Bacha Khan: One of pre-1947 India’s greatest leaders


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). Although after Pakistan was created and he also accepted and shared his vision of peaceful and prosperous Pakistan, but he was never trusted.

He was jailed by the Pakistan establishment in 1956 to 1964. Then again, he was jailed in 1966 to 1974 without any charges. He spent a total of 47 years in jail or exile in his life. He visited India in 1969 and admonished India as he was deeply disturbed by the communal violence in the state of Gujarat, “You are forgetting the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the way you forgot Buddha.” He died almost at the age of 98. Such was his stature in India that PM Indira Gandhi and his government could not even respond to his reprimand and acted with urgency to stop the violence.  

He died at the age of 98 in 1988. As his last revolt against the injustices against his people, he mentioned in his will a desire to be buried in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. That was his revolt against the two-nation theory and peddlers of hate in the name of religion. His life negates the two-nation theory and still inspires India.

He ruled the hearts of his people (Pashtuns). His followers were known as ‘red shirts’. When Muslims across the country were blinded by the Muslim League’s hate campaign against Congress party and Hindus, the Pashtuns decided to vote for secular India under the Congress party and rejected Jinnah’s communal politics.

Pashtuns have much more in common with Afghans in terms of ethnicity and culture than the Punjab and rest of India. After the partition of India on religious lines, the Pashtuns were relegated on the sidelines by predominantly Punjabi military and politicians as more than half of the population in Pakistan comes from Punjab. Pakistani politicians and its military leaders even discontinued the census to avoid the delimitation of seats in Pakistan’s self-styled legislature, also known as senate, to maintain the status quo and avoid reconfiguring seats as per the changes in population in different areas.

Pakistani rulers over the years also forced Urdu down the throats of Pashtuns and tried their best to use Islam to unite the country. The Pakistani military continues to suppress the indigenous independence movement in the Pashtun territory who are struggling either to merge with Afghanistan or to attain full independence from Pakistan. Afghanistan also refuses to recognize the Durand Line, which divides Afghanistan and Pakistan as it is an unresolved left-over issue of the region’s colonial past.

References

Schofield, J. (2011). Diversionary wars: Pashtun unrest and the sources of the Pakistan-Afghan confrontation. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 17(1), 38-49. doi:10.1080/11926422.2011.557283

Shamsie, K. (2016, 20 January). Why Pakistan must never forget Bacha Khan, its great unsung hero. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/20/bacha-khan-pakistan-terror-attacks-education-institutions

Shukla, V. (2016, August 14). The idea of India. The Hindu. Retrieved from https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/the-idea-of-india/article7541445.ece

Tempest, R. (1988, 21 January ). Ghaffar Khan; ‘Frontier Gandhi’ of India. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-21-mn-37192-story.html

 


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