Truck, pure opium and two Pakistani personalities

When I regained consciousness, the name of the ruler in my ears was Ayub Khan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was then called Frontier Province. Ayub Khan was a resident of Rehana village in Haripur city of Hazara district of this province. This may have been the reason why Ayub Khan's picture would have been painted on the trawlers, tankers and trucks coming from this province.

 Our city was located on such an ancient passageway for cargo vehicles, which on one side were destined for the Frontier Province, Northern Regions, even Afghanistan, and on the other side, they had to go inland and reach Karachi port through Dhillian and Talagang. Ayub Khan is the person most likely to have been depicted by the painters on the rear structure of these trucks and trawlers.

 Ayub Khan was always depicted in military uniform in these flamboyantly colored Shahparas of Truck Art. Army cap on head, cane in hand, many medals and rank insignia on chest and shoulders.

 All this had increased the fear of the person in this picture. Soldiers were still highly regarded in our region and people from every village, every town and every city used to be a part of the army. Sometimes another picture was also seen with Ayub Khan.

 The personality of this picture was different. The picture was of Nawab Amir Muhammad Khan, the governor of West Pakistan with a thick mustache and a smiling face. Sometimes black, sometimes white sherwani, a white dastar with a fringed embroidery on the gold wire hat, one of which was seen going from the neck towards the back. All these were so closely made part of the pictures by the truck art painters that they started to give a glimpse of the feudal crofter. We used to see the pictures of these two personalities in barbershops and hotels as well as in the shop where pure opium was sold. The intoxication of these pictures was like pure opium in those days.