PRESS RELEASE

Articles on Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Movement

Published in World History Encyclopedia (USA)

The recently released World History Encyclopedia includes articles on Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Movement (Khaksar Tehrik) by scholar and historian Nasim Yousaf. The encyclopedia is produced by renowned American publisher ABC-CLIO (located in California, USA), whose web site describes the aforementioned publication as such: “An unprecedented undertaking by academics reflecting an extraordinary vision of world history, this landmark multivolume encyclopedia focuses on specific themes of human development across cultures era by era, providing the most in-depth, expansive presentation available of the development of humanity from a global perspective. Well-known and widely respected historians worked together to create and guide the project in order to offer the most up-to-date visions available…A stunning academic achievement…” (Source: http://www.abc-clio.com/product.aspx?id=2147489185).

The inclusion of the aforementioned articles in the World History Encyclopedia is indeed a momentous and vital addition to the historiography of South Asia; these pieces provide an excellent opportunity for educationists, students, researchers, and historians interested in the history of the Indian sub-continent to further study the role of Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik in bringing freedom to British India. In addition to his contribution to the World History Encyclopedia, Mr. Yousaf has thus far authored nine books (five primarily focusing on Allama Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik and four on import and export of consumer products). He has also presented research papers at scholarly conferences in the USA Recognizing Mr. Yousaf’s achievements in various fields, Marquis’ Who’s Who published Mr. Yousaf’s biography in Who’s Who in America (2002) and various volumes of Who’s Who in the World (2001, 2003, 2004).

Throughout his works, Mr. Yousaf asserts that the history of the Indian sub-continent has been distorted. In a piece published in the Harvard Asia Quarterly, a journal of Asian affairs affiliated with the Harvard University Asia Center, he challenged the traditionally held belief that the partition of British India was inevitable and exposed a complex picture of the partition episode. His work presented the idea that there was in fact much resistance to dividing India. Further, it analyzed the reasons behind division in the face of such opposition and substantiated that an intriguing alliance was one of the key forces which eventually led to partition. Ultimately, Mr. Yousaf has called for the history of the Indian sub-continent to be rewritten in order to correct the fabrication and elimination of historical facts. His forthcoming book entitled Mahatma Gandhi & My Grandfather, Allama Mashriqi focuses on Mashriqi and Gandhi’s political differences.