Khilafat Movement Khilafat activists leading a procession. The Khilafat movement (1919–1924) was a pan-Islamic, political campaign launched byMuslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empireduring the aftermath ofWorld WarI. The position ofCaliph after the Armistice of Mudros of October 1918 with the military occupation ofIstanbul and Treaty of Versailles (1919) fell into a disambiguation along with the Ottoman Empire's existence. The movement gained force after the Treaty of Sèvres (August 1920) which solidified the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire. [1] In India, although mainly a Muslim religious movement, the movement became a part of the widerIndian independence movement. The movement was a topic in Conference of London (February 1920). [edit ]History Main article: Caliphate The Caliphate is an Islamic system ofgovernance in which the state rules underIslamic law. Caliph literally means "successor" or "representative" and emphasizes religious authority for the head of state. It was adopted as a title by the Ummayad Caliphs and then by the Abbasid Caliphs, as well as by the FatimidCaliphs ofNorth Africa, the Almohad Caliphs ofNorth Africa and Spain and the Ottoman Dynasty. Most historical Muslim rulers were sultans oramirs, and gave token obedience to a caliph who often had very little real authority. Moreover, the Muslim clergy, the ulema and the various Sufi orders, exercised more religious influence than the Caliph. In the Turkish Ottoman Empire though, the emperor himself was the Caliph. [edit ]Ottoman Caliphate Main article: Ottoman Caliphate Ottoman emperorAbdul Hamid II (1876–1909) had launched his Pan-Islamic program in a bid to protect the Ottoman empire from Western attack and dismemberment, and to crush the Westernizing democratic opposition in Turkey. He sent an emissary, Jamaluddin Afghani, to India in the late 19th century. The cause of
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the Ottoman monarch evoked religious passion and sympathy amongst Indian Muslims. Being a Caliph, the
Ottoman emperor was the supreme religious and political leader of all Muslims across the world (although this
authority was titular in practice).
A large number of Muslim religious leaders began working to spread awareness and develop Muslim
participation on behalf of the Caliphate. Muslim religious leader Maulana Mehmud Hasan attempted to
organise a national war of independence against the British with support from the Ottoman Empire.
Abdul Hamid II was forced to restore the constitutional monarchy marking the start of the Second Constitutional
Era by the Young Turk Revolution. He was succeeded by his brother Mehmed VI (1844–1918) but following the
revolution, the real power in the Ottoman Empire lay with the nationalists.
[edit]Partitioning
Further information: Partitioning of the Ottoman Empire
See also: Occupation of Istanbul and Turkish War of Independence
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 emperor's status as the Caliph. However, under
the Treaty of Sèvres (1920), territories such as Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt severed from the empire.
Within Turkey, a pro-Western nationalist movement arose, Turkish national movement. During the Turkish War
of Independence (1919–1924) led by one of the Turkish revolutionaries, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, abolished
the Treaty of Sèvres with the Treaty of Lausanne (1923). Pursuant toAtatürk'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.
[edit]Khilafat in South Asia
Although political activities and popular outcry on behalf of the caliphate emerged across the Muslim world, the
most prominent activities took place in India. A prominent Oxford educated Muslim journalist, Maulana
Mohammad Ali Jouhar had spent four years in prison for advocating resistance to the British and support for
the caliphate. At the onset of the Turkish war of independence, Muslim religious leaders feared for the
caliphate, which the European powers were reluctant to protect. To the Muslims of India, the prospect of beingconscripted by the British to fight against fellow Muslims in Turkey was anathema. To its founders and
followers, the Khilafat was not a religious movement but rather a show of solidarity with their fellow Muslims in
Turkey.
Mohammad Ali and his brother Maulana Shaukat Ali joined with other Muslim leaders such as Sheikh Shaukat
Ali Siddiqui, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Raees-Ul-Muhajireen Barrister Jan Muhammad Junejo, Hasrat
courageous and angry reaction to the gunfire were the cause but whatever the case, in the ensuing chaos, the
heavily outnumbered police fell back to the shelter of the police chowki while the angry mob advanced.
Infuriated by the gunfire into their ranks, the crowd took revenge by setting the chowki ablaze, killing the 23
officers trapped inside.[3]
[edit]Aftermath
In response to the police killings the British authorities declared martial law in and around Chauri Chaura.
Several raids were conducted and hundreds of people were arrested.
Appalled at the carnage, Gandhi went on a five-day fast as penance for what he perceived as his culpability in
the bloodshed. In reflection, Gandhi felt that he had acted too hastily in encouraging people to revolt against
the British Raj without sufficiently emphasizing the importance of ahimsa (non-violence) and without adequately
training the people to exercise restraint in the face of attack. He decided that the Indian people were ill-
prepared and not yet ready to do what was needed to achieve independence.
On February 12, 1922 the Indian National Congress halted the Non-cooperation Movement on the national
level as a direct result of the Chauri Chaura tragedy.[4]
[edit]Trial and convictions
A total of 228 people were brought to trial on charges of "rioting and arson" in conjunction with the Chauri
Chaura affair .[5] Of these 6 died while in police custody, while 172 were sentenced to death by hanging
following conviction in a trial which lasted eight months.[5]
A storm of protest erupted over the verdicts, which were characterized as "legalized murder" by IndianCommunist leader M.N. Roy,[5] who called for a general strike of Indian workers.[6]
On April 20, 1923 the Allahabad High Court reviewed the death verdicts. Nineteen death sentences were
confirmed and 110 were sentenced to prison for life, with the rest sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.[7]
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British Members of Parliament that had been
dispatched to India in 1927 to study constitutional reform in Britain's most important colonial dependency. It
was commonly referred to as the Simon Commission after its chairman, Sir John Simon. One of itsmembers, Clement Attlee, who subsequently became the British Prime Minister would oversee the granting of
independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.
[edit]Background
The Government of India Act 1919 had introduced the system of dyarchy to govern the provinces of British
India. However, the Indian public clamoured for revision of the difficult dyarchy form of government, and the
Government of India Act 1919 itself stated that a commission would be appointed after 10 years to investigate
the progress of the governance scheme and suggest new steps for reform. In the late 1920s,
theConservative government then in power in Britain feared imminent electoral defeat at the hands of
the Labour Party, and also feared the effects of the consequent transference of control of India to such an
"inexperienced" body. Hence, it appointed seven MPs (including Chairman Simon) to constitute the
commission that had been promised in 1919 that would look into the state of Indian constitutional affairs. The
people of the Indian subcontinent were outraged and insulted, as the Simon Commission, which was to
determine the future of India, did not include a single Indian member in it. The Indian National Congress, at its
December 1927 meeting in Madras (now Chennai), resolved to boycott the Commission and challenged Lord
Birkenhead, the Secretary of State for India, to draft a constitution that would be acceptable to the Indian
populace. A faction of the Muslim League, led by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, also decided to boycott the
Commission.
· Almost Responsible Government at the Provincial Level – Dyarchy should be scrapped and Ministers
responsible to the Legislature would be entrusted with all provincial areas of responsibility. However,
safeguards were considered necessary in areas such as the maintenance of peace and tranquility and the
protection of the legitimate interest of the minorities. These safeguards would be provided, mainly, by the grant
of special powers to the Governor.
· Federation – The Report considered that a formally federal union, including both British India and the Princely
States, was the only long-term solution for a united, autonomous India.
· Immediate Recommendations at the Centre - to help the growth of political consciousness in the people, the
franchise should be extended; and the Legislature enlarged. Otherwise, no substantial change was
recommended in the Centre. The Report strongly opposed the introduction of Dyarchy at the Centre. It should
be noted that Simon set great store on having a unanimous report. This could only be done if he recommended
no change at the centre as: the diehards were opposed to any Indian responsibility at the Centre: the
and aagraha, "asking for." In early 1930 the Indian National Congress chose satyagraha as their main tactic for
winning Indian independence from British rule and appointed Gandhi to organize the campaign. Gandhi chose
the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target of satyagraha. The Salt March to Dandi, and the beating by British
police of hundreds of nonviolent protesters in Dharasana, which received worldwide news coverage,
demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting social and political injustice.
[8] The satyagraha teachings of Gandhi and the March to Dandi had a significant influence on American civil
rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., and his fight for civil rights for blacks and other minority groups in the
1960s.[9]
[edit]Declaration of Independence
Mahatma Gandhi and Sarojini Naiduduring the March.
At midnight on December 31, 1929, the Indian National Congress raised the tricolour flag of India on the banks
of the Ravi at Lahore. The Indian National Congress, led by Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, publicly issued theDeclaration of Independence, or Purna Swaraj, on January 26, 1930.[10] (Literally in Sanskrit, purna,
"complete," swa, "self," raj , "rule," thus "complete self-rule".) The declaration included the readiness to withhold
taxes, and the statement:
We believe that it is the inalienable right of the Indian people, as of any other people, to have freedom and to
enjoy the fruits of their toil and have the necessities of life, so that they may have full opportunities of growth.
We believe also that if any government deprives a people of these rights and oppresses them the people have
a further right to alter it or abolish it. The British government in India has not only deprived the Indian people of
their freedom but has based itself on the exploitation of the masses, and has ruined India economically,
politically, culturally and spiritually. We believe therefore, that India must sever the British connection and
attain Purna Swaraj or complete independence.[11]
The Congress Working Committee gave Gandhi the responsibility for organizing the first act of civil
disobedience, with Congress itself ready to take charge after Gandhi's expected arrest.[12] Gandhi's plan was to
begin civil disobedience with a satyagraha aimed at the British salt tax. The 1882 Salt Act gave the British a
The Poona Pact refers to an agreement between the lower caste Untouchables (then called Depressed
Classes, now referred to as Dalits) of India led by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and the upper caste Hindus of India ledby Mahatma Gandhi that took place on 24 September 1932 atYerawada Jail in Pune (now
in Maharashtra), India.
[edit]History
To draft a new Constitution involving self rule for the native Indians, the British invited various leaders
for Round Table Conferences in 1930-32.Mahatma Gandhi did not attend the first and last but attended the
second of the Conferences. The concept of separate electorates for the Untouchables was raised by Dr.
Ambedkar. Similar provisions were already available for other minorities, including Muslims, Christians, Anglo-
Indians and Sikhs. The British government agreed with Ambedkar's contention, and British Prime
Minister Ramsay MacDonald's Communal Award to the "depressed classes" was to be incorporated into the
constitution for governance of British India. Gandhi strongly opposed it on the grounds that it would disintegrate
Hindu society. He began an indefinite hunger strike at Yerawada Jail from September 20, 1932 to protest this
Award.
As Gandhi's health worsened, Dr.Ambedkar was under tremendous pressure to save the life of Mahatma
Gandhi. Dr. Ambedkar feared that should Gandhi die due the fast there would be a severe reprisal against the
depressed classes by the upper caste Hindus of India[citation needed ]. A compromise, the Poona Pact, made
between the leaders of caste Hindus and Dr. Ambedkar, was reached on September 24, 1932.
Following is the text of the pact:
1) There shall be seats reserved for the Depressed Classes out of general electorate seats in the provincial
legislatures as follows: -
Madras 30; Bombay with Sindh 25; Punjab 8; Bihar and Orissa 18; Central
Provinces 20; Assam 7; Bengal 30; United Provinces 20. Total 148. These figures are based on the Prime
Minister's (British) decision.
2) Election to these seats shall be by joint electorates subject, however, to the following procedure –
All members of the Depressed Classes registered in the general electoral roll of a constituency will form an
electoral college which will elect a panel of four candidates belonging to the Depressed Classes for each of
such reserved seats by the method of the single vote and four persons getting the highest number of votes in
such primary elections shall be the candidates for election by the general electorate.
Gandhi–Irwin Pact refers to a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and the then Viceroy of
India, Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931 before the second Round Table Conference in London. Before this, theviceroy Lord Irwin announced in October 1929, a vague offer of 'dominion status' for India in an unspecified
future and a Round Table Conference to discuss a future constitution.
"The Two Mahatmas" –as Sarojini Naidu described Gandhi and Irwin — had eight meetings which lasted for a
total of 24 hours. Gandhi was impressed by Irwin’s sincerity. The terms of the "Gandhi-Irwin Pact" fell
manifestly short of those which Gandhi had prescribed as the minimum for a truce.[1]
Below were the proposed conditions.
Discontinuation of the civil disobedience movement by the Indian NationalCongress
Participation by the Indian National Congress in the Round Table
Conference
Withdrawal of all ordinances issued by the British Government imposing
curbs on the activities of the Indian National Congress
Withdrawal of all prosecutions relating to several types of offenses except
those involving violence
Release of prisoners arrested for participating in the civil disobedience
movement
The removal of the tax on salt, which allowed the Indians to produce, trade,
and sell salt legally and for their own private use.
It is fair to record that British officials in India, and in England, were outraged by the idea of a pact with a party
whose avowed purpose was the destruction of the British Raj. Winston Churchill publicly expressed his disgust
"at the nauseating and humiliating spectacle of this one-time Inner Temple lawyer, now seditious fakir, striding
half-naked up the steps of the Viceroy’s palace, there to negotiate and parley on equal terms with the
representative of the King Emperor".
In reply, the British Government agreed to
1. Withdraw all ordinances and end prosecutions.
2. Release all political prisoners, except those guilty of violence.
3. Permit peaceful picketing of liquor and foreign cloth shops.