Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (also known as Badshah Khan) (1890 - January 20, 1988) was a Pashtun political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition to British rule during the final years of the Empire on the Indian sub-continent. Few individuals of greatness are as little known to the Western World as this lifelong pacifist.

File:Bachakhan.jpg

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan aka Bacha Khan

Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun (or Afghan) and was educated in a small school run by Christian missionaries. A devout Muslim for his entire life, his childhood was in sharp contrast to his contemporaries. Education as a means of social advancement remained a dominant theme throughout his life.

Ghaffar Khan’s goal was a united, independent, secular India. To achieve that end, he founded the Khudai Khidmatgar (“Servants of God”) during the 1920s. The Khudai Khidmatgar was based on a belief in the power of complete non-violence. Its members vowed: “I shall never use violence. I shall not retaliate or take revenge, and shall forgive anyone who indulges in oppression and excesses against me.” This philosophy was developed after Ghaffar Khan forged a close, spiritual, and always uninhibited friendship with Mahatma Gandhi, the pioneer of non-violent mass civil disobedience. Also known as the “Red Shirts”, the organization recruited over 100,000 members and became legendary in opposing (and dying) at the hands of the British controlled police and army. Through strikes, political organization and nonviolent opposition, the Khudai Khidmatgars were able to achieve some temporary success and came to dominate the politics of the North West Frontier Province (now a part of Pakistan) from 1930 until 1947. His brother, Dr. Khan Sahib formed provincial governments, and subsequently became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. They agitated and worked cohesively with the Indian National Congress, the leading national organization fighting for freedom, of which Ghaffar Khan was a senior and respected member. This staunch Gandhian was rightly accorded the epithet, "Frontier Gandhi."

Although Ghaffar Khan was a champion of women’s rights and nonviolence, he became a hero in a society dominated by violence. Notwithstanding his liberal views, his unswerving faith and obvious bravery led to his recognition as the Badshah Khan – the “khan of khans”. Throughout his life, he never lost faith with his non-violent methods or with the compatibility of Islam and nonviolence. He viewed his struggle as a Jihad with only the enemy holding swords.

He strongly opposed the partition of India, also known as Bharat, which would have left the NWFP in Pakistan. Failing to prevent India from breaking up into Pakistan, Khan led a movement for an independent Pashtunistan, which was brutally suppressed by the Pakistani Army. Khan was exiled to Afghanistan, but subsequently returned to Pakistan. He was placed under house arrest, but he never lost his love for the vision of a united Bharat (India). He had a deep admiration and close friendship with the late Mahatma Gandhi.

Ghaffar Khan died in Peshawar under house arrest in 1988 and was buried in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Although he had been repeatedly imprisoned and persecuted, tens of thousands of mourners attended his funeral. A cease fire was announced in the Afghan war to allow the funeral to take place. He had been awarded the Bharat Ratna – India’s highest civilian award – a year before his death.

Also Read

Khan Wali Khan

External links