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Pak study assignment - Khilafat movement

Pakistan Studies (COMSATS University Islamabad)

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QUESTION # 1
Why Khilafat movement failed and what role did Congress played in its failure?

Khilafat Movement :

The Khilafat or "caliphate" movement of 1919 to 1924 was a political and religious movement
among Muslims in the British colony of India. The goal of the movement was to preserve the
Ottoman caliphate as the spiritual center of Islam despite the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in
World War I.
The Ottoman Empire, centered in Turkey, was ruled by a sultan who held both political power
over the empire and spiritual authority as the caliph. Leaders of the Khilafat movement, such as
Shaukat ʿAlī, Muḥammad ʿAlī, and Abul Kalam Azad, hoped to convince or pressure the British
to allow the defeated sultan to retain his spiritual authority as a symbol for Muslims worldwide.
To achieve this goal, they allied with Hindu nationalist leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and
committed to a strategy of nonviolent protest in a campaign known as the Non-Cooperation
Movement.
This alliance between Indian Muslims and Hindus was initially successful at putting a great deal
of pressure on the British authorities governing India. However, the Khilafat movement
ultimately failed for four main reasons.

Reasons of failure :

Following are the four main reasons :

(1) First, the Khilafat delegation sent to London in 1920 was interpreted by the British
government as an eccentric expression of pan-Muslim sentiment rather than a serious movement
with legitimate goals. In the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, the victorious allied powers dismembered the
Ottoman Empire and took over many of its territories as "mandates" or colonies, leaving only
Turkey itself under Ottoman rule.

(2) Second, the unity of Muslim and Hindu Indians was shaken by several incidents, including
the emigration to Afghanistan of more than 18,000 Muslims as well as the violence of the 1921
Moplah rebellion by Indian Muslims.

(3) Third, the initial successes of the Non-Cooperation Movement provoked an intense
crackdown by British authorities, leading to Gandhi's arrest and suspension of the Non-
Cooperation campaign.

(4) Finally, Turkish nationalists in what was left of the Ottoman Empire did not share the
Khilafat movement's goal of protecting the Muslim caliphate. Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal
Atatürk officially abolished the sultanate in 1922 and then the caliphate itself in 1924, putting an
end to the political and spiritual authority of the Ottoman Empire. Now that there was no longer
a caliph in Istanbul, the Khilafat movement lost its reason for existing.

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Role of congress in Khilafat movement failure :

The Khilafat issue crystallized anti-British sentiments among Indian Muslims that had increased
since the British declaration of war against the Ottomans in 1914. The Khilafat leaders, most of
whom had been imprisoned during the war because of their pro-Turkish sympathies, were
already active in the Indian nationalist movement. Upon their release in 1919, they espoused the
Khilafat cause as a means to achieve pan-Indian Muslim political solidarity in the anti-British
cause. The Khilafat movement also benefited from Hindu-Muslim cooperation in the nationalist
cause that had grown during the war, beginning with the Lucknow Pact of 1916 between the
Indian National Congress and the Muslim League, and culminating in the protest against the
Rowlatt anti-Sedition bills in 1919. The National Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi (1869-
1948), called for non-violent non-cooperation against the British. Gandhi espoused the Khilafat
cause, as he saw in it the opportunity to rally Muslim support for nationalism. The ‘Ali brothers
and their allies, in turn, provided the non-cooperation movement with some of its most
enthusiastic followers.
The combined Khilafat Non-Cooperation movement was the first all-India agitation against
British rule. It saw an unprecedented degree of Hindu-Muslim cooperation and it established
Gandhi and his technique of non-violent protest (satyagraha) at the center of the Indian
nationalist movement. Mass mobilization using religious symbols was remarkably successful,
and the British Indian government was shaken. In late 1921, the government moved to suppress
the movement. The leaders were arrested, tried, and imprisoned. Gandhi suspended the Non-
Cooperation movement in early 1922. Turkish nationalists dealt the final blow to the Khilafat
movement by abolishing the Ottoman sultanate in 1922, and the caliphate in 1924.

QUESTION # 2
How Khilafat movement proved that Hindus and Muslims were two different nations as
they could not continue the unity, and ultimately paved the way for Pakistan movement?

The Khilafat movement, also known as the Indian Muslim movement (1919–24), was a pan-
Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali,
Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Abul Kalam Azad to restore the caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate,
who was considered the leader of Sunni Muslims, as an effective political authority. It was a
protest against the humiliating sanctions placed on the caliph and the Ottoman Empire after the
First World War by the Treaty of Sèvres.

The movement collapsed by late 1922 when Turkey gained a more favourable diplomatic
position and moved towards secularism. By 1924 Turkey simply abolished the role of caliph.

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The Ottoman Empire, having sided with the Central Powers during World War I, suffered a
major military defeat. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) reduced its territorial extent and
diminished its political influence but the victorious European powers promised to protect the
Ottoman sultan's status as the caliph. However, under the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), territories
such as Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt were severed from the empire.

Within Turkey, a progressive, secular nationalist movement arose, known as the Turkish national
movement. During the Turkish War of Independence (1919–1923), the Turkish revolutionaries,
led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, abolished the Treaty of Sèvres with the Treaty of Lausanne
(1923). Pursuant to Atatürk's Reforms, the Republic of Turkey abolished the position of
caliphate in 1924 and transferred its powers within Turkey to the Grand National Assembly of
Turkey.
In 1920 an alliance was made between Khilafat leaders and the Indian National Congress, the
largest political party in India and of the nationalist movement. Congress leader Mohandas
Gandhi and the Khilafat leaders promised to work and fight together for the causes of Khilafat
and Swaraj. Seeking to increase pressure on the British, the Khilafatists became a major part of
the Non-cooperation movement — a nationwide campaign of mass, peaceful civil disobedience.
The support of the Khilafatists helped Gandhi and the Congress ensure Hindu-Muslim unity
during the struggle. Khilafat leaders such as Dr. Ansari, Maulana Azad and Hakim Ajmal Khan
also grew personally close to Gandhi. These leaders founded the Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920 to
promote independent education and social rejuvenation for Muslims.

The non-cooperation campaign was at first successful. The programme started with boycott of
legislative councils, government schools, colleges and foreign goods. Government functions and
surrender of titles and distinctions. Massive protests, strikes and acts of civil disobedience spread
across India. Hindus and Muslims collectively offered resistance, which was largely peaceful.
Gandhi, the Ali brothers and others were imprisoned by the British. Under the flag of Tehrik-e-
Khilafat, a Punjab Khilafat deputation comprising Moulana Manzoor Ahmed and Moulana
Lutfullah Khan Dankauri took a leading role throughout India, with a particular concentration in
the Punjab (Sirsa, Lahore, Haryana etc.).
The Khilafat movement evokes controversy and strong opinions. By critics, it is regarded as a
political agitation based on a pan-Islamist, fundamentalist platform and being largely indifferent
to the cause of Indian independence. Critics of the Khilafat see its alliance with the Congress as a
marriage of convenience. Proponents of the Khilafat see it as the spark that led to the non-
cooperation movement in India and a major milestone in improving Hindu-Muslim relations,
while advocates of Pakistan and Muslim separatism see it as a major step towards establishing
the separate Muslim state. The Ali brothers are regarded as founding-fathers of Pakistan, while
Azad, Dr. Ansari and Hakim Ajmal Khan are widely celebrated as national heroes in India. Jats
were the only group who were with the Ali brothers the whole time. Main tribes of Jats included
Metlas and Aujla.

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