Khan Abdul Ghani Khan

Khan Abdul Ghani Khan (1914-1996) was one of the finest Pukhtu poets. He was also the eldest son of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan). He was one of the very first people in South Asia to get a degree in Chemical Engineering. He traveled to the USA for this purpose in 1930s. Ghani Khan wrote his first famous poem when he was 14. His first poem appeared in December, 1928 issue of the Pukhtoon, the first Pashtu journal. He spent a good deal of time in the Gandhi and Nehru entourages, and went to Tagore's  Shantineketan school with a young Indira Gandhi. Although he remains a revered figure among Pathans, he spent much of his life after independence in jail and unpublished at home. Identified with the cause of Pathan nationalism, he eschewed party politics. The closing years of his life saw him successively rehabilitated by various governments in Pakistan.

In his official role, Ghani Khan was leader of the Zalme Pukhtun, or Red Shirts youth wing during struggle for independence. He was also among the moderates who argued for finding an accommodation with Pakistan once the NWFP Referendum results were clear. When that didn't work out soon after 1947, he was arrested. No charges were ever filed. In keeping with colonial law, all his moveable property except books and paintings were confiscated. He spent the next six years in jail.

Life Story

In 1934, Ghani joined the Gola Gokarnath Sugar Mill in UP as Labor officer. But due to his extraordinary talents he was promoted Chief Chemist in a short time. It was the love of a Parsi girl Roshan that the fire of love once again ignited in Ghani's heart. Roshan was a daughter of Rustam Ji Parsi of Hyderabad Deccan and he married her in December 1939.
After independence Ghani Khan's political style somewhat changed. He became friends with his former British opponents like Sir Olaf Caroe. His poetry and wit, often published in Pushto from Kabul in Afghanistan entertained Pathans of all political persuasions. He died in Mohammad Naray on March l5, l996. He is buried next to his mother and his wife Roshan.

Ghani's poetry includes love songs, epics, anthems, elegies, epigrams, verse, litters and satires etc.. According to Dr. Sher Zaman Taizai "affection and contempt, love and hatred, idealism and realism and epic, sarcasm and satire and above all frankness, fluency and spontaneity are the main characteristics of the poetry of Ghani". His poetry is about the mysteries of life, death, God, love, nature and religious beliefs and concepts of his people in his won distinct way. Very little is known to many about Ghani's other facets: music, art, painting and sculpture.

Ghani Khan was not just a poet. He was a painter and sculptor. About his paintings, he once said, "From the very beginning I have only drawn faces. I don't draw anything else. I think it [the rest] is all a lot of waste of time. You see I want to get the personality of the person into the paper. And that you can only show through his eyes, his face."

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