Stalwarts of the Khilafat Movement in the NWFP (Biographical Profile)

Abdul Rauf

Leaders play a vital role in all sortsof movements____ political, social,economic, and religious. They mobilise,inspire and guide the people in all theups and downs of the movement. The roleplayed by the leaders such as MaulanaAbual Kalam Azad (1889-1958), MaulanaShaukat Ali (1873-1938), Maulana ZafarAli Khan (1873-1956), Dr. Safuddin Kichlo(1884-1963), Hakim Ajmal Khan (1863-1927)and especially Maulana Muhammad AliJauhar (1978-1931), in the KhilafatMovement, is highly commendable in theannals of the Indian Sub-Continent.Khilafat Movement was launched by theIndian Muslims in 1919 with the objective

Assistant Professor, PakistanStudy Centre, University ofPeshawar.

68

of preserving the Khilafat institution andthe solidarity and territorial integrityof the Turkish Empire. Earlier, Turkeywas disgracefully treated by the Britishwhen she was defeated in the First WorldWar. It was due to the leadership of theKhilafat Movement that the desperateIndians, particularly the Muslims rose upfor the first time, after the failure of1857 War of independence. The role of theleadership enhanced when they werecalling upon the people to support thecause of the Ottoman Caliphate (Khilafat)something, which existed several thousandmiles away from their homeland (India).

The call of the Muslim leaders wasresponded with the same fervour andmagnitude in the NWFP as it was in otherparts of India. This area then the North-West Frontier Province did not enjoy thestatus of a province like other provincesof India. But all the oppressive rulesand regulations such as 40 F.C.R. couldnot prevent the people from attending thecall of their religion. During thismovement local leaders played animportant role and rendered incrediblesacrifices for the cause of movement. In

69

fact these local leaders subsequentlybecame national leaders and many of themwere in the forefront of freedom struggleagainst the British Raj. A biographicalprofile of some of the stalwarts of theKhilafat Movement is as follows:

Maulvi Abdul Ghafur:

Maulvi Abdul Ghafur was the son ofHafiz Kamal Kashmiri. He was fromMohallah Howda, Peshawar City. He went onto Deoband in order to receive hiseducation and spent about 30 years downthe country.1 Maulvi Abdul Ghafur tookpart in the Anti Rawllat Bill agitationin 1919. In March 1919 a representativemeeting of the leading Muslims was heldin Islamia Club, Peshawar. This meetingwas organised by Sir Sahibzada AbdulQayyum and presided by Arbab DostMohammed Khan. Maulana Abdul Ghafur wasthe principal speaker. He was of theopinion that it was essential that thespiritual and temporal head of Islamshould be one and the same person i.e.

70

the then Sultan of Turkey.2 In the KhilafatMovement, he again came to the forefront.In March 1920, when a Khilafat meeting wasorganised in Idgah, Peshawar, hedelivered a comprehensive speech on theKhilafat issue and asked the governmentthat the Holy places of the Muslimsshould not be taken from the Sultan'spossession and that Turkey should not bepartitioned. He advised the local Ulamato pray for the Sultan's victory at everyprayer. The Indian leaders asked thepeople to observe National Week fromApril 6, to April 13, 1920 throughout thecountry. In Peshawar, public meetingswere held, in which the people touchedupon the issue of Rawlatt Act,Jallianwala Bagh incident and HinduMuslim unity. Maulana Abdul Ghafur andSayyed Maqbool Shah were the two mainfigures who collected funds for theJallianwala Bagh Memorial and sent it tothe Central Khilafat Committee.3

When the Hijrat Movement was launched inMay 1920, Maulana Abdul Ghafur and HajiJan Muhammad became the secretaries ofthe Hijrat Committee, Peshawar. He sparedno efforts in persuading the people to

71

migrate to Afghanistan in order to fulfiltheir religious obligations. On thesuspension of the Hijrat Movement inAugust 1920, he attended the All IndiaKhilafat Conference at Calcutta andadvocated the revival of Hijrat in theface of all adversities.4 When the KhilafatCommittee was established in Peshawar, hebecame one of the active members andmotivated the people to participate inthe movement. Unfortunately he died verysoon and the Muslims of the NWFP lost agreat scholar and a leader of the time.

Haji Jan Muhammad:

Haji Jan Muhammad was an inhabitant ofMuhallah Abdul Razak, Peshawar. Hestarted his career as a government

1 F. No. 20 / 11 / 3, Vol. I, B. No.81, SpecialBranch, Directorate of Archives NWFP, Peshawar,p. 25.2 C.I.D. Report, date 06-3-1920, F. No. 12/6/1/,Vol. III, Special Branch, Directorate ofArchives, Peshawar, p. 35. 3 Ibid., pp. 103-23.4 F. No. 20 / 11 / 3, Vol. I, B.No.81, SpecialBranch, Directorate of Archives, Peshawar, p. 25.

72

contractor and was quite successful inhis business. He became political workerduring the Hijrat Movement in 1920. Owingto his services, he became the secretaryand treasurer of the Peshawar HijratCommittee. He hired several sarais (inns)for the Muhajirin (migrants) coming fromIndia. In one of these sarais he openedHijrat office and appointed severalworkers who were working round the clockfor Muhajirin. When the Hijrat Movementsubsided and the Hijrat Committee wasconverted into a Khilafat Committee, hebecame Treasurer of the Khilafat Committee.He financed those students of IslamiaCollege, Peshawar who left the Collegefar participation in the non-cooperationmovement. These students joined Jamia Millia(National University), Aligarh, foundedby Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar. InNovember 1920, Haji Jan Muhammad wasarrested and asked to deposit Rs. 5000 asguarantee, but he refused, and hence hewas imprisoned for three years.5 Afterhis release from jail he continued hisstruggle for the Islamic cause, andworked against the British Raj. He5 Zamindar, Lahore, November 21, 1920.

73

donated a monthly profit of one of hisserais to Khilafat Committee that was sixtyrupees in those days.6 Several times hesponsored the orphan students of Idara-i-Talim-ul-Quran Nowshera, and celebrated Eidwith them.7 Haji Jan Muhammad seems to beone of the dominating personalitiesduring the Khilafat Movement in NWFP.Besides his social and politicalservices, he was a generous person anddonated a lot in cash and kind.

Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan:

Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan was born in1901, in Chitral, where his father AbdulHakim was serving the British Indiangovernment.8 His forefathers are said tohave migrated from Kashmir and settled inPeshawar. Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan gotadmission in Islamia College Peshawarafter his matriculation. He was a studentof B.A. when the Khilafat Movement was

6 Zamindar, Lahore, December 17, 1923.7 Zamindar, Lahore, July 12, 1923.8 Nuzhat Shandana Malik, ‘Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan’MA. thesis, Pakistan Study Centre, University ofPeshawar, 1986 p. 12.

74

started. He was one of the profounders ofthe idea of Khilafat Movement in the NWFP.In 1920, he sent a telegram to theSecretary of State for India,representing the student's community ofIslamia College. He protested against thedismantlement of the Turkish Empire anddemanded that holy places should continueunder the direct control of Khilafat.9 Heactively participated in student strikesof Islamia College in 1920, in support ofthe Khilafat Movement. The Central KhilafatCommittee adopted a non-co-operationresolution in 1920, according to whichIndian students were asked to leave theirBritish educational institutions. Theystressed upon the establishment ofindependent schools. Honouring the demandof the leaders, twenty-five students ofIslamia College Peshawar left the collegefor the National University Aligarh.10

Abdul Qayyum Khan took a leading part and

9 Lal Baha, “Khilafat Movement and NWFP”, Journal ofthe Research Society of Pakistan, University of Punjab,Vol. XVI, No. 3, 1979, p. 6.10 D.P.I and D.C. Peshawar Report, date 18.11.20,Chief Commissioner Office, NWFP., Tribal AffairsResearch Cell, Peshawar, p. 67.

75

got admission in Aligarh. He along withhis studies, continued political struggleunder the leadership of Maulana MuhammadAli Jauhar, who sent him back to activatethe Khilafat Movement in NWFP. He becamethe Secretary of Peshawar KhilafatCommittee in April 1921 but was arrestedin December 1921 and sentenced for threeyears in jail.11 After his release fromprison, he went on to England for furtherstudies, where he qualified for the Bar.On his return from England, he joined thePeshawar Bar as a lawyer and became thepresident of the Muslim AssociationPeshawar Cantt. He also joined the KhudaiKhidmatgars (Servants of God) Movement andbecame Secretary of the ProvincialCongress Parliamentary Board. In 1937, hewas a member of the Central LegislativeAssembly and became the deputy leader ofthe All India National Congress in theassembly. In 1945, he joined the AllIndia Muslim League and became itsstaunch worker. In 1947 he was imprisonedfor a few months because of supporting

11 Abdul Rauf, ‘Khilafat Movement in NWFP’ MAthesis, Pakistan Study Centre, University ofPeshawar, 1986-88, p. 46.

76

the Pakistan Movement. After theinception of Pakistan he became the ChiefMinister of the NWFP when the Dr. KhanSahib's ministry was dissolved. Heremained in office until he was inductedin the federal cabinet in April 1953. Inthe later governments he assumed the roleof opposition leader. However, in 1970 hewas elected as member of the NationalAssembly and joined the government ofPakistan People's Party as an InteriorMinister. Abdul Qayyum Khan was aneloquent orator and a well versedparliamentarian. He wrote a book, namelyGold and Guns on the Pathan Frontier, (1945).12

He himself banned this book after havingchanged loyalties from Congress to MuslimLeague.13 His younger brother Abdul Hamid

12 This book was dedicated to Dr. Khan Sahib. Inthe book he gave some aspects of the FrontierProblem, a short history of the province, itspeople and leaders. He wrote about the rise ofthe Khudai Khidmatgars and depicts it as therepresentative organisation of the freedommovement in the province. He also discussed theproblem of Tribal areas.13 It is possibly, unprecedented in the worldhistory that an author himself banned his book.

77

Khan was Prime Minister of Azad Jammu andKashmir. He breathed his last in 1981.

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan:

Abdul Ghaffar Khan was born in 1890 inthe village Utmanzai, Charssadda. Hisfather Behram Khan was a landlord. AbdulGhaffar Khan received his early educationin the Mission High School Peshawar.During his matriculation he wanted to getcommission in the British Army. Heapplied and stood successful in gettingcommission in the Guides-(an elite corpsand regarded as the best of all Indianregiments serving on the Frontier).14 Butthe behaviour and treatment of theBritish officers to the native officerschanged his mind and he did not take hiscommission. Abdul Ghaffar Khan became oneof the disciples of Haji Sahib ofTurangzai, the great freedom fighter ofthe NWFP. He started working under hisguidance in the establishment ofindependent schools in the province toimpart religious as well as contemporaryeducation. He visited Delhi and met withthe Muslim leaders like Maulana Mahmud-14 Ghaffar Khan, pp. 56-57.

78

ul-Hasan and Maulana Fazal Rabbani. Heentered politics with the participationin the Anti-Rawllatt Bill agitation in1919. He was arrested and sentenced forsix months. Abdul Ghaffar Khan tookprominent part in the Khilafat and HijratMovements. During Hijrat Movement, healong with his friends migrated toAfghanistan. In Afghanistan he was amember of the Hijrat Committee.15 At theend of August 1920 Hijrat Movement endedin a fiasco. Coming back to India heparticipated in the Khilafat Movement andattended the Khilafat conference held inRawalpindi. When disputes emerged in thelocal Khilafat Committee he was entrustedto lead the committee and was elected aspresident of the Peshawar KhilafatCommittee. In December 1921, he wasarrested and given three yearsimprisonment. After his release he actedas vice president of the Khilafat Committeewith Maulana Abdul Hakim as itspresident. In April 1921, he along withAbdul Akbar Khan, Mian Abdullah Shah,Khadim Muhammad Akbar and Maulvi Muhammad

15 Afzal Iqbal, Life and Times of Muhammad Ali (Lahore:Institute of Islamic Culture, 1974), p. 243.

79

Israil opened an Azad High School atUtmanzai.16 They also formed anorganisation named, Anjuman-i-Islah-i-Afghania(Association for the Reformation of theAfghans) and Abdul Ghaffar Khan becameits first president. He attended severalmeetings of the national leaders down thecountry. In December 1929, the All IndiaNational Congress held its annual sessionin Lahore. Abdul Ghaffar Khan, though hewas not a member of the party, attendedit along with his other Khilafat workers.This metering was a very significance,because there he met the Indian leaderslike Mr. Nehru, M.K. Gandhi and SardarPatel. He was impressed very much by thediscipline of the volunteers and theenthusiasm of the people about thefreedom movement.17 In 1929, he startedthe Khudai Khidmatgars (servants of God)Movement. Its workers and activists wereknown as "Surukh Posh" (Red Shirts), asthey wore red uniforms. The Britishportrayed them as Bolsheviks, whom the16 The Azad High School Utmanzai. F.No.25/1/15/,Vol. III, B.No.81, Special Branch, Directorate ofArchives, Peshawar.17 Ghaffar Khan, p. 352.

80

British detested and wanted to discreditthem by comparing them with the RussianCommunists. During the Qissa Khwanioccurrence on April 23, 1930, GhaffarKhan was arrested at Nahaqi while he wason his way to Peshawar and was sent toGujrat jail. The political developmentaround 1930 in India and NWFP brought agreat change in his politicalperceptions. In the jail he thoroughlystudied Hindu's scripture Gita,Christian’s Bible and Sikh's GranthSahib.18 He was much impressed by Mr.Gandhi and his non-violence creed inpolitical struggle. After his release, heaffiliated Khudai Khidmatgar with theIndian National Congress.19 In 1937, thefirst Congress government was formed inthe NWFP headed by Dr. Kahn Sahib,Ghaffar Khan's elder brother. IndianNational Congress decided to resign fromthe ministries in protest against theviceroy's decision of declaring India'sparticipation in the World War II without18 Farigh Bukhari, Tahrik-i-Azadi Awr Bacha Khan(Lahore: Fiction House, 1991), pp. 104-5.19 Farigh Bukhari, Bacha Khan,I(lahore: NaqushPress, 1957), p. 138.

81

any consent from the Indians. Dr. Khan’sministry thus ended in 1939. In the yearsahead Ghaffar Khan devoted all his timeand energies to the establishment andorganisation of the Khudai Khidmatgars. Hewas frequently arrested by the Britishauthorities and once his entry was alsobanned in Punjab and NWFP. In the civildisobedience movement of the Congress in1942, he was arrested and released in1945. When the British governmentannounced the partition plan for the Sub-continent, Ghaffar Khan opposed holdingof the referendum in the NWFP but havingfailed to receive the Congress co-operation, the Khudai Khidmatgars boycottedthe referendum in the NWFP on the pleathat a third option was not given to thepeople for the independent status of theNWFP. The referendum officially resultedin the success of the Muslim League.After the creation of Pakistan, GhaffarKhan was several times arrested for hispolitical and `unlawful' activities. Atlast in 1964, he went to Afghanistanwhere he lived up to 1973 in self exile.Throughout his long life he stood for hisuncompromising principles. This man of

82

one word at last died on January 21,1988, and was buried in Jalalabad,Afghanistan which he himself had chosenfor his last resting place.

Allah Bakhsh Yousafi:

Allah Bakhsh Yousafi was born onDecember 25, 1900, and educated atPeshawar. He joined the Mohmand Malitiain 1918. Due to participation in the AntiRawlatt Bill agitation, he was sentencedto six months internment in 1919.20 InKhilafat Movement, when non co-operationprogramme was announced, Allah BakhshYousufi was the first Muslim in the NWFP,who resigned from his service.21 In HijratMovement he was elected as secretary ofthe Hijrat Committee at Shabqadar,Charssadda.

Returning to Peshawar, he startedtaking leading part in Khilafat Movement.He organised the historic public boycott

20 Allah Bakhash Yousufi, Maulana Muhammad AliJauhar (Karachi: Muhammad Ali Education Society,1984), p. XV.21 Allah Bakhash Yousufi, Sarhad aur Jaddujuhd-i-Azadi,(Lahore: Markazi Urdu Board, 1968), p. 252.

83

of the visit of Prince of Wales toPeshawar in April 1922. Consequently hewas arrested and sentenced for two yearsimprisonment in 1922.22 After his releasehe was elected as secretary of PeshawarKhilafat Committee. In 1925 he came closeto Hazrat Haji Sahib of Turangzai, whopresented him a 300 years old handwritten copy of the Holy Quran. It isnoteworthy that Maulana Muhammad AliJauhar took this copy along with him whenhe went to England to attend the firstmeeting of the Round Table Conference in1930.23 Allah Bakhsh Yousafi was in theforefront when agitation was startedagainst a publisher, Rajpal, whopublished in March 1927 an infamousbooklet against the Holy Prophet (SWS).In 1927, the government appointed acommission to inquire about the workingof the constitution and to suggest forthe future constitution. The people of

22 Abdul Rauf, ‘Muslim Politics in NWFP (1919-30)with Special Reference to Pan Islamic Ideas’, M.Phil. thesis, National Institute of PakistanStudies, Qauid-i-Azam University, Islamabad,1992, pp. 53, 78. 23 Yousafi, Sarhad, p. 489.

84

NWFP boycotted to extend their help tothe Simon Commission. Allah BakhshYousafi was one of the leaders who inprotest welcomed the commission withblack flags and shouting the slogan,Simon Go Back.

In 1928-29 due to internal crises,Amanullah Khan, monarch of Afghanistan,had to leave Kabul for Qandahar. PeshawarKhilafat Committee termed the overthrow ofAmanullah Khan as conspiracy of theBritish government. They send adelegation of the Ulama to pacify theuprising of the tribals. On the otherhand they formed a medical mission headedby Dr. Khan Sahib to visit Afghanistanbut the government refused and asked themission to produce a permission ofAmanullah Khan to enter Afghanistan.Peshawar Committee constituted acommittee comprising Abdul Ghaffar Khan,Mian Jaffar Shah and Allah Bakhsh Yousafito proceed to Qandahar via Baluchistanfor obtaining the permission. Thegovernment did not honour their pledgeand sent the delegation back toPeshawar.24

85

In November 1929, the Government ofIndia passed a bill, known as Sarda Act,specifying the age of marriage for girlsand boys as fourteen and eighteen yearsrespectively. Muslims of India resentedand considered it interference in Islam.Allah Bakhsh Yousafi, as member of theKhilafat Committee, spoke against the billand defied it in NWFP.25

In 1930, he was appointed as a GeneralSecretary of the All India KhilafatCommittee, where he also took the chargeof the Committee’s organ Khilafat, an Urdudaily published from Bombay now Mumbay.

He opposed Nehru Report (1928) andsupported Ali Brothers, against theCongress. He was a member of the councilof All India Muslim Conference and AllParties Convention held at Calcutta in1928. Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar wantedhim to work as his secretary during theRound Table Conference, but due to theresponsibilities of publications he was

24 Ibid., pp. 473-74.25 Who’s Who in NWFP., F. No. 20 / 11 / 2, S.No.1554, Directorate of Archives, Peshawar.

86

unable to accompany his leader. QissaKhwani Incident occurred on April 23,1930, in which several innocent peoplewere killed.26 Allah Bakhsh Yousufiworked as president of an EnquiryCommittee, formed to enquire into thehigh handedness perpetrated by thegovernment forces in NWFP.27 Consequentlyhe brought out a book named the ‘FrontierTragedy’ an account of the Britishatrocities in the NWFP. The book was evendistributed among the members of theBritish parliament. He was arrested,prosecuted by the British and summarilysentenced to transportation for life.28

However on Muhammad Ali's interferenceand Gandhi-Irwin Pact the sentence wasnot implemented.

Allah Bakhsh Yousufi remained a trueKhilafatist and kept the Khilafat Committee

26 According to Allah Bakhsh Yousafi, the totalnumber of death was 325. Yousafi, Sarhad, op. cit.,p. 505.27 Who’s who in NWFP, F. No. 20 / 11 / 2, S. No.1554, Directorate of Archives, Peshawar?28 Tariq Yousuf's (Son of Allah Bakhash Yousufi)letter to the writer dated September 22, 1987.

87

alive in Peshawar for a long time. In mid1934 he organised picketing on brothelsin Peshawar. In the coming days he provedhimself active in the Shahid Ganj Mosquecontroversy (1936). Even after thedissolution of the Khilafat in Turkey, theKhilafat Committee, Peshawar, was active inthe politics till the middle of 1930s.Political workers of the province joineddifferent political parties. Allah BakhshYousafi joined the All India MuslimLeague and played a very important rolein the Muslim politics in NWFP. MuhammadAli Jinnah proposed his name for AllIndia Muslim League Parliamentary Boardfrom the NWFP.29 He took active part inorganising support of the Pukhtuns forthe creation of an independent Muslimstate, Pakistan.

Besides his political activities,Allah Bakhsh Yousafi was a journalist andliterary figure. He started a monthly,Sarhad, from Peshawar, which later onbecame a daily.30 He was rightly given

29 Baha, p. 15.30 Some of the copies of Sarhad are preserved inLahore Museum Library, Lahore.

88

the title of Baba-i-Sahafat-i-Sarhad. He was aprolific writer and produced someseventy-two books.31 His work entitledSarhad awr Jaddujuhd-i-Azadi (The Frontier andthe Freedom struggle) is considered asone of the best book on the subject. Hedied on March 13, 1968, in Karachi.

Barrister Muhammad Jan Khan:Barrister Muhammad Jan Khan was born

in 1889, in Patan Kot. His fatherMuhammad Bakhsh was a sub-judge in theBritish government. He did hismatriculation from Government High SchoolNo.1 Bannu. During student life he was amember of all India football team. Hetook his law degree from Aligarh College,and qualified in the Barrister'sexamination from London. Due tocompulsory military service he fought asan officer in the Indian army on theFrench border during the First World War.After the war when he was relieved, heleft for England to continue his studies.Besides, qualifying for the Bar, he did

31 Wazir Zada Khan, `Allah Bakhsh Yousafi’, M.A.thesis, Pakistan Study Centre, University ofPeshawar, 1986, p. iv.

89

seven MAs in different subjects. He diddiplomas in fifteen subjects fromdifferent universities of England andIndia.32 He started his practice in Bannuand became President of the Bannu BarCouncil. He was also nominated as amember for the Bannu Municipality andDistrict Board.33

When Khilafat Movement was started in1919 and the non-cooperation programmewas prepared, he gave up his practice inthe court.34 He along with Hakim AbdulRahim started the Khilafat Movement inBannu. The increasing activities ofKhilafatists could not be tolerated by theBritish and he was arrested andimprisoned for three years.35 Roos Keppeloffered him the post of E.A.C. in writingbut he rejected it.36

During the non-cooperation movement,Khilafat Committee, Bannu organised theestablishment of independent tribunals.Barrister Jan Muhammad stated that over2000 cases were decided in a very short32 Gul Ayyub Saifi, Bannu Aw da Waziristan Tarikh,n.p., n.d., p. 451. 33 Zamindar, Lahore, November 7, 1923.

90

period to the entire satisfaction of boththe parties. He further stated his firmbelief that Indians are fit to rulethemselves.37 He took active part inorganising Anjuman-i-Islah-ul Afaghina in 1929,and became its founding member.38 Afterthe Khilafat Movement, he joined the AllIndia National Congress but retired frompolitics after the creation of Pakistan.Mr. Nehru offered him offices of reputein India but he did not accept any.39 Hedied in 1969. Malik Khuda Bakhsh:

Malik Khuda Bakhsh was born in 1887 inDera Ismail Khan. He did his metric,intermediate and B.A. from PunjabUniversity and obtained his L.L.B. degreefrom Aligarh College. He got positionsthroughout his educational career.40

During his stray at Aligarh he was muchimpressed by Muhammad Ali Jauhar.

34 D.C. Bannu to Chief Commissioner, Sir HamiltonGrant, dated January 26, 1921 Tribal AffairsResearch Cell, p. 44.35 Paisa Akhbar, Lahore, May 17, 1920.36 Saifi, p. 451.

91

Returning to his native town he startedhis practice and proved himself as acompetent lawyer. During Khilafat Movement,he gave up his practice to obey theinstructions of the non-co-operators, andtook a leading part in Khilafat Movement.Due to his `unlawful' activities, he wasarrested and imprisoned for three yearson March 30, 1921, in Dera Ismail Khan.41

During his imprisonment he studied theHoly Quran thoroughly which influencedhis later life.

He was elected as member in the firstelection for legislative assembly held inthe NWFP in 1932. He became one of thechief spokesmen of the Independent Partyin the house which was an opposition

37 His conversation with a Prosecuting InspectorPolice when they were on their way from D. I.Khan jail to Daria Khan. In this discussion alsogive his impression about the issues like jailexperience, non-cooperation movement, MahatmaGandhi, Hindu-Muslim Unity, Khilafat and frontiertrouble. (S. No. 447, B. No. 29. Special Branch,Directorate of Archives Peshawar, pp. 69-83).38 Ghaffar Khan, p. 184.39 An interview with Amir Latif, E.A.C., grandsonof Barrister Jan Muhammad, May 1997.

92

group in the assembly.42 In 1937 electionhe defeated Sayyed Qasim Shah, a nomineeof the Khudai Khidmatgars and was electedas member of the legislative assembly.43

The President-ship of the United MuslimNationalist was offered by Sir SahibzadaAbdul Qayyum but he refused. IndianNational Congress offered him theSpeaker-ship. He was not interested inthe President-ship and finally he wasunanimously elected as speaker of theassembly by the house.44 At the same timehe was elected as member of the ExecutiveCouncil of the Aligarh Muslim University.After resignation of the Congressgovernment in 1939 he was appointed asAdvocate General by George Conninghum,the then Governor of the NWFP. In 1941,during World War II, he was appointed asa member of the Viceroy's NationalDefence Council. He gave the reasons foraccepting this post that he might do somegood for the Muslims in the council,otherwise he was not interested.45 MalikKhuda Bakhsh accepted neither the party

40 Afghan, Peshawar, August 19, 1912.41 Paisa Akhbar, Lahore, April 15, 1921.

93

membership of Congress nor of the MuslimLeague, because he did not like theinclination of one to Hindus and thealoofness of the other from the masses.He died on January 27, 1957.

Malik Sahib was a greatparliamentarian. The unopposed electionfor Speaker-ship in 1937 proved thisfact. He struggled his best to pass theShariat Bill from the LegislativeAssembly in his first tenure (1932-37).He was a master in five languages that isEnglish, Persian, Urdu, Pushto andArabic.

References and Notes

42 Amit Kumar Gupta, North West Frontier ProvinceLegislative and Freedom Struggle (1932-47) (New Delhi:Indian Council of Historical Research, 1976), p.32.43 Mir Abdul Smad, Laway Pukhtun (Peshawar:University Book Agency, 1983), p. 351.44 Malik Khuda Bakhsh letter to Abdul JalilUsmani Abbottabad dated April 24, 1937 cited inDida wa Shanida, p. 362.45 Ibid., p. 364.

94