By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
"There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pathan like me subscribing to the creed of nonviolence. It is not a new creed. It was followed 1,400 years ago by the Prophet all the time when he was in Mecca.” - Badshah Khan
A hundred years ago, a young Pathan of just 20 years of age, established a modern school to bring education to his people. Concerned about poverty, ignorance, and violence around him Abdul Ghaffar Khan started his first school in Utmanzai in Frontier Province in 1910 educating boys and girls. It was a successful venture that led to the establishment of several other schools. Pathans loved it and the British Raj did everything they could to stop it. Quite a contrast to what is happening today in the region of Afghanistan and Pakistan, home to millions of Pathans. Today in the same region Talibans burn the schools and American Greg Mortenson is busy building schools.
Pathans are proud people, they have been farmers, traders, and artists for generations but due to their geographic location their history is also one of violence. They love their guns now as they have loved their swords hundreds of years ago. Always ready to kill or die for honor, dignity, and promise they have always been fiercely independent. Therefore, it is quite remarkable that in a short time Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was able to raise a disciplined non-violent army consisting of thousands of Pathans who were ready to die for the cause of freedom.
Starting with his school in 1910, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan toured all districts of the Frontier Province to raise awareness about education. His tireless effort won him a place in the hearts of the Pathan and he came to be called Badshah Khan (King of Khans). His education mission soon turned into a social reform movement that included men and women, and under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi his organization Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants for God's creations) turned into a formidable army of non-violent soldiers.
Badshah Khan spent a large part of his life either in prison or in exile and until his last continue to struggle for justice and peace, never giving up the creed of non-violence. A deeply spiritual man, he found his strength for non-violence from Islam. To the non-violent soldiers of his army he gave the “weapon of the Prophet”- patience and righteousness. “No power on earth can stand against it,” he declared.
On April 23, 1930 his soldiers were tested of their patience and courage. More than 200 of them were brutally killed in Peshawar by British forces but one after another the brave soldiers of non-violence took the place of their fallen comrades to face the British bullets courageously. Eighty years after this incident, we need to learn more about Badshah Khan and his Khudai Khidmatgars to find out how these men and women were able to rise to the highest level of bravery and die for a higher cause rather than killing anyone.
Badshah Khan starting with a small school in his village was able to transform revenge-seeking tribals to an army whose biggest weapon was love and drew its strength from Islam. Just few lines of Khudai Khidmatgar's anthem is enough to show what they stood for:
“We are the army of God,
By death or wealth unmoved,
We march, our leader and we,
Ready to die.
We serve and we love
Our people and our cause.
Freedom is our goal,
Our lives the price we pay.”
A message needed more today in the age of suicide bombings and terrorism. But unfortunately, Badshah Khan and his message is largely forgotten by Pathans, Muslims, and India. India did recognize his contribution towards her freedom by awarding highest civilian award in India Bharat Ratna in 1987.
With the partition of India at the time of Independence, Badshah Khan had no option but to accept Pakistan. Just a year after independence he was arrested and remained under house arrest since 1954. Prison and exile continued to be his fate in Independent Pakistan till his death on January 20, 1988. As per his wishes, he was buried in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The two warring parties in the thick of Soviet Afghanistan declared temporary ceasefire to allow his burial.
Badshan Khan's message of peace, love, and non-violence is even more relevant and needed today than ever before, and not only to the Pathans but to the whole Muslim Ummah.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khan_Abdul_Ghaffar_Khan
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=65494638781
http://twocircles.net/2010may18/badshah_khans_hundred_year_old_message_peace.html
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