Bacha Khan: A misunderstood leader
- Bacha Khan's opposition to Partition: He believed that the partition of India would most significantly harm Muslims, a view validated by the current Muslim population of over 200 million in the subcontinent.
- Commitment to Non-Violence: Through his Khudai Khidmatgar Movement, Bacha Khan promoted non-violent resistance, even in the face of violent oppression like the Qissa Khwani massacre.
- Misunderstood legacy: Despite pledging allegiance to Pakistan and working for Pashtun upliftment, some factions still label him a traitor, overshadowing his lifelong dedication to peace and education.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan famously known and called by his followers as Bacha Khan (Badshah Khan) fought his whole life for the Pashtun cause. He was a man of vision, perseverance, steel nerves, and principles. Bacha Khan was one of the members of the Indian National Congress (INC) along with Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhi, long before the establishment of the All India Muslim League (AIML). As part of INC, he opposed the partition of India which is one of the biggest allegations, his rivals used against him as anti-Muslim. Nonetheless, Bacha Khan believed that if partition happened, no other nation would be divided more than the Muslims. Considering, the population of the Muslims in the Indian Subcontinent, currently which is more than 200 million, his critics accept him as being righteous.
Imagine if partition would not have happened:
- The wars of 1947, 1965 1971, and 1999 could have been avoided which resulted in the massacre and separation of hundreds of thousands of people
- Separation of East Pakistan would not happened and Bangladesh would also be part of united India.
- United India would have been more powerful in terms of Technology, Military, Infrastructure, and Manpower.
- As Kashmir would also be part of a united India the world would never witness the Kashmir issue and the killing of innocent Kashmiris.
Despite being a critic of partition, Bacha Khan after the partition of India pledged allegiance to the newly created nation by taking an oath in assembly in 1948. He tried to reconcile with Quaid-e-Azam and invited him to visit the Khudai Khidmatgar office in Peshawar, but their meeting never happened as the Chief Minister of NWFP, Abdul Qayyum Khan sabotaged it by convincing Quaid-e-Azam that Bacha Khan is plotting his assassination. This misunderstanding has jeopardized the relations of both these leaders. Later in his life, he faced decades of imprisonment in Pakistan. Arrested in 1948 without any charge and incarcerated till 1954. But he was put to jail again after a short period in 1956 and released due to deteriorated health conditions. In 1962 Bacha Khan was named the “Amnesty International Prisoner of the Year”. Later in 1973, he was arrested from Multan on the directions of Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Bacha Khan spent a total of 37 years behind bars, even more than Nelson Mandela. He says on the assembly floor about his time in prison: “I had to go to prison many times in the days of the Britishers. Although we were at loggerheads with them, their treatment was to some extent tolerant and polite. But the treatment which was meted out to me in this Islamic state of ours was such that I would not even like to mention it to you”.
On the other hand Bacha Khan’s “Khudai Khidmatgar Movement” was in full swing with hundreds and thousands of volunteers and followers in it. It aims to introduce social reforms for the Pashtun society as he was aware of the fact that Pashtuns belong to a backward geographical area and their traditions are so strong, halting them from getting basic education. Initially, the movement focused on innovative education but later on it voiced for the rights of Pashtuns through non-violent means.
Bacha Khan had witnessed many violent upraises against the British which failed miserably. That was the reason he became the torch-bearer of nonviolence. Soon the organization surged 100,000 Khudai Khidmatgars. The Khudai Khidmatgars never became violent even when they faced straight fires, hitting their chests and heads in the Qissa Khwani’s massacre, killing more than 300 Khudai Khidmatgar. This extreme level of patience was the preaching of Bacha Khan to his followers.
He died in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar in 1988. According to his wish, he was buried in Jalalabad. Over 200,000 mourners attended his funeral, including the Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah. The then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi went to Peshawar to pay tributes to Bacha Khan even though General Zi ul-Haq attempted to stall his attendance citing security reasons. But his place of burial is still held against him by many of his critics who consider him a traitor to Pakistan, utterly overlooking that he took oath in the newly formed Assembly of Pakistan. Then one can look at the way the Islamic Republic treated him which was supposed to improve the lives of Muslims. He was the man who spent his whole life trying to improve the lives of Pashtuns and worked till his death to educate the Pashtun community. Although the world sees him as a great hero from every perspective unfortunately a faction considers him a TRAITOR.
The author holds a Bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature and has completed an internship with an online news agency (English desk). Currently, he is working as a news translator at the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation in Islamabad.
