November 21, 2009
UTNE READER

The Islamic Gandhi

The world needs to know about Abdul Ghaffar Khan

July/August 2002 Issue
By Amitabh Pal , The Progressive 
Article Tools
Print
Comments
RSS
Bookmark and Share
It’s tragic that India and Pakistan are almost constantly in a state of conflict and are now facing off against each other with nuclear weapons. It’s also ironic, since both countries can claim pacifist pioneers. India has Gandhi, as most everyone knows. But few people know a contemporary of Gandhi’s, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a proponent of nonviolence and social change who lived in Pakistan.

RELATED CONTENT

Born and raised in what is now Pakistan’s North-West Frontier, Khan (affectionately known as the "Frontier Gandhi") was a devout practitioner of nonviolence and social reform who spread his ideals throughout the region. Eluding at least two assassination attempts and surviving three decades in prison, Khan remained committed to nonviolence to the day he died in 1988 at the age of 98."For today’s children and the world, my thoughts are that only if they accept nonviolence can they escape destruction, with all this talk of the atom bomb, and live a life of peace," Khan told an interviewer in 1985. "If this doesn’t happen, then the world will be in ruins."Khan was a Pashtun, a major ethnic group in Afghanistan and Pakistan known for its fierce resistance to outside rule. After fighting the British for decades, they took on the Soviets, who tried and failed to conquer Afghanistan in the 1980s. The Pashtuns then gave rise to the Taliban, who overran the country and welcomed Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in the 1990s.As a young man Ghaffar Khan took a different path, starting a school for Pashtun children and espousing a belief in the futility of violence. Under the influence of a social reformer named Haji Abdul Wahid Sahib, Khan began contacting other progressive Muslim leaders in India, and together they created a nonviolent movement called the Khudai Khidmatgar—the servants of God—in 1929. This movement, which eventually attracted more than 100,000 Pashtuns, was dedicated to reform and to ending British rule over a then-undivided India (including present-day Pakistan).
Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >>
Bookmark and Share
RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print
FEATURED ARTICLES
MOST POPULAR


Pay Now & Save $6!
First Name: *
 Last Name: *
Address: *
 City: *
State/Province: *
 Zip/Postal Code:*
Country:
 Email:*
(* indicates a required item)
Canadian subs: 1 year, (includes postage & GST). Foreign subs: 1 year, . U.S. funds.
Canadian Subscribers - Click Here
Non US and Canadian Subscribers - Click Here
Want to gain a fresh perspective? Read stories that matter? Feel optimistic about the future? It's all here! Utne Reader offers provocative writing from diverse perspectives, insightful analysis of art and media, down-to-earth news and in-depth coverage of eye-opening issues that affect your life.

Save Even More Money By Paying NOW!

Pay now with a credit card and take advantage of our Earth-Friendly automatic renewal savings plan. You save an additional $6 and get 6 issues of Utne Reader for only $29.95 (USA only).

Or Bill Me Later and pay just $36 for 6 issues of Utne Reader!