Political Legacy
His eldest son Ghani Khan was a poet, his other son Khan Abdul Wali Khan is the founder and leader of the Awami National Party and was the Leader of the Opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly. Ghaffar Khans family was the frequent target of government arrests due to their involvement in politics and being accused of being anti-Pakistani.
His third son Khan Abdul Ali Khan was non-political and a distinguished educator, and served as Vice-Chancellor of University of Peshawar. Ali Khan was also the head of Aitchison College, Lahore and Fazle Haq college, Mardan.
Mohammed Yahya Education Minister of N W F Province, was the only son in law of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan.
Asfandyar Wali Khan is the grandson of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, and leader of the Awami National Party, the party in power in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Salma Ataullahjan is the great grand niece of Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan and a member of the Senate of Canada.
Abdul Ghaffar Khan's political legacy is mixed he is renowned amongst Pakhtuns, Indians and internationally as a leader of a non-violent movement. He is credited with his tireless advocacy of peace in the region he belonged to. However, within Pakistan, there is a large section of society which still has not come to grips with his siding with the All India Congress over the Muslim League as well as his opposition to Mr. M. A. Jinnah who is revered in Pakistan as the father of the nation. In particular people have questioned Ghaffar Khan's patriotism following his insistence that he be buried in Afghanistan after his death and not Pakistan. However, this view is opposed by the fact that he is an ethnic Pashtun, with there being officially no boundary between ancient northwest India and Afghanistan, hence being buried in the 'land of Pashtuns' (literal translation from Old Farsi) is a significant sign of his patriotism towards his ethnic roots as a Pakhtun. Others ask how one's choice of burial place is an indication of one's Patriotism since a better indicator is one's actions while living and even though Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan spent half of his 98 year life in jail most of it in Pakistani jails doing hard labor he continued to reside in Pakistan.
Read more about this topic: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Famous quotes containing the words political and/or legacy:
“It is my settled opinion, after some years as a political correspondent, that no one is attracted to a political career in the first place unless he is socially or emotionally crippled.”
—Auberon Waugh (b. 1939)
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)