Biography of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Born: 6 February 1890
Where where I was born: Utmanzai, Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.
Parents: Bahram Khan (father)
Sisters Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (elder brother)
Spouse: Meharqanda Khan, Nambata Khan
Children: Abdul Ali Khan, Abdul Ghani Khan, Abdul Wali Khan, Sardar Khan, Mehar Taj Khan, Abdul Ali Khan
Education: Edward’s Mission School, Aligarh Muslim University
Political Association: Indian National Congress, Pakistan Azad Party, Awami National Party
Awards: Prisoner of Conscience (1962), Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding (1967), Bharat Ratna (1987)
Death: 20 January 1988
Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a Pashtun freedom fighter who fought his country’s British invasion of India. The name he was most often associated with is ‘Bacha Khan He was also an important political figure in the spiritual world, and was who was known for his non-violence philosophies and the practice of pacifism. A deeply devoted Muslim He was an extremely close friend and associate of Mahatma Gandhi, and this also earned him the nickname “Frontier Gandhi”. In 1929″Bacha Khan” was the first to initiate the “Khudayi Khidmatgar”, (Servants Of God) movement. Incredibly against the division of India and Pakistan, he emigrated to Pakistan shortly after its founding However, he was able to spend the majority of his time either in prison or in exile until his death in the year 1988.
Early Life:
Abdul Ghaffar Khan was born on the 6th of February, 1890 in Utmanzai located within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of then-divided India. The father of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Bahram Khan, was an affluent landowner in the Hashtnaghar region. He was a student at Edward’s Mission School run by British Christian missionaries. In their last year at high school, “Bacha Khan” was presented with an opportunity to join the Indian Army of Britain’s Corps of Guides, however, He declined the honorific post, recognizing that members of the Corps were second-class citizens within their country. He was given the chance to study under Reverend Wigram to pursue his studies in London. Although his father voluntarily allowed him to go Bacha’s mother refused and ‘Bacha’ was left with no choice but to stay in London and study at the well-known Aligarh Muslim University.
In 1910 at the age of 20 Bacha founded a school in the mosque of Utmanzai. In the following year, he joined the fight for independence which the renowned freedom fighter Haji Sahib Turangzai had initiated. Following the British authorities shut down the school he established, Abdul Ghaffar Khan concluded that social change as well as activism could benefit Pashtuns more than rebellions. So was born ‘Anjuman Islah-e Afghanistan’ (Afghan Reform Society) in 1921 and “Paxton Jirga’ (Pashtun Assembly) which was a youth-oriented movement in 1927. The group was founded in May 1928. following the time that Bacha Khan returned from the journey to Mecca He established the ‘Paxton’ (Pashtun) as an annual political journal written that was written in the Pashto language. From 1915 to 1918 Bacha Khan was a frequent visitor to over 500 villages across the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa districts to organize and increase the awareness of the Pushtuns in his vicinity due to this intense action, he began to be referred to as “Badshah” (‘Bacha’) Khan (King of Chiefs).
He was in 1912 when he got married to Meherqandha, a member of Meherqandha of the Kinankhel clan belonging to the Mohammadzai tribe of Razzar the village is located close to Utmanzai. Their sons were: Abdul Ghani Khan and Abdul Wali Khan as well as one daughter, Sardar Meharqanda. The 1918 epidemic of influenza caused the death of his wife. In the year 1920, Abdul Ghaffar Khan got married to Namrata. The union gave him one daughter, Mehar Taj Khan, as well as one child, Abdul Ali Khan. Tragically, Nambata died after falling down the stairs in the couple’s Jerusalem apartment.
Biography of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Khuda Khidmatgar
After witnessing the numerous unsuccessful revolutionary efforts to gain freedom in India, Bacha Khan concluded that the only viable method of achieving the dream of a secular, united, and self-governing nation was to make a strong acceptance of Gandhi’s’Satyagraha’s principles. To boost the momentum of the freedom movement in India in the 1920s, he created the ‘Khudayi Khhidmatgar’ (Servants of God) in the 1920s. members of the group were based on patience and justice as weapons against injustice. Within a short period, it was reported that there were over 10,000 “Khudayi Khidmatgar who engaged in strikes and peaceful protests that, when successful resulted in a brutal arrest from the British. It was his position as the Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa during the latter part of the 1920s through 1947. Following Pakistan was granted independence after 1947, the administration was removed to Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
In April of 1930, Bacha Khan was arrested for infractions to the Salt Act. In a tragic event, about 250 Khudayi Khidmatgars suffered fatal injuries when British forces opened fire at a crowd of unarmed people who were gathered at Kissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar to show their support for the king.
In association with the Indian National Congress
Due to their profound respect towards one another and their shared conviction of non-violence Bacha Khan as well as Mahatma Gandhi formed a very intimate and spiritual connection. Due to his strong adherence to the ideals, Mahatma Gandhi represented His acquaintance and Congress collaborator, Pandit Amir Chand Bombwal was given the title of ‘Frontier’ Gandhi, which was later widely known in India. The presidency was offered to the Congress Party in 1931, Bacha Khan turned down the honor declaring, “I am a simple soldier and Khudayi Khidmatgar, and I only want to serve”. He was part of the Congress Party Working Committee for many years, but he briefly quit in 1939 over a disagreement with his position on the War policies of the Congress Party. He re-joined when the policy was changed.
The Partition:
From the beginning, Abdul Ghaffar Khan was strongly against India being divided and a new Muslim state being established. He was considered a Muslim who was anti-Muslim and was even physically assaulted on the streets of Peshawar due to which he was forced to be admitted to hospital. Recognizing it was inevitable that the partition would happen on the 21st of June 1947, a “loyal-jirga’ (grand assembly) was held in Bannu with “Bacha Khan,” the representatives of the Provincial Assembly, the Khudayi Khidmatgars and members of the Khudayi Khidmatgars, Pashtun tribe leader Mirzali Khan, and other tribal leaders who were present. The Bannu Resolution required that Pashtuns were given the possibility of forming an independent state called “Pashtunistan,” which would include all Pashtun territories within the region and not be obliged to align with one India or Pakistan. To avoid further complications particularly when every one of them, except for Gandhi and Khan had backed the split, this request was not a priority for the British. Bacha Khan was disappointed and betrayed by India and Pakistan which is why he wrote Gandhi along with his Congress Party, words that will remain throughout the history of the region “You have thrown us to the wolves.” In a bid to remain faithful to his principles of non-violence and non-violence, ‘Bacha’ Khan’ and Khudayi Khidmatgar together within the Indian National Congress in boycotting the referendum that would decide the question of appointing Pakistan.
Life in Pakistan:
In the inaugural meeting of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly that was held on February 23, 1948″Bacha Khan” declared his loyalty to Pakistan by pledging his complete and unwavering support for the current government. He also offered to be reconciled with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of the new nation. They had a great meeting in Karachi However, a second meeting scheduled to take place in the headquarters of Khudayi Khidmatgar did not take place. According to reports, the gathering was subverted through Abdul Qayyum Khan, the Chief Minister of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa who claimed to have told Jinnah to believe that Bacha Kha’ was planning his assassination. In the wake of his attempt to align with Jinnah falling through, ‘Bacha Khan’ established his party, the Pakistan Azad Party on 8 May 1948. It was Pakistan’s first opposition party that had an independent and constructive intent to oppose.
A new Pakistani government was, however, always suspicious about his motivations putting the man under house arrest from 1948 until 1954, without charges. Because of his strong opposition to the One Unit scheme, He was detained numerous times between the end of 1948 and 1956. In 1958 his government offered him an official job to try to make amends following the murder of his brother. However, in typical fashion, he rejected it. He was detained again and released in 1964 due to his poor health. To get treatment, he was permitted to travel to the United Kingdom, where the doctors recommended he go to America. United States, from where the exiled man returned to Afghanistan. It was not until the creation of the provincial government in the North West Frontier Province and Balochistan by the National Awami Party that he returned to Pakistan in December 1972. Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s government had him detained in Multan in November of 1973. The last of his political activist initiatives was an anti-Kalabagh dam-related campaign because of its potential to harm the Peshawar valley. The project was decided to be completed only after his death.
Death:
Under house arrest, Abdul Ghaffar Khan suffered an extremely severe stroke. He was rushed to India and the physicians in India declared the patient untreatable. He was later taken to Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital, where died on the 20th of January, 1988. More than 200,000 mourners, including those of the Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah and the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, attended the funeral. Bacha Khan was buried at his Jalalabad home in Afghanistan.
Legacy:
Ghani Khan the eldest son of his was a well-known poet and his son, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, created his party Awami National Party. He was also the leader of the Opposition within the Pakistan National Assembly. Khan Abdul Ali Khan, his son’s third was a renowned educator. Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s legacy as a politician of non-violence was admired by the Pashtuns as well as Hindus but some of his critics doubted his patriotism due to his disapproval of Jinnah and the Muslim League and Jinnah, and his choice to be cremated in Afghanistan and not Pakistan.
The Frontier Gandhi: The Badshah Kan, the torch for peace film written and directed by the writer and filmmaker T.C. McLuhan was released in 2008 and won the prize for ‘Best Documentary film at the 2009 Middle East International Film Festival. “The Majestic Man,” a short biographical documentary in English was produced in 1989 by Abdul Kabeer Siddiqui. The actor Dilsher Singh played his part in Richard Attenborough’s epic 1982 film “Gandhi,”. Ghaffar Market in Karol Bagh, New Delhi is named in honor of him.
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