Thread by @NafeesRehmanDr

Tomorrow is the #InternationalNonViolenceDay, and this day can't be observed without mentioning the works of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan aka Bacha Khan & Fakhr-e-Afghan.

I will be updating this thread to shed light on the relatively less explored aspects of Bacha Khan's life.

1. Who and what inspired Bacha Khan to commit to non-violence?

Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). Particularly the period of 10 years (612-622) that the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) lived in the city of Mecca in the face of all opposition and mockery but he didn't respond in violence.

2. Bacha Khan on being called "Frontier Gandhi".

On March 7 1940 at Peshawar, Bacha Khan said that though people call him Frontier Gandhi but he didn't like it and wanted others to stop using this title for him. There is one Gandhi in India and that is enough.

3. Bacha Khan's non-violence empowered Pashtuns in particular and Indians in general to resist British colonialism. He and his true followers fought the British oppression face-to-face armed with their ideology of independence through non-violence.

A small note on the article 3 of the oath above that forbids Khudai Khidmatgaran from seeking any bail if arrested or to ever apologize ever for their struggle for independence. Despite being arrested, imprisoned and banished for decades from his own province, he never sought

any relief for himself, never file any bail. His true followers showed the same resilience and steadfastness. Haji Shah Nawaz and Syed Daud Shah, two of his followers, got bail for various reason but committed suicides out of the guilt for violating their oath.

Here is the story of another Khudai Khidmatgar, Hari Kishan, who set out to kill the the British governor of Punjab at the time to wash away his guilt of signing a written apology for his role and part in the protests/agitation against the British rule.

4. Bacha Khan took part in the 1920 Hijrat & Khilafat movements as a leader of Pakhtunkhwa and led many to Afghanistan. However, the victorious Afghan monarch Amanullah Khan convinced him that it was futile to run away from one's own country and seek shelter abroad.

Bacha Khan then traced his steps back to British-India, and so did the thousands others who had left the Dar-ul-Harb for a Dar-ul-Amn.

On his return, Bacha Khan founded the Anjuman-e-Islah-e-Afghania (association to reform Afghans) to advocate education among Pashtuns.

5. Bacha Khan's father, Behram Khan, aided the British against Indians in the 1857 war of independence for which he was rewarded with great Jagir.

About 60 years later in 1919, the British arrested Behram Khan for "subversive activities" of his son, Bacha Khan.

Also interesting to note that that was the time when Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan aka Dr. Khan sahib, the elder brother of Bacha Khan, just finished fighting various battles for the British in France and elsewhere.