ANP stresses need for reviving Bacha Khan’s philosophy

Pays rich tributes to the proponent of non-violence

QUETTA: The Awami National Party (ANP) paid rich tributes to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, popularly known as Bacha Khan, whose death anniversary was observed on January 20.

Speaking at a public gathering in Harnai, ANP leaders Aimal Khan Wali, Asghar Khan Achakzai, Engineer Zamarak Khan Achakzai, Shaista Khan Kakar and Maabat Khan Kaka stressed the need for promoting Bacha Khan’s message of peace.

They said that one of the greatest proponents of non-violence, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890–1988) was needed today by the Pushtuns, who have been victims of violence for the last 37 years.

Known for his manifesto highlighting women empowerment and the separation of religion from the state, Bacha Khan is hailed for his forward stance even today, over two decades after his demise.

His political beliefs eventually carved out Khudai Khitmatgar (Servants of God) and his pro-peace views resulted in people in India calling him Gandhi of the Frontier.

While his political alliance with the Congress and friendship with Mahatama Gandhi inspired and refined his political thoughts, it won him great opposition in Pakistan.

As an ally of the Congress, Bacha Khan opposed the creation of Pakistan which set him on a warpath against the All India Muslim League. This did not prove positive for the Surkh Posh leader as even when he eventually accepted the creation of Pakistan, he was viewed with suspicion.

He spent over 25 years behind bars unfortunately his imprisonment did not end with the Raj.

He was arrested in the December of 1921 as a leader of the Khilafat Movement, and was put in Central Prison Peshawar. However, it was his involvement in this very movement which made him famous even before he started his own party around 1929.

Post-Partition years saw the Khudai Khidmatgar’s decline as the government mobilised against it. His own brother Dr Khan Sahab abandoned Bacha Khan and joined the government.

Nonetheless, the local, inward, focus of Bacha Khan’s party lent the Surkh Posh a powerful appeal among people desperate for basic rights and amenities.

Before his arrest in 1921, Bacha Khan and others formed Anjuman-e-Islah-e-Afghan. They established a school in Utmanzai to educate children free of charge.

The great Khudai Khidmatgar leader died in 1988 and was buried in Jalalabad, Afghanistan as per his request.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 26^th, 2020.