Bacha Khan’s Legacy of Peace, Education, and Social Reform

Message on the 28th Death Anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan)

Keypoints: 

• Nonviolence: Rejecting revenge and choosing peace as the path to justice.
• Education: Spreading knowledge to defeat ignorance and bring progress.
• Social Service: Serving society through practical work and community improvement.
• Unity: Standing together beyond tribal and regional divisions.
• Women’s Education: Supporting girls’ learning and social participation.
• Awareness and Reform: Awakening society toward positive change.
• Moral Leadership: Leading through humility, patience, and sacrifice.
• Peaceful Nation-Building: Building a strong society through harmony and cooperation.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

To the esteemed gathering in Jalalabad, assembled to commemorate the anniversary of the passing of Fakhr-e-Afghan, Bacha Khan—Asamualikom.

First and foremost, I wish to express my deepest condolences on this anniversary, and also for the tragic massacre at Bacha Khan University in recent days. At the very dawn of his struggle, Bacha Khan undertook a monumental task: laying the foundation of the Azad School in Utmanzai, Hashtnagar. Even a century ago, he grasped the fundamental truth that success in the modern era is impossible without the spread of knowledge and enlightenment.

Those who shed blood at Bacha Khan University on the very date of his passing were individuals who could not tolerate the awakening and progress of a people; they feared the expansion of knowledge. However, we take heart in the fact that the world has changed. Whether some like it or not, education is spreading, and the waves of ignorance are breaking. In Afghanistan, fifteen years ago, we had a mere 900,000 students; today, that number has increased more than tenfold. Fifteen years ago, educating girls was deemed a crime; today, millions of girls attend school to seek knowledge.

Bacha Khan was not only a pioneer of modern education in the history of this region; his efforts toward social reform across nearly every vital sector remain unforgettable. Even today, there are those in our society who feel a sense of shame toward manual labor—who view it as beneath them to pick up a broom to clean a street or a spade to irrigate a field. Bacha Khan diagnosed this social ailment long ago. He, alongside his companions, would personally sweep the streets, build bridges and roads, and dig wells to ensure the people had access to clean water.

The destructive tradition of vendetta and revenge is another great weakness of our society. Bacha Khan recognized this flaw better than anyone. Through his writings and speeches, he taught the people that responding to oppression with further oppression is not the path of God. Furthermore, if a history of women's rights and their participation in the social life of Pashtun society is ever written, it will undoubtedly be incomplete without the mention of Bacha Khan.

The role Bacha Khan played in the liberation of the Indian subcontinent is hidden from no one. He was a maker of history; not only the Pashtuns, but all the peoples of South Asia owe a debt to his service and sacrifice. Just as his struggle was magnificent, so too was his method. He chose the path of non-violence (Aslam-e-Tashadud), a "Straight Path" (Sirat-al-Mustaqim) whose truth and righteousness have only been validated further by the passage of time.

In the contemporary history of Afghanistan, Bacha Khan was the first leader during the democratic era of Zahir Shah Baba to travel from city to city, province to province, and district to district, delivering a message of non-violence, national unity, and brotherhood. In every corner of Afghanistan, he told the people: do not be divided by tribes and clans; join hands and build your homeland as one Afghan nation.

May Almighty Allah grant him a place in Paradise, and may He grant our people the grace to fulfill Bacha Khan’s aspirations for peace, non-violence, unity, democracy, social reform, and progress.