Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Bacha Khan, was a Pashtun independence activist, political and spiritual leader in British India, and later in Pakistan. He was a lifelong pacifist and believer in nonviolence, and was often referred to as the "Frontier Gandhi". He was a leader of the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God") movement and was politically active in the Indian National Congress, working for Indian independence from British rule. After the partition of India in 1947, he continued his activism for Pashtun rights in Pakistan. Abdul Ghaffar Khan was a prominent figure in the Indian independence movement and is remembered as a champion of nonviolence and social justice.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1987, becoming the first non-Indian to receive the country's highest civilian honour.
He led a nonviolent movement throughout the country against the British and was an advocate for Hindu-Muslim reconciliation in the Indian subcontinent.
Why was Abdul Ghaffar Khan known as Frontier Gandhi?
- Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha idea inspired Abdul Ghaffar Khan. He met him in 1928 and was actively involved in the independence movement.
- Their union represented the country's secular nature. The fight got people from every religious and economic background to fight British rule.
- Like Mahatma Gandhi, he brought about similar changes in the province.
- He followed the ' Ahimsa ' path from opening schools to encouraging women to join the movement.
- For this reason, he was dubbed as 'Frontier Gandhi' by his colleague named Amir Chand Bombwal.