Ghaffar Khan, Nonviolent Badshah of the Pakhtuns

Born Into The Muhammadzai Tribe, From The Charsadda Valley In The Pakhtun Heartland, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Was A Passionate Believer In The Nonviolent Core Of Islam And Sought To Wean His People&Mdash;The Fierce Warrior Pakhtuns Or Pathans Of The North-West Frontier Province&Mdash;From Their Violent Traditions And Fight For A Separate Pakhtun Homeland That Would No Longer Be A Buffer Between Russia And Britain In The Great Game. In 1929 Came Mahatma Gandhi&Rsquo;S Call For Nonviolent Resistance Against British Rule And Badshah Khan, Responded By Raising The Khudai Khidmatgars (&Lsquo;Servants Of God&Rsquo;), An &Lsquo;Army&Rsquo; Of 1,00,000 Men Who Pledged Themselves To The Service Of Mankind And Nonviolence As A Creed. For This, And For His Steadfast Devotion To His Principles, This Towering Figure Was Imprisoned For A Total Of Twenty-Seven Years, First By The British And Later By The Pakistani Government. This Is A Perceptive Biography That Offers Fresh Insights Into The Life And Achievements Of An Extraordinary Man, Drawing Close Parallels With The Life Of Mahatma Gandhi, His &Lsquo;Brother In Spirit&Rsquo;.