Badshah Khan (also called Frontier Gandhi) was very close to Mahatma Gandhi, and they both acknowledged they were inspired by each other. Badshah Khan formed an organization, largely composed of Pashtuns, called Khudai Khidmatgars (Servants of God).Although Pashtuns were known as people prone to violence, thousands of Khudai Khidmatgars in and around Peshawar, during the 1930s, presented one of the noblest examples of non-violent resistance to colonial rule and its atrocities, so much so that Gandhi considered his visits there to be like pilgrimages.If minorities like Hindus or Sikhs were threatened, the Khudai Khidmatgars took great risks to protect them. When Hindu soldiers led by Chandra Singh Garhwali were asked to open fire on Khudai Khidmatgars by colonial rulers, they refused to do so, instead accepting imprisonment for several years for this refusal.Such inspiring examples of inter-faith harmony were repeatedly witnessed during the freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. Leaders like Maulana Azad close to him presented interpretations of Islam and the Koran, which were very much in keeping with this spirit of harmony and peace.Colonial powers saw this growing unity as a threat to their rule and went all out to promote leaders who had a sectarian and divisive agenda. Hence during the critical phase of the Second World War, support of the government was extended to leaders and forces who wanted to create divisions and conflict among various religious communities of India. This paved the way for the tragic partition of the country, that led to millions killed and uprooted.Thus, the great Gandhian project of inter-faith harmony got badly disrupted due to factors beyond his control. But he continued to urge people not to be distracted by occasional references to violence in religious texts, saying that these need to be seen in a specific context and not as a general guidance.
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