Citation

Shah SWA. Stud. Hist. 2013; 29(1): 87-118.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0257643013496690

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Like other parts of India, the civil disobedience movement was also launched in North-West Frontier Province (Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa), although initially with little success. The local Congress sought help from the Khudai Khidmatgars, the most popular socio-political organization of the province; 23 April 1930 saw the worst kind of massacre in Peshawar, followed by other parts of the Province. During the civil disobedience, the colonial administration tried all kinds of draconian methods to suppress the movement but in vain. The purpose of the present research is to investigate and analyze the civil disobedience and its impact in the Peshawar Valley, hitherto neglected by the scholars and thereby help provide a new and deeper understanding of the whole scenario. In a much broader context and in a wider perspective, however, the present study will encompass the following main issues: (a) Indian Muslims and the civil disobedience movement launched by Congress under Mahatma Gandhi; (b) the Frontier Congress and its failure in mobilization of people to support civil disobedience; (c) the altruistic leadership of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars' tangible support within the masses; (d) the atrocities of the colonial administration and the predicament of the local population; (e) adherence to non-violence, a unique phenomenon for the Pashtoons; (f) the interplay of the religion and politics; (g) the complexity of the Khudai Khidmatgar-Congress relations; and, (h) the role of charismatic leadership. The present research will be focusing on these and other similar crucial issues previously undervalued.

Language: en