The Afghan Martyrs — Page 29
tantamount to inviting death. The entire budget of the Ameer (Habeebulla) was dependent on favours from the British. All his personal expenses were met through aid from India and a string of various kinds of presents continued to be sent to His Majesty by the British Government. Most senior Afghan officials were in the pay of the British. " (Mushihedaat-e-Kabul and Yaghistan Pages 20,21,28) Arnold Fletcher in. his book writes: "The greatest weakness of Ameer Habeebulla Khan lay in his sexual impropriety. In this way he was completely the opposite of his father Abdur Rahman Khan to whom sexual relationships were secondary. Habeebulla followed in the footsteps of Taimoor Shah and made women the fountainhead of all his attention and luxury. From a large number of wives and concubines he had more than a hundred children. " (Afghanistan Highway of Conquest, Page 171) At the invitation of the British Government Ameer Habeebulla Khan visited India in 1906. Arnold Fletcher has recorded his impressions thus: "During his visit King Habeebulla Khan proposed to a number of ladies of British origin. II (Page 174) In 1919 Habeebulla Khan was the target of a bullet fired by an unknown assassin. By martyring Sahibzada Abdul Lateef, Habeebulla Khan had been guilty of a monumental crime. Therefore as punishment, in exact accord with what the Promised Messiah (PBUH) had written, he was assassinated. The Promised Messiah (PBUH) had predicted that the land of Kabul would witness the natural consequences of the shedding of blood. He 29