Ajmal Khattak was born in September 15, 1925. He was a politician, writer and Pashtun poet and close friend of the late Khan Wali Khan.
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 doing an MA 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 through the length and breadth of the subcontinent.
He has had a long career in both the Indian Independence Movement movement against the British in the North West Frontier Province (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 as well as script writer for Radio Pakistan.
Political career
He was elected as a member of NWFP Provincial Assembly and served as a Provincial minister in the cabinet of Mufti Mehmood's NAP - JUI government in 1972. After the resignation of the NWFP cabinet in protest at President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's dismissal of the Balochistan government led by Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Ajmal Khattak became the Secretary General of the National Awami Party.
He was the organizer and stage secretary at the United Democratic Front rally held at Liaquat Bagh Rawalpindi on March 23, 1973, when shots were fired at the UDF leaders, including Khan Abdul Wali Khan. In the general melee that followed, a number of UDF and NAP workers were killed by the authorities in their attempt at ending the rally.
Exile
Since Ajmal Khattak was a prominent figure in the National Awami Party, he was wanted by the Federal Security Force as part of the general crackdown on NAP. In order to avoid arrest and possible torture, he fled into self imposed exile to Afghanistan and stayed there for 16 long years.
During his years in Kabul, Ajmal Khattak was a close confidant of Badshah Khan, and also enjoyed excellent relations with leaders of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, including President Nur Muhammad Taraki, Babrak Karmal and Dr. Mohammad Najibullah.
He ended his exile in 1989 after the Awami National Party(ANP), the successor of the NAP, entered into an electoral alliance with Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League- led Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).
Return to Pakistan
In the general election of October 1990, Ajmal Khattak was elected from his home district of Nowshera to the National Assembly of Pakistan, defeating Tariq Khattak of the Pakistan Peoples Party. These elections also signalled the retirement of Khan Wali Khan after his electoral loss to Maulana Hassan Jan of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. Ajmal Khattak was elected as the President of the Awami National Party when Khan Wali Khan stepped down from the post.