social fabric. A hundred thousand rupees more or less on a cricket contract are of little significance because there is no price tag that can absorb the emotions of millions who aspire to adorn national colours.

Respect cannot be expected if one is not willing to offer any. And if Pakistan wants its sporting culture to regain its lost glory, the Green Blazer has to hold the reverence it inherently desires.
Published Dawn 13th June 2014 : http://www.dawn.com/news/1112518/not-our-heroes

Bacha Khan, The King Without a Throne

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Written by Abdul Hai Aryan

Tragically, Pakistan is a country whose curriculum has no space for progressive and true heroes.  It admires Muhammad Bin Qasim, the Arab nationalist who conquered the Sindh in 712 and later on, was killed by his own Caliph. Mahmud Ghaznavi, the destructor of ‘Somnaat temple’ in India is an icon of pride in the country’s textbooks. Pakistan history has great reverence for the Mughal emperors who instead of building schools and universities just built luxurious monuments like Taj Mahal built by king Shahjahan’s in memory of his third wife Mumtaz Mahal with an amount of Rs.22 million accumulated through taxes. It has space for Syed Ahmad Barelvi, the fanatic fundamentalist who tried to implement Wahhabism, Taliban’s school thought in the then India through the swords but the country’s textbooks unfortunately has no room for the son of the soils of the country and has the deficiency to honor and value its true heroes like Bacha Khan, G. M Syed and other protagonists whose endeavors would holistically be productive for the generations to come.

Abdul Ghafar Khan known as Bacha Khan in Pakistan, Frontier Gandhi in India and Fakhr-i-Afghan in Afghanistan is internationally known as monger of non-violence but disastrously  is known to very few in his own country. In 1890 he was born to Behran Khan House, a tribal but moderate chief of Charsadda in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Bacha Khan after completing his education joined the British army however shortly realized the atrocities the Indians suffered in hands of British officers; then as a protest left the army and started to change his people lives through education. In 1921 he started his social reform movement in NWFP now Khyber- Pkhtinkhawa province. and later he organized youths under the platform of Afghan Youth League and in 1930 founded Khudai-Khidmatgar movement (the servants of God), a nonviolent and social reforms movement for awareness. The movement had millions of members who always adhered to their oath of reforming the society through non-violence and peaceful revolution of education. During 1915 to 1918 in a short period of three years he visited more than five thousands villages of K-Pakhtunkhaw and setup more than 70 schools in the province. He was a great advocate girls’ education. Henceforth, In 1932, he was the first person of the province who sent his daughter Mehr Raj abroad for getting higher education.

He always believed in serving humanity and correspondingly was a staunch believer of non-violence, Peace, love, freedom, service to men and equality were the core values of his teachings and politics. Denouncing violence by the religious extremists at that time, he said, “killing of people on the name of religion, plundering and burning their houses is not the religion of Allah,” the religion of God is ‘love’ and the purpose of religion is to serve humanity.” Being a progressive grandee and becoming the symbol of harmony regardless of any religious discriminating he urged his supporters to know your true enemy and true friends. The over sixth-feet-tall Khan Baba tortuously ruled the hearts of millions of people instead of sitting on a throne. He was so simple; his dress was that of an ordinary man. The Afghan President Hamid Karzai while talking abou Khan’s Personality which he had seen during his childhood when Bacha Khan was invited to his home in Kandahar by his father, During his speech on the death anniversary of Bacha Khan, Karzai added that Bacha Khan Baba was very tall and strong man but he wore pretty simple dresses. In spite of surrounded by many dishes and meal, he just dinned on ‘Shorwa’, an ordinary Afghan meal saying his life was going to be tough.

Bacha Khan was the close ally and the most trusted friend of Mahatma Gandhi. In an interview Mehr Taj, the daughter of Bacha Khan explains Baba’s relations says, “ They were more or less alike in ideas and the way they lived, the clothes and the simple food were the same.” The personal secretary of Gandhi, in an interview says, “Bacha Khan used to read the holy Kuran. Sometimes he forgot his glasses and borrowed Gandhi glasses to read the Kuran.”  Gandhi had a great respect for Khan and called him ‘Man of God’.

 In the 1920s, he formed an alliance with Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, an alliance that lasted until 1947--the partition of India. The 27 years long alliance with the Indian Congress remain futile as his supporters and Bacha Khan felt betrayed by both India and Pakistan after the partition, and his last words to Gandhi were, "You have thrown us to the wolves," because the Pashtuns of British India were not offered the choice of being an independent state or re-joining with Afghanistan after the formation of the Durand Line, the boundary between modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan; instead, they were compelled to choose between joining Pakistan or India, and voting results showed that the majority wanted to join Pakistan--the Muslim state, considering Pashtuns are also Muslims.

 In 1967, he was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding while after his withdrawal from politics; he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984. Eventually, during his visit to India he partook in the centennial celebrations of the Indian National Congress in 1985; his untiring struggle also earned in 1987 the India’s highest civil award the ‘Bahrat Ratna’.Unfortunately after the emergence of Pakistan, despite his speech in the first constituent assembly in which he expressed his commitments to work for prosperous Pakistan, was portrayed as ‘persona non grata’ due to his alliance with the Indian Congress party.

Bacha Khan had spent as many as 27 years in imprisonment, 12 years under British rule and 15 in Pakistan, There were times he went in fettered for six months, the marks of which remained on his feet till he died at the age of 98. In the words of Bacha Khan "I had to go to prison many a time in the days of the Britishers. Although we were at loggerheads with them, yet their treatment was to some extent tolerant and polite. But the treatment which was meted out to me in this Islamic state of ours was such that I would not even like to mention it to you."

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan in the united India campaigned for the release of Bacha Khan from prison in 1929-1930 which has been duly noted by Stanley Wolpert in his biography of Jinnah. it was Jinnah who had put forth Bacha Khan’s name for inclusion in the first round table conference 1930, an all Indian parties conference called by the then British government. But after the creation of Pakistan Bacha Khan and Jinnah were always kept at distance. In 1948, a meeting due in Peshwar between the two leaders was canceled as Abdul Qayum Khan then Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkaw cunningly deluded Muhammad Ali Jinnah terrifying him of his assassination plan plotted by Bacha Khan.

Bacha Khan always urged for ‘character integrity’ and candor.  At an occasion, he said, “A nation that is merely power monger and wealth oriented, will never enjoy national harmony, it will never go through democratic values, Socialism and even the true face of Islamization.”  Sadly, the aphorisms of Baba have never been followed by his own family and supporters. He commenced the endeavors of politics from his small village which gradually became the most powerful voice of India uniting millions of people in his movement oddly, his political heirs are proving clumsy. Many roads, hospitals and airports were retitled after him but forgot Baba’s true teachings.

After retirement from politics he remained in Jalalabad, Afghanistan and finally a heart attack followed by a coma on January 20, 1988 caused his demise. Many still question his burial in Jalalabad but many deem it as a symbol of Pashtun.

Source: http://www.pashtunwomenvp.com/index.php/2013-01-28-03-21-27/political/397-bacha-khan-the-king-without-a-throne

Bacha Khan, a Forgotten Pashtun Leader

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Written by Spogmay Waziri Kakar

The only great leader whose name stands out in the history of Pashtuns is Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as ‘Bacha Khan’, ‘Fakhr-e-Afghan’, and the ‘Frontier Ghandi’. Many Pashtuns observed his 26^th death anniversary on January 20^th–a day that coincided with Martin Luther King (MLK), Jr. Day. In the United States, this is a designated holiday to commemorate and celebrate the contributions of the civil rights champion who fought for the rights of African Americans. A social and political reformer, and a spiritual leader, Bacha Khan was an independence activist known for his non-violent opposition to British India. Both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bacha Khan foughtagainst injustice and inequality through non-violent means, initiating non-violent movements, for their people in their respective regions. But while MLK’s struggles and speeches are kept alive in America 46 years after his death, ironically, Bacha Khan is turning into a forgotten hero in his own land and among the people he spent his entire life struggling for—the Pashtuns.

While Pashtuns are generally highlighted in the history as aggressive people, individuals like Bacha Khan are rarely mentioned. Bacha Khan was a champion of non-violent resistance to injustice and inequality, similar to Mahatama Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. However, today, Bacha Khan’s name is not included in the group of these non-violent resistance gurus. Bacha Khan and Gandhi were close friends, and they both shared similar philosophies and ideas. They both fought against injustice. While Gandhi is a household name and an international icon, Bacha Khan’s contributions are rarely acknowledged.

While Pashtuns on both sides of the border were quick to respond to Nelson Mandela’s death on social media, they were quiet on the death anniversary of Bacha Khan. When Americans marked the 50^th anniversary of MLK’s famous “I have a dream” speech, many Pashtuns wrote about him and his famous quotes were circulated widely on different social media networks. Some of his famous sayings were even translated into Pashto on social media platforms. However, very few people shared Bacha Khan’s quotes.

Will Bacha Khan turn into a fictional character who will only be remembered in stories of those who knew him? Will the future Pashtun generations not know the great Pashtun leader they once had?

To understand why Bacha Khan is turning into a forgotten leader, it is important to know the history of the region he belonged to. In 1946, when the Indian congress accepted the British partition plan, the Khudai Khidmatgar (“Servants of God”), the Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement led by Bacha Khan, demanded inclusion of an option to establish an independent state of Pashtunistan. Yet, in August 1947, only India and Pakistan emerged from the British Indian Empire. Bacha Khan felt betrayed because he wasn’t consulted about the partition plan, which he opposed along religious lines. While Gandhi’s legacy was carried on by his people in his country, Bacha Khan, however, was left stateless, sandwiched between Pakistan on one side and Afghanistan on the other. Since Pashtuns live on both sides of the contentious border, Durand Line, Bacha Khan was forgotten due to the political policies of both countries.

The truth is that Bacha Khan was a stateless leader and a stateless leader is not recognized as a citizen by any country, let alone as a leader. It is the people within a country that make a great leader into a hero and carry on his legacy so that future generations can learn from him. Every single child in India knows about Mahatma Gandhi, just as every child in America knows about Martin Luther King, Jr. Bacha Khan carried out similar struggles against British India and played a critical role in the history of Pashtuns, but he is not mentioned in history books of the region he lived in.

Bacha Khan spent many years in prison first under the British rule as a result of his struggles against their injustices. Later, he spent many years in prison in Pakistan, where he was treated worse than he was in the British-owned prisons. In the early years, it was his educational activities that caught the attention of British who tried to prevent him. He knew education was the key to change the Pashtuns. He was imprisoned and ill-treated but still preached peace and harmony.

Since Bacha Khan was against the partition plan, he is generally viewed in Pakistan as an unpatriotic leader. He, however, changed his stance after the creation of Pakistan and fought against those who deprived Pashtuns from their rights. There was a push in Pakistan after its independence from British India to promote patriotism and any leader who didn’t fit their narrow definition of patriotism was left out, and Bacha Khan was one of them. Pakistan excluded any leader from the history curriculums who was associated with Pashtun nationalism because it feared that a rise in Pashtun nationalism could mean losing a part of the Pakistani land to Afghanistan since the Durand Line cut the Pashtun population in half and no Pashtun leader has officially recognized this border.

On the Afghan side, Bacha Khan is viewed as an outsider among non-Pashtuns. While he was highly respected during the communist regime in Kabul, he was forgotten during King Zahir Shah’s reign and then during the mujahidin and the Taliban era. Bacha Khan is not included in Afghan history books either because many other ethnicities fear it could promote Pashtun nationalism; this is because there is a push on the Afghan side as well to promote national unity among different ethnicities.

Bacha Khan always felt connected to his Pashtun population, no matter which side of the border they lived on. It was his will to be buried in Afghanistan, where he made several visits during his lifetime. Bacha Khan’s non-violent resistance movement offers a lot for Pashtuns to learn from. He suffered brutally in the hands of injustice, but he persevered and remained true to his principles and struggles.

The quotes, speeches, and civil rights struggles of MLK, Jr. and Ghandhi are taught in schools and colleges throughout their countries and abroad, and they are part of the history of their countries. Unfortunately, not even a small chapter is dedicated to Bacha Khan in either Pakistan or Afghanistan—where Pashtuns live. I attended an Afghan school from K-12 and not a single time were we taught about this great Pashtun leader. Instead, we were taught about many Arab heroes, who fought and conquered lands.

Bacha Khan was a man years ahead of his time who thought creating a Pakistan along religious lines might turn out to be problematic and who thought the only way for Pashtuns to succeed was through education. Bacha Khan continued his struggles to his last day through non-violent means. Just as Americans have a day to commemorate MLK, Jr. or Indians have many days to honor Gandhi, Bacha Khan needs to be remembered and honored for many things: for the many years of his life behind bars and still continuing to be non-violent and for all the sacrifices he endured and never turned to violence.

Source: http://www.pashtunwomenvp.com/index.php/2013-01-28-03-21-27/political/406-bacha-khan-a-forgotten-pashtun-leader