How Khudai Khidmatgar is spreading the message of inter-faith harmony to wider sections of people

By Bharat Dogra

Khudai Khidmatgar, an organization founded in memory of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in India in 2011, has been organizing several meetings for inter-faith harmony in various parts of the country in collaboration with various like-minded organizations with continuity.

Important roads and markets named after him still remind us of the invaluable legacy of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in India. Also called Badshah Khan and Frontier Gandhi by his admirers and followers to convey their affection and respect, Ghaffar had set up the original Khudai Khidmatgars (KK) in 1929 in and around Peshwar. The name of this organization means ‘those who serve God or the creation of God in the form of humanity’. An interesting part of the understanding of KK which links secular and religious thoughts goes something like this—it is our duty to serve God but God does not really need our service so the best we can do is to serve his creations (human beings and all forms of life) and particularly those who being in distress need this most. KK soon established a well-established reputation of serving the poorest and most distressed people, and made a very impressive contribution to the various constructive programs started by Mahatma Gandhi. The same high commitment was visible in their participation in the freedom movement. When Mahatma Gandhi visited the KK area in and around Peshawar, he was so impressed by the commitment of KK volunteers that he said—this area is like a place of pilgrimage for me where I’ll like to come again and again.

Badshah and KK volunteers continued to have many admirers in India and it is not surprising that over the decades several efforts to revive his legacy were made. One such effort had its formal beginning at a function at a Gandhian institution in Delhi in 2011 when Tara Gandhi, granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi, administered membership to about 50 KK volunteers. As Faisal Khan, the convener of this effort explained, the mobilization efforts had started much earlier. I became involved in this at an early stage when along with my daughter Reshma Bharti I was asked to prepare some literature for this effort. We also donated several of our other books also for this effort which attracted a lot of readers at the various meetings organized by KK.

Following this I tried to remain in touch and after every few days I would hear of some meeting or some initiative of KK for inter-faith harmony. Some of these were bigger meetings and some were quite small ones but even small steps in the right direction are welcome.

Such efforts are continuing at present too. Thus recently there was one meeting on the occasion of the martyrdom day of Mahatma Gandhi in Bhopal, then a meeting on the birth anniversary of Badshah Khan, another gathering in Saharanpur followed by more meetings in and around Tamil Nadu, all devoted to spreading the message of inter-faith harmony. The Bhopal meeting was organized with the help of Madhya Pradesh Sarvodaya Mandal who along with KK organized " Sadbhavna Samvad" on the day of Gandhi Shahadat Diwas 30 January 2025 at Gandhi Bhawan. This samvad (dialogue) began with Kabir’s bhajans by Youth of Bhopal . Khudai Khidmatgar National Convener Faisal Khan expressed his views on the need to promote humanity and harmony.

He paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi’s commitment towards the cause even at the cost of his life. Gandhiji always stood for truth with his uncompromising stand of satyagraha and now in these difficult times we need to stand un-compromised with and spread the "satya" ie truth of unity ,diversity and love. The infinite power of our light is only experienced during the time of darkness. Today we all need to carry light of compassion and harmony in our normal lives, Faisal said, wherever we go and in everything we do, keeping in view that hate can only be countered with love.

Khudai khidmatgar leader Kripal Singh Mandloi said "humanity is natural to human beings, not hate ". In 1857 British rulers pledged a lot of money just to create disharmony between Hindus and Muslims after revolt in Meerut .They saw unity as big challenge to their "raj". Now in present times we again see that big money is being used to spread disharmony. Any fake or unnatural thing won't last long as we all have tendency to return to our natural being in a very short span .So all in all we just need to be natural "human beings" filled with humanity to be stalwarts for peace and harmony, .

Ankit Mishra from Madhya Pradesh Sarvodaya Mandal said that youth are the future of the country and have a very important role in making inter-faith harmony stronger. He reminded people about what Mahatma Gandhi had stated "if there's one cause for which I can give my life it would be Hindu Muslim unity "and he actually sacrificed his life for this.

The program was concluded with all religion prayer and observance of 2 min silence at 5:17 pm time when Mahatma Gandhi was shot.

Eminent editor Nikhil Chakravartty had once stated that during the freedom movement several small gatherings and meetings had appeared to be not so significant in themselves but taken together they helped to create very significant momentum for the freedom struggle. One hopes that many such small or big efforts for inter-faith harmony will continue and help to create a much stronger base for harmony, non-discrimination and unity.

---

The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include When the two streams met, Man over Machine, A Day in 2071 and Earth without Borders

Comments

US-China truce temporary, larger trade war between two economies to continue

By Prabir Purkayastha The Trump-Xi meeting in Busan, South Korea on 30 October 2025 may have brought about a temporary relief in the US-China trade war. But unless we see the fine print of the agreement, it is difficult to assess whether this is a temporary truce or the beginning of a real rapprochement between the two nations. The jury is still out on that one and we will wait for a better understanding of what has really been achieved in Busan.

When growth shrinks people: Capitalism and the biological decline of the U.S. population

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak* Critically acclaimed Hungarian-American economic historian and distinguished scholar of economic anthropometric history, Prof. John Komlos (Professor Emeritus, University of Munich), who pioneered the study of the history of human height and weight, has published an article titled “The Decline in the Physical Stature of the U.S. Population Parallels the Diminution in the Rate of Increase in Life Expectancy” on October 31, 2025, in the forthcoming issue of Social Science & Medicine (SSM) – Population Health, Volume 32, December 2025. The findings of the article present a damning critique of the barbaric nature of capitalism and its detrimental impact on human health, highlighting that the average height of Americans began to decline during the era of free-market capitalism. The study draws on an analysis of 17 surveys from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (...

Mergers and privatisation: The Finance Minister’s misguided banking agenda

By Thomas Franco The Finance Minister has once again revived talk of merging two or three large public sector banks to make them globally competitive. Reports also suggest that the government is considering appointing Managing Directors in public sector banks from the private sector. Both moves would strike at the heart of India’s public banking system . Privatisation undermines the constitutional vision of social and economic justice, and such steps could lead to irreversible damage.

Why PESA, a Birsa Munda legacy, remains India’s unfulfilled commitment to its tribal peoples

By Raj Kumar Sinha* Nearly three decades ago, the Indian Parliament enacted a landmark law for tribal regions — the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, better known as PESA. This legislation sought to restore the traditional autonomy of tribal societies and empower them to use local resources according to their customs and needs. However, such decentralization never sat well with today’s developmental politicians, capitalists, and bureaucrats. The question therefore arises — what makes PESA so important?

Gujarat civil society to move Supreme Court against controversial electoral roll revision

By Rajiv Shah A recent, well-attended meeting of Gujarat civil society activists in Ahmedabad , held to discuss the impact of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, has decided to file a petition in the Supreme Court against the controversial exercise initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) across the country. Announcing this, senior High Court advocate Anand Yagnik , who heads the Gujarat chapter of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), said that a committee has already been formed to examine the pros and cons of SIR. “While the SIR exercise began in Gujarat on November 4 and is scheduled to continue for a month, we will file a supporting petition in the case against SIR in the Gujarat High Court or the Supreme Court after observing how it proceeds in the state,” he said. Yagnik’s announcement followed senior advocate Shahrukh Alam —who is arguing the SIR case in the Supreme Court—urging Gujarat’s civil society to also file ...

Trump escalates threats of war against Venezuela, as millions in US set to lose essential benefits

By Manolo De Los Santos The United States government is in the grips of one of its longest-running funding gaps in history. The ongoing government shutdown has already stretched beyond 30 days and now, the food security of millions of Americans is at risk as the funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is drying up and Trump officials have refused to tap into contingency funds . Approximately 42 million individuals per month rely on SNAP benefits and are set to lose them beginning on November 1.

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Search This Blog