Afghanistan: Abdul Rahman Pajhwok’s 100th birth anniversary marked

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Saturday organized a special ceremony in connection with 100th birth anniversary of a renowned Afghan writer, poet and diplomat Abdul Rahman Pajhwok. Diplomats, writers, government officials and academicians attended the ceremony. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Zalmai Rassoul, said that late Pajhwok was a great politician, culture figure, writer and a patriot who had made several considerable achievements in his life for the nation. “He supported freedom of speech and media as he was a seasoned journalist and writer. He was an outstanding diplomat in Afghanistan’s history and his knowledge in International Relations and Politics helped the country in international political arena. Pajhwok was the first diplomat from Afghanistan who worked as president of the United Nations General Assembly,” the minister said. Zalmai Rassoul hoped that young diplomats would be encouraged by Pajhwok’s work to remain committed to play their role in development of the country. Chief of the Public Relations Department of MoFA, Abdul Qahar Abed, said that Abdul Raman Pajhwok was a veteran politician, and writer who contributed in different fields through his writings. Abed said that Pajhwok became diplomat in 1946 and proven his skills and capabilities in short time. He became a high ranking official in Foreign Ministry of Afghanistan. He served as president in deferent branches of the UN General Assembly. Due to political problems in Afghanistan in 1978 he resigned from his position in the UN and came back to his motherland. Later he became sick and died in 1995, in Hayatabad area of Peshawar. President Hamid Karzai in his massage which was read by the president’s advisor, Yahya Maroof, said the personality of Pajhwok would persuade the young diplomats to prove themselves while exhibiting their skills and performing well. Abdul Raman Pajhwok was a smart diplomat of Afghanistan in foreign country. During his career he worked hard to protect and promote the national interest at international level. He performed his duties honestly and with great zeal, President Karzai said. Karzai said that Pajhwok had command over the two national languages and published several poems and other writings. In the ceremony other writers also shed light on personality and writings of Abdul Rahman Pajhwok. Biography of Abdul Rahman Pajhwok: Abdul Rahman Pajhwok was elected as president of the United Nations General Assembly in the twenty-first session, and served as permanent representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations since April16, 1958. He remained member of Afghanistan’s delegation to the General Assembly since 1948. He was born in Ghazni province on March 7, 1919. He received his education in Afghanistan. He started his career as a journalist. He joined Foreign Publications of Government Press Department as director. Later, he worked as Director General of Bakhtar News Agency. In 1946, he was appointed as Cultural and Press Attaché in Afghanistan’s Embassy in London. The following year, he joined the Information Section of the International Labor Organization, where he remained for two years. In 1949, he returned to his country’s diplomatic service and became Cultural and Press Attaché at Afghan Embassy in Washington. He remained there until 1951 when he returned to Kabul to take over the position of Director of the Asian and African Affairs Section and to serve as acting Director of the United Nations Section of Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Political Department. In 1957, he was appointed as Director General of the Political Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a post he held until his appointment as Afghanistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Pajhwok represented Afghanistan during the Economic and Social Council from 1959 to 1961. He was a member of the Commission on Human Rights from 1961 to 1963, serving as chairman in the latter year. In 1963, he served as Chairman of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission to Vietnam, sent to examine the relations between the Government of the Republic of Vietnam and the Vietnamese Buddhist community. He was Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Oman in 1964. Mr. Pajhwok has represented Afghanistan at several international conferences, including the Bandung Conference in 1955, the Preparatory Conference of Foreign Ministers held in Cairo in 1961 and the Belgrade Conference of Non-Aligned Nations (also called NAM) in 1961. He headed the Afghan delegation to the conferences of Foreign Ministers in Djakarta in 1964, and Algiers in 1965. He was also a member of the delegation of Afghanistan to the Second Conference of Non-Aligned Nations, held in Cairo in 1964. He served as president and honorary member of the Royal Afghan Academy of Literature. He has also been a member of the Society of Historical Studies of Afghanistan.