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2008 Conference
THE 1932 LEAGUE OF NATIONS DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE AT GENEVA
Terry Charman, Imperial War Museum
peace_history_conference_2008_1.pdf
JAPANESE PEACE PIONEERS
Masaharu Oka & Yayori Matsui by Kazuyo Yamane , Kochi University, Japan
peace_history_conference_2008_2.pdf
GENERAL DE BOLLARDIERÈ : THE FRENCH GENERAL WHO CHANGED HIS MIND
Tramor Quemeneur PhD in History Institute of History of Present Time (IHTP-CNRS)
peace_history_conference_2008_3.pdf
2007 Conference
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND THE BRIAND KELLOGG PACT
peace_history_conference_2007_1.pdf
The World Government Movement 1945-50
Kate Hudson
London South Bank University
The immediate post-second world war period was a time of great social and political change. Out of the tragedy and trauma of the war years sprang a desire, on a global scale, to build a new world out of the ruins of the old. In countries that had borne the brunt of the barbarism – mostly central and eastern Europe – the emphasis was both on rebuilding the physical fabric and constructing new societies built on rapid economic and industrial development. Britain, although outside the zone of worst wartime devastation, also saw major political change. A Labour government was elected on a landslide victory, committed to a welfare state which would bring unprecedented equality, opportunity and social mobility. A great optimism existed, with the hope of a new beginning, and central to this was the overwhelming concern of the public never again to go through the carnage of a war in which around 55 million people had died. This desire found political expression in a number of forms. Most well known is of course the United Nations, seen by many as an alternative to war, with the profoundly moving opening words of the Charter: ‘We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save the succeeding generations from the scourge of war...’ But not everyone shared high hopes of the United Nations. Some felt that it was destined to repeat the record of the League of Nations, in failing to prevent the second world war – or the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, which failed to prevent the first world war. A strong body of opinion for a more radical alternative emerged from what became known as the world government movement. Its chief criticism of the UN framework lay in its belief that sovereign nation states were part of the problem, not part of the solution to war. Indeed, sovereign states, driven by national self-interest, it was believed, were overwhelmingly the cause of war. The need to prevent further wars was made all the more urgent by the dawn of the atomic age, following the testing and use of nuclear weapons by the US in 1945. Only a truly world government could lay to rest such impulses and institute a new world order of peace. As Emery Reves stated, in ‘The Anatomy of Peace’ published in 1945, and one of the most influential works of the time: ‘A league of sovereign nation-states is not a step …towards peace…The San Francisco league is the pitiful miscarriage of the second world war. We shall have to organise peace independently of the Unholy Alliance stillborn in San Francisco or else we shall delude ourselves by believing in a miracle, until the inevitable march of events into another and greater holocaust teaches us that equal and sovereign power units can never, under any circumstances, under any conditions, coexist peacefully…’1 A rather damning indictment of the UN! Reves’ book was very widely read at the end of the war – indeed it has been described as the bible of the world government movement. From an initial print-run of 4,000 in June 1945, hundreds of thousands were printed in the months that followed, particularly after Hiroshima. An open letter from eminent Americans, in support of the book, was published in the US press in October: ‘We urge American men and women to read this book, to think about its conclusions, to discuss it with neighbours and friends, privately and publicly. A few weeks ago these ideas seemed important but perhaps reachable for the future. In the new reality of atomic warfare they are of immediate urgent necessity, unless civilisation is determined on suicide.’2 Reinforcing this, 1n the November 1945 issue of the journal Atlantic Monthly, Einstein described the book as ‘the answer to the present political problem precipitated by the release of atomic energy’.3 Thus the atomic bomb brought an urgency and popularity to the cause of world government. Whilst the high point of the world government movement was undoubtedly the immediate post-war years, its origins lay in earlier times and experiences. Some historians, such as Lawrence Wittner, date the ideas which underpinned it back at least to the Middle Ages. Lord Tennyson dreamt of ‘the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world’, in his poem ‘Locksley Hall’ in 1842’. Many international organisations were formed in the 19th century, including institutions such as the International Red Cross in 1863, facilitated by improved communications – the Universal Postal Union itself was founded in 1874 - and by safer and more rapid travel. But in terms of popular support for the transfer of sovereignty from the nation state to a supranational body, we need to look primarily at the 1930s for the roots of the post-war movement. As with much of the modern age, we can look to the extraordinary trauma of the first world war to understand how attitudes on this issue were shaped. Above all, it was the desire to avoid further war which gave birth to many of the visionary ideas – and the organisations which they gave rise to. The Peace Pledge Union, for example, the British section of the War Resisters’ International, was founded in 1936, as war loomed in Europe. Its members renounced war and pledged they would never sanction another. By 1939 it had 150,000 members, 1,000 local groups and 30 full-time staff, but it lost members during the second world war, due to the anti-fascist character of the war. The war was overwhelmingly seen as a just war, and support for pacifism fell away. By the end of the war, PPU membership was down to 20,000.
But as the fortunes of the pacifists waned, so those of world government waxed. Many people’s earliest notion of world government came through the writings of H.G.Wells, most notably his 1933 work, The Shape of Things to Come. This novel outlined a future world scenario, where decades of war had reduced the world to a new dark ages. But a surviving band of scientists had formed a society known as ‘wings over the world’, building a new civilisation, based in Basra, Iraq, that has renounced war and outlawed independent nation states. The novel, which was made into a popular film in 1936, drew on Wells’s philosophical works, not least his notion of the New Republic, which would consist of all those ‘whose minds were adapted to the demands of the big scale conditions of the new time.’ But Wells’s notion of democracy was ambiguous. In his autobiography he stated that ‘in 1900 I had already grasped the inevitability of a World State and the complete insufficiency of the current parliamentary methods of democratic government’.4 Indeed the absence of any notion of the extension of democracy in Wells’s ideas is striking and there are clear threads of elitism and even vanguardism. He replaces the role played by the ‘philosopher kings’ in Plato’s Republic, with modern day experts. In Things to Come, it is scientists who play the role of leading and saving society. Interestingly, as we learn from Wells’s autobiography, he hoped at one point that what he described as ‘the right sort of individuals’, suited to ruling the world, could be drawn from a ‘reconditioned Fabian Society’!5 Notwithstanding the apparent eccentricity of these ideas, The Shape of Things to Come inspired the setting up of Wellsian societies around the world.
In 1937, the Campaign for World Government was started in Chicago, by two women – Rosika Schwimmer and Lola Lloyd. In the UK in 1938 the Federal Union was founded as a response to the Munich crisis. It advocated both European and World Federations, seeing ‘federation of free peoples’ as the first step towards world government. In 1943, Wendell Wilkie’s book, ‘One World’ was published in the US, selling 2 million copies within two years of publication. Wilkie had been former Republican candidate for US president, and the book had a big impact, rejecting ‘narrow nationalism’ and arguing that there can be no peace in any part of the world unless the foundations of peace ‘are made secure throughout all parts of the world’.6 The world government movement took off rapidly in the US with new organisations growing up. According to Wittner, bodies like Americans United for World Government, World Federalists, USA, and Student Federalists enrolled thousands of new members. In February 1947, six of the largest groups merged to form United World Federalists, claiming 17,000 members in over 200 local groups. The organisation committed itself primarily to strengthening the UN into a world government.
The movement also advanced in Britain. While Federal Union had recruited a few thousand members during the war, it took off more extensively after Hiroshima. The philosopher Bertrand Russell, who was later active in CND, was an outspoken advocate of world government. In 1946 he asserted that the only way in which great wars could be permanently averted was through ‘the establishment of an international government, with a monopoly of serious armed force.’ But Russell, as ever, was controversial in his view of how world government could be achieved, advocating that the issue should be forced while the US had an atomic monopoly. The US and other countries should form a world authority and encourage the Soviet Union to join. If it refused, however, ‘it would be necessary to bring pressure to bear, even to the extent of risking war.’7 Not a popular position with pacifists!
Perhaps the most radical manifestation of the world government movement – in Britain at least - was the Crusade for World Government, founded by the Labour MP, Henry Usborne. Elected in the Labour landslide of 1945, Usborne became interested in world government after Hiroshima. Founder of the All Party Parliamentary Group for World Government in 1947, which still exists today, he introduced a motion to parliament stating Britain’s readiness to federate with other nations. By the end of that year, it had received the support of nearly 100 MPs. High level political supporters of the movement also included Sir Stafford Cripps and Ernest Bevin. The Crusade for World Government aimed at building a mass grass roots organisation, to harness the power of the ordinary citizen in mass demands on national government to move towards world government, or if necessary to circumvent national government by a citizens’ declaration of world territories. It organised ‘World Government Week’ in a number of cities, held large public meetings and produced a newsletter and other materials. It had strong bases of support in both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, with John Haycraft a significant figure at the former, and Guy Wilson and Pat Arrowsmith at the latter. The motivating factor for membership in Britain paralleled that in the US and elsewhere. As John Haycraft wrote of this period in his autobiography, ‘The idea, that peace could not be maintained if the world were divided into national units with their own armies, appealed to me. Underlying it all was anticipation of an atomic war.’8
The Crusade had a clearly articulated plan for the creation of a world federal government. It actively sought to amend the UN Charter to enable world government to supersede national government. To achieve this, in a situation where governments were not even considering such an amendment, the Crusade proposed to mobilise public opinion to demand a world government with membership open to all nations willing to forgo national sovereignty. They proposed that the structure and powers of this government would be worked out and its constitution drawn up at a Peoples’ World Convention, elections to which would start in the autumn of 1950. The composition of the representatives to the Convention was intended to be one for every million inhabitants of all countries, elected or chosen, unofficially if necessary. The target was to have a workable world constitution drawn up by 1955, in time for discussion by the UN on revision of its Charter. In order to avoid a vetoing of proposals by one or more countries, it was proposed that the world constitution would come into force when a given percentage of nations or people had ratified it, rather than needing to wait for unanimity.
The Crusade advocated a variety of techniques and intermediate steps for raising public awareness and activity on the issue. Two specific methods were particularly highlighted in the Crusade’s material.
The first was ‘Mundialisation’. A town or village or any organised group of people was considered mundialised when its constituted authority, or not less than 51% of its members, voted to adopt the Charter of Mundialisation, symbolically declaring itself world territory. By 1950, around 400 communities world-wide had the adopted the Charter of Mundialisation.
The second was the attempt to register supporters through issuing World Citizen Identity Cards. Signatories retained their national citizenship but also expressed their desire to add world citizenship to their current nationality. Campaigners went house to house securing signatures and support for the movement and the international registry of world citizens was located in Paris.
So what kind of world government was conceived of by the activists? As a minimum they sought the following powers for such a government:
- 1. a monopoly of armed forces to be used as a World Police Force, with participating states to be disarmed to the level of their internal commitments
- 2. a monopoly of the processes involved in atomic development and other scientific discoveries capable of mass destruction
- 3. the power to arrest, try and punish individual violators of the world law, with citizens to be protected by a world bill of rights
- 4. the power to initiate and finance measures, such as a World Food Board, designed to raise the world standard of living, and power to establish a linked or world currency.
The People’s World Convention initiative was supported by movements from across the world. It also had support from prominent individuals, including Lord Beveridge and Lord Boyd Orr from the UK, Camus from France, Einstein and Steinbeck from the US, Rossellini from Italy, Senghor from Senegal, and many others.
But while support was widespread and mainstream, not all in the peace movement backed the world government idea. Some pacifists had qualms about the notion of a world police force. In a Peace News pamphlet published in 1947, entitled The Police Idea, Stuart Morris, general secretary of the Peace Pledge Union, observed: ‘We should be…on our guard lest the use to which a so-called International Police Force might be put should become as far removed from the legitimate action of police as we see to be true in the case of the Gestapo and Ogpu.’9 In 1948, an editorial in Peace News stated, ‘We deplore the fact that so many sincere peace workers are being drawn into’ the Crusade for World Government. ‘An international peace force is either a mechanism for waging war on dissident communities…or else it serves no purpose not adequately fulfilled by the police forces of sovereign states.’10
By 1950, the Crusade had signed up around 15,000 registered supporters, and other groups, like Federal Union – which the Crusade regarded as the wishy-washy end of the movement, totalled around 3,000. A UNESCO-sponsored poll in Britain in the late 1940s showed that 44% favoured world government while 40% opposed. Given this level of support, what is particularly interesting about the movement was how rapidly it vanished from any substantial place on the political landscape. The Peoples’ World Convention in Geneva, which convened 1950/51, was described by Wittner as a fiasco, with hardly any official delegates attending. What accounted for this? A variety of explanations can be considered – most significant probably the onset, with a vengeance, of the Cold War. The reality of a divided world, so vividly expressed by the Korean War, seemed an insurmountable obstacle to a world government. And in any case, how would the ideological nature of such a government be determined? No doubt the founding of NATO, and the Soviet nuclear test in 1949, ending the US atomic monopoly, contributed to the sense of division and conflict. It is also the case though, that progress was being made in western Europe towards greater cooperation. The European Coal and Steel Community, one of the very initial steps towards the European Union, was agreed in 1951. For the more moderate end of the movement – organisations like Federal Union – this seemed like a step in the right direction. Indeed, by 1950, the constitutions of France, Italy, The Netherlands and West Germany had been amended to allow the limitation of national sovereignty for the purpose of joining regional or world federations. But in the words of the activist Guy Wilson, ‘We just didn’t get enough people on side, then the moment had passed.’
Whilst regional integration increased over the succeeding decades, the notion of world government passed into the realm of utopian fantasies. As the 1950s advanced, it is striking that peace, progress and human development instead became inextricably linked with the achievement of national sovereignty – a far cry from the pronouncements of Emery Reves. The struggles for colonial freedom and national liberation, first achieved by Ghana in 1957, were the beacon of hope for the next generation, and the struggle of the Vietnamese people for national self-determination against US intervention shaped the politics of the whole subsequent era.
So, returning to the title of this conference, what encouragement or warnings can we take from this period of the world government movement? It is an encouragement that so many were willing to look with open minds at an alternative structure of government. It was an indication of the humane concerns of ordinary people.
As far as warnings are concerned – we must live in reality and engage with the actual political balance of forces. The world at that time was engaged in a very real struggle about the nature of societies and particularly economic systems. These were great and genuine debates that led to very real conflict. The assumption from the world government movement seemed to be that the ‘western’ model would be adapted. That was not a viable assumption.
And related to that, the national liberation struggles for freedom from western imperialism were absolutely fundamental issues at that time, but this was not addressed by the movement. Would colonies continue under world government? It was these issues which sealed the marginality of the world government movement.
- 1 Emery Reves, The Anatomy of Peace, Penguin, 1947, p.237.
- 2 Ibid., pp.9-10.
- 3 Ibid., p.10.
- 4 H.G.Wells, Experiment in Autobiography, Volume II, Faber and Faber, 1984, p.651.
- 5 Ibid., p.660.
- 6 Wendell Wilkie, One World, Cassell and Co., 1943, p.166.
- 7 Lawrence S. Wittner, One World or None, Stanford University Press, 1993, p.93.
- 8 John Haycraft, Adventures of a Language Traveller, Constable, 1998, p.108.
- 9 Stuart Morris, The Police Idea, Peace News Monthly Pamphlet, 1947, pp.3-4.
- 10 Wittner, op.cit., p.95.
"There is an answer to violence, which is more violence. But
nothing can conquer non-violence, you cannot kill it.'
The Frontier
Gandhi: Abdul Ghaffar Khan 1890-1989
Shireen Shah MA March 2007
This profile of the oft forgotten Pathan social reformer and leader of the Khudai Khitmaghar (Servants of God) whose principles adhere to a non-violent Islamic tradition aims to convey a sense of Abdul Ghaffar Khan's world within the context of India's history, and in particular the Pathan social context. Where possible I'll use extracts from his speeches to give insight into his personality and depth of commitment to non violence.
In the second part of the session; our plenary we'll discuss the special significance that Ghaffar Khan's dedication to non violence has in the light of the contemporary world, in which political, intellectual and religious leaders grapple with repetitive cycles of violence and warfare. If Ghaffar Khan's potent legacy; that the highest religious values of Islam are deeply compatible with non violence were more widely recognized what impact could this have on both the East and West? Would knowledge of his life and work; raising an 'army of God' 10,000 strong without weapons, which played a leading role in ending imperialist rule in India, serve to challenge the myth that non violence is only for those already peaceful?
Our starting point, by way of introduction to Abdul Ghaffar Khan is through his two honorary titles: both conferring hero status on him, not after his death, but actually during his lifetime - and it was a spectacularly long life of 99 years ! One third of this was spent imprisoned; firstly under the British Raj and after Partition in 1947 by the Pakistan government. Without bitterness Ghaffar Khan's words to Gandhi reveal his stance:
"I am quiet certain it is all God's doing. He kept me out of prison just for the time he wanted to use me outside. Now it is his will that I must serve from inside. What pleases him, pleases me." (1)"
His titles: the first 'Bacha khan' or 'Badshah Khan' means in the Pushtu language 'King of Kings' - awarded to someone who is willing to sacrifice everything for a cause. For Khan that cause was his personal faith in non- violence and his belief that this was in accordance with the tenets of Islam. His life reflected that his religious values based on amal, ( selfless service), yakeen (faith based on spiritual laws), and muhabat ( love, compassion) were capable of transforming human affairs; even transforming anger into love in action.(2)
"There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pathan like me in the creed of non violence. It is not a new creed. It was followed fourteen hundred years ago by the Prophet all the time he was in Mecca." (3)
His other title : 'The Frontier Gandhi' relates to his identification through his close spiritual friendship with Mahatma Gandhi and reflected his involvement with movements launched by Gandhi, including the Village Reconstruction programme, the Civil Disobediance and 'Quit India' movement in 1942. Ghaffar repudiated this analogy with Gandhi and spoke sternly to the students who started it:
"Do not add the name of Gandhi to my name. I am not fit for the praise you have showered on me. The praise is due to the non-violent method which has changed the nature of the people." (4)
Now to consider some key influences in Abdul Ghaffar Khan's life. These fall into three main areas which will guide us chronologically through his life; firstly his Pathan heritage, secondly, events which sharpened his political and social awareness during his formative years and thirdly, the profound effect of meeting with Gandhi and the transformative impact of his ideas.
Pathan Heritage. To set the scene: a glimpse at the country of his birth - Charsadda in the Peshawar valley is the mountainous area far up in the north of India toward the foothills of the Himalayas, bordering Afghanistan in the west and Baluchistan in the south. This province known as the North West Frontier is home to the Pathans - pale, often green-eyed people due to their ancestral links with Alexandra the Great.
Desolate valleys and high barren mountains, thick forest and extreme climates; 120F by day falling to 90F at night during May but with sharp snowy winters. The names convey the inhospitable nature of the terrain; Dozakh Tangi (Gorge of Hell), Devil's Cake and Giddar Khula (Mouth of the Jackal).
Born a Pathan meant adherence to the unwritten 'Pukhtunwali Code' which pervades all aspects of familial, cultural and political life. Steeped in pride and honour, this code embraces the concepts of itbar /trust, jaba /word of honour , and melmastia/ hospitality, but at the heart of it and imbuing meaning to daily life is badal/revenge, whose obligations pass from father to son. In this tribal society dominated by violence where tarburwali describes political alignments and competition amongst patrilineal cousins, Ghaffar Khan's personal faith in non violence was most unusual. His belief that this was in accord with Islam gained him immense respect. His motivating words to his fellow countrymen, "O Pathans! Your house has fallen into ruins. Arise and build it, and remember to what race you belong." was a call to arms with only the enemy holding swords. (5)
Although the tribes populating the North West Frontier shared the Pushtu code there was no unity and deep conflicts arose from rivalries based on their status which was directly linked according to their lineage from the Prophet Mohammed. The pervading tribal culture of violence and vendettas was one Ghaffar aspired to change by means of education.
Since the Frontier had been formed as a buffer state for the British Raj against Russian influence, with oppression of the British matched by the repression of the Mullahs, his desire was also for liberation and social improvements;
' I have one great dream, one great longing. Like flowers in the desert my people are born, bloom for a while with nobody to look after them, wither and return to the dust they came from. I want to see them share each others sorrow and happiness. I want to see them work together as equal partners. I want to see them play their natural role and take their rightful place among the nations of the world for the service of God and humanity," (6)
Social and political events. Born in 1890 into a priviledged family home, the second son of an affluent landowner Beshram Khan, Chief of the Mohammedzais whose hospitality exemplified the Pathan code of melmastia and despite having servants would serve meals to visitors himself, quoting the saying ' An unknown traveler is a gift sent to us by God".
After home education Ghaffar Khan followed his older brother to the local Madrassi where he learnt the Koran by heart in Arabic, then to the Municipal High School and onto the British run Edwards Memorial High School in Peshawar. Reverend Wigram, the headmaster was both a role model and a mentor instilling in Ghaffar Khan the importance of education in service to the community. This value continued to inspire and motivate Khan throughout his life.
Aged 16 Ghaffar applied for a commission with the prestigious Guides, an elite corps of Pathan and Sikh soldiers of the British Raj. However an incident at the army camp changed his mind, when an English Officer ridiculed an Indian senior in age and opened his eyes to the inferior treatment that Indians were subjected to.
Studies for matriculation at Alighar were disrupted by a message from home. Returning, he found his parents in dispute over his future. His father had booked Ghaffar a passage on the P&O Line to England where he was to study engineering, but as his brother was already there studying medicine his mother was reluctant for both sons to be away.
Respecting her wishes Ghaffar stayed home, got married and worked on his fathers' land while deciding what to do with his life. Shocked by the illiteracy, ignorance, poverty and apathy of his fellow Pathans Ghaffar Khan saw education as essential in improving not only social conditions, but relations between the tribes, with the benefit of uniting and strengthening their position against the colonizers. Thwarted in his own educational aspirations he began creating opportunities for others by embarking on work as an educationalist.
His first school was opened at Utmanzai when Ghaffar was just 20. Others in Gaddar, Peshawar and Mardan districts followed but hostility from the authorities led to the first of Ghaffar Khan's prison sentences.
In1913 political awareness developed through his attending the Muslim League Conference in Agra. Events in his personal life included the birth of a son, Ghani who later became a poet, a spiritual retreat in Bajaur, then work with the settled tribes.
In 1915 after his second sons' birth his wife died from influenza and Ghaffar threw himself into work, traveling throughout 500 province villages inviting people to become involved in education and activism.
Some historical context is useful at this point as events such as The Rowlatt Bill, whereby political dissidents could be interned without trial, the massacre at Jallianwala Bargh, Amritsar, and the Declaration of Martial Law in the Punjab, explain the direction Ghaffar Khan took in his political activism. He joined the Khilafat Movement which wanted to strengthen spiritual links with Indian Muslims to the Turkish Sultan. After a spell in prison he was released in 1920 and following a second marriage joined a mass pilgrimage to Afghanistan.
Joining the Congress Party of India he was made an Executive Committee member and through his personal charisma the Party became popular in The North West Frontier Province. He was to be jailed for criticism and disobedience several times during the British Raj.
Influence of Gandhi
A Congress session in Nagpur (1920) brought Ghaffar into contact with Gandhi. He was attracted to Gandhi's programme of self rule and ahimsa/ non violence. Gandhi's search for the right word to accurately describe the nature and strength of his programme of political action led him to 'satyagraha' - literal meaning 'soul force'. His ideas had resonance for Ghaffar Khan Particularly when Gandhi spoke of; " the eradication of anger from the heart. To realize non violence means to feel within you its strength- soul force- to know God. A person who has known God will be incapable of harboring anger or fear within him, no matter how overpowering the cause may be."(7)
Gandhi emphasized the double meaning of 'holding on' or 'grappling' which 'implies a force arising from that grappling. He spoke of "conserving anger, and as heat is conserved it is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into power which can move the world" (8)
In addition to the appeal of Gandhi's ideas his personal charisma impressed Ghaffar Khan. When heckled he modeled exemplary behaviour, remaining calm, good humored and patient. This highlighted for Khan how detrimental the Pathans traditional rivalries and feuding were so with renewed energy he toured the Frontier districts until the authorities curbed this by imprisonment. He used the time to read the holy books of other religions; the Bhagvad Gita, Grant Seb and the Bible.
While he was in jail his mother died and upon release his sister suggested going on the Haj for spiritual renewal. But while on this journey his wife died in an accident Ghaffar Khan vowed, " henceforth, there will be no room for a marriage in my life of dedication to the service of my country." (9)
Gandhi was at this time on a fast for communal unity of all Indians and Ghaffar Khan who'd been disillusioned on the Haj by Muslims bickering over theological points volunteered to preach Hindu- Muslim unity.
When in 1926 his father Beshram Khan died, Pathan custom decreed alms be distributed at his funeral. The mullahs flocked hoping for a large handout but when Ghaffar decided to ask the mourners who should receive the 2,000 rupees the crowd shouted ,"Give it to the school!' (10)
In 1928 at a Khilifat Conference in Calcutta Ghaffar Khan witnessed an armed attack on Mohammad Ali Jinnah that signalled the rift between Urdu speaking and non Urdu speaking leaders. Returning to the North West Frontier Province he organizes people in readiness for Independence from British rule.
Fresh ideas from his Middle Eastern travels led to the formation of a grass roots party; The Pathan Youth League in which to launch educational, social and political reforms. To help disseminate this programme a journal; The Pakhtun, was started so exiled Pathans could maintain links with their home and preserve their language through poetry and folklore.
A contributer to the Journal, Nagina expressed her concern about the subordinate role of women; "
Apart from the Pathan the women have no enemy. He is clever but ardent in suppressing women. O Pathan , when you demand your freedom, why do you deny it to women?" ( 11)
Ghaffer Khan viewed the traditional system of purdah as inhibiting the participation of women in society. His own sisters had unveiled and were active politically giving public speeches throughout the Frontier. Gandhi too was convinced that an active womans' movement was essential for gaining freedom through non violence. When Mrs.Sarojini Naidu, the poet became leader of the Congress Party her leadership example galvanized Indian women and demonstrated their capacity for political activity. Speaking at the Women's Unity Club in Bombay Ghaffar Khan said,
"When freedom is won you will have an equal share and place with your brothers in this country. We are like two wheels of a big chariot, and unless our movements have been mutually adjusted our carriage will never move." (13)
Sensing the urgency sweeping India to challenge the British Raj, Ghaffar Khan toured extensively urging Pathans to engage with mainstream Indian affairs. In September 1929 at a gathering in his home town of Utmanzai Ghaffar Khan outlined ways to national progress,
"If we are on the road to ruin, it is because we have neither the true spirit of religion nor the true spirit of patriotism. Nor love for our nation … a great revolution is coming and you haven't even heard about it! If you want your country and your people to prosper you must stop living for yourselves alone. You must start living for the community. That is the only way to prosperity and progress. " ( 14)
Gandhi had been talking about 'the non violence of the strong, that it was for the brave, the courageous'. The idea developed into the notion of an army of Pathans, renowned for their ferocity but without weapons. They would be disciplined, wear uniform, have a flag and officers appointed by a commander in chief but they would be soldiers of nonviolence - dedicating their lives to resist oppression.
At first Pathans saw this as a disfigurement of badal - the code of revenge was firmly rooted in their blood from birth, but in November 1929 Khudai Khitmaghar /'Servants of God' was formed under the leadership of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and became the first professional non violent army. Based on Islamic principles of universal brotherhood, submission to God's will and service to God with the underlying philosophy rooted in Gandhi's concept of satyagraha/ active non violence captured in their oath of allegiance:
" I am a Khudai Khitmaghar, and as serving Allah needs no service, but serving Allah's creation is serving Allah, I promise to serve humanity in his name.
I promise to refrain from taking part in feuds and quarrels and from creating enmity.
I promise to treat every Pathan as my brother and friend.
I promise to refrain from antisocial customs and practices.
I promise to live a simple life, to practice virtue and to refrain from evil.
I promise to practice good manners and good behaviour and not to lead a life of idleness.
I promise to devote at least two hours a day to social work. This is the Oath of the Khudai Khitmaghar Army" (15)
The earliest recruits were young men educated in Ghaffar Khans' schools. They helped on community projects, maintained order at gatherings and recruited; women were included. Their name 'Red Shirts' came from a practical concern about keeping their white shirts clean! When these got grimy a couple of men dyed theirs at a local tannery and so the distinctive red brick coloured shirt was adopted as the uniform. Hence the title surkh posh/red shirt. Walking sticks were carried in place of the weapons traditionally carried by Pathans.
Though the movement justified non violent protest within an Islamic context it was intrinsically non- sectarian. On occasions Khitmaghar members helped protect Hindus and Sikh lives and property following attacks in Peshawar. Ghaffar Khan quoted the Prophet Mohammed,
" That man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by deed or word, but who works for the benefit and happiness of God's creatures. Belief in God is to love one's fellow men" ( 16)
The Pathans contempt for fear and cowardice was legendary but they obeyed the oath even in the face of provocation. British Army tactics were chronicled by Musharraf Din,
" The British used to torture us, throw us into ponds in winter time, shave our beards, but even then Badshah told his followers not to lose patience. He said: "there is an answer to violence which is more violence. But nothing can conquer non violence. You cannot kill it. It keeps standing up. The British sent their horses and cars to run over us, but I took my shawl in my mouth to keep from screaming. We were human beings, but we should not cry or express in any way that we were injured or weak." (17)
When 500 members of the Red Shirts were arrested in Peshawar the entire population took the oath and enlisted. The civil disobedience led to a general strike with the British army sending in armoured vehicles and firing on the demonstrators continued for six hours. When the Garhwal Rifles, an elite Indian Regiment refused to fire on their countrymen they were sentenced to stiff prison terms, one for life. Negotiations later forced the British to release political prisoners but all the Garhwalis were made to serve their full term.
The Servants of God commitment to non violence was a supreme challenge for the Pathans - public humiliation, beating with rifle butts, being thrown into cesspools and even cases of castration leading some to take their own lives rather than break their oath.
In 1930 Gandhi led his 'Salt Satyagraha', the 24 day march from the ashram on Sabarmati River to Dandi, where by picking up a few grains of salt on the sea shore, he broke the recently imposed law giving a monopoly of making and selling salt to the colonizing power. The repression that followed was the worst in the history of the British Raj and culminated in Gandhi's arrest.
On April 23rd Ghaffar Khan's arrest for organizing civil disobedience triggered mass demonstrations with shootings in Peshawar and repression in Utmanzai. In jail, when asked by the Deputy Commissioner what he would have done if he had not been influenced by Gandhi, Ghaffar Khan grasped the iron bars of the cell in his hands and forced them apart saying, "This is what I would have done to you." (18)
By 1931 5000 members of the Red Shirts , including women were arrested. Five police were suspended in Benares for horrific violence used against female volunteers. Ghaffar Khan rallied the Red Shirts ,"I am going to give you such a weapon that the police and army will not be able to stand against it…that weapon is patience and righteousness, victory will be yours." (19)
When Gandhi returned from the London - held Round Table Conference about Indian Independence, Ghaffar Khan joined him on the Congress Working Committee. In March 1932 demonstrations against the bombings in the Bajadur Valley, used by the British for active military training resulted in some 2,000 Congress Party members including their leaders being arrested.
Reflecting on his personal circumstances Ghaffar Khan described the impact of Gandhi's ideas,
"As a young man, I had violent tendencies, the hot blood of the Pathan was in my veins. But in jail I had nothing to do except read the Koran. I read about the prophet Mohammed, about his patience, his suffering, his dedication. I had read it all before, as a child, but now I read it in the light of what I was hearing all around me about Gandhi's struggle against the British Raj. When I finally met Gandhi I learned about his ideas of non violence and his constructive programme. They changed my life forever." (20)
Released from jail in August but banned from the Frontier, Ghaffar Khan and his children accepted Gandhi's invitation to his ashram in Wardha. Here Ghaffar Khan's work revolved around the village reconstruction programme essential to supporting the swaraj/home rule movement, and just as Gandhi had done he learnt to spin!. His brother Dr. Khan set up a clinic and stayed with the children while Ghaffar Khan kept a promise to visit Muslims in Bengal.
Traveling onto Calcutta in October 1934 Ghaffar Khan was greeted by students as the 'Frontier Gandhi'. But he responded, " Mahatma Gandhi is our general and there should be one general only. So do not add the name of Gandhi to my name." (21)
In Bombay as an Executive Committee member he attended the Annual Congress session then was arrested again for his speeches. Mahadev Desai, Gandhi's secretary described Khan's temperament;
" The greatest thing in him to my mind is his spirituality - or better still, the true spirit of Islam - submission to God. It is not Gandhi's name and fame that have attracted him to Gandhiji, nor his political work, nor his spirit of rebellion and revolution. It is his pure and ascetic life and his insistence on self purification that have had the greatest appeal for him, and his whole life since 1919 onwards has been one sustained effort for self purification." ( 22)
When in 1937 the ban is lifted, Ghaffar Khan returns to the Frontier with Gandhi visiting the following year to teach the Pathans to live non violently based on his Constructive Programme ; .
"It is not the wearing of the red shirts that makes you a Khudai Khitmaghar nor is it standing in ranks. It is to feel within you the opposite of the strength of arms. You have so far only arrived at the portal of non violence. Still you have[been able to achieve so much! How much greater your achievement will be when you have fully entered its holy edifice." (23)
At the outbreak of the Second World War Ghaffar Khan resigns from the Congress Party over War policy but rejoins when this is reviewed. In 1940 the Muslim League passes a resolution for a separate Muslim state. In 1941 Gandhi gives up leadership of the congress Party and the following year launches the 'Quit India' campaign supported by Ghaffar Khan who begins civil disobedience in the Frontier Province. More spells in prison follow.
In 1946 Ghaffar Khan tours war torn Bihar but is hospitalized following attacks by Muslims who consider him anti- Muslim because of his own preference for an independent state of Pukhistan. Potential compromises considered by the Congress Party were turned down. Gandhi's suggestion that the Prime Ministership be offered to Jinnah and the subsequent sense of betrayal was keenly felt by Ghaffar Khan. His final words in the Congress to Gandhi were " you have thrown us to the wolves."
In 1947 the outcome of the vote to decide between India and Pakistan resulted in a 9 to 1 margin in favour of Pakistan. The turn out was low in the Tribal arrears because Khan asked people to boycott the polls. He explained Pathans wanted the option of an independent Pukhistan " we are happy in following our own destiny by ourselves"
"We the Frontier Pathans, are a body of people with our own distinctive culture, civilization, language, literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature and sense of values and proportion, legal and moral codes, customs and calendar, history . In short we have our own distinctive outlook on life, and by all canons of international law a Pathan is quite separate from a Punjabi." ( 24 )
Following Partition Ghaffar Khan was elected Head of the Pakistan People's Party and in February 1948 took an oath of allegiance to the new nation of Pakistan. In his subsequent address to the constituent assembly he said,
"Whenever I had the opportunity to address the people in different parts of our province , I told them clearly that India should not be divided because today in India we have witnessed the result. Thousands and thousands of young and old, children, men and women were massacred and ruined. But now that is an accomplished fact, the dispute is over… You may hold any opinion of me but I am not a man of destruction but of construction. If you study my life you will see I devoted it to the welfare of our country. We have proclaimed that if the government of Pakistan would work for our people and our country the Khudai Khitmarghars would be with them. I repeat that I am not for the destruction of Pakistan, in destruction lies no good. Neither Hindus nor Muslims, nor the Frontier, nor Punjab, Bengal or Sindh stands to gain from it. There is advantage only in construction. I will not support anybody in destruction. If any constructive programme is before you, if you want to do something constructive for our people, not in theory but in practice, I declare before this House that I and my people are at your service." (25)
In January 1948 Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu who feared he was too pro Muslim and Ghaffar Khan was put under house arrest without charge for 6 years by an Islamic government who claimed he was pro Hindu.
Upon his release Ghaffar Khan spoke at the Constituent Assembly ;
" I had to go to prison many times in the days of the Britishers. Although we were at loggerheads with them their treatment was to some extent tolerant and polite, but the treatment which was meted out to me un this Islamic state of ours was such that I would not even like to mention it to you.
Six years ago, I announced on the floor of this House that Pakistan is our country and it's solidarity is our duty and that any programme that will be submitted by any party for its' progress and its' reconstruction shall have my fullest cooperation. I repeat those words of mine even today. But still there are some persons who suspect my loyalty. I therefore think that it would be advisable to set up a Tribunal to enquire not only into the question of loyalty or treason but also into the general massacre, arson and looting and the dishonouring of women , children and old men at Charsadda and the oppressive treatment meted out to us in jail."(26)
Finally Ghaffar Khan could return to the Frontier in 1955 after 7 years detention. Rearrested in 1956 after opposition to the 'One Unit' scheme under which the Frontier would be incorporated with the other provinces under the central government, his property was confiscated over non payment of fines. The Pakistani Islamic Republic was declared and the constitution adopted in March but was to be abolished just two years later when Martial Law was declared and all political parties were dissolved.
On October 11th Ghaffar Khan was arrested and jailed. He was released in 1959 on grounds of his age and poor health but disqualified from holding office. Two years later along with hundreds of workers he was arrested again for 'spreading disaffection'
In 1963 Amnesty International named Ghaffar Khan 'Amnesty Prisoner of the Year.' Their statement described his example as symbolizing the suffering of upward of a million people all over the world who are in prison for their conscience.
In September he traveled to England for medical treatment, returning to exile in Afghanistan in December.
In April 1968 the Khudai Khitmaghars demonstrated for the end of the 'One Unit' rule which merged the Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan with the Frontier, and called for the restoration of the Frontier Province.
1969 His autobiography 'My Life and Struggle: Autobiography of Badshah Khan' was published. He visited India to speak on the anniversary of Gandhi's birthday and fasts for Hindu- Muslim unity.
The next decade sees turbulent times in Pakistan with the resignation of Ayub Khan and his successor General Yaya Khan declaring Martial Law. After the 1971 Civil War, the twelve years of military rule in Pakistan ends, and with Ali Bhutto as President Ghaffar Khan is able to return from exile. The Frontier and Baluchistan are again declared separate provinces and East Pakistan secedes as the independent state of Bangladesh. However in 1977 the army again assumes control when General Zia proclaims Martial Law and postpones elections. Two years later Ali Bhutto, the former President is hung and in December The USSR invades Afghanistan. In 1983 Ghaffar Khan is arrested with his son Wali and all opposition leaders. Released from house arrest he is sent to hospital in Kabul where he remained into 1984.
In 1987 attending the Indian National Congress Centenary session in Bombay Ghaffar Khan is awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.
At the time of his death from pneumonia in January 1988 Ghaffar Khan was again under house arrest. It was indicative of the esteem in which he was held that a cease fire took place in the Afghan Civil War to allow his funeral procession, comprising tens of thousands of mourners to march through the Khyber Pass from Peshawar to reach his place of burial, which in accordance with his wishes was in Jalalabad.
So, in Badshah Khan, the 'Frontier Gandhi'' the possibilities of a constructive, non violent path were illuminated by his leadership and personal example. His cornerstone of spiritual belief meant that issues of ethics and morality were sited in a higher moral ground than any offered by those promulgating violent means. His concern that people should continue work and efforts for peace were expressed in the Pushtu words "tre mash" - "may they never grow weary".
It's fitting to close this glimpse of the Frontier Gandhi in his own words, spoken shortly before death when he was reflecting on the choice he had made and modeled throughout his life:
"Today's world is traveling in a strange direction. You see that the world is going towards destruction and violence. The speciality of violence is to create hatred among people and to create fear. I am a believer in non violence and I say that no peace or tranquility will descend upon the people of the world until non violence is practiced, because non violence is love and it stirs courage in people." (27)
References:
- 1. .Eknath Eswaran, 'Non Violent Soldier of Islam: Ghaffar Khan: A Man to Match his Mountains' Nilgiri Press, Tomales CA p. 148
- 2. Ibid p63
- 3. Ibid p 103
- 4. Ibid p 63
- 5. Ibid p25
- 6. Ibid p 81
- 7. Ibid p.157
- 8. Ibid p197
- 9. Ibid p 104
- 10. Ibid p103
- 11. Ibid p105
- 12. Ibid p103
- 13. Ibid p168
- 14. Ibid p108-109
- 15. ww.reference.com/browse/wiki/Khan_Abdul_Ghaffar_Khan
- 16. Eknath Eswaran Op. cit. p55
- 17. Musharraf Din http/bachakhan.8k.com/custom_2.html
- 18. Eknath Eswaran Op. cit. p 84-85
- 19. Ibid p 117
- 20. Ibid p 141
- 21. Ibid p143
- 22. Ibid p 110
- 23 Ibid p 158
- 24. Rittenburg S. A. 'Ethnicity, Nationalism & Paktuns, The Independence Movement in India's North West Frontier Province 1901-1947' Durham Nc 1988 p337
- 25. Puri Lal Girdhari, 'Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan A True Servant of Humanity' p188-190
- 26. Budget Speech 20th March 1954
- 27 www.uucb.org/sermons/2003031601 'Taking the War Out of Our Words' from Eknath Eswaran p7
Bibliography
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