Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, The Frontier Gandhi

1890 - 1988

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, proud Pashtun and devout Muslim from Charsadda in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan, traveled the length and breadth of the subcontinent preaching the power of passive resistance and nonviolence.

Close friend of Gandhi’s, his followers formed his non-violent army made up of Pashtuns, one of the most fierce warrior groups.

The members of his army vowed to turn their backs on violence, revenge, and retaliation. They believed in the power of non-violence, education, and women’s rights.

Jailed by the British numerous times, he said, “With love you can persuade a Pashtun to go to hell, but by force you can not take him even to heaven.”


Nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, his role in winning independence from British rule has been largely forgotten. His actions redefined the Pashtun concept of honor and courage.

Thousands of mourners attended his funeral, marching through the historic Khyber Pass from Peshawar to Jalalabad. A cease fire was announced in the Afghan war to allow safe passage to the funeral procession.

The world could use another giant of a man like Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan.




http://stevemccurry.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/khan-abdul-gaffar-khan-the-frontier-gandhi/

you know bacha khan baba supported the khalifate movement and Islamic law as long as pashtuns and our identity is respected, its a shame that Jinnah opposed islamic law and the khalifate but then insulted bacha khan baba and the red shirts.

you know bacha khan baba supported the khalifate movement and Islamic law as long as pashtuns and our identity is respected, its a shame that Jinnah opposed islamic law and the khalifate but then insulted bacha khan baba and the red shirts.

i know they stabbed us in the back, but ghani khan disagreed with him on his nonviolence movement though

Well add some facts here:
Mostly the western and Indian scholars and even in his latest book about Bacha Khan "A Frontier Gandhi" by a Sindhi Scholar bureacurat S.M Korejo tried to prove that Bacha khan was a follower of Gandhi jee and his non-violence. This observation is regrettable. J.S Bright MA writing in his booklet "Frontier and its Gandhi" in 1944 about Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan: "Ghaffar Khan is in complete accord with the principle of non-violence. But he has not borrowed his outlook from Mohatma Gandhi. He has reached it. And reached it independently like a struggler after truth. No doubt, his deep study of Quran has influenced his doctrine of love....." He added: "At any rate, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan is not a Brahmin. Neither he is a Mullah commissioned by His Majesty the King of Afghnistan. He is a plain Khan and tribesmen do not doubt his sincerity.... Hence if Ghaffar Khan has arrived at the philosophy of non-violence, it is absolutely no wonder. of the two, Ghaffar Khan and Mahatma Gandhi, my personal view is that the former has acheived a higher level of spirituality. The Khan has reached heaven while the Pandit is firmly on the earth but, ironically enough, the Mahatma is struggling in the air! Ghaffar khan, like Shelley has come from heaven to the earth, while Mahatma Gandhi like Keats is going from earth to heaven. Hence i do not understand why Ghaffar khan should be called the Frontier Gandhi. There is no other reason except this that the Mahatma was earlier in the field, more ambitious than spiritual and has been able to capture somehow or the other, a greater publicity. If we judge a person by spiritual qualities, Mahatma Gandhi should rather be called the Indian Khan than Ghaffar Khan the Frontier Gandhi: true, there the matter ends".

Manana for posting that Yusufzai wrora