Khan
Abdul Gaffar Khan
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| Khan
Abdul Gaffar Khan, more than anything else, was a man of God who believed
in service to the humanity as service to God. Any religion that provoked
conflict and fomented hatred, divided people and destroyed the unity of
mankind, Gaffar Khan condemned as not true religion. Gandhiji was struck
by Gaffar Khan's transparent sincerity, frankness and utmost simplicity.
He was, in his view, a true Khudai Khidmatgar, Servant of God. He struck
to the three prime ideals of life-amal, yakeen, muhabbhat--right conduct,
faith and love |
| Born
in the North-west Frontier Province in 1890, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan missed
the opportunity of going abroad for studies because his mother would not
let him go. He started a number of national schools, so that the sturdy
Pathans could first educate themselves. He organized the Pathans as the
Khudai Khidmatgars-Servant of God-with brownish (or red) uniforms--they
were called the Red Shirts. |
| Gaffar
Khan attended the Karachi Congress of 1931. He was arrested along with
his elder brother, Dr. Khan Saheb in 1931 and jailed in the Hazaribagh
jail of Bihar. Gaffar Khan was a member of the Congress Working Committee
(CWC). When the CWC adopted the Mountbatten Plan for the division of India,
Gaffar Khan was the saddest man among his compatriots. He spent the major
part of the rest of his life in Pakistan jails. He attended the Congress
Centenary session in Bombay in 1985. He was honored with the Award of Bharat
Ratna in 1987. He passed away on January 20, 1988. He was a Citizen of
the World, who embodied the best in Indian Culture |
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan at Hashtnagar in Utmanzai, Peshawar, North-West
Frontier Province, India, 1890; d. in Peshawar, NWFP, Pakistan, 20
January 1988) was a Pashtun (Afghan) political and spiritual leader known
for his non-violent opposition to British Rule during the final years of
the Imperial rule in the Indian sub-continent. He was a lifelong pacifist
and a devout Muslim. He was known as Badshah Khan (sometimes written as
Bacha Khan), the King of Chiefs, and Frontier Gandhi.. |
Ghaffer Khan was born into a generally peaceful and prosperous family
in the Peshwar Valley. His father, Behram Khan, was a land owner, farmer,
and the chief of the Mohammedzais ("sons of Mohamed") tribe of the Pashtun
(Pathan) people.
Ghaffar was the second son of Behram to attend the British run Edward's
mission school -- an unusual arrangement since it was discouraged by the
local mullahs. At school the young Ghaffar did well in his studies and
was inspired by his mentor Reverend Wigram to see the importance of education
in service to the community. In his 10th and final year of high school
he was offered a highly prestigious commission in The Guides, an elite
corp of Pashtun and Sikh soldiers of the British Raj. Ghaffar refused the
commission after realizing even Guide officers were still second-class
citizens in their own country. He resumed his intention of University study
and Reverend Wigram offered him the opportunity to follow his brother,
Khan Sahib, to study in London. While he eventually received the permission
of his father, Ghaffar's mother wasn't willing to lose another son to London
-- and their own culture and religion as the mullahs warned her. So Ghaffar
began working on his father's lands while attempting to discern what more
he might do with his life.
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| In response to his inability to continue his own education, Ghaffar
Khan turned to helping others start theirs. Like many such regions of the
world, the strategic importance of the newly formed North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) as a buffer for the British Raj from Russian influence
was of little benefit to its residents. The oppression of the British,
the repression of the mullahs, and an ancient culture of violence and vendetta
prompted Ghaffar to want to serve and uplift his fellow men and women by
means of education. At 20 years of age, Ghaffar opened his first school
in Utmanzai. It was an instant success and he was soon invited into a larger
circle of progressively minded reformers.
While he faced much opposition and personal difficulties, including
the loss of his first wife in 1915 to an influenza epidemic, Ghaffer Khan
worked tirelessly to organize and raise the consciousness of his fellow
Pushtuns. Between 1915 and 1918 he visited every one of the 500 settled
districts of the Frontier. It was in this frenzied activity that he had
come to be known as the Badshah Khan (King of Chiefs).
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| Ghaffar Khan forged a close, spiritual, and uninhibited friendship
with Mahatma Gandhi, the pioneer of non-violent mass civil disobedience
in India. The two had a deep admiration towards each other and worked together
closely till 1947.
The Khudai Khidmatgar 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. On several occasions
when the Congress seemed to disagree with Gandhi on policy, Ghaffar Khan
remained his staunchest ally. In 1931 the Congress offered him the presidency
of the party, but he refused saying, "I am a simple soldier and Khudai
Khidmatgar, and I only want to serve." But he remained a member of the
Congress Working Committee for a long time, resigning only in 1939 because
of his differences with the Party's War Policy. He rejoined the Congress
Party when the War Policy was revised.
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 immense respect.
Throughout his life, he never lost faith in his non-violent methods or
in the compatibility of Islam and nonviolence. He viewed his struggle as
a jihad with only the enemy holding swords. He was closely identified with
Gandhi and he is known in India as the `Frontier Gandhi'.
"O Pathans! Your house has fallen into ruin. Arise and rebuild it, and
remember to what race you belong." -- Ghaffar Khan
quoted in Eknath Easwaran, A Man to Match his Mountains: Bacha Khan,
Nonviolent Soldier of Islam (Nilgiri Press, Petaluma, 1984), |
