a short view of Servants of God Moment " khudai khidmatgar tehreek khan abdul ghaffar khan "

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Major assignment on KHUDAI
KHIDMATGAR MOMENT
“Servants of God”
Wajid Ullah Ghazi
Ghazibaba886@gmail.com

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Content
Topic: Khudai khitmatgar Tehreek
Founder of Khudai khitmatgar Tehreek
Start of Khudai khitmatgar Tehreek
Short view
Principle
Shining stars of Khudai khitmatgar Tehreek

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KHUDAYI KHIDMATGARS’ Tehreek
FOUNDER OF KHUDAYI KHIDMATGARS TEHREEK (BAACHA
KHAN)
Around 1890 At the Time When the Brits Were Busy Fighting with Amir
Abdur Rahman And Destroying the Unity Among The Pashtuns, A Son
Was Born To BEHRAM KHAN Of Khazei Khel (Shareef Khel) Clan Of The
MOHAMMAD ZAI Tribe In Tehsil Charsaddah (Place Of Leader) Of
District Peshawar.
He Was Named ABDUL GHAFFAR KHAN. His Father Bahram Khan Was
Indeed A Shareef Khel Because He Did Not Passed Hostility Or Animus
To His Children --- A Fact Which Contradicted The Regular Lifestyle Of
The Pashtuns Of Hashtnaghar. He Was Not A Literate Person Himself ,
And Showed Relatively Higher Inclination Toward Religion. However He
Had Keen Interest In Educating His Children. His Elder Son Studied
Medicine In Bombay . After He Completed His Degree There ,He Sent
Him Britain For Higher Education. He Was Still Studying There When

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World War I Began. During The War He Served The British Army In
France . He Went Back London When the War Ended And Want To
Married An Englishwoman After The War. Two Years Later He Came
Back To Home As A Captain And Was Posted As A Military Doctor In The
Guide Cavalry Deployed In Mardan.
Behram Khan Younger Son Ghaffar Khan Was However Not Favored By
Fortune . Following The Completion Of His Early Education In
Missionary School Of Peshawar, He Briefly Studied In Campbellpur And
Aligarh.
At That Time Every Young Of Hashtnagar Want To Join British Army In
India but Bacha khan was quite determined to join British army. One
day he went to see a friend who was a sardar in British army while he
was with him. he was noticed that an English officer who thought
younger in age but superior in rank was speaking in quite
contemptuous and scornful manner to his friend . he was amazed at
what he had just witness. He assume the military job that he would
earn respect. However, the manner in which his friend was treated by a
younger but superior in rank made him realize the the real difference
was that of master and slave . the realization induced anxiety in him.
Behram khan was thought that now Bacha khan had abandoned the
plane to join the army , he should also follow the footstep of his
brother to go abroad for higher education . it was suggested that Abdul
ghaffar khan be sent London for higher education in Engineering. But
his mother was no agree with husband plan. Because his elder son was
already abroad and even married there. Most of the people tell her that
he convert to Christianity due to such reason he did not allowed him
to go abroad also not want to loose both sons. Due to absent of elder
son her mother love Abdul Ghaffar khan . Bacha khan tried too much to

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convince her mother to allow him to go abroad for education but he
was failed. And his mother did not budge one inch fron her earlier
stance. Abdul Ghaffar Khan did not want leave without mother
permission. As the door to foreign lands seemed tightly closed for him…
( khan Abdul Wali khan translated by Durrenayab sahibzada, printed in
2011)
START of KKT:
In 1929, the Khudai Khitmatgars (“Servants of God”) movement, led by Khan
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, nonviolently mobilized to oppose the British in India’s
Northwest Frontier Province. Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgar
movement inspired thousands of Pashtuns (also called Pathans), who were
known as fierce warriors, and others to lay down their arms and use civil
resistance to challenge British rule. Although Ghaffar Khan’s initial reform efforts
predated his involvement with Gandhi and the Indian National Congress (INC),
he later formed a formal alliance with them and became a formidable force
during and following the INC’s civil disobedience campaign of 1930-1931,
helping the INC win provincial elections in 1937.
Ghaffar Khan, who is also known as Badshah Khan and the “Frontier Gandhi,”
formed the world’s first nonviolent army, a force of perhaps 100,0001 Pathans
who took a solemn oath in joining the “Servants of God” movement, with each
stating that “since God needs no service… I promise to serve humanity in the
name of God. I promise to refrain from violence and from taking revenge. I
promise to forgive those who oppress me or treat me with cruelty. I promise to
devote at least two hours a day to social work”. (Tendulkar 1967: 59) Members
of the movement were known as “Red Shirts” because of the red uniforms they
wore. Initially they set to work organizing village projects and opening schools,
but soon they became part of the broader Indian Independence movement,

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accepting without retaliation some of the most fierce British repression—mass
firings on unarmed crowds, torture, personal humiliation, setting homes and
fields on fire, and even the destruction of entire villages. Inspired by the
dissidence of the INC and the charismatic spiritual-political leadership of
Mahatma Gandhi, the Red Shirts blossomed in 1930 during the civil disobedience
movement. The British responded to their mobilization by putting the Northwest
Frontier Province under Martial Law from August 1930 until the following
January. Although the INC leadership stopped promoting civil disobedience in
1934, Ghaffar Khan was arrested for allegedly making a seditious and
provocative speech in December of that year and was sentenced to two years
imprisonment.
In 1937, a new Government of India Act, which was a British response to the
Independence Movement, created limited local powers and allowed for elections
to a legislative body that remained ultimately under British control. The Khudai
Khidmatgar movement supported the successful election of the INC in a new
provincial government headed by Ghaffar Khan’s brother, Khan Sahib, which
remained in power most of the time until the creation of Pakistan in 1947. The
movement achieved many of its political goals such as increased Pashtun
autonomy and concessions to Pashtun identity (such as teaching Pashto in the
schools), although it fell short of the complete independence (until 1947) it
sought and the electoral victory channeled much of the movement’s energies into
a limited power-sharing arrangement with the British. Ghaffar Khan, banned
from the province at the time of the election did not wish to campaign because he
was concerned about the potential moral effect of political office on the
movement. Major reforms at that time included the release of political prisoners,
land reform, and the use of Pashto as a language of instruction in the schools. In
1947, a plebiscite resulted in the Frontier Province becoming part of the newly
independent Pakistan.

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Ghaffar Khan’s dissatisfaction with Pakistan later led him to favor the creation of
an autonomous Pakhtunistan and he was consequently imprisoned by the
Pakistani government. The movement waned after its involvement in electoral
politics but has become a benchmark for contemporary Muslims organizing
nonviolent resistance rooted in the Islamic tradition.
short view about Khudai Khidmatgars:
Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and the Khudai Khidmatgars, they are primarily
centred on Abdul Ghaffar Khan (also popularly known as Bacha Khan),
and his relations with the Indian National Congress (INC). In this paper,
an attempt has been made to study and analyse the Khudai Khidmatgar
Movement, and Bacha Khan’s role in the freedom movement,
especially in the revival of Pashtoon nationalism, and the adoption of
non-violence in the Pashtoon society. The present study is different
from others mainly because primary source material has been utilised
to support the analysis. The North-West Frontier Province (N-WFP) has
played a significant role in the shaping and re-shaping of the Indian
history. Its crucial strategic location made it not only the frontier of
India but also an international frontier of the first importance from the
military point of view for the whole British empire. The British came
late to the N-WFP because it was far away from their points of early
contacts with the subcontinent, i.e. Bengal, Madras and Bombay. As the
region is situated on the ‘highway of conquest’, the majority of the
earlier invaders had made their way into the Indian subcontinent
through this area. Throughout the medieval period, until the first
quarter of the nineteenth century, the area remained part of the
Muslim empires of north India and Afghanistan. The internal feuds
between the Pashtoons provided Ranjeet Singh, the Sikh ruler of the
Punjab, with Abdul Ghaffar Khan, …, Congress and the Partition of India

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87 the opportunity to occupy Peshawar. However, in 1849, after the
defeat of Sikhs and the annexation of the Punjab, the British took over
N-WFP as part of the Sikh dominion. The region remained with the
Punjab till 1901, when Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy of India, separated
the five districts of Hazara, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail
Khan, and joining them to five agencies namely Malakand, Khyber,
Kurram, North and South Waziristan, and formed a separate province
called the North-West Frontier Province of India.2 As stated earlier,
because of its distinctive character, the province was treated by the
British in a ‘special way’. Security considerations were given priority
over social, economic and political reforms. Unlike other provinces of
British India, where reforms were introduced, the N-WFP was neglected
and intentionally governed through ‘Special Ordinances’, Frontier
Crimes Regulations (FCR) being one amongst them. Interestingly, after
the departure of the British from the subcontinent, still this draconian
law continued to exist in the tribal areas of the N-WFP. The main aim of
the colonial government in impeding the pace of reforms was to
discourage the local inhabitants from undermining the status quo for
their province.3 Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s Early Years Abdul Ghaffar Khan
was born in 1890 at Utmanzai (Charsadda) district Peshawar. His father
Bahram Khan was a well-to-do landowner of Mohammadzai clan.
According to the then popular tradition, Ghaffar Khan was sent to the
local mosque to take early lessons in the Holy Quran. The Pashtoons
have great respect for religious education and majority of them send
their children to mosques. There was hardly any government schools in
the rural areas and thus, in education, the N-WFP was one of the most
backward areas in British India. Moreover, unlike the state patronage of
Ulema in other parts of the subcontinent, in the N-WFP 88 Pakistan

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Vision Vol. 8 No. 2 the Ulema remained at loggerheads with the
establishment, indeed preoccupied with jihad to get rid of the British
rulers in that part of South Asia. When Abdul Ghaffar Khan finished his
schooling at the village mosque, he was sent to the Municipal Board
High School at Peshawar. He had his preliminary education there and
soon after joined the Edwardes Memorial Mission High School at
Peshawar. Rev. E. F. E. Wigram, the school headmaster had a profound
effect on young Ghaffar Khan. Meanwhile, his elder brother, Khan Sahib
went to Bombay to join a medical college. Like many other children of
elite families, Abdul Ghaffar Khan was also persuaded to apply for a
Commission in the army. During the course of his matriculation
examination, he was informed that he had been granted a Commission
in the army and was ordered to proceed immediately to Mardan, the
headquarters of the Guides. He left the examination incomplete and, as
he was about to join the army, an incident occurred which changed his
whole outlook of joining army or indeed the government service.4 He
decided to continue his studies. He went to Campbellpur (now Attock),
which had a reputation for hosting a good institution. But he did not
stay there long enough. After Campbellpur, he went to Qadian,
attracted by the fame of Hakim Noor-ud-Din of Qadian, the second
‘khalifa’ of the Ahmadiyya. Not satisfied with his stay at Qadian, he next
went to Aligarh where he received his father’s letter asking him to
return home. He intended to send him to England to join his brother,
Khan Sahib, who had been there since February 1909 for higher medical
education. All the arrangements were complete when his old mother
could not allow him to go to leave. She felt that she had already lost her
elder son and in no way was she going to say good-bye to the younger
one as well. She believed that whoever went abroad, particularly to

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England, never came back.5 Thus, Abdul Ghaffar Khan had to give up
his proposed trip to Abdul Ghaffar Khan, …, Congress and the Partition
of India 89 England. Indeed, he decided to serve the people of the
Frontier, who were backward educationally and spent their life in
faction-feuds and many other vices then prevailing in the Pashtoon
society. He was convinced that Pashtoons must be educated, reformed
and organised. Abdul Ghaffar Khan commenced his social activities as
an educationist and came into close contact with another social
reformer of the area, Haji Fazli Wahid, popularly known as the Haji of
Turangzai. Their combined efforts resulted in the opening of
educational institutions called the Dar ul Ulum at Utmanzai and Gaddar
(Mardan) in 1910. Apart from religious education, students were
imparted the concept of patriotism. No details are available about the
exact number of these Madrassas or the number of students and
teachers and the sourc 90 Pakistan Vision Vol. 8 No. 2 On 6 April, a
successful all-India hartal was observed. In the N-WFP, like the rest of
India, protest meetings were held against the Rowlatt Act. Abdul
Ghaffar Khan held a protest meeting at Utmanzai, attended by more
than 50,000 people. In the rural areas of the Frontier, this was the first
political occasion when such a large number of people participated to
express solidarity on an all-India issue.9 The provincial authorities could
not remain a silent spectator of anti-British activities in the settled
districts of the N-WFP. Abdul Ghaffar Khan was immediately arrested
and imprisoned, followed by a punitive fine of Rs. 30,000 upon the
villagers of Utmanzai. Over a hundred and fifty notables were kept in
confinement as hostages, until the fine was paid.10 After six months,
Ghaffar Khan was released and allowed to join his family. Already
towards the end of 1918, the Khilafat movement had been launched in

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India. An offshoot of the Khilafat movement was the Hijrat movement.
The Ulema declared India as Dar ul Harb (Land of War) and advised
Muslims to migrate to Dar ul Islam (Land of Islam). Afghanistan, the
neighbourly Muslim country with whom they had religious, cultural,
political and ethnic ties, was deemed to be a safe destination.
Amanullah Khan, the anti-British Amir of Afghanistan, offered asylum to
the Indian Muslims. Eventually, more than 60,000 Muhajirin took
shelter in Afghanistan. As Peshawar was the main city on the way to
Afghanistan, it became the hub of the movement. Soon, it became
impossible for the Afghan government to facilitate the settlement of
these religious zealots in Afghanistan.11 Anjuman-i-Islah-ul-Afaghana
Like many other Pashtoons, Abdul Ghaffar Khan also migrated to
Afghanistan. The Muhajirin did not achieve their objectives and the
Hijrat resulted in failure the reasons of which are outside the scope of
the present research. Ghaffar Khan was disappointed with the results of
Hijrat. Abdul Ghaffar Khan, …, Congress and the Partition of India 91 He
realised that migration from India alone was not the solution of their
problems. He decided to return to India and organise his people against
the illiteracy and social evils then prevailing in Pashtoon society. He was
convinced that the British would not allow him to resume his
educational activities in the settled districts. Therefore, accompanied
by Fazal Mahmood Makhfi, he started a school at Dir. The local
inhabitants appreciated their activities and started sending their
children to this school. The popularity of the school alarmed the Nawab
of Dir, who, supported by the Political Agent, Malakand, decided on a
crackdown on their activities. Ghaffar Khan and Makhfi were expelled
from the area and the building was demolished.12 Appalled at the
outcome of their individual efforts, Abdul Ghaffar Khan shifted to his

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home town Utmanzai. He consulted like-minded Pashtoon social
workers and intelligentsia and together they decided to resume their
educational and social activities collectively. They also decided to work
for the eradication of social evils from Pashtoon society like blood-
feuds and factionalism, prevention of crimes and the use of intoxicants.
Moreover, they emphasised the importance of creating awareness
among the Pashtoons of the benefit of modern education and revival of
Pashto language. To pursue some of these goals and objectives, Abdul
Ghaffar Khan found on 1 April 1921, the Anjuman-i-Islah-ulAfaghana
(the Society for the Reformation of Afghans) with himself as its
President and Mian Ahmad Shah as Secretary. The stated objectives of
the Anjuman included: promotion of unity amongst the Pashtoons,
eradication of social evils, prevention of lavish spending on social
events, encouragement of Pashto language and literature, and creation
of ‘real love’ for Islam among the Pashtoons.13 On 10 April, 1921, the
first branch of Azad Islamia Madrassa was opened at Utmanzai,
followed by many more branches in different areas of the Peshawar
Valley
. (shah, 2006 )
Principle :
The following oath mentioned the prominent features of the
organisation:-
I am a Servant of God, and as God needs no service, but serving his
creation is serving him, I promise to serve humanity in the name of God.
I promise to refrain from violence and from taking revenge.
I promise to forgive those who oppress me or treat me with cruelty.
I promise to treat every Pathan as my brother and friend.
I promise to refrain from antisocial customs and practices.

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I promise to live a simple life, to practice virtue and to refrain from evil.
I promise to devout at least two hours a day to social work (Ghaffar
Kahn,
1969. 97).
I shall expect no reward for my services.
I shall be fearless and be prepared for any sacrifice. (Johansen, 1997: 59)
In 1940‟s the Khudai Khidmatgars reached in its peak of more than
100,0007 of its members and had its offices in all over the province. He
also had established close relationship with Gandhi and worked together
on their idea of civil disobedience and noncooperation movement
against British colonialism. Gandhi cherished after finding such non-
violent movement which belonged to Pathan tribe. Explaining the
meaning of fighting, Gandhi once said,
“If I do not infer from this that India must fight,” he explained. “But I
do say that India must know how to fight. […] A nation that is unfit to
fight cannot experience prove the virtue of not fighting”. [...] In 1930
Gandhi heard about the heroics of Khan‟s Khudai Khidmatgars and he
must have known that he had found what he was looking for. (Flinders,
1990: 188).
He started to strengthen his Khudai Khidmatgars movement in all over
the country. The distinguish element of this force was that it was
completely volunteer army; from highest rank‟s officers to the lowest
soldier of army was recruited without any compensation which was also
mentioned as one of the pledge points.
Role of women in the society was one of the prominent and exceptional
features of the movement. There were hardly any thought among the
people of the region at that time and (still today) that they allowed their
women to participate in the world outside of their homes; he made it
visible that women actively took part in his army and played a
successful role side by side the men. He talked publicly about the equal
rights of women with reference to men. (Ahmad, july 2016)

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.
References
khan Abdul Wali khan translated by Durrenayab sahibzada. (printed in 2011). The Struggle & the
Aftermath (Vol. 01). Baacha khan trust , Baacha khan markaz pajaggi Road peshawar pakistan.:
printed and bound by Aman printers.
Ahmad, D. M. (july 2016). NONVIOLENCE MOVEMENTS IN SOUTH ASIA:THE CASE OF KHUDAI
KHIDMATGAR 1929-47. Conflict and Development department,University of Jaume- Castellon,
Spain.
kurtz, l. (2009). he khudai khidmatgar movement : badshah khan and north west frontier british india.
london.
shah, s. w. (2006 ). NWPF politics . abdul wali khan university mardan: awkum .
(kurtz, 2009)