Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan was a Pashtun independence activist who came in for harsh criticism from many of his followers who favoured partition into an independent Hindu-majority India and a Muslim-majority Pakistan. It was at this time that he was given a second nickname: “Frontier Gandhi,” meaning the Gandhi from the Northwest border, the region adjacent to Afghanistan.
He was a lifelong pacifist who advocated non-violent opposition and founded the Khudai Khidmatgar, Servants of God, in order to protest against the British-controlled army by means of peaceful protests and political activism. He was a devout Muslim with an unwavering faith in the compatibility of Islam and nonviolence. He held liberal views and championed for women’s rights which made him much popular among the masses.
The volunteers of Khudai Khidmatgar movement were also known as “Surkho Posh” or “Red shirts” and it was initially a social reform organization focusing on education and the elimination of blood feuds from Afghan society but turned more political later. It espoused nonviolent nationalist agitation in support of Indian independence and sought to awaken the Pashtuns’ political consciousness. By the late 1930s Ghaffar Khan had become a member of Gandhi’s inner circle of advisers, and the Khudai Khitmatgar actively aided the Congress Party cause up to the partition of India in 1947.
Ghaffar Khan met Gandhi and entered politics in 1919 during agitation over the Rowlatt Acts which allowed the internment of political dissidents without trial. In the following year he joined the Khilafat movement, which sought to strengthen the spiritual ties of Indian Muslims to the Turkish sultan, and in 1921 he was elected president of a district Khilafat committee in his native North-West Frontier Province.
Khan believed that people should earn respect based on their deeds, not on their class background. He condemned privileges and conducted himself with modesty, honesty and courage according to many of his followers. It was at this time one of his many nicknames stuck: Badshah Khan, “King of all leaders.”
In 1928 Khan met Mahatma Gandhi for the very first time and got involved with the Indian Congress Party. Very soon he became Gandhi’s closest aide. Gandhi and Khan shared a vision together, a vision that was stronger than everything else. They dreamed of an independent, undivided, secular India – an India where both Hindus and Muslims would live together in peace.
Bacha Khan was strongly against the partition of India and dreamed of creating a united, independent and secular India. However, this was not to be and India was partitioned on 14th august 1947, causing him great distress. After the partition he remained active in social and political activism and was frequently arrested for his activities which many Pakistanis felt were pro-Indian.
Ghaffar Khan, who had opposed the partition, chose to live in Pakistan, where he continued to fight for the rights of the Pashtun minority and for an autonomous Pushtunistan. He paid dearly for his principles, spending many years in jail and afterward residing in Afghanistan.
Khan was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1967. In 1969 he addressed the Indian parliament, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s 100th birthday. His memoirs, My Life and Struggle, were made public in 1969. Ghaffar Khan returned to Pakistan in 1972. He was nominated for Nobel Peace prize in 1985. In 1987 he became the first person who won Bharat Ratna India’s highest civilian award without being an Indian national.
He died in Peshawar in 1988 and was laid to rest in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, according to his wishes. The Muslim Gandhi had such a positive impact on the whole region that a ceasefire was declared during the civil war in Afghanistan for one day so that Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan could be buried. This demonstrates the esteem in which he was held.
