A Witness to Broken Dreams

Reading is not just an act. It is a journey that carries you towards the quiet space within yourself. Books become a mirror that shows you who you truly are. They reveal your strengths and expose your weaknesses.

The book Fareb-e-Naatamaam, written by Juma Khan Sufi, is once again on my table these days. Sufi is a figure who lived through history from the front row. He spent years in self-imposed exile in Kabul alongside Ajmal Khattak, remained close to every Afghan ruler from Sardar Daud to Dr. Najib, and served as a link between the ANP leadership and the Afghan, Indian and Soviet governments. During those years, he was not only an eyewitness but also an active organizer of the ANP’s activities from Kabul. Afghan governments benefited from his services and even the Soviet Union regarded him as an important man, trained by the Communist Party itself. With this background, the importance of his book becomes clear.

Fareb-e-Naatamaam is the testimony of someone who saw history unfold with his own eyes and played his part within it. The narrative is gripping. It pulls the cover off dark characters wrapped in the cloak of history and leaves the reader astonished and eager to read on. In the pursuit of an “Independent Pashtunistan,” acts of sabotage and terrorism were carried out across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA and Balochistan. Cities shook with bomb blasts, political leaders were assassinated and government buildings were attacked. Training camps in Afghanistan were set up for “Pashtun Zalmi,” supported financially and operationally by Afghanistan, India and the Soviet Union.

During Sardar Daud’s rule, Bhutto invited Afghan mujahideen like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Ahmad Shah Massoud and Burhanuddin Rabbani to Pakistan, hosted them and established training camps under Naseerullah Babar. Meanwhile, Afghanistan saw several governments rise and fall, from Daud to Najib. Then the Soviet Union invaded, and its forces entered Kabul. There were many reasons behind the invasion, but Juma Khan Sufi writes that when years of political failures shattered the dream of an independent Pashtun state, the exiled ANP leadership in Kabul presented the Soviets with the dream and the path to reach warm waters. In return, they received money, support and personal benefits from the Soviets, the Indians and the Afghans. What happened afterwards has become history, known to all.

There is an interesting point worth noting. In that era, both sides were carrying the banner of socialism, yet nationalism overshadowed it everywhere. In Pakistan, Bhutto raised the slogan of socialism, and the ANP, linked directly to the Soviet Union through Kabul, held similar beliefs. Still, Pashtun nationalism dominated on one side and Pakistani nationalism on the other. Islamism had no real space in that conflict. Bhutto only used Islamism tactically in Afghanistan as a response to Pashtun nationalism. But history has been twisted so cruelly that socialism and nationalism slipped away quietly with their actors, and Islamism has been dragged into the dock alone. The lie has been repeated so many times that ANP’s exile, their plan to break Pakistan with Afghan support and the terrorism inside Pakistan have all been erased. Instead, ANP leaders now boldly claim on television that they were always right. Juma Khan Sufi, by bringing history back into the light, tears this falsehood apart.

Anyone with an interest in history should read this book.