Ajmal Khattak - Early Life

Early Life

Born in Akora Khattak on September 15, 1925, Ajmal Khattak as a child was greatly influenced by Bacha Khan. By the time he turned 17, he was already an active member of the Quit India Movement (1942). He was a student then at the Government High School, Peshawar, but he left to contribute more to the movement. It was the beginning of a political career that stretched over five decades during which his literary pursuits and education took several painful turns. However, he did return to his studies completing a masters in Persian from Peshawar University. At Islamia College, Peshawar, he was among the pioneers who put Pushto literature on the 'modern' track. Linking it to European literature, particularly English, he was able to give it new direction and was acclaimed as a progressive poet.

He has had a long career in both the Indian Independence Movement movement against the British in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP) of what was then British India as well as part of the National Awami Party (NAP) in its various incarnations in Pakistan. His early political career began during the Quit India movement after he came under the influence of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement. He was forced to leave the school due to his involvement in the Quit India Movement. As a writer he served as editor of various Newspapers and periodicals, including Anjam, Shahbaz, Adal and Rahber was well as script writer for Radio Pakistan.