Deng: A Political Biography Book

This fascinating book tells the story of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a contemporary and close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. Khan was a Pathan leader from what the British called the North-West Frontier Province (now part of Pakistan), who formed a nonviolent "army" of 100,000 Pathans as part of the movement against British colonial rule. His followers persisted in their tenacious non-violent struggle even though the British used much harsher methods to repress it than they typically used in less isolated areas that were more accessible to Western journalists. Despite Khan's phenomenal achievements at a pivotal time in history, he is little-known in the West today - an obscurity that is completely undeserved.

The book is well-written and engaging, carefully documented but never dry. Eknath Easwaran is primarily known for his work on the spiritual life, and the book conveys a passionate engagement not just with the history of Khan's life and its political impact, but also with deeper questions about the nature of nonviolence and its potential for individual and social transformation. A must-read for anyone interested in non-violence, popular liberation movements, South Asian and Middle Eastern history, spiritually-based social activism in general, and activism rooted in Islam in particular.

P.S. The book also mentions that Khan advocated for the rights of women. "God makes no distinction between men and women," he said. "…You are today oppressed because we men have ignored the commands of God and the Prophet." I would have loved to see this aspect of his work explored in more detail; but I realize there may have been limited documentation of it available.