An Appraisal of the Khudai Khidmatghar Movement in the Novel "A God in Every Stone"

Abstract

Every poem, play, and novel, we read has been influenced by a political context, the situation of the era, and the writer's socio-economic status. Reading something from so long ago firsthand is a noteworthy feature of knowing about the lives of historical figures and their era. Similarly, it also helps to know about some personalities that were overlooked in real but are present in the novels. Many renowned Pakistani writers and poets rose in this regard, leaving a legacy in Pakistani Literature to indicate the mindset and passion of their nation. Among them, Kamila Shamsie, a female writer in Pakistan dared to make her space in the lot. Though her novels are fictitious they sometimes make gestures toward key moments of history as shown in her novel “God in Every Stone”. The novel unwinds the movement of Khudai Khidmatgaar and the struggles of Bacha Khan behind the innovation of the idea of educating the Pakhtuns. Therefore, this research article aimed to analyze, how the movement of Khudai Khidmatgaar was depicted by Kamila Shamsie in her Novel" "A God in Every Stone". The research work was qualitative, in which the researcher used content analysis to interpret the textual or narrative data. The primary source used for the study was the novel “A God in Every Stone”. The other data was drawn from the works done by other writers and critics related to this research, after thorough analysis it was concluded that Kamila Shamsie in her novel shows the positive aspects of this movement and the attitude of the British towards it. It also describes various families and the sufferings they face in the upbringing of this movement. In the novel, Remmick, a British agent, condemns the Muslims and their war-like nature. The novel depicted that the Khudai Khidmatgaar movement is substantial in Pakistan's independence history, but it is completely off the record. The Novel shows that Abdul Ghaffar Khan dedicated his life to the advancement of Pashtuns, but he is most remembered as Gandhi's supporter. From the writer's work, the researcher concluded that the great Bacha Khan believed that education was the only way to relieve the fate of Pashtuns for which he opened Azad madrasa schools in different areas.  However, the novel also indicates some falsely attributed of the people and claimed that it was a form of the same nonviolence moment promoted by Gandhi in the rest of India.