Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi at a prayer meeting as Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan addresses the audience. 1946. Gandhi (2 October 1869  30 January 1948). was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Kh?n Abdul Ghaff?r Kh?n (1890  1988). was a Pashtun independence activist against the rule of the British Raj. He was a political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition. and a lifelong pacifist and devout Muslim. A close friend of Mohandas Gandhi