04-10-2004, 08:18 PM
Not so Mr. Gandhi. At the very commencement of his career as a political leader of India when Mr.
Gandhi startled the people of India by his promise to win Swaraj within six months, Mr. Gandhi
said that he could perform the miracle only if certain conditions were fulfilled. One of these
conditions was the achievement of Hindu-Muslim unity. Mr. Gandhi is never tired of saying that
there is no Swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity. Mr. Gandhi did not merely make this slogan the
currency of Indian politics but he has strenuously worked to bring it about. Mr. Gandhi, it may be
said, began his carrier as a political leader of India with the manifesto dated 2nd March 1919
declaring his intention to launch Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act and asking those who desired
to join him to sign the Satyagraha pledge. That campaign of Satyagraha was a short-lived campaign
and was suspended by Mr. Gandhi on 18th April 1919. As a part of his programme Mr. Gandhi had
fixed 17[f.17] the 6th March 1919 to be observed all over India as a day of protest against the
Rowlatt Act. Mass meetings were to be held on that day and Mr. Gandhi had prescribed that the
masses attending the meetings should take a vow in the following terms :
" With God as witness, we Hindus, and Mahomedans declare that we shall behave towards one
another as children of the same parents, that we shall have no differences, that the sorrows of each
shall be the sorrows of the other and that each shall help the other in removing them. We shall
respect each other's religion and religious feelings and shall not stand in the way of our respective
religious practices. We shall always refrain from violence to each other in the name of religion. "
There was nothing in the campaign of Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act which could have led to
any clash between the Hindus and Muslims. Yet Mr. Gandhi asked his followers to take the vow.
This shows how insistent he was from the very beginning upon Hindu-Muslim unity.
The Mahomedans started the Khilafat movement in 1919. The objective of the movement was
two-fold; to preserve the Khilafat and to maintain the integrity of the Turkish Empire. Both these
objectives were unsupportable. The Khilafat could not be saved simply because the Turks, in whose
interest this agitation was carried on, did not want the Sultan. They wanted a republic and it was
quite unjustifiable to compel the Turks to keep Turkey a monarchy when they wanted to convert it
into a republic. It was not open to insist upon the integrity of the Turkish Empire because it meant
the perpetual subjection of the different nationalities to the Turkish rule and particularly of the
Arabs, especially when it was agreed on all hands that the doctrine of self-determination should be
made the basis of the peace settlement.
The movement was started by the Mahomedans. It was taken up by Mr. Gandhi with a tenacity and
faith which must have surprised many Mahomedans themselves. There were many people who
doubted the ethical basis of the Khilafat movement and tried to dissuade Mr. Gandhi from taking
any part in a movement the ethical basis of which was so questionable. But Mr. Gandhi had so
completely persuaded himself of the justice of the Khilafat agitation that he refused to yield to their
advice. Time and again he argued that the cause was just and it was his duty to join it. The position
taken up by him may be summed up in his own words. 18[f18]
" (1) In my opinion, the Turkish claim is not only not immoral and unjust, but it is highly equitable,
only because Turkey wants to retain what is her own. And the Mahomedan manifesto has definitely
declared that whatever guarantee may be necessary to be taken for the protection of the
non-Muslim and non-Turkish races, should be taken so as to give the Christians theirs and the
Arabs their self-government under the Turkish suzerainty;
(2) I do not believe the Turk to be weak, incapable or cruel. He is certainly disorganised and
probably without good generalship. The argument of weakness, incapacity and cruelly one often
hears quoted in connection with those from whom power is sought to be taken away. About the
alleged massacres a proper commission has been asked for, but never granted. And in any case
security can be taken against oppression;
(3) I have already stated that, if I were not interested in the Indian Mahomedans, I would not
interest myself in the welfare of the Turks any more than I am in that of the Austrians or the Poles.
But I am bound as an Indian to share the sufferings and trials of fellow-Indians. If I deem the
Mahomedan to be my brother, it is my duty to help him in his hour of peril to the best of my ability,
if his cause commends itself to me as just;
(4) The fourth refers to the extent Hindus should join hands with the Mahomedans. It is, therefore,
a matter of feeling and opinion. It is expedient to suffer for my Mahomedan brother to the utmost in
a just cause and I should, therefore, travel with him along the whole road so long as the means
employed by him are as honourable as his end. I cannot regulate the Mahomedan feeling. I must
accept his statement that the Khilafat is with him a religious question in the sense that it binds him
to reach the goal even at the cost of his own life. "'
Mr. Gandhi not only agreed with the Muslims in the Khilafat cause but acted as their guide and
their friend. The part played by Mr. Gandhi in the Khilafat agitation and the connection between
the Khilafat agitation and the Non-co-operation Movement has become obscure by the reason of
the fact that most people believed that it was the Congress which initiated the Non co-operation
Movement and it was done as a means for winning Swaraj. That such a view should prevail is quite
understandable because most people content themselves with noting the connection between the
Non-co-operation Movement and the special session of the Congress held at Calcutta on 7th and
8th September 1920. But anyone, who cares to go behind September 1920 and examine the
situation as it then stood, will find that this view is not true. The truth is that the non-co-operation
has its origin in the Khilafat agitation and not in the Congress Movement for Swaraj : that it was
started by the Khilafatists to help Turkey and adopted by the Congress only to help the Khilafatists
: that Swaraj was not its primary object, but its primary object was Khilafat and that Swaraj was
added as a secondary object to induce the Hindus to join it will be evident from the following facts.
The Khilafat movement may be said to have begun on 27th October 1919 when the day was
observed as the Khilafat Day all over India. On 23rd November 1919 the first Khilafat Conference
met at Delhi. It was at this session that the Muslims considered the feasibility of non-co-operation
as a means of compelling the British Government to redress the Khilafat wrong. On 10th March
1920 the Khilafat Conference met at Calcutta and decided upon non-co-operation as the best
weapon to further the object of their agitation.
On 9th June 1920 the Khilafat Conference met at Allahabad and unanimously reaffirmed their
resolve to resort to non-co-operation and appointed an Executive Committee to enforce and lay
down a^ detailed programme. On 22nd June 1920 the Muslims sent a message to the Viceroy
stating that they would start non-co-operation if the Turkish grievances were not redressed before
1st August 1920. On 30th June 1920 the Khilafat Committee meeting held at Allahabad resolved to
start non-co-operation, after a month's notice to the Viceroy. Notice was given on 1st July 1920 and
non-co-operation commenced on 1st August 1920. This short resume shows that the
non-co-operation was started by the Khilafat Committee and all that the Congress special session at
Calcutta did was to adopt what the Khilafat Conference had already done and that too not in the
interest of Swaraj but in the interest of helping the Musalmans in furthering the cause of Khilafat.
This is clear from the perusal of the Congress Resolution 19 [f.19] passed at the special session
held at Calcutta.
Although the Non-co-operation Movement was launched by the Khilafat Committee and merely
adopted by the Congress primarily to help the Khilafat cause, the person who suggested it to the
Khilafat Committee and who identified himself with the Committee and took the responsibility of
giving effect to it and who brought about its adoption by the Congress was Mr. Gandhi. At the first
Khilafat Conference held at Delhi on 23rd November
1919 Mr. Gandhi was present. Not only was Mr. Gandhi present but also it was he who advised the
Muslims to adopt non-co-operation as a method for forcing the British to yield to their demands
regarding the Khilafat. The joining of Mr. Gandhi in the Khilafat movement is full of significance.
The Muslims were anxious to secure the support of the Hindus in the cause of Khilafat. At the
Conference held on 23rd November 1919 the Muslims had invited the Hindus. Again on 3rd June
1920 a joint meeting of the Hindus and the Khilafatist Muslims was held at Allahabad. This
meeting was attended among others by Sapru, Motilal Nehru and Annie Besant. But the Hindus
were hesitant in joining the Muslims. Mr. Gandhi was the only Hindu who joined the Muslims. Not
only did he show courage to join them, but also he kept step with them, nay, led them. On 9th June
1920 when the Khilafat Conference met at Allahabad and formed an Executive Committee to
prepare a detailed programme of non co-operation and give effect to it, Mr. Gandhi was the only
Hindu on that Executive Committee. On 22nd June 1920 the Muslims sent a message to the
Viceroy that they would start non-co-operation if the Turkish grievances were not redressed before
1st August 1920. On the same day Mr. Gandhi also sent a letter to the Viceroy explaining the
justice of the Khilafat cause, the reasons why he has taken up the cause and the necessity of
satisfying the hands of the Khilafatists. For instance the notice given to the Viceroy on 1st July
1920 that non-co-operation will be started on 1st August was given by Mr. Gandhi and not by the
Khilafatists. Again when non-co-operation was started by the Khilafatist on 31st August 1920 Mr.
Gandhi was the first to give a concrete shape to it by returning his medal. After inaugurating the
Non-co-operation Movement as an active member of the Khilafat Committee Mr. Gandhi next
directed his energy to the cause of persuading the Congress to adopt non-co-operation and
strengthen the Khilafat movement. With that object in view Mr. Gandhi toured the country between
1st August and 1st September 1920 in the company of the Ali Brothers who were the founders of
the Khilafat movement impressing upon the people the necessity of non-co-operation. People could
notice the disharmony in the tune of Mr. Gandhi and the Ali Brothers. As the Modern Review
pointed out: " Reading between the lines of their speeches, it is not difficult to see that with one of
them the sad plight of the Khilafat in distant Turkey is the central fact, while with the other
attainment of Swaraj here in India is the object in view ". This dichotomy 20[f.20] of interest did
not augur well for the success of the ultimate purpose. Nonetheless Mr. Gandhi succeeded in
carrying the Congress with him in support of the Khilafat cause. 21[f.21]
For a long time the Hindus had been engaged in wooing the Muslims to their side. The Congress
was very anxious to bridge the gulf between itself and the Muslim League. The ways and means
adopted in 1916 for bringing about this consummation and which resulted in the Lucknow Pact
signed between the Congress and the Muslim League have been graphically told by Swami
Shradhanand in his impressions of the Congress Session held in that year at Lucknow. Says the
Swami 22[f.22] :
" On sitting on the dias (Lucknow Congress platform) the first thing that I noticed was that the
number of Moslem delegates was proportionately fourfold of what it was at Lahore in 1893. The
majority of Moslem delegates Bad donned gold, silver and silk embroidered chogas (flowing robes)
over their ordinary coarse suits of wearing apparel. It was rumoured that these ' chogas ' had been
put by Hindu moneyed men for Congress Tamasha. Of some 433 Moslem delegates only some 30
had come from outside, the rest belonging to Lucknow City. And of these majority was admitted
free to delegate seals, board and lodging. Sir Syed Ahmad's anti-Congress League had tried in a
public meeting to dissuade Moslems from joining the Congress as delegates. As a countermove the
Congress people lighted the whole Congress camp some four nights before the session began and
advertised that that night would be free. The result was that all the " Chandul Khanas " of Lucknow
were emptied and a huge audience of some thirty thousand Hindus and Moslems was addressed
from half a dozen platforms. It was then that the Moslem delegates were elected or selected. All
this was admitted by the Lucknow Congress organisers to me in private.
" A show was being made of the Moslem delegates. Moslem delegate gets up to second a resolution
in Urdu. He begins : ' Hozarat, I am a Mahomedan delegate '. Some Hindu delegate gels up and
calls for three cheers for Mahomedan delegates and the response is so enthusiastic as to be beyond
description. "
In taking up the cause of Khilafat Mr. Gandhi achieved a double purpose. He carried the Congress
Plan of winning over the Muslims to its culmination. Secondly he made the Congress a power in
the country, which it would not have been, if the Muslims had not joined it. The cause of the
Khilafat appealed to the Musalmans far more than political safeguards, with the result that the
Musalmans who were outside it trooped into the Congress. The Hindus welcomed them. For, they
saw in this a common front against the British, which was their main aim. The credit for this must
of course go to Mr. Gandhi. For there can be no doubt that this was an act of great daring.
When the Musalmans in 1919 approached the Hindus for participation in the Non-co-operation
Movement which the Muslims desired to start for helping Turkey and the Khilafat, the Hindus were
found to be divided in three camps. One was a camp of those who were opposed to
non-co-operation in principle. A second camp consisted of those Hindus who were prepared to join
the Muslims in their campaign of non-co-operation provided the Musalmans agreed to give up Cow
Slaughter. A third group consisted of the Hindus who feared that the Mahomedans might extend
their non-co-operation to inviting the Afghans to invade India, in which case the movement instead
of resulting in Swaraj might result in the subjection of India to Muslim Raj.
Mr. Gandhi did not care for those Hindus who were opposed to joining the Muslims in the
Non-co-operation Movement. But with regard to the others he told them that their attitude was
unfortunate.
To those Hindus who wanted to give their support on the condition that the Muslims give up cow
killing, Mr. Gandhi said 23[f.23] :
" I submit that the Hindus may not open the Goraksha (cow protection) question here. The test of
friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too, unconditional assistance. Co-operation that needs
consideration is a commercial contract and not friendship. Conditional co-operation is like
adulterated cement which does not bind. It is the duty of the Hindus, if they see the justice of the
Mahomedan cause to render co-operation. If the Mahomedans feel themselves bound in honour to
spare the Hindu's feelings and to slop cow killing, they may do so, no matter whether the Hindus
co-operate with them or not. Though therefore, I yield to no Hindu in my worship of the cow, I do
not want to make the slopping of cow killing a condition precedent to co-operation. Unconditional
co-operation means the protection of the cow."
To those Hindus who feared to join the Non-co-operation Movement for the reasons that Muslims
may invite the Afghans to invade India, Mr. Gandhi said 24[f.24] :
" It is easy enough to understand and justify the Hindu caution. It is difficult to resist the
Mahomedan position. In my opinion, the best way to prevent India from becoming the battle
ground between the forces of Islam and those of the English is for Hindus to make
non-co-operation a complete and immediate success, and I have little doubt that, if the
Mahomedans remain true to their declared intention and are able to exercise self-restraint and make
sacrifices, the Hindus will ' play the game ' and join them in the campaign of non-co-operation. I
feel equally certain that Hindus will not assist Mahomedans in promoting or bringing about an
armed conflict between the British Government and their allies, and Afghanistan. British forces are
too well organised to admit of any successful invasion of the Indian frontier. The only way,
therefore, the Mahomedans can carry on an effective struggle on behalf of the honour of Islam is to
take up non-co-operation in real earnest. It will not only be completely effective if it is adopted by
the people on an extensive scale, but it will also provide full scope for individual conscience. If I
cannot bear an injustice done by an individual or a corporation, and, I am directly or indirectly
instrumental in upholding that individual or corporation, I must answer for it before my Maker; but
I have done all that is humanly possible for me to do consistently with the moral code that refuses
to injure even the wrong-doers, if I cease to support the injustice in the manner described above. In
applying, therefore, such a great force, there should be no haste, there should be no temper shown.
Non-co-operation must be and remain absolutely a voluntary effort. The whole thing, then, depends
upon Mahomedans themselves. If they will but help themselves, Hindu help will come and the
Government, great and mighty though it is, will have to bend before the bloodless opposition of a
whole nation. "
Unfortunately, the hope of Mr.Gandhi that ' no Government can possibly withstand the bloodless
opposition of a whole nation ' did not come true. Within a year of the starting of the
Non-co-operation Movement, Mr. Gandhi had to admit that the. Musalmans had grown impatient
and that :
" In their impatient anger, the Musalmans ask for more energetic and more prompt action by the
Congress and Khilafat organisations. To the Musalmans, Swaraj means, as it must mean, India's
ability to deal effectively with the Khilafat question. The Musalmans, therefore, decline to wait if
the attainment of Swaraj means indefinite delay of a programme that may require the Musalmans of
India to become impotent witnesses of the extinction of Turkey in European waters.
" It is impossible not to sympathise with this attitude. I would gladly recommend immediate action
if I could think of any effective course. I would gladly ask for postponement of Swaraj activity if
thereby we could advance the interest of Khilafat. I could gladly take up measures outside
non-co-operation, if I could think of any, in order to assuage the pain caused to the millions of the
Musalmans.
" But, in my humble opinion, attainment of Swaraj is the quickest method of righting the Khilafat
wrong. Hence it is, that for me the solution of the Khilafat question is attainment of Swaraj and vice
versa. The only way to help the affiliated Turks is for India to generate sufficient power to be able
to assert herself. If she cannot develop that power in time, there is no way out for India and she
must resign herself to the inevitable. What can a paralytic do to stretch forth a helping hand to a
neighbour but to try to cure himself of his paralysis ? Mere ignorant, thoughtless and angry outburst
of violence may give vent to pent-up rage but can bring no relief to Turkey. "
The Musalmans were not in a mood to listen to the advice of Mr. Gandhi. They refused to worship
the principle of non-violence. They were not prepared to wait for Swaraj. They were in a hurry to
find the most expeditious means of helping Turkey and saving the Khilafat. And' the Muslims in
their impatience did exactly what the Hindus feared they would do, namely, invite the Afghans to
invade India. How far the Khilafatists had proceeded in their negotiations with the Amir of
Afghanistan it is not possible to know. But that such a project was entertained by them is beyond
question. It needs no saying that the project of an invasion of India was the most dangerous project
and every sane Indian would dissociate himself from so mad a project. What part Mr. Gandhi
played in this project it is not possible to discover. Certainly he did not dissociate himself from it.
On the contrary his misguided zeal for Swaraj and his obsession on Hindu-Moslem unity as the
only means of achieving it, led him to support the project. Not only did he advise 25[f.25] the
Amir not to enter into any treaty with the British Government but declared:
" I would, in a sense, certainly assist the Amir of Afghanistan if he waged war against the British
Government. That is to say, I would openly tell my countrymen that it would be a crime to help a
government which had lost the confidence of the nation to remain in power ".
Can any sane man go so far, for the sake of Hindu-Moslem unity ? But, Mr. Gandhi was so
attached to Hindu-Moslem unity that he did not stop to enquire what he was really doing in this
mad endeavour. So anxious was Mr. Gandhi in laying the foundation of Hindu-Moslem unity well
and truly, that he did not forget to advise his followers regarding the national crisis. In an Article in
Young India of 8th September 1920 Mr. Gandhi said :
" During the Madras tour, at Bezwada I had occasion to remark upon the national crisis and
suggested that it would be better to have cries about ideals than men. I asked the audience t replace
Mahatma Gandhi-ki-jai and Mahomed Ali Shoukat Ali-ki-jai by Hindu-Musalman-ki-jai. Brother
Shoukat Ali, who followed, positively laid down the law. In spite of the Hindu-Muslim unity, he
had observed that, if Hindus shouted Bande Mataram, the Muslims rang out with AllahoAkbar and
vice ersa. This, he rightly said jarred on the ear and still showed that the people did not act with one
mind. There should be therefore only three cries recognised. Allaho Akbar to be joyously sung out
by Hindus and Muslims, showing that God alone was great and no other. The second should be
Bande Malaram (Hail Motherland) or Bharat Mata-ki-jai (Victory to Mother Hind). The third
should be Hindu-Musalman-ki-jai without which there was no victory for India, and no true
demonstration of the greatness of God.. I do wish that the newspapers and public men would take
up the Maulana's suggestion and lead the people only to use the three cries. They are full of
meaning. The first is a prayer and confession of our littleness and therefore a sign of humility. It is
a cry in which all Hindus and Muslims should join in reverence and prayfulness. Hindus may not
fight shy of Arabic words, when their meaning is not only totally inoffensive but even ennobling.
God is no respecter of any particular tongue. Bande Mataram, apart from its wonderful
associations, expresses the one national wishâthe rise of India to her full height. And I should
prefer Bande Mataram to Bharat Mata-ki-jai, as it would be a graceful recognition of the
intellectual and emotional superiority of Bengal. Since India can be nothing without the union of
the Hindu and the Muslim heart, Hindu-Musalman-ki-jai is a cry which we may never forget.
" There should be no discordance in these cries. Immediately some one has taken up any of the
three cries, the rest should take it up and not attempt to yell out their favourite. Those, who do not
wish to join, may refrain, but should consider it a breach of etiquette to interpolate their own when
a cry has already been raised. It would be better too, always to follow out the three cries in the
order given above. "
Gandhi startled the people of India by his promise to win Swaraj within six months, Mr. Gandhi
said that he could perform the miracle only if certain conditions were fulfilled. One of these
conditions was the achievement of Hindu-Muslim unity. Mr. Gandhi is never tired of saying that
there is no Swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity. Mr. Gandhi did not merely make this slogan the
currency of Indian politics but he has strenuously worked to bring it about. Mr. Gandhi, it may be
said, began his carrier as a political leader of India with the manifesto dated 2nd March 1919
declaring his intention to launch Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act and asking those who desired
to join him to sign the Satyagraha pledge. That campaign of Satyagraha was a short-lived campaign
and was suspended by Mr. Gandhi on 18th April 1919. As a part of his programme Mr. Gandhi had
fixed 17[f.17] the 6th March 1919 to be observed all over India as a day of protest against the
Rowlatt Act. Mass meetings were to be held on that day and Mr. Gandhi had prescribed that the
masses attending the meetings should take a vow in the following terms :
" With God as witness, we Hindus, and Mahomedans declare that we shall behave towards one
another as children of the same parents, that we shall have no differences, that the sorrows of each
shall be the sorrows of the other and that each shall help the other in removing them. We shall
respect each other's religion and religious feelings and shall not stand in the way of our respective
religious practices. We shall always refrain from violence to each other in the name of religion. "
There was nothing in the campaign of Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Act which could have led to
any clash between the Hindus and Muslims. Yet Mr. Gandhi asked his followers to take the vow.
This shows how insistent he was from the very beginning upon Hindu-Muslim unity.
The Mahomedans started the Khilafat movement in 1919. The objective of the movement was
two-fold; to preserve the Khilafat and to maintain the integrity of the Turkish Empire. Both these
objectives were unsupportable. The Khilafat could not be saved simply because the Turks, in whose
interest this agitation was carried on, did not want the Sultan. They wanted a republic and it was
quite unjustifiable to compel the Turks to keep Turkey a monarchy when they wanted to convert it
into a republic. It was not open to insist upon the integrity of the Turkish Empire because it meant
the perpetual subjection of the different nationalities to the Turkish rule and particularly of the
Arabs, especially when it was agreed on all hands that the doctrine of self-determination should be
made the basis of the peace settlement.
The movement was started by the Mahomedans. It was taken up by Mr. Gandhi with a tenacity and
faith which must have surprised many Mahomedans themselves. There were many people who
doubted the ethical basis of the Khilafat movement and tried to dissuade Mr. Gandhi from taking
any part in a movement the ethical basis of which was so questionable. But Mr. Gandhi had so
completely persuaded himself of the justice of the Khilafat agitation that he refused to yield to their
advice. Time and again he argued that the cause was just and it was his duty to join it. The position
taken up by him may be summed up in his own words. 18[f18]
" (1) In my opinion, the Turkish claim is not only not immoral and unjust, but it is highly equitable,
only because Turkey wants to retain what is her own. And the Mahomedan manifesto has definitely
declared that whatever guarantee may be necessary to be taken for the protection of the
non-Muslim and non-Turkish races, should be taken so as to give the Christians theirs and the
Arabs their self-government under the Turkish suzerainty;
(2) I do not believe the Turk to be weak, incapable or cruel. He is certainly disorganised and
probably without good generalship. The argument of weakness, incapacity and cruelly one often
hears quoted in connection with those from whom power is sought to be taken away. About the
alleged massacres a proper commission has been asked for, but never granted. And in any case
security can be taken against oppression;
(3) I have already stated that, if I were not interested in the Indian Mahomedans, I would not
interest myself in the welfare of the Turks any more than I am in that of the Austrians or the Poles.
But I am bound as an Indian to share the sufferings and trials of fellow-Indians. If I deem the
Mahomedan to be my brother, it is my duty to help him in his hour of peril to the best of my ability,
if his cause commends itself to me as just;
(4) The fourth refers to the extent Hindus should join hands with the Mahomedans. It is, therefore,
a matter of feeling and opinion. It is expedient to suffer for my Mahomedan brother to the utmost in
a just cause and I should, therefore, travel with him along the whole road so long as the means
employed by him are as honourable as his end. I cannot regulate the Mahomedan feeling. I must
accept his statement that the Khilafat is with him a religious question in the sense that it binds him
to reach the goal even at the cost of his own life. "'
Mr. Gandhi not only agreed with the Muslims in the Khilafat cause but acted as their guide and
their friend. The part played by Mr. Gandhi in the Khilafat agitation and the connection between
the Khilafat agitation and the Non-co-operation Movement has become obscure by the reason of
the fact that most people believed that it was the Congress which initiated the Non co-operation
Movement and it was done as a means for winning Swaraj. That such a view should prevail is quite
understandable because most people content themselves with noting the connection between the
Non-co-operation Movement and the special session of the Congress held at Calcutta on 7th and
8th September 1920. But anyone, who cares to go behind September 1920 and examine the
situation as it then stood, will find that this view is not true. The truth is that the non-co-operation
has its origin in the Khilafat agitation and not in the Congress Movement for Swaraj : that it was
started by the Khilafatists to help Turkey and adopted by the Congress only to help the Khilafatists
: that Swaraj was not its primary object, but its primary object was Khilafat and that Swaraj was
added as a secondary object to induce the Hindus to join it will be evident from the following facts.
The Khilafat movement may be said to have begun on 27th October 1919 when the day was
observed as the Khilafat Day all over India. On 23rd November 1919 the first Khilafat Conference
met at Delhi. It was at this session that the Muslims considered the feasibility of non-co-operation
as a means of compelling the British Government to redress the Khilafat wrong. On 10th March
1920 the Khilafat Conference met at Calcutta and decided upon non-co-operation as the best
weapon to further the object of their agitation.
On 9th June 1920 the Khilafat Conference met at Allahabad and unanimously reaffirmed their
resolve to resort to non-co-operation and appointed an Executive Committee to enforce and lay
down a^ detailed programme. On 22nd June 1920 the Muslims sent a message to the Viceroy
stating that they would start non-co-operation if the Turkish grievances were not redressed before
1st August 1920. On 30th June 1920 the Khilafat Committee meeting held at Allahabad resolved to
start non-co-operation, after a month's notice to the Viceroy. Notice was given on 1st July 1920 and
non-co-operation commenced on 1st August 1920. This short resume shows that the
non-co-operation was started by the Khilafat Committee and all that the Congress special session at
Calcutta did was to adopt what the Khilafat Conference had already done and that too not in the
interest of Swaraj but in the interest of helping the Musalmans in furthering the cause of Khilafat.
This is clear from the perusal of the Congress Resolution 19 [f.19] passed at the special session
held at Calcutta.
Although the Non-co-operation Movement was launched by the Khilafat Committee and merely
adopted by the Congress primarily to help the Khilafat cause, the person who suggested it to the
Khilafat Committee and who identified himself with the Committee and took the responsibility of
giving effect to it and who brought about its adoption by the Congress was Mr. Gandhi. At the first
Khilafat Conference held at Delhi on 23rd November
1919 Mr. Gandhi was present. Not only was Mr. Gandhi present but also it was he who advised the
Muslims to adopt non-co-operation as a method for forcing the British to yield to their demands
regarding the Khilafat. The joining of Mr. Gandhi in the Khilafat movement is full of significance.
The Muslims were anxious to secure the support of the Hindus in the cause of Khilafat. At the
Conference held on 23rd November 1919 the Muslims had invited the Hindus. Again on 3rd June
1920 a joint meeting of the Hindus and the Khilafatist Muslims was held at Allahabad. This
meeting was attended among others by Sapru, Motilal Nehru and Annie Besant. But the Hindus
were hesitant in joining the Muslims. Mr. Gandhi was the only Hindu who joined the Muslims. Not
only did he show courage to join them, but also he kept step with them, nay, led them. On 9th June
1920 when the Khilafat Conference met at Allahabad and formed an Executive Committee to
prepare a detailed programme of non co-operation and give effect to it, Mr. Gandhi was the only
Hindu on that Executive Committee. On 22nd June 1920 the Muslims sent a message to the
Viceroy that they would start non-co-operation if the Turkish grievances were not redressed before
1st August 1920. On the same day Mr. Gandhi also sent a letter to the Viceroy explaining the
justice of the Khilafat cause, the reasons why he has taken up the cause and the necessity of
satisfying the hands of the Khilafatists. For instance the notice given to the Viceroy on 1st July
1920 that non-co-operation will be started on 1st August was given by Mr. Gandhi and not by the
Khilafatists. Again when non-co-operation was started by the Khilafatist on 31st August 1920 Mr.
Gandhi was the first to give a concrete shape to it by returning his medal. After inaugurating the
Non-co-operation Movement as an active member of the Khilafat Committee Mr. Gandhi next
directed his energy to the cause of persuading the Congress to adopt non-co-operation and
strengthen the Khilafat movement. With that object in view Mr. Gandhi toured the country between
1st August and 1st September 1920 in the company of the Ali Brothers who were the founders of
the Khilafat movement impressing upon the people the necessity of non-co-operation. People could
notice the disharmony in the tune of Mr. Gandhi and the Ali Brothers. As the Modern Review
pointed out: " Reading between the lines of their speeches, it is not difficult to see that with one of
them the sad plight of the Khilafat in distant Turkey is the central fact, while with the other
attainment of Swaraj here in India is the object in view ". This dichotomy 20[f.20] of interest did
not augur well for the success of the ultimate purpose. Nonetheless Mr. Gandhi succeeded in
carrying the Congress with him in support of the Khilafat cause. 21[f.21]
For a long time the Hindus had been engaged in wooing the Muslims to their side. The Congress
was very anxious to bridge the gulf between itself and the Muslim League. The ways and means
adopted in 1916 for bringing about this consummation and which resulted in the Lucknow Pact
signed between the Congress and the Muslim League have been graphically told by Swami
Shradhanand in his impressions of the Congress Session held in that year at Lucknow. Says the
Swami 22[f.22] :
" On sitting on the dias (Lucknow Congress platform) the first thing that I noticed was that the
number of Moslem delegates was proportionately fourfold of what it was at Lahore in 1893. The
majority of Moslem delegates Bad donned gold, silver and silk embroidered chogas (flowing robes)
over their ordinary coarse suits of wearing apparel. It was rumoured that these ' chogas ' had been
put by Hindu moneyed men for Congress Tamasha. Of some 433 Moslem delegates only some 30
had come from outside, the rest belonging to Lucknow City. And of these majority was admitted
free to delegate seals, board and lodging. Sir Syed Ahmad's anti-Congress League had tried in a
public meeting to dissuade Moslems from joining the Congress as delegates. As a countermove the
Congress people lighted the whole Congress camp some four nights before the session began and
advertised that that night would be free. The result was that all the " Chandul Khanas " of Lucknow
were emptied and a huge audience of some thirty thousand Hindus and Moslems was addressed
from half a dozen platforms. It was then that the Moslem delegates were elected or selected. All
this was admitted by the Lucknow Congress organisers to me in private.
" A show was being made of the Moslem delegates. Moslem delegate gets up to second a resolution
in Urdu. He begins : ' Hozarat, I am a Mahomedan delegate '. Some Hindu delegate gels up and
calls for three cheers for Mahomedan delegates and the response is so enthusiastic as to be beyond
description. "
In taking up the cause of Khilafat Mr. Gandhi achieved a double purpose. He carried the Congress
Plan of winning over the Muslims to its culmination. Secondly he made the Congress a power in
the country, which it would not have been, if the Muslims had not joined it. The cause of the
Khilafat appealed to the Musalmans far more than political safeguards, with the result that the
Musalmans who were outside it trooped into the Congress. The Hindus welcomed them. For, they
saw in this a common front against the British, which was their main aim. The credit for this must
of course go to Mr. Gandhi. For there can be no doubt that this was an act of great daring.
When the Musalmans in 1919 approached the Hindus for participation in the Non-co-operation
Movement which the Muslims desired to start for helping Turkey and the Khilafat, the Hindus were
found to be divided in three camps. One was a camp of those who were opposed to
non-co-operation in principle. A second camp consisted of those Hindus who were prepared to join
the Muslims in their campaign of non-co-operation provided the Musalmans agreed to give up Cow
Slaughter. A third group consisted of the Hindus who feared that the Mahomedans might extend
their non-co-operation to inviting the Afghans to invade India, in which case the movement instead
of resulting in Swaraj might result in the subjection of India to Muslim Raj.
Mr. Gandhi did not care for those Hindus who were opposed to joining the Muslims in the
Non-co-operation Movement. But with regard to the others he told them that their attitude was
unfortunate.
To those Hindus who wanted to give their support on the condition that the Muslims give up cow
killing, Mr. Gandhi said 23[f.23] :
" I submit that the Hindus may not open the Goraksha (cow protection) question here. The test of
friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too, unconditional assistance. Co-operation that needs
consideration is a commercial contract and not friendship. Conditional co-operation is like
adulterated cement which does not bind. It is the duty of the Hindus, if they see the justice of the
Mahomedan cause to render co-operation. If the Mahomedans feel themselves bound in honour to
spare the Hindu's feelings and to slop cow killing, they may do so, no matter whether the Hindus
co-operate with them or not. Though therefore, I yield to no Hindu in my worship of the cow, I do
not want to make the slopping of cow killing a condition precedent to co-operation. Unconditional
co-operation means the protection of the cow."
To those Hindus who feared to join the Non-co-operation Movement for the reasons that Muslims
may invite the Afghans to invade India, Mr. Gandhi said 24[f.24] :
" It is easy enough to understand and justify the Hindu caution. It is difficult to resist the
Mahomedan position. In my opinion, the best way to prevent India from becoming the battle
ground between the forces of Islam and those of the English is for Hindus to make
non-co-operation a complete and immediate success, and I have little doubt that, if the
Mahomedans remain true to their declared intention and are able to exercise self-restraint and make
sacrifices, the Hindus will ' play the game ' and join them in the campaign of non-co-operation. I
feel equally certain that Hindus will not assist Mahomedans in promoting or bringing about an
armed conflict between the British Government and their allies, and Afghanistan. British forces are
too well organised to admit of any successful invasion of the Indian frontier. The only way,
therefore, the Mahomedans can carry on an effective struggle on behalf of the honour of Islam is to
take up non-co-operation in real earnest. It will not only be completely effective if it is adopted by
the people on an extensive scale, but it will also provide full scope for individual conscience. If I
cannot bear an injustice done by an individual or a corporation, and, I am directly or indirectly
instrumental in upholding that individual or corporation, I must answer for it before my Maker; but
I have done all that is humanly possible for me to do consistently with the moral code that refuses
to injure even the wrong-doers, if I cease to support the injustice in the manner described above. In
applying, therefore, such a great force, there should be no haste, there should be no temper shown.
Non-co-operation must be and remain absolutely a voluntary effort. The whole thing, then, depends
upon Mahomedans themselves. If they will but help themselves, Hindu help will come and the
Government, great and mighty though it is, will have to bend before the bloodless opposition of a
whole nation. "
Unfortunately, the hope of Mr.Gandhi that ' no Government can possibly withstand the bloodless
opposition of a whole nation ' did not come true. Within a year of the starting of the
Non-co-operation Movement, Mr. Gandhi had to admit that the. Musalmans had grown impatient
and that :
" In their impatient anger, the Musalmans ask for more energetic and more prompt action by the
Congress and Khilafat organisations. To the Musalmans, Swaraj means, as it must mean, India's
ability to deal effectively with the Khilafat question. The Musalmans, therefore, decline to wait if
the attainment of Swaraj means indefinite delay of a programme that may require the Musalmans of
India to become impotent witnesses of the extinction of Turkey in European waters.
" It is impossible not to sympathise with this attitude. I would gladly recommend immediate action
if I could think of any effective course. I would gladly ask for postponement of Swaraj activity if
thereby we could advance the interest of Khilafat. I could gladly take up measures outside
non-co-operation, if I could think of any, in order to assuage the pain caused to the millions of the
Musalmans.
" But, in my humble opinion, attainment of Swaraj is the quickest method of righting the Khilafat
wrong. Hence it is, that for me the solution of the Khilafat question is attainment of Swaraj and vice
versa. The only way to help the affiliated Turks is for India to generate sufficient power to be able
to assert herself. If she cannot develop that power in time, there is no way out for India and she
must resign herself to the inevitable. What can a paralytic do to stretch forth a helping hand to a
neighbour but to try to cure himself of his paralysis ? Mere ignorant, thoughtless and angry outburst
of violence may give vent to pent-up rage but can bring no relief to Turkey. "
The Musalmans were not in a mood to listen to the advice of Mr. Gandhi. They refused to worship
the principle of non-violence. They were not prepared to wait for Swaraj. They were in a hurry to
find the most expeditious means of helping Turkey and saving the Khilafat. And' the Muslims in
their impatience did exactly what the Hindus feared they would do, namely, invite the Afghans to
invade India. How far the Khilafatists had proceeded in their negotiations with the Amir of
Afghanistan it is not possible to know. But that such a project was entertained by them is beyond
question. It needs no saying that the project of an invasion of India was the most dangerous project
and every sane Indian would dissociate himself from so mad a project. What part Mr. Gandhi
played in this project it is not possible to discover. Certainly he did not dissociate himself from it.
On the contrary his misguided zeal for Swaraj and his obsession on Hindu-Moslem unity as the
only means of achieving it, led him to support the project. Not only did he advise 25[f.25] the
Amir not to enter into any treaty with the British Government but declared:
" I would, in a sense, certainly assist the Amir of Afghanistan if he waged war against the British
Government. That is to say, I would openly tell my countrymen that it would be a crime to help a
government which had lost the confidence of the nation to remain in power ".
Can any sane man go so far, for the sake of Hindu-Moslem unity ? But, Mr. Gandhi was so
attached to Hindu-Moslem unity that he did not stop to enquire what he was really doing in this
mad endeavour. So anxious was Mr. Gandhi in laying the foundation of Hindu-Moslem unity well
and truly, that he did not forget to advise his followers regarding the national crisis. In an Article in
Young India of 8th September 1920 Mr. Gandhi said :
" During the Madras tour, at Bezwada I had occasion to remark upon the national crisis and
suggested that it would be better to have cries about ideals than men. I asked the audience t replace
Mahatma Gandhi-ki-jai and Mahomed Ali Shoukat Ali-ki-jai by Hindu-Musalman-ki-jai. Brother
Shoukat Ali, who followed, positively laid down the law. In spite of the Hindu-Muslim unity, he
had observed that, if Hindus shouted Bande Mataram, the Muslims rang out with AllahoAkbar and
vice ersa. This, he rightly said jarred on the ear and still showed that the people did not act with one
mind. There should be therefore only three cries recognised. Allaho Akbar to be joyously sung out
by Hindus and Muslims, showing that God alone was great and no other. The second should be
Bande Malaram (Hail Motherland) or Bharat Mata-ki-jai (Victory to Mother Hind). The third
should be Hindu-Musalman-ki-jai without which there was no victory for India, and no true
demonstration of the greatness of God.. I do wish that the newspapers and public men would take
up the Maulana's suggestion and lead the people only to use the three cries. They are full of
meaning. The first is a prayer and confession of our littleness and therefore a sign of humility. It is
a cry in which all Hindus and Muslims should join in reverence and prayfulness. Hindus may not
fight shy of Arabic words, when their meaning is not only totally inoffensive but even ennobling.
God is no respecter of any particular tongue. Bande Mataram, apart from its wonderful
associations, expresses the one national wishâthe rise of India to her full height. And I should
prefer Bande Mataram to Bharat Mata-ki-jai, as it would be a graceful recognition of the
intellectual and emotional superiority of Bengal. Since India can be nothing without the union of
the Hindu and the Muslim heart, Hindu-Musalman-ki-jai is a cry which we may never forget.
" There should be no discordance in these cries. Immediately some one has taken up any of the
three cries, the rest should take it up and not attempt to yell out their favourite. Those, who do not
wish to join, may refrain, but should consider it a breach of etiquette to interpolate their own when
a cry has already been raised. It would be better too, always to follow out the three cries in the
order given above. "