By Anand Patwardhan
December 5,
2020
On November
2, the UP police arrested Faisal Khan. I have known Faisal as a human rights
activist working alongside Sandeep Pandey (who in 2002 won a Magsaysay Award
for his social work while declining the award money). Both Sandeep and Faisal
are staunch Gandhians but in today’s India, there is one huge difference. One
of them is Muslim.
Khudai
Khidmatgar member Faisal Khan (in purple).
------
A few years
ago, Faisal revived the Khudai Khidmatgars in memory of that wonderful band of
freedom fighters from the North-West Frontier Provinces led by Khan Abdul
Ghaffar Khan, or Badshah Khan, as he was lovingly known, easily the tallest
(both literally and ethically) of leaders inspired by the non-violent movement
launched by Mahatma Gandhi.
One of the
bravest chapters of India’s freedom struggle was written in 1930 at the Quissa
Khwani bazaar in Peshawar, where following the arrest of Khudai Khidmatgar
leaders a large crowd had gathered. British armoured vehicles ploughed into the
crowd, killing many. The crowd refused to disperse. The British opened
machine-gun fire but the crowd neither ran nor retaliated with violence.
Officials put the death toll at 20 but nationalists say over 300 were killed.
Two platoons of the Royal Garhwal Regiment of the British Indian Army refused
to open fire. Their officers were later sentenced to eight years in jail.
American
political scientist Gene Sharp, in his work on nonviolent resistance, described
the scene: “When those in front fell down wounded by the shots, those behind
came forward with their chests bared and exposed themselves to the fire, so
much so that some people got as many as twenty-one bullet wounds in their
bodies, and all the people stood their ground without getting into a panic.”
Amazing as
it seems today, when the Taliban and al Qaeda from the same region have been
turned into killing machines by the super-powers that initiated them, Badshah
Khan and his Pashtun warriors faced many massacres without retaliating with
violence. A clue to their mindset is in the pledge they took when joining: 1)
In the name of God who is Present and Evident, I am a Khudai Khidmatgar. 2) I
will serve the nation without any self-interest. 3) I will not take revenge and
my actions will not be a burden for anyone. 4) My actions will be non-violent.
5) I will make every sacrifice required of me to stay on this path. 6) I will
serve people without regard to their religion or faith. 7) I shall use
nation-made goods. 8) I shall not be tempted by any office.
Badshah
Khan spent a total of 14 years in British India jails. He bitterly opposed
Partition and the creation of Pakistan. His party boycotted elections and soon
he found himself in jail in independent Pakistan. When he died at the age of
98, he had spent a total of 37 years in jail, many of them in solitary confinement.
In India,
Faisal Khan launched a 21st-century version of Khudai Khidmatgars on Gandhiji’s
death anniversary in 2011. To the pledges of the original body, they added a
rule ensuring a minimum non-Muslim membership of 35 per cent. Starting with the
idea of creating inter-faith dialogue, the Khudais have touched people’s hearts
across the country and membership has swelled to 50,000. Today it has many
Hindus, including a few who had once been in the RSS.
Apart from
peace marches and relief efforts initiated in riot-torn areas, for want of
space, a few examples should suffice to illustrate the constructive initiatives
launched by the Khudai Khidmatgars. In 2014, they launched a Beti Bachao
campaign in Haryana to tackle the diminishing population of girls. In 2017,
they started Sabka Ghar at Ghaffar Manzil, near Jamia in Delhi, where people of
any faith and caste are welcome to stay for up to a month. They started an
interest-free loan facility named the Badshah Khan Domestic Workers Fund. In
2018, Faisal was felicitated by Shri Murari Bapu at his ashram in Gujarat.
Overwhelmed at hearing Faisal recite verses from the Ramcharitramanas, Shri
Murari Bapu promised to visit Sabka Ghar in Delhi. Faisal can, of course,
recite from the Quran with equal ease.
Why is such
a man in jail? In October this year, four Khudais — Faisal, Chand Mohammed,
Alok Ratan and Nilesh Gupta — undertook the traditional 84 kos (150-mile)
parikrama of Braj at Mathura, considered the birthplace of Lord Krishna. As
always, the Khudais engaged in dialogue with local priests, often ate with them
and made friends everywhere. On October 29, they reached Nand Baba Mandir, and
were warmly received and given prasad by the priest. Faisal, in his distinctly
Muslim cap, recited from the Ramcharitramanas and both men spoke about the
shared values in religion. Some of this is recorded on a phone camera. When
namaz time came, Faisal asked if there was a mosque nearby but the priest said
they could offer namaz within the temple compound. One of the Hindu Khudais
photographed this moment, signifying the harmony they believe in and in their
enthusiasm posted it on Facebook. As the photos went viral, all hell broke
loose. The priest of the temple was pressured to lodge a police complaint and
Faisal was arrested and brought to a Mathura jail under various charges,
including one about destroying communal harmony. The UP police could not locate
Chand Mohammed, went to his home in Bihar, allegedly beat up his parents and
damaged property. They then allegedly forcibly brought Chand’s brother Noor to
Mathura but luckily after legal intervention, Noor was set free.
Two days
ago, a trial court in Mathura, filled to the brim with RSS cadre and a huge
team of prosecution lawyers, rejected Faisal’s bail and the matter will now
move to the Allahabad High Court.
What
explains Hindutva’s rage against Faisal and the Khudai Khidmatagars? The clue,
once more, lies in the past. The original Khudai Khidmatgars had suffered the
worst massacres and persecutions of the Independence struggle. Badshah Khan
later wrote that this was because the British thought a non-violent Pashtun was
more dangerous than a violent one and did everything they could to provoke them
into violence, but failed. The Khudai Khidmatgars of today cannot be provoked
either.
Original Headline: Why is Faisal Khan, a human
rights activist, in prison for an act of peace?
Source: The Indian Express
URL:
-----
Anand Patwardhan: The Heroism Of Khudai
Khidmatgars In Today’s India
By Anand Patwardhan
5 December
2020
A month ago
on November 2, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested Faisal Khan from Delhi and
detained him in a Mathura jail. They then went in search of Khan’s colleague
Chand Mohammed to his village in Bihar. Failing to find him, they beat
Mohammed’s parents and damaged their property.
I have
known Faisal Khan as a human rights activist working alongside Sandeep Pandey
(who in 2002 won a Magsaysay Award for his social work but declined the award
money). Both Pandey and Khan are staunch Gandhians but in today’s India, there
is one huge difference between them. One of them is Muslim.
In 2011,
Khan founded a post-Independence version of the Khudai Khidmatgars, the
amazingly brave and dedicated band of non-violent freedom fighters from the
North-West Frontier Province. They were led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan,
affectionately known as Badshah Khan, or the Frontier Gandhi. He was easily the
tallest (both literally and ethically) of leaders inspired by the non-violent
freedom movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi.
One of the
bravest chapters of India’s freedom struggle was written in 1930 at the Quissa
Khwani bazaar in Peshawar, where the Khudai Khidmatgars had gathered following
the arrest of their leaders. British armoured vehicles ploughed into the crowd,
killing many of them. The crowd refused to disperse. The British opened
machine-gun fire but the crowd neither ran nor retaliated in violence.
Officials
put the death toll at 20 but nationalists say over 300 were killed. Two
platoons of the Royal Garhwal Regiment of the British Indian Army refused to
open fire. Their officers were later sentenced to eight years in jail.
A Bloody Massacre
American political
scientist Gene Sharp described the scene: “When those in front fell down
wounded by the shots, those behind came forward with their chests bared and
exposed themselves to the fire, so much so that some people got as many as
twenty-one bullet wounds in their bodies, and all the people stood their ground
without getting into a panic.”
Today, with
the Taliban and Al Qaeda from the same Pathan ethnicity turned into killers by
the super-powers that initiated them for their own geo-political gains, it seems
startling that almost a century ago, Badshah Khan and his warriors faced many
massacres with non-violence as their only weapon. Blood feuds had run deep in
the region and families and tribes would be locked in an unending cycle of
revenge.
Badshah Khan’s Encounter With Gandhi Changed
All That.
The
initiation pledges taken by the Khudai Khidmatgars included: 1) In the name of
God who is Present and Evident, I am a Khudai Khidmatgar. 2) I will serve the
nation without any self-interest. 3) I will not take revenge and my actions
will not be a burden for anyone. 4) My actions will be non-violent. 5) I will
make every sacrifice required of me to stay on this path. 6) I will serve
people without regard to their religion or faith. 7) I shall use nation-made goods.
8) I shall not be tempted by any office.
Badshah
Khan spent 14 years in the jails of British India. He bitterly opposed the
creation of Pakistan and at Partition he famously remarked that that his people
had been “thrown to the wolves”. His party boycotted elections and he soon
found himself in jail in independent Pakistan. He spent a total of 37 years in
jail, many of them in solitary confinement.
While no
modern Khudai Khidmatgar movement can match the sheer heroism of the past,
Faisal Khan launched a 21st-century Indian version of Khudai Khidmatgars on
Gandhiji’s death anniversary in 2011. They added a rule ensuring a minimum
non-Muslim membership of 35%. Starting with the idea of creating inter-faith
dialogue, the Khidmatgars have touched hearts across the country and their
membership has grown to 50,000. Today among its many Hindu members, at least
one was formerly in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
In October,
four Khidmatgars – Faisal Khan, Chand Mohammed, Alok Ratan and Nilesh Gupta –
undertook the traditional 84 kos (150-mile) parikrama of Braj at Mathura,
considered the birthplace of Krishna. As always, the Khudais engaged in
dialogue with local priests, ate with them and made friends.
On October
29, they reached Nand Baba Mandir, and were warmly received and given prasad by
the temple priest. Faisal Khan, in his distinctly Muslim cap recited from the
Tulsidas Ramayana and both men spoke about shared values in religion. When
namaz time came, Khan asked if there was a mosque nearby but the priest said
they could offer namaz within the temple compound.
One of the
Hindu Khudais photographed this moment signifying the harmony they deeply
believe in. In their enthusiasm they posted it on Facebook, which has been one
their tools for spreading amity. As the photo went viral, all hell broke loose.
The priest of the temple was pressured to lodge a police complaint. Khan was
arrested and brought to a Mathura jail under various charges, including one of
destroying communal harmony.
Late last
month, at a trial court in Mathura filled to the brim with RSS cadres and
lawyers calling Khan a terrorist, his bail plea was rejected. The matter will
now move to the Allahabad High Court.
What
explains Hindutva’s rage against Faisal Khan and the Khudai Khidmatagars? Hindutva
forces have chosen to see the Khudai Khidmatgar action as a deliberate Muslim
provocation and have conducted several revenge invasions into mosques in North
India.
Not for
them the popular Tulsidas saying, “Kan kan mein vyaape hai Ram” (Ram is in every
grain and particle). They do not want their Ram to reside in everything as that
would include Muslims. They would prefer to confine him to a grand temple under
their own direct control.
Even in the
1990s, during the mobilisation to demolish the Babri Mosque and build a Ram
temple in its place, Hindutva had already chosen their immediate next targets
as elaborated in their slogan “Ayodhya bas jhanki hai, Kashi, Mathura baaki
hai. -Ayodhya is just a glimpse, Kashi (Benares) and Mathura are next.
Today, the
Supreme Court verdict has ensured that the Ram temple movement ended in victory
for Hindutva forces. A movement to build a Krishna temple in Mathura, once
again on a disputed site, is next on the agenda. Images of Hindu Muslim fraternity
at this moment are clearly unwelcome.
The clue,
once more, lies in the past. The original Khudai Khidmatgars had suffered the
worst massacres and persecutions of the Independence struggle. Badshah Khan
later wrote that this was because the British thought a non-violent Pashtun was
more dangerous than a violent one and the British did everything they could to
provoke them into violence, but failed.
-----
Anand Patwardhan is an award-winning
documentary filmmaker.
https://scroll.in/article/980333/anand-patwardhan-the-heroism-of-khudai-khidmatgars-in-todays-india