What were the main aims of the Khilafat movement? How did the Khilafat movement help to forge unity between Hindus and Muslims in India?
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Answer:
History of Khilafat Movement:
The Khilafat Movement was one of the significant movements in India’s endeavour to free herself from The British Raj. The Khilafat Movement spanned from the year 1915 to 1924. The key feature of this crusade was that it was a Pan-Islamist movement where the Muslims of the then British India allied with the Indian Nationalist against the colonizers. The various treaties of the British rendered the compromise of the Caliph in Turkey. The Khilafat Movement was an anti-British reaction in this context to that which soon found support of the Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent owing to concerns of the weakening rule of the Caliph. The Khilafat Movement saw the combined efforts of the Hindus and the Muslims under the supervision of the Indian National Congress against the British Raj. The success strengthened even more when Mahatma Gandhi decided to bring together his Non Cooperation movement along with the Khilafat Movement for the combined efforts to vocalize their collective resentment against the colonizers.
Significance of the Leadership of Khilafat Movement:
The Khilafat Movement took to South Asia under the leadership of the Ali brothers; Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali. Under their leadership, numerous Muslim Leaders such as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Sheikh Shaukat Ali Siddiqui, Syed Ataullah Shah Bukhari and others came together for the support of Ottoman Empire and protest against the British rule in India. By the mid-1920s, the Khilafat leaders joined hands with Gandhiji's Non-Cooperation movement by non-violent means whereby Hindus and Muslims formed a united front against British rule in India. In September 1920, at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress, the programme of the movement was drawn which included numerous steps of boycott of the British. Leaders like of Chitta Ranjan Das and Subhas Chandra Bose spearheaded the education boycott in Bengal. Punjab also responded to the educational boycott and Lala Lajpat Rai played the leading role. Other areas that were active were Bombay, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa and Assam. Many lawyers, like, C.R. Das, Motilal Nehru, M.R. Jayakar, S. Kitchlew, V. Patel, Asaf Ali Khan and others lived up to the spirit of the movement where they gave up their practices, and their sacrifice became a source of inspiration for many.
Causes and Importance of Khilafat Movement
What was peculiar about this cause was that it was a global effort of the Muslim community to save the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Khalifa. This struggle was launched by the Ottoman Emperor Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) as a concern for the rapidly fragmenting Turkish Empire on account of the repeated foreign attacks. To further add to the threat to sovereignty, in the 10th of August, 1920, under the Treaty of Sevres Turkey had her territories divided after her defeat in the First World War among the European powers. This caused a great concern amongst the Muslims, including their population in British India, about the compromise of the sacrosanct holy territories of Islam. Eventually, the Khilafat Movement propelled in September 1919 to protect the Turkish Khalifa and to save the Ottoman Empire from mutilation by the European Allies. However, this movement extended far beyond the borderlands of the Turkish province and was well received in the Indian subcontinent where it profoundly contributed to the freedom struggle of India’s independence.
Khilafat Movement and Hindu Muslim Unity
One of the most important instances in India’s freedom struggle was provided by the Khilafat movement in terms of the unity among the Hindus and the Muslims. This was mostly on account of the intertwining of the leaders of the Indian National Congress and the Khilafat Movement themselves. This campaign saw the popularization of the slogan ‘Hindu-Musalmaan ki Jai’ during strikes, protests and demonstrations across the country. The scenario of the Hindu-Muslim consonance went in tune with Mahatma Gandhi’s idea that freedom from the British Raj could only be achieved if the Hindus and the Muslims both worked together and collectively fought for their freedom.
Explanation:
The Khilafat movement (1919-1924) was an agitation by Indian Muslims allied with Indian nationalism in the years following World War I. Its purpose was to pressure the British government to preserve the authority of the Ottoman Sultan as Caliph of Islam following the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the war.