Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
,
independence activist, and founder of the
Khudai Khidmatgar
Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...
resistance movement
A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objective ...
against
British colonial rule in India. He was a political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition and lifelong
pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
; he was a devout
Muslim and an advocate for
Hindu–Muslim unity in the
subcontinent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...
Due to his similar ideologies and close friendship with
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, Khan was nicknamed Sarhadi Gandhi ().
In 1929, Khan founded the Khudai Khidmatgar, an anti-colonial
nonviolent resistance movement. The Khudai Khidmatgar's success and popularity eventually prompted the colonial government to launch numerous crackdowns against Khan and his supporters; the Khudai Khidmatgar experienced some of the most severe repression of the entire
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
.
Khan strongly
opposed the proposal for the
Partition of India into the Muslim-majority
Dominion of Pakistan
Between 14 August 1947 and 23 March 1956, Pakistan was an independent federal dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, created by the passing of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by the British parliament, which also created the Dominion of ...
and the Hindu-majority
Dominion of India
The Dominion of India, officially the Union of India,* Quote: “The first collective use (of the word "dominion") occurred at the Colonial Conference (April to May 1907) when the title was conferred upon Canada and Australia. New Zealand and N ...
, and consequently sided with the pro-union
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
and
All-India Azad Muslim Conference against the pro-partition
All-India Muslim League
The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcont ...
.
When the Indian National Congress reluctantly declared its acceptance of the
partition plan without consulting the Khudai Khidmatgar leaders, he felt deeply betrayed, telling the Congress leaders "you have thrown us to the wolves."
In June 1947, Khan and other Khudai Khidmatgar leaders formally issued the
Bannu Resolution to the
British authorities, demanding that the ethnic
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
be given a choice to have an independent state of
Pashtunistan
Pashtunistan ( ps, پښتونستان, lit=land of the Pashtuns) is a historical region in Central Asia and South Asia, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtun people of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto language, ...
, which was to comprise all of the Pashtun territories of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
and not be included (as almost all other Muslim-majority provinces were) within the state of
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
—the creation of which was still underway at the time. However, the British government openly refused to comply with the demands of this resolution.
In response, Khan and his elder brother,
Abdul Jabbar Khan
Justice Abdul Jabbar Khan (30 June 1902 – 23 April 1984) was the 6th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan. He was preceded by Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry.
Early life
He was born on 1 January 1902 in Baher char, Barisal. He graduated ...
, boycotted the
1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum on deciding whether the province should be merged with
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
or Pakistan, citing that it did not have the options for the Pashtun-majority province to become independent or to join neighbouring
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
.
After the Partition of India was brought into effect by the British government on
14 August 1947, Khan pledged allegiance to the newly created nation of Pakistan, and stayed in the now-Pakistani
North-West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followi ...
; he was frequently arrested by the
Pakistani government
The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territories, ...
between 1948 and 1954.
In 1956, he was arrested for his opposition to the
One Unit program, under which the government announced its plan to merge all the provinces of
West Pakistan
West Pakistan ( ur, , translit=Mag̱ẖribī Pākistān, ; bn, পশ্চিম পাকিস্তান, translit=Pôścim Pakistan) was one of the two Provincial exclaves created during the One Unit Scheme in 1955 in Pakistan. It was ...
into a single unit to match the political structure of erstwhile
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Myanmar, wi ...
(present-day
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
). Khan was jailed or in exile during much of the 1960s and 1970s. Following his will upon his death in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
while under house arrest in 1988, he was buried at his house in
Jalalabad
Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلالآباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
,
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. Tens of thousands of mourners attended his funeral, marching through the
Khyber Pass from Peshawar towards Jalalabad. It was marred by two bomb explosions that killed 15 people; despite the heavy fighting at the time due to the
Soviet–Afghan War
The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Sovie ...
, both sides, namely the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
–
Afghan government
The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...
coalition and the
Afghan mujahideen, declared an immediate
ceasefire
A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...
to allow Khan's burial.
Early years
Abdul Ghaffar Khan was born on 6 February 1890 into a prosperous
Sunni Muslim Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
family from
Utmanzai,
Hashtnagar; they lived by the Jindee-a, a branch of the
Swat River
The Swat River ( ur, , ps, سوات سیند) is a perennial river in the northern region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. The river's source is in the high glacial valleys of the Hindu Kush mountains, where it then flows into the s ...
, in what was then
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
's
Punjab province.
His father,
Abdul Bahram Khan, was a land owner in
Hashtnagar. Khan was the second son of Bahram to attend the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
-run Edward's Mission School, which was the only fully-functioning school in the region and which was administered by
Christian missionaries. At school, Khan did well in his studies, and was inspired by his
mentor
Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...
, Reverend Wigram, into seeing the crucial role education played in service to the local community. In his tenth and final year of secondary school, he was offered a highly prestigious commission in the
Corps of Guides regiment of the
British Indian Army. Khan declined due to his observational feelings that even Guides' Indian
officers
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
were still second-class citizens in their own nation. He subsequently followed through with his initial desire to attend
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
, and Reverend Wigram (Khan's teacher) offered him the opportunity to follow his brother,
Abdul Jabbar Khan
Justice Abdul Jabbar Khan (30 June 1902 – 23 April 1984) was the 6th Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan. He was preceded by Fazlul Qadir Chaudhry.
Early life
He was born on 1 January 1902 in Baher char, Barisal. He graduated ...
, to study in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. After graduating from
Aligarh Muslim University, Khan eventually received permission from his father to travel to London. However, his mother wasn't willing to let another son go to London, so he began working on his father's lands in the process of figuring out his next steps.
At the age of 20 in 1910, Khan opened a
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
in his hometown of Utmanzai. In 1911, he joined the independence movement of the Pashtun activist
Haji Sahib of Turangzai. By 1915, the British colonial authorities had shut down Khan's madrasa, deeming its pro-
Indian independence activism to be a threat to their authority. Having witnessed the repeated failure of Indian revolts against British rule, Khan decided that social activism and reform would be more beneficial for the ethnic Pashtuns. This led to the formation of the ''Anjuman-e Islāh-e Afghānia'' (
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...
: ) in 1921, and the youth movement ''Pax̌tūn Jirga'' () in 1927. After Khan's return from the
Islamic
Hajj pilgrimage to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
,
Hejaz−Nejd (present-day
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
) in May 1928, he founded the Pashto-language monthly political journal ''Pax̌tūn'' (). Finally, in November 1929, Khan founded the ''
Khudāyī Khidmatgār'' () movement, which would strongly advocate for the end of British colonial rule and establishment of a unified and independent India.
Ghaffar "Badshah" Khan
![Gandhi at Peshawar meeting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Gandhi_at_Peshawar_meeting.jpg)
In response to his inability to continue his own education, Bacha 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 (now
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
, Pakistan), as a buffer for the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
from Russian influence was of little benefit to its residents. Opposition to British colonial rule, the authority of the mullahs, and an ancient culture of violence and vendetta prompted Bacha Khan to want to serve and uplift his fellow men and women by means of education. At 20 years of age, Bacha Khan 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, Bacha Khan Khan worked tirelessly to organise and raise the consciousness of his fellow Pashtuns. Between 1915 and 1918 he visited 500 villages in all part of the settled districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It was in this frenzied activity that he had come to be known as ''Badshah (Bacha) Khan'' (King of Chiefs).
Being a
secular
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
Muslim he did not believe in religious divisions. He married his first wife Meharqanda in 1912; she was a daughter of Yar Mohammad Khan of the Kinankhel clan of the Mohammadzai tribe of Razzar, a village adjacent to Utmanzai. They had a son in 1913, Abdul Ghani Khan, who would become a noted artist and poet. Subsequently, they had another son,
Abdul Wali Khan
Khan Abdul Wali Khan ( ps, خان عبدالولي خان; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pakistani secular democratic socialist and Pashtun leader, and served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the prominent Pashtun nat ...
(17 January 1917 – 2006), and daughter, Sardaro. Meharqanda died during the
1918 influenza epidemic
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
. In 1920, Bacha Khan remarried; his new wife, Nambata, was a cousin of his first wife and the daughter of Sultan Mohammad Khan of Razzar. She bore him a daughter, Mehar Taj (25 May 1921 – 29 April 2012), and a son, Abdul Ali Khan (20 August 1922 – 19 February 1997). Tragically, in 1926 Nambata died early as well from a fall down the stairs of the apartment where they were staying in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
Khudai Khidmatgar
In time, Bacha Khan's goal came to be the formulation of a united, independent, secular India. To achieve this end, he founded the ''
Khudai Khidmatgar
Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...
'' ("Servants of God"), commonly known as the "Red Shirts" (''Surkh Pōsh''), during the 1920s.
The ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' was founded on a belief in the power of Gandhi's notion of
Satyagraha, a form of active
non-violence as captured in an
oath
Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...
. He told its members:
I am going to give you such a weapon that the police and the army will not be able to stand against it. It is the weapon of the Prophet, but you are not aware of it. That weapon is patience and righteousness. No power on earth can stand against it.
The organisation recruited over 100,000 members and became influential in the independence movement for their resistance to the colonial government. Through strikes, political organisation and non-violent opposition, the ''Khudai Khidmatgar'' were able to achieve some success and came to dominate the politics of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. His brother, Dr.
Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (known as Dr. Khan Sahib), led the political wing of the movement, and was the
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
of the province (from 1937 and then until 1947 when his government was dismissed by
Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...
of the
Muslim League Muslim League may refer to:
Political parties Subcontinent
; British India
*All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan.
**Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...
).
Kissa Khwani massacre
On 23 April 1930, Bacha Khan was arrested during protests arising out of the
Salt Satyagraha. A crowd of Khudai Khidmatgar gathered in Peshawar's
Kissa Khwani (Storytellers) Bazaar. The colonial government ordered troops to open fire with machine guns on the unarmed crowd, killing an estimated 200–250. The Khudai Khidmatgar members acted in accord with their training in non-violence under Bacha Khan, facing bullets as the troops fired on them. Two platoons of
The Garhwal Rifles
The Garhwal Rifles, formerly known as the Royal Garhwal Rifles, are an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It was originally raised in 1887 as the 39th (Garhwal) Regiment of the Bengal Army. It then became part of the British Indian Army, and a ...
regiment under
Chandra Singh Garhwali refused to fire on the non-violent crowd. They were later court-martialled and sentenced to a variety of punishments, including life imprisonment.
Bacha Khan and the Indian National Congress
Bacha Khan forged a close, spiritual, and uninhibited friendship with 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.
''Khudai Khidmatgar'' (servants of God) agitated and worked cohesively with the
Indian National Congress(INC), the leading national organisation fighting for independence, of which Bacha Khan was a senior and respected member. On several occasions when the Congress seemed to disagree with Gandhi on policy, Bacha 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." He remained a member of the Congress Working Committee for many years, 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.
Bacha Khan was a champion of women's rights and non-violence. 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 non-violence. He recognised as a
jihad struggle with only the enemy holding swords. He was closely identified with Gandhi because of his non-violence principles and he is known in India as the 'Frontier Gandhi'. One of his Congress associates was Pandit Amir Chand Boambwal of Peshawar.
The Partition
Khan strongly
opposed the partition of India.
Accused as being anti-Muslim by some politicians, Khan was physically assaulted in 1946, leading to his hospitalisation in Peshawar. On 21 June 1947, in
Bannu, a
loya jirga
A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...
was held consisting of Bacha Khan, the Khudai Khidmatgars, members of the Provincial Assembly,
Mirzali Khan
Haji Mirzali Khan Wazir ( oru, حاجي میرزاعلي خان وزیر), commonly known as the Faqir of Ipi (), was a Ormur tribal chief and freedom fighter from North Waziristan in today's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
After performing his ...
(Faqir of Ipi), and other tribal chiefs, just seven weeks before the partition. The loya jirga declared the
Bannu Resolution, which demanded that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of
Pashtunistan
Pashtunistan ( ps, پښتونستان, lit=land of the Pashtuns) is a historical region in Central Asia and South Asia, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtun people of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto language, ...
composing all Pashtun territories of British India, instead of being made to join either India or Pakistan. However, the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
refused to comply with the demand of this resolution.
The congress party refused last-ditch compromises to prevent the partition, like the
Cabinet Mission
A Cabinet Mission came to India in 1946 in order to discuss the transfer of power from the British government to the Indian political leadership, with the aim of preserving India's unity and granting its independence. Formed at the initiative of ...
plan and Gandhi's suggestion to offer the position of Prime Minister to Jinnah. As a result, Bacha Khan and his followers felt a sense of betrayal by both Pakistan and India. Bacha Khan's last words to Gandhi and his erstwhile allies in the Congress party were: "You have thrown us to the wolves."
When the
1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum over accession to Pakistan was held, Bacha Khan, the Khudai Khidmatgars, the then Chief Minister
Dr Khan Sahib
Dr. Khan Sahib ( ps, ډاکټر خان صیب ) (born 1883, Utmanzai, Charsadda – 9 May 1958, Lahore), mistakenly named as Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (), was a pioneer in the Indian Independence Movement and a Pakistani politician. He was the eld ...
, and the
Indian National Congress Party
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
boycotted the referendum. Some have argued that a segment of the population was barred from voting.
Arrest and exile
Bacha Khan took the
oath of allegiance to the new nation of Pakistan on 23 February 1948 at the first session of the
Pakistan Constituent Assembly
The Constituent Assembly of Pakistan ( bn, পাকিস্তান গণপরিষদ, Pākistān Goṇoporishod; ur, , Aāin Sāz Asimblī) was established in August 1947 to frame a constitution for Pakistan. It also served as its first ...
.
He pledged full support to the government and attempted to reconcile with the founder of the new state Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Initial overtures led to a successful meeting in Karachi, however a follow-up meeting in the Khudai Khidmatgar headquarters never materialised, allegedly due to the role of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister,
Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri who warned Jinnah that Bacha Khan was plotting his assassination.
[Korejo, M.S. (1993) ''The Frontier Gandhi, his place in history''. Karachi : Oxford University Press.]
Following this, Bacha Khan formed Pakistan's first National opposition party, on 8 May 1948, the Pakistan Azad Party. The party pledged to play the role of constructive opposition and would be non-communal in its philosophy.
However, suspicions of his allegiance persisted and under the new Pakistani government, Bacha Khan was placed under house arrest without charge from 1948 till 1954. Released from prison, he gave a speech again on the floor of the constituent assembly, this time condemning the massacre of his supporters at
Babrra.
He was arrested several times between late 1948 and in 1956 for his opposition to the
One Unit scheme. The government attempted in 1958 to reconcile with him and offered him a Ministry in the government, after the assassination of his brother, he however refused. He remained in prison till 1957 only to be re-arrested in 1958 until an illness in 1964 allowed for his release.
["Pakistan: The Frontier Gandhi" (18 January 1954). '']Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
''.
In 1962, Bacha Khan was named an "
Amnesty International Prisoner of the Year". Amnesty's statement about him said, "His example symbolizes the suffering of upward of a million people all over the world who are
prisoners of conscience."
In September 1964, the Pakistani authorities allowed him to go to United Kingdom for treatment. During the winter, his doctor advised him to go to United States. He then went into exile to Afghanistan, he returned from exile in December 1972 to popular support, following the establishment of a National Awami Party provincial government in
North West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...
and
Balochistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
.
He was arrested by Prime Minister
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...
's government at Multan in November 1973 and described Bhuttos government as "the worst kind of dictatorship".
[Wolpert, Stanley A. 1993. ''Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan: His Life and Times''. New York: Oxford University Press. ]
In 1984, increasingly withdrawing from politics he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He visited India and participated in the centennial celebrations of the Indian National Congress in 1985; he was awarded the
Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding
The Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding is an international award presented by the Government of India in honour of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first prime minister.
History
It was established in 1965 and is administere ...
in 1967 and later
Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest order", without distinctio ...
, India's highest civilian award, in 1987.
[Abdul Ghaffar Khan, 98, a Follower of Gandhi (21 January 1988) ''The New York Times''. Retrieved 21 January 2008]
His final major political challenge was against the Kalabagh dam project, fearing that the project would damage the Peshawar valley, his hostility to it would eventually lead to the project being shelved after his death.
Death
Bacha Khan died in Peshawar under house arrest in 1988 from complications of a stroke and was buried in his house at
Jalalabad
Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلالآباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
, Afghanistan. Over 200,000 mourners attended his funeral, including the Afghan president
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (Pashto/ prs, محمد نجیبالله احمدزی, ; 6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996), commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Par ...
. The then Indian Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi went to Peshawar, to pay his tributes to Bacha Khan despite the fact that General
Zia ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law i ...
attempted to stall his attendance citing security reasons. Additionally, the Indian government declared a five-day period of mourning in his honour.
Although he had been repeatedly imprisoned and persecuted, tens of thousands of mourners attended his funeral, described by one commentator as ''a caravan of peace, carrying a message of love'' from Pashtuns east of the Khyber to those on the west,
marching through the historic
Khyber Pass from Peshawar to Jalalabad. This symbolic march was planned by Bacha Khan, to affirmatively demonstrate his dream of Pashtun unification and to help that dream live on after his death. A cease-fire was announced in the
Afghan Civil War to allow the funeral to take place, even though it was marred by bomb explosions killing fifteen people.
Pashtunistan
Abdul Ghaffar Khan took an oath of allegiance to Pakistan in 1948 in the legislation assembly. When during his speech he was asked by the PM
Liaquat Ali Khan
Liaquat Ali Khan ( ur, ; 1 October 1895 – 16 October 1951), also referred to in Pakistan as ''Quaid-e-Millat'' () or ''Shaheed-e-Millat'' ( ur, lit=Martyr of the Nation, label=none, ), was a Pakistani statesman, lawyer, political theoris ...
about
Pashtunistan
Pashtunistan ( ps, پښتونستان, lit=land of the Pashtuns) is a historical region in Central Asia and South Asia, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtun people of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto language, ...
, he replied that it was just a name for the
Pashtun province in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, just like
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
,
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
,
Sindh and
Baluchishtan are the names of
provinces of Pakistan as ethno-linguistic names, However, this compromise was apparently contrary to what he believed in and strived for: Pashtunistan as an independent state.
Later on in 1980, during an interview with an Indian journalist, Haroon Siddiqui, Abdul Ghaffar Khan said that the "idea of Pashtunistan never helped Pashtuns". According to him, the idea of Pashtunistan was never a reality. He further said that "successive
Afghan governments have exploited the idea for their own political ends.
It was only towards the end of
Mohammed Daoud Khan
Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup ...
regime that he stopped talking about Pashtunistan. Later on, even
Nur Muhammad Taraki also talked about the idea of Pashtunistan and caused trouble for Pakistan". He said that "Pashtun people greatly suffered because of all this".
Abdul Ghaffar Khan gave this interview while he was in
Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلالآباد, ) is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about ...
.
Legacy
![Gandhi and Abdul Gaffa Khan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Gandhi_and_Abdul_Gaffa_Khan.jpg)
His eldest son
Ghani Khan was a poet. Ghani Khan's wife, Roshan, was from a
Parsi
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
family and was the daughter of Nawab Rustam Jang a prince of
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...
. His second son
Abdul Wali Khan
Khan Abdul Wali Khan ( ps, خان عبدالولي خان; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pakistani secular democratic socialist and Pashtun leader, and served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the prominent Pashtun nat ...
was the founder and leader of
Awami National Party from 1986 to 2006 and was the Leader of the Opposition in the
Pakistan National Assembly
The National Assembly ( ur, , translit=Aiwān-e-Zairīñ, , or ur, قومی اسمبلی, romanized: ''Qaumi Assembly'') is the lower legislative house of the bicameral Parliament of Pakistan, which also comprises the Senate of Pakistan (upp ...
from 1988 to 1990.
His third son
Abdul Ali Khan
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Utmanzai, Charsadda, North-West Frontier Province, British India, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
, death_date =
, death_place =
, nationality =
, education ...
was non-political and a distinguished educator, and served as Vice-Chancellor of
University of Peshawar
The University of Peshawar ( ps, د پېښور پوهنتون; hnd, پشور یونیورسٹی; ur, ; abbreviated UoP; known more popularly as Peshawar University) is a public research university located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pa ...
. Ali Khan was also the head of
Aitchison College,
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
and Fazle Haq college,
Mardan
Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...
.
His niece Mariam married Jaswant Singh in 1939. Jaswant Singh was a young British Indian airforce officer and was
Sikh by faith. Mariam later
converted to Christianity
Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of belie ...
.
Mohammed Yahya
Mohammed Yahya (also known as Mohammed Yahya Jan; 20 March 1901 – 4 March 1990) was primarily an Educationist, serving as the founder and first headmaster of the Islamia High School Peshawar, the Education Minister of the N.W.F.P. and director ...
Education Minister of
Khyber Pukhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ...
, was the only son in law of Bacha Khan.
Asfandyar Wali Khan
Asfandyar Wali Khan (Urdu and Pashto: اسفندیار ولی خان) (born 19 February 1949) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who is the president of the Awami National Party (ANP). His father, Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first presiden ...
is the grandson of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and leader of the Awami National Party. The party was in power from 2008 to 2013.
Zarine Khan Walsh, who lives in Mumbai, is the granddaughter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and was the second daughter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan's eldest son Abdul Ghani Khan.
The
All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind is chaired by Yasmin Nigar Khan, who claims to be the great-granddaughter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan.
Awami National Party leader
Asfandyar Wali Khan
Asfandyar Wali Khan (Urdu and Pashto: اسفندیار ولی خان) (born 19 February 1949) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who is the president of the Awami National Party (ANP). His father, Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first presiden ...
rejected the claim, though a
cultural ministry official clarified that Yasmin Nigar Khan was a descendant of Abdul Ghaffar Khan's "adopted" son.
Salma Ataullahjan is the great grand niece of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and a member of the
Senate of Canada.
Bacha Khan's political legacy is renowned amongst Pashtuns and those in modern Republic of India as a leader of a non-violent movement. Within Pakistan, however, the vast majority of society have questioned his stance with the All India Congress over the Muslim League as well as his
opposition to the partition of India and Jinnah. In particular, people have questioned where Bacha Khan's patriotism rests.
Film, literature and society
In 2008, a documentary, titled ''
The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, a Torch for Peace'', by film-maker and writer T.C. McLuhan, premiered in New York. The film received the 2009 award for Best Documentary Film at the
Middle East International Film Festival (see
film page).
In 1990, a 30 Minutes Biographical Documentary film On Badshah Khan ''The Majestic Man'' in English Language Which was telecast On Doordarshan (National channel ) Produced by Mr. Abdul Kabeer Siddiqui, Producer/Director from New Delhi who works for Indian National TV Channel.
In Richard Attenborough's 1982 epic ''
Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
'', Bacha Khan was portrayed by Dilsher Singh.
In his home city of
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
, the
Bacha Khan International Airport
Bacha Khan International Airport , formerly known as Peshawar International Airport, is an international airport located in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located in the southwestern end of the city of Peshawar, it is the fourth-bus ...
is named after him.
In his hometown
Charsadda
Chārsadda ( ps, چارسده; ; ur, ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. , the
Bacha Khan University
Bacha Khan University ( ps, ) ( ur, ) is a public university situated in Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, named after Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () o ...
is named after him.
Bacha Khan was listed as one of 26 men who changed the world in a recent
children's book
Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader.
Children's ...
published in the United States, alongside Tiger Woods and Yo Yo Ma. He also wrote an autobiography (1969), and has been the subject of biographies by
Eknath Easwaran
Eknath Easwaran (December 17, 1910 October 26, 1999) was an Indian-born spiritual teacher, author and translator and interpreter of Indian religious texts such as the '' Bhagavad Gita'' and the Upanishads.
Easwaran was a professor of English li ...
(see
article
Article often refers to:
* Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness
* Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication
Article may also refer to:
G ...
) and
Rajmohan Gandhi
Rajmohan Gandhi (born 7 August 1935) is an Indian biographer, historian, and research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US. His paternal grandfather is Mahatma Gandhi, ...
(see "References" section, below). His philosophy of Islamic pacifism was recognised by US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
, in a speech to American Muslims.
Muslim Media Network. (17 September 2009). Hillary Clinton hosts Iftar at State Department.
last accessed 22 March 2010.
In the Indian city of Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...
, the popular Khan Market
Khan Market, is a shopping district and retail market in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1951 by the newly constituted Republic of India's Rehabilitation Ministry to give economic opportunities to refugees of the Partition of India, es ...
is named in his honour, along with another market in the Karol Bagh
Karol Bagh is a neighbourhood in Central District of Delhi, India. It is a mixed residential and commercial neighborhood known for shopping streets such as the Ghaffar Market and Ajmal Khan Road.
It was home to the Karol Bagh Lok Sabha cons ...
area of New Delhi, Ghaffar Market. In Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
, a seafront road and promenade in the Worli
Worli (ISO: ''Varaḷī'', əɾ(ə)ɭiː is a locality in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other being Colaba, Bandra and Malabar Hill. The sea connects it with Bandra
via the B ...
neighbourhood was name
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Road
after him.
See also
* Mirzali Khan
Haji Mirzali Khan Wazir ( oru, حاجي میرزاعلي خان وزیر), commonly known as the Faqir of Ipi (), was a Ormur tribal chief and freedom fighter from North Waziristan in today's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
After performing his ...
* Khudai Khidmatgar
Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...
* List of peace activists
This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...
Footnotes
References
*
*
* Caroe, Olaf. 1984. ''The Pathans: 500 B.C–-A.D. 1957'' (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)." Oxford University Press.
* Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1969). ''My life and struggle
Autobiography of Badshah Khan
(as narrated to K.B. Narang)''. Translated by Helen Bouman. Hind Pocket Books, New Delhi.
* Rajmohan Gandhi
Rajmohan Gandhi (born 7 August 1935) is an Indian biographer, historian, and research professor at the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US. His paternal grandfather is Mahatma Gandhi, ...
(2004). ''Ghaffar Khan: non-violent Badshah of the Pakhtuns''. Viking, New Delhi. .
Eknath Easwaran
(1999). ''Nonviolent Soldier of Islam
''Nonviolent Soldier of Islam'' is a biography of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988), an ally of Gandhi, Gandhi's in the Indian independence movement. Originally written by Eknath Easwaran in English, foreign editions have also been published in A ...
: Ghaffar Khan, a man to match his mountains''
Nilgiri Press
Tomales, CA.
* ''Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan: A True Servant of Humanity'' by Girdhari Lal Puri pp. 188–190.
* Mukulika Banerjee (2000). ''Pathan Unarmed: Opposition & Memory in the North West Frontier''. School of American Research Press.
* ''Pilgrimage for Peace: Gandhi and Frontier Gandhi Among N.W.F. Pathans,'' Pyarelal, Ahmedabad, Navajivan Publishing House, 1950.
* ''Tah Da Qam Da Zrah Da Raza'', Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Mardan hyber-PakhtunkhwaUlasi Adabi Tolanah, 1990.
* ''Thrown to the Wolves: Abdul Ghaffar'', Pyarelal, Calcutta, Eastlight Book House, 1966.
* ''Faraib-e-Natamam '' , Juma Khan Sufi
External links
*
Interview
with Bacha Khan
Baacha Khan Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Bacha
1890 births
1988 deaths
Recipients of the Bharat Ratna
Pakistani civil rights activists
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Prisoners and detainees of British India
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People from Charsadda District, Pakistan
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