Description

Abdul Ghaffār Khān (6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), nicknamed Fakhr-e-Afghan , lit. “pride of Pashtuns”), Bādshāh Khān, or Bāchā Khān, “king of chiefs”), was a Pashtun independence activist who worked to end the rule of the British Raj in India. He was a political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition; he was a lifelong pacifist and devout Muslim.

A close friend of Mohandas Gandhi, Bacha Khan was nicknamed the “Frontier Gandhi” in British India by his close associate Amir Chand Bombwal

Bacha Khan founded the Khudai Khidmatgar (“Servants of God”) movement in 1929. Its success triggered a harsh crackdown by the British Raj against him and his supporters, and they suffered some of the most severe repression of the Indian independence movement.

Bacha Khan strongly opposed the proposal for the partition of India, siding with the Indian National Congress and All India Azad Muslim ConferenceWhen the Indian National Congress declared its acceptance of the partition plan without consulting the Khudai Khidmatgar leaders, he felt deeply betrayed and hurt by this, telling the Congress, “you have thrown us to the wolves.In June 1947, Khan and other Khudai Khidmatgars declared the Bannu Resolution, demanding that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan, composing all Pashtun territories of British India, instead of being made to join Pakistan. However, the British Raj refused to comply with the demand of this resolution.