Ghaffar Khan's role recalled

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 15.

``It was what one can best describe as turning the pages of history and looking into an era that talks of selfless dedication, where caste, religion or regional identity played no role in decision making,'' said Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan. She was introducing an evening dedicated to the ``Contribution of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Pathans to the Freedom Movement in India'' at India International Centre here yesterday.

And as the audience at the packed hall listened in pindrop silence, speakers provided glimpses into the life of the `Frontier Gandhi' highlighting the importance of his contribution to the freedom struggle.

The panelists included historian and biographer of Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. B.R. Nanda, former Foreign Secretary, Mr. S.K. Singh, and columnist, Mr. Inder Malhotra, with the former Prime Minister, Mr. Narasimha Rao, as chief guest.

``For Ghaffar Khan, non-violence was as yet an individual ethic, its possibilities as a tool of social and political action came to him only when he attended the Lahore Congress,'' Mr. Nanda said. ``The ideals of a civil disobedience campaign under Gandhi's leadership appealed to him, but he knew how formidable a task it was to inculcate non-violence among his people. But it was a task that only he could have done.''

Anthropologist Verrier Elwin who visited the Frontier Province in 1932 noted how the Frontier Gandhi had cultivated the flower of non-violence on so unpromising a soil. The remarkable restraint of his Khudai Khidmatgars surprised Gandhi, but disconcerted the British, said Mr. Nanda.

The merger of the Khudai Khidmatgars and Congress in 1931 was noted then in Dr. Khan Sahib's letter to Jawaharlal Nehru thus: ``Our chief object here is to unite all different communities into Indians, not theoretically but practically. Our purpose is one, and that is the freedom of India,'' Mr. Nanda recalled.

The partition plan came as a blow to Ghaffar Khan and his followers, said Mr. Nanda. Between 1948 and 1965 he spent 15 years in Pakistani jails. He and the Pakhtuns paid a high price for participation in the struggle against foreign rule.

Mr. Narasimha Rao recalled his ``brush'' with the `great leader' during his first visit to India after Partition. ``While addressing a public gathering at Vishakapatanam `Baba', as he was popularly called, blasted the then leaders of the country. I was given the job of translating his speech. Till date I have never understood why or what made him so angry to speak out against the ministers in public. It is up to us to find out what had gone so wrong that prompted this outburst,'' Mr. Rao said.

The evening ended with a half-hour screening of a film, ``Qaidi ke Khat''.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : I-Day is Tricolour's day all the way
Next     : Cong concern on CNG conveyed to Minister