Indian Opinion

Mukesh Devrari The tallest Pashtun leader before the independence was Abdul Gaffar Khan, also known as Frontier Gandhi. He was one of the most fascinating and towering figures of Indian National Movement who preached truth and non-violence to his people who are mostly known for their tribal culture of revenge. He was the pre-eminent figure of Indian National Congress. “The British just about knew how to contend with vegetarian Hindus who raised slogans rather than guns, but Bacha Khan’s “unarmed army” of Pashtuns, which turned the martial race stereotype on its head, left them completely bewildered” (Shamsie, 2016) .   After Congress accepted the partition plan, he famously said, “You have thrown us in front of the wolves” (Tempest, 1988) . “He rejected a separate Muslim homeland and sought instead to join India to avoid Punjabi domination”  (Schofield, 2011, p. 38) . Due to his influence, many Muslims from the region migrated to India at the time of partition (Shukla, 2016) . Alth