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The trial against Wali Khan began on May 10, 1976, about a year after Sherpao’s murder and Wali’s arrest. The government presented a list of 455 witnesses. During the proceedings Wali Khan complained that the government was using delaying tactics and during 18 months it had produced only 22 witnesses; as a protest he boycotted the proceedings and sent this message to the tribunal:
“My Lord, please arrange Aab-i-Hayat for us so that we … live till the completion of the proceedings of this trial. Take it yourself also to enable your honour to write the judgment in this case. After completion of the proceedings, give it to Mr. Bhutto also so that he could live till the decision of the case. Producing only 22 witnesses [in this period] means that a half century will be required to hear the statements of witnesses of the prosecution and the same number of years will be required for their cross-examination.”
He directed his counsel not to appear in the case.
This infuriated the tribunal which observed that Wali Khan should appear in the court and apologise.
To this observation Wali Khan responded by clarifying the conditions under which he had boycotted the proceedings and pleaded that it did not amount to disrespect to the court.
The day on which Wali Khan withdrew from the hearing, he had requested for the constitution of a proper bench. He said in the application that the two judges sitting on the bench were former law secretaries and were party in the reference case banning the NAP as an anti-state party. He claimed that the grounds of his detention were almost the same as laid down in the reference.
The objection on the constitution of the bench was not unusual and every respondent does so in similar cases. This was followed by another plea by Wali Khan that a lawyer of his status be appointed and this request was accepted by the court. However, the request that the court should not proceed with the case till the other five main respondents were made available during the proceedings was turned down. Similarly the controversial judges also remained in their seats, Wali Khan therefore withdrew from contesting the case.
The year 1976 ended without any progress on the case and Wali Khan with other associates continued to languish in jail. This did not change the political situation in the country. The National Awami Party continued to remain banned.
There were two cases being heard at the same time. The one about Sherpao’s murder and the other a reference banning the NAP as an anti-state party. On October 30, 1975, the Supreme Court upheld the government’s ban on NAP, in which the court held that the party was working for an independent Pakhtunistan and Greater Balochistan at the cost of Pakistan’s territorial integrity.
After the court verdict the NAP leaders continued to suffer in Hyderabad jail till the March 7, 1977 elections. As the campaigning heated up, there appeared little hope on the part of the Bhutto government to pursue the case; finally the July 5, 1977 coup led by General Ziaul Haq put an end to the matter. Zia visited Hyderabad jail, dropped the conspiracy case and got the NAP leaders released on December 7, 1977.
Whether Wali Khan wanted Pakhtunistan or wanted to support the movement for establishing a Greater Balochistan, it goes without saying that he was a democratic and social leader. Son of the great Pakhtun leader Khan Abdul Ghafar Khan (Bacha Khan, also known as the Frontier Gandhi) he had a brilliant political career. He was jailed many times, once under Frontier Crimes Regulations and once for participating actively in the Quit India Movement. Brought up according to the philosophy of his father’s non-violent resistance movement, the Red Shirts, he became an activist of the Khudai Khidmatgars. Educated at Dehradun he did not pursue further education, but took a keen interest in politics. He supported Congress and also backed its policy of independence. He therefore opposed Partition and termed it a British conspiracy to break India in their interest.
After independence Wali Khan struggled for Pakhtun autonomy while staying within the Pakistan federation; this branded him a rebel and he was jailed many times. In the early 1950s he expressed willingness to hold talks on provincial autonomy to clarify his party’s viewpoint. The talks with governor general Ghulam Mohammad and prime minister Mohammad Ali Bogra led to the beginning of an understanding but were later sabotaged by Ayub Khan, the army commander who dislodged the political government in 1958.
