Ghaffar Khan : Nonviolent

Born into the Muhammadzai tribe from the Charsadda valley in the Pakhtunheartland Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a passionate believer in the nonviolentcore of Islam and sought to wean his people-the fierce warrior Pakhtuns orPathans of the North-West Frontier Province-from their violent traditions and fightfor a separate Pakhtun homeland that would no longer be a buffer betweenRussia and Britain in the Great Game.In 1929 came Mahatma Gandhi's call for nonviolent resistance against Britishrule and Badshah Khan responded by raising the Khudai Khidmatgars (Servantsof God) an army of 100000 men who pledged themselves to the service ofmankind and nonviolence as a creed. For this and for his steadfast devotion tohis principles this towering figure was imprisoned for a total of twenty-sevenyears first by the British and later by the Pakistani government.This is a perceptive biography that offers fresh insights into the life andachievements of an extraordinary man drawing close parallels with the life ofMahatma Gandhi his brother in spirit.The author looks at Ghaffar Khan 'with thespectacles of today rather than those of 1947' emphasizing that for people inthe twenty-first century who live in the shadow of 9/11 Badshah Khan'sunwavering commitment to nonviolence and Hindu-Muslim unity offers valuablelessons.