Khyber Union of Islamia College
Khyber Union was a quasi-legislative assembly for which elections were held annually on non-political basis. Electioneering for President of the Students Union was quite an event early in the academic year. President Khyber Union was a prestigious position. He lived in an independent lodge with Union flag flattering over his lodge in Usmania hostel and had hefty fund at his disposal. Candidates for election had no political affiliation and they were elected on the basis of their debating skills and leadership quality. Brigadier Fazal Ur Raheem in his memoir wrote, “In 1944 Mr Abdul Ali Khan, the youngest son of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, the greatest Pashtun leader of the 20th Century, was elected President of the Khyber Union. I was elected Secretary. After the election, I went to call on the President of the Union. Mr Abdul Ali Khan met me warmly, and even before shaking hands he said, “Welcome Raheem. We shall run the union totally in the greatest interest of the student community, irrespective of our political views, whatever they may be.” The same spirit of non-politicization of the Khyber Union prevailed when I joined
Islamia College in 1958. Throughout the year debates were held weekly on Sundays and young debaters were trained. The All Pakistan debates for school children and College students both in English and Urdu were very special occasions in which debaters from Punjab and Sindh use to participate. The Khyber Union hall a colonial building of grace accommodating up to a couple of thousand people used to be completely full. Government College Lahore always had strong English debating team. I remember the All Pakistan Colleges debate when Shah Zaman was President (1958-59), Mian Abdul Majid the Principal and Col. Munawwar Khan Afridi was the Vice Chancellor Peshawar University. Mian Majid was very compassionate and a loving teacher. Col. Afridi was an aristocratic retired military official. The Vice Chancellor was invited for prize distribution and had arrived in the company of Adil Khan; a towering personality was Director of Physical Education Peshawar University. They were received and escorted by the Principal. As the party reached entrance of the hall the Principal spotted a student standing besides me and asked “Gulapa” were you able to solve your problem?” The conversation between the Principal and the student continued for while in complete disregard to protocol for the Vice Chancellor. In the meantime Adil Khan said to the Vice Chancellor, since Mian Sahib found his “Gulab” we should move on and they did. Mian Majid used to address students “Gulapa” (rose). Such was the character of the person whom we all loved. During the debate one student raised a point of order telling a derogatory story about a cabinet member of the Khyber Union.
The Joint Secretary had represented Islamia College in a debating contest at Government College Lahore but had failed to win any trophy. The point of order dragged on for a while that irritated the Principal because the speaker was held back at the rostrum and the Chief Guest was listening anxiously. The President reprimanded the objector and asked the Proctors on duty to restrain him. The protestor apologized and was excused. The speaker continued but a while later the guy stood up again and asked if he would be allowed to raise a point of order. The President after getting a nod of approval from the Principal said, OK. Mr President the agitator reiterated; I wish to complete my story! The entire hall went into uproar; clapping, jeering and laughter for his daring assertion. The activist was the well-known conscience raiser and politician nicknamed Barrister Bacha (Mian Jamal Shah).He was the student whom I had envied from early age. He was the one at the age of 14 representing Pakistani children in the 8th World Scout Jamboree held at Montreal in 1955. About 11000 scouts from 71 countries had participated in the event. The department of education Peshawar had circulated a poster carrying Jamal Shah’s message to school children. I thought he was smart, could speak English and travelled abroad while me the same age and in 8th class at High School Thana, could hardly write a page or read a passage from the English newspaper and had not even travelled to Peshawar. His father was Director Physical Education NWFP and he was a student at Cantonment High School Peshawar. I felt extremely sad when he died in May 2013 at the age of 73. I wrote an obituary.
The Khyber Union had coached and produced prominent politicians and civil servants in the subcontinent. According to Dr Mohan Lal Taneja revisited Islamia College in 2008 and wrote “In the past students from Islamia College got preferential treatment in selection in Civil and Defence Services. Most of the old students did very well in life and respective careers enhancing college’s reputation and prestige. Some of the ex-students that I know in India occupied high positions in the country and in International agencies”. Those of my time include Masood Kausar Governor KP, Iqbal Hussain Khattack People’s Party Minister and Hashim Babar and Bashir Matta of ANP. Prominent among the civil servant are Sahibzada Imtiaz, Azam Khan, and Abdullah (Chief Secretaries NWFP) and Abbas Khan (IGP NWFP) and Qazi Humayun (Additional Secretary Foreign Affairs). Among the academician were Qasim Jan (VC Quaid-e-Azam University), Iqbal Shah (VC NWFP Agriculture University) and many outstanding debaters of the time; Zahid Hussain, Haider Karar, Hidayatullah and many more. Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali visited Islamia College in 1936, 1945 and 1948 and made the college one of the heirs of his property. In 1936 Quaid-e-Azam became the honorary member of the Khyber Union and had addressed students in the newly build Hamidia hall. Others honorary members of the Khyber Union include Khalida Adeeb Khanam the Turkish writer, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah and A.Q. Khan the father Pakistan’s atomic bomb. The disservice that authoritarian regimes have done to Islamia College Peshawar is the banning of the Khyber Union. The students were deprived of the art of public speaking and the sense of companionship with fellow debaters from across the country. Furthermore politically based student’s federations replaced the debating societies that undermined academic value and peace in educational institutions.
