Oxford University Press (OUP) launched its latest publication "Tareekh Say Kuchh Nahin Seekha: Siyasat Aur Afwaj-e-Pakistan", the Urdu translation of best-selling book, "We've Learnt Nothing from History - Pakistan: Politics and Military Power" (Oxford University Press, May 2005) authored by Air Marshal M. Asghar Khan (Retd).
The book charts the course of Pakistan's turbulent political history starting from the early entry of the armed forces into the country's politics and the author's opposition to the military rule that began in 1968 with the movement for the restoration of democracy.
This movement resulted in the ouster of President Muhammad Ayub Khan in 1969 after 11 years of military rule. Asghar Khan recounts, in particular, his continued opposition to General Yahya Khan's policy of brutal suppression through military action in East Pakistan.
He recalled Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's rise to the political power during the 1970s and General Ziaul Haq's dogmatic and iron-fisted military rule during the 1980s. The book concludes with the author's assessment of General Pervez Musharraf's five-year in power consequent upon the re-entry of the armed forces in the country's politics in 1999.
Asghar Khan was born in 1921. He joined the Indian military in 1939. After partition he was posted as Commandant of the PAF College, Risalpur. He commanded the Pakistan Air Force from 1957-1965 and was President of PIA from 1965 to 1968.
The author entered the political arena in 1968 and led a movement for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Asghar Khan formed his own political party Tehrik-e-Istaqlal in 1972. He was elected to the National Assembly in the general elections held in 1977. He stepped down as President of Tehrik-e-Istaqlal in December 1995.
He is the author of a number of books, Pakistan at the Cross Roads, Generals in Politics, and Islam, Politics and the State - The Pakistan Experience.
The launching ceremony was well attended by bureaucrats, corporate executives, diplomats and journalists.
Speaking on the occasion, Mujeebur Rahman Shami, a senior journalist, and the chief guest, Imran Khan, said that Asghar Khan was a principled and idealistic practitioner of politics.
They also said that the book contains some fresh insights on the role of the armed forces and the state of politics in the country.
Earlier, OUP Managing Director Ameena Saiyid welcomed the guests, introduced the author and highlighted some recently published Oxford books.-PR
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