Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement

Ground for Hindu-Muslim cooperation in National struggle has been prepared by Lucknow Pact of 1916. An opportune movement came in form of Turkey issue which was encashed by Gandhi to further forge unity ties among Hindus and Muslims for a joint struggle against British.

The British were opposed through two mass movements during 1919-22 i.e. the Khilafat and NonCooperation. Though the two movements emerged from separate issues, they adopted a common programme of action—that of non-violent Non-Cooperation. The Khilafat issue was not directly linked to Indian politics but it provided the immediate background to the movement and gave an added advantage of cementing Hindu-Muslim unity against the British.

Background

A series of events after the First World War belied all hopes of the government’s generosity towards the Indian people. The year 1919 saw a strong feeling of discontent among all sections of Indians for various reasons such as:

(i) The economic situation of the country in the post-War years had become alarming with a rise in prices of commodities, decrease in production of Indian industries, increase in burden of taxes and rents etc. Almost all sections of society suffered economic hardship due to the war and this strengthened the anti-British attitude.

(ii) The Rowlatt Act, the imposition of martial law in Punjab and the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre exposed the brutal and uncivilised face of the foreign rule.

(iii) The Hunter Committee on the Punjab atrocities proved to be an eyewash. In fact, the House of Lords (of the British Parliament) endorsed General Dyer’s action and the British public showed solidarity with General Dyer by helping The Morning Post collect 30,000 pounds for him.

(iv) The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms with their ill-conceived scheme of dyarchy failed to satisfy the rising demand of the Indians for self-government.

The post-First World War period also saw the preparation of the ground for common political action by Hindus and Muslims:

(i) the Lucknow Pact (1916) had stimulated Congress-Muslim League cooperation;

(ii) the Rowlatt Act agitation brought Hindus and Muslims, and also other sections of the society, together; and

(iii) radical nationalist Muslims like Mohammad Ali, Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasan Imam had now become more influential than the conservative Aligarh school elements who had dominated the League earlier. The younger elements advocated militant nationalism and active participation in the nationalist movement. They had strong anti-imperialist sentiments.

In this atmosphere the Khilafat issue emerged, around which developed the historic Non-Cooperation Movement.

Khilafat Issue

The Khilafat issue paved the way for the consolidation ofthe emergence of a radical nationalist trend among the younger generation of Muslims and the section of traditional Muslim scholars who were becoming increasingly critical of British rule. This time, they were angered by the treatment meted out to Turkey by the British after the First World War.

The Muslims in India, as the Muslims all over the world, regarded the sultan of Turkey as their spiritual leader, Khalifa, so naturally their sympathies were with Turkey. During the war, Turkey had allied with Germany and Austria against the British. When the war ended, the British took a stern attitude towards Turkey—Turkey was dismembered and the Khalifa removed from power. This incensed Muslims all over the world.

In India, too, the Muslims demanded from the British:

(i) that the Khalifa’s control over Muslim sacred places should be retained, and

(ii) the Khalifa should be left with sufficient territories after territorial arrangements.

In early 1919, a Khilafat Committee was formed under the leadership of the Ali brothers (Shaukat Ali and Muhammad Ali), Maulana Azad, Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani, to force the British government to change its attitude towards Turkey. Thus, the ground for a country-wide agitation was prepared

For some time, the Khilafat leaders limited their actions to meetings, petitions, deputations in favour of the Khilafat. Later, however, a militant trend emerged, demanding an active agitation such as stopping all cooperation with the British.

Thus, at the All India Khilafat Conference held in Delhi in November 1919, a call was made for the boycott of British goods. The Khilafat leaders also clearly spelt out that unless peace terms after the War were favourable to Turkey they would stop all cooperation with the Government. Gandhi, who was the president of the All India Khilafat Committee, saw in the issue a platform from which mass and united noncooperation could be declared against the Government.

Idea of Non-Cooperation

In his famous book Hind Swaraj (1909) Mahatma Gandhi declared that British rule was established in India with the cooperation of Indians, and had survived only because of this cooperation. If Indians refused to cooperate, British rule in India would collapse within a year, and swaraj would come. Embolden with the success of the Rowlett Satyagrah, Gandhiji decided to take things to next level, from Satyagrah to NonCooperation.

From Cooperation to Non-Cooperation – While Gandhi was initially cooperative with British, but events of Punjab (Jalianwala, Marshel Law, Hunter report) and Treatment of Khalifa of Turkey forced him to take the route of Non-Cooperation. Further, as mentioned above, it was cooperation of Indians only which has sustained British rule in India and if Indians start to non-ccoperate, the rule will collapse.

Gandhiji proposed that the movement should unfold in stages. It should begin with the surrender of titles that the government awarded, and a boycott of civil services, army, police, courts and legislative councils, schools, and foreign goods. Then, in case the government used repression, a full civil disobedience campaign would be launched.

Through the summer of 1920 Mahatma Gandhi and Shaukat Ali toured extensively, mobilising popular support for the movement.

Concerns of Congress Regarding Non-Cooperation

Many within the Congress were, however, concerned about the proposals. They were reluctant to boycott the council elections scheduled for November 1920, and they feared that the movement might lead to popular violence. In the months between September and December there was an intense tussle within the Congress.

It was quite clear that the support of the Congress was essential for the Khilafat movement to succeed. For a while there seemed no meeting point between the supporters and the opponents of the movement.

Gandhi was, however, in favour of launching satyagraha and non-cooperation against the government on the Khilafat issue, the Congress was not united on this form of political action. Veterans like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant opposed the idea outright. Tilak was opposed to having an alliance with Muslim leaders over a religious issue and he was also sceptical of satyagraha as an instrument of politics. There was opposition to some of the other provisions of the Gandhi’s non-cooperation programme also, such as boycott of councils.

But the younger generation of Indian nationalists were thrilled, and backed Gandhiji. The Congress Party adopted his plans, and he received extensive support from Muslim leaders like Abul Kalam Azad, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Abbas Tyabji, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali. Noncooperation movement (1920-22) was to be led by Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi was able to the get the approval of the Congress for his programme of political action and the Congress felt inclined to support a non-cooperation programme on the Khilafat question because:

• it was felt that this was a golden opportunity to cement Hindu-Muslim unity and to bring Muslim masses into the national movement; now different sections of society—Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, peasants, artisans, capitalists, tribals, women, students—could come into the national movement by fighting for their own rights and realising that the colonial rule was opposed to them;
• the Congress was losing faith in constitutional struggle, especially after the Punjab incidents and the blatantly partisan Hunter Committee Report;
• the Congress was aware that the masses were eager to give expression to their discontent.

The Muslim League also decided to give full support to the Congress and its agitation on political questions.

Non-Cooperation Movement

The 'Non-Cooperation-Khilafat' Movement was launched on 1st August 1920. In early 1920, a joint HinduMuslim deputation was sent to the viceroy to seek redress of grievances on the issue of Khilafat, but the mission proved abortive.

• In February 1920, Gandhi announced that the issues of the Punjab wrongs and constitutional advance had been overshadowed by the Khilafat question and that he would soon lead a movement of non-cooperation if the terms of the peace treaty failed to satisfy the Indian Muslims.
• The Treaty of Sevres with Turkey, signed in May 1920, completely dismembered Turkey.
• June 1920: An all-party conference at Allahabad approved a programme of boycott of schools, colleges and law courts, and asked Gandhi to lead it.
• August 31, 1920: The Khilafat Committee started a campaign of non-cooperation and the movement was formally launched. (Tilak had, incidentally, breathed his last on August 1, 1920.)
• September 1920: At a special session in Calcutta, the Congress approved a non-cooperation programme till the Punjab and Khilafat wrongs were removed and swaraj was established. The programme was to include:

a) boycott of government schools and colleges;

b) boycott of law courts and dispensation of justice through panchayats instead;

c) boycott of legislative councils; (there were some differences over this as some leaders like C.R. Das were not willing to include a boycott of councils, but bowed to Congress discipline; these leaders boycotted elections held in November 1920 and the majority of the voters too stayed away);

d) boycott of foreign cloth and use of khadi instead; also practice of hand-spinning to be done;

e) renunciation of government honours and titles; the second phase could include mass civil disobedience including resignation from government service, and non-payment of taxes.

During the movement, the participants were supposed to work for Hindu-Muslim unity and for removal of untouchability, all the time remaining non-violent.

At the Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress in December 1920:

(i) The programme of non-cooperation was endorsed.

(ii) An important change was made in the Congress creed: now, instead of having the attainment of selfgovernment through constitutional means as its goal, the Congress decided to have the attainment of swaraj through peaceful and legitimate means, thus committing itself to an extraconstitutional mass struggle.

(iii) Some important organisational changes were made: a congress working committee (CWC) of 15 members was set up to lead the Congress from now onwards; provincial congress committees on linguistic basis were organised; ward committees was organised; and entry fee was reduced to four annas.

(iv) Gandhi declared that if the non-cooperation programme was implemented completely, swaraj would be ushered in within a year.

Many groups of revolutionary terrorists, especially those from Bengal, also pledged support to the Congress programme. At this stage, some leaders like Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Annie Besant, G.S. Kharpade and B.C. Pal left the Congress as they believed in a constitutional and lawful struggle while some others like Surendranath Banerjea founded the Indian National Liberal Federation and played a minor role in national politics henceforward.

The adoption by the Congress of the non-cooperation movement initiated earlier by the Khilafat Committee gave it a new energy, and the years 1921 and 1922 saw an unprecedented popular upsurge.

Spread of the Movement

Gandhi accompanied by the Ali brothers undertook a nationwide tour. Thousands of students left government schools and colleges and joined around 800 national schools and colleges which cropped up during this time. These educational institutions were organised under the leadership of Acharya Narendra Dev, C.R. Das, Lala Lajpat Rai, Zakir Hussain, Subhash Bose (who became the principal of National College at Calcutta) and included Jamia Millia at Aligarh, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Gujarat Vidyapeeth and Bihar Vidyapeeth.

• Many lawyers gave up their practice, some of whom were Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, C.R. Das, C. Rajagopalachari, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Vallabhbhai Patel, Asaf Ali, T. Prakasam and Rajendra Prasad.
• Heaps of foreign cloth were burnt publicly and their imports fell by half. Picketing of shops selling foreign liquor and of toddy shops was undertaken at many places. The Tilak Swaraj Fund was oversubscribed and one crore rupees collected.
• Congress volunteer corps emerged as the parallel police.
• In July 1921, the Ali brothers gave a call to the Muslims to resign from the Army as it was unreligious.
• The Ali brothers were arrested for this in September. Gandhi echoed their call and asked local Congress committees to pass similar resolutions to that effect.
• Now, the Congress gave a call to local Congress bodies to start civil disobedience if it was thought that the people were ready for it. Already, a no-tax movement against union board taxes in Midnapore (Bengal) and in Guntur (Andhra) was going on.
• In Assam, strikes in tea plantations, steamer services and Assam-Bengal Railways had been organised. J.M. Sengupta was a prominent leader in these strikes.
• In November 1921, the visit of the Prince of Wales to India invited strikes and demonstrations.

The spirit of defiance and unrest gave rise to many local struggles such as Awadh Kisan Movement (UP), Eka Movement (UP), Mappila Revolt (Malabar) and the Sikh agitation for the removal of mahants in Punjab.

Different Interpretation of Non-Cooperation Movement

In Awadh, peasants were led by 'Baba Ramchandra' – a sanyasi who had earlier been to Fiji as an indentured labourer. The movement here was against talukdars and landlords who demanded from peasants exorbitantly high rents and a variety of other cesses. Peasants had to do begar and work at landlords’ farms without any payment. As tenants they had no security of tenure, being regularly evicted so that they could acquire no right over the leased land. The peasant movement demanded reduction of revenue, abolition of begar, and social boycott of oppressive landlords. The peasant movement, however, developed in forms that the Congress leadership was unhappy with. As the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted, and grain hoards were taken over. In many places local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had declared that no taxes were to be paid and land was to be redistributed among the poor. The name of the Mahatma was being invoked to sanction all action and aspirations. In many places 'nai – dhobi bandhs' were organised by panchayats to deprive landlords of the services of even barbers and washermen.

‘Gudem Hill’ Tribe War, or Koya Rebellion or Rampa Rebellion 1922 – Tribal peasants interpreted the message of Mahatma Gandhi and the idea of swaraj in yet another way. In the 'Gudem Hills'of Andhra Pradesh, for instance, a militant guerrilla movement spread in the early 1920s – not a form of struggle that the Congress could approve. Here, as in other forest regions, the colonial government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuelwood and fruits. This enraged the hill people. Not only were their livelihoods affected but they felt that their traditional rights were being denied. When the government began forcing them to contribute begar for road building, the hill people revolted. The person who came to lead them was 'Alluri Sitaram Raju'. But at the same time he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence. The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj. Raju was captured and executed in 1924, and over time became a folk hero.

Idea of Swaraj of Plantation Workers – Workers too had their own understanding of Mahatma Gandhi and the notion of swaraj. For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed, and it meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come. Under the Inland Emigration Act of 1859, plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea gardens without permission, and in fact they were rarely given such permission. When they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of workers defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed home. They believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and everyone would be given land in their own villages. They, however, never reached their destination. Stranded on the way by a railway and steamer strike, they were caught by the police and brutally beaten up.

Eka Movement – Towards the end of 1921, peasant discontent surfaced again after earlier Kisan Sabha movements in the districts of Hardoi, Bahraich and Sitapur of United Provinces with grievances relating to the extraction of a rent that was generally 50 percent higher than the recorded rent. Madari Pasi from the depressed class and the one of the key leaders who gave the movement direction opposing the non-violence methods and called for violent struggle.

Palnad Satyagraha or Forest Satyagraha – The ‘Forest Satyagraha’was of the ryots of Palnad in Guntur district in 1921 during Non-Cooperation Movement. The peasants of this place had to pay heavy tax for permission to graze their cattle in forests. When the crops failed that year, they decided to send their cattle into the forests without paying the fee and suffer the penalties. However, authorities retaliated by compounding the cattle and a clash ensued between the cattle owners and the armed police. In the firing that took place Kannuganti Hanumanthu was killed. Meanwhile, Gandhiji called off the Non-Co-operation Movement due to some untoward incidents at Chowri Chowra and with this the Palnad Satyagraha also came to an end.

Chirala-Perala (name of two villages in Guntur district) episode during Non-Cooperation was led by Duggirala Gopalakrishnayya. The movement was against the merger of two villages into municipality, which would have attracted taxes and villagers opposed this move. The movement was against the encroachment upon the autonomy of the village. He urged people to refuse to pay taxes and as a result whole population of Chirala moved out of town and refused to pay taxes.

Tana Bhagat Movement – Just like the Birsa’s religious movement among the Mundas, a similar religious movement gained among the Oraon of Chotanagpur, Bihar known as Tana Bhagat. The movement aimed against the missionaries and British colonialists. During Non-Cooperation also they participated and they boycotted liquor.

Widespread Participation

The participation in the movement was from a wide range of the society but to a varying extent.

Middle Class

People from the middle classes led the movement at the beginning but later they showed a lot of reservations about Gandhi’s programme.

• In places like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras, which were centres of elite politicians, the response to Gandhi’s call was very limited.
• The response to the call for resignation from the government service, surrendering of titles, etc., was not taken seriously.
• The comparative newcomers in Indian politics found expression of their interests and aspirations in the movement.
• Rajendra Prasad in Bihar and Vallabhbhai Patel in Gujarat provided solid support and, in fact, leaders like them found non-cooperation to be a viable political alternative to terrorism in order to fight against a colonial government.

Business Class

The economic boycott received support from the Indian business group because they had benefited from the nationalists’ emphasis on the use of swadeshi.

But a section of the big business remained sceptical towards the movement. They seemed to be afraid of labour unrest in their factories.

Peasants

Peasants’ participation was massive. Although the Congress was against class war, the masses broke this restraint.

• In Bihar, the confrontation between the ‘lower and upper castes’ on the issue of the former taking the sacred thread got merged with the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• In general, the peasants turned against the landlords and the traders.
• The movement gave an opportunity to the toiling masses to express their real feelings against the British as well as against their Indian masters and oppressors (landlords and traders).

Students

Students became active volunteers of the movement and thousands of them left government schools and colleges and joined national schools and colleges.

The newly opened national institutions like the Kashi Vidyapeeth, the Gujarat Vidyapeeth and the Jamila Milia Islamia and others accommodated many students.

Women

Women gave up purdah and offered their ornaments for the Tilak Fund.

They joined the movement in large numbers and took active part in picketing before the shops selling foreign cloth and liquor.

Hindu-Muslim Unity

The massive participation of Muslims and the maintenance of communal unity, despite the events like Moppila Uprisings/Riots, were great achievements.

In many places, two-thirds of those arrested were Muslims, and such type of participation had neither been seen in the past nor would be seen in the future.

Gandhi and other leaders addressed the Muslim masses from mosques, and Gandhi was even allowed to address meetings of Muslim women in which he was the only male who was not blindfolded.

Government Response

Talks between Gandhi and Reading, the viceroy, broke down in May 1921 as the government wanted Gandhi to urge the Ali brothers to remove those portions from speeches which suggested violence. Gandhi realised that the government wastrying to drive a wedge between him and the Khilafat leaders and refused to fall into the trap.

In December, the government came down heavily on the protestors. Volunteer corps were declared illegal, public meetings were banned, the press was gagged and most of the leaders barring Gandhi were arrested.

Decline of Non-Cooperation Movement

Gandhi was now under increasing pressure from the Congress rank and file to start the civil disobedience programme. The Ahmedabad session in 1921 (presided over, incidentally, by C.R. Das while still in jail; Hakim Ajmal Khan was the acting president) appointed Gandhi the sole authority on the issue.

On February 1, 1922 Gandhi threatened to launch civil disobedience from Bardoli (Gujarat) if (i) political prisoners were not released, and (ii) press controls were not removed. The movement had hardly begun before it was brought to an abrupt end.

(i) Chauri-Chaura Incident – A crowd which was fired upon by police, burnt a police station in ChauriChaura in which 22 policemen were killed and this distressed Gandhiji a lot. He deemed it as underpreparedness of the people to adopt his methods. Many Congress leaders including Subhash Chandra Bose, Nehru were in disbelief over this decision of Gandhi. ‘For a sin of handful people down in the Himalayas, the entire nation has been brought down to its knees’ – SC Bose said on withdrawl of Non-Cooperation. However, Gandhi was aware that in the event of violence and a direct confrontation with the British, Indians are a no match to British power and they will be crushed brutally. Incidents like Chauri-Chaura would have led to a direct confrontation and ultimately loss to Indians.

(ii) Moplah Incident generated considerable acrimony between Hindu and Muslims

(iii) Support of Ali brothers and Muslims was on religious grounds rather than nationalistic grounds. As the cause diminished, their support to vanished.

(iv) Ali Brothers also started to give way and started to apologise to Viceroy Reading and they were arrested soon (their arrest was however resented by Gandhi and others and he called for the people to give their jobs up).

(v) ‘The treaty of Severs’ was revised by the British in favor of Turkey. The cause of unity was no longer there and Muslims were no longer attached to Congress.

(vi) Mustafa Kamal Pasha toppled the theocratic puppet government installed by the British in Turkey and started a new era of modernization and made it a secular state. He took extensive steps to nationalized education, literate woman, develop agriculture etc and this broke the back of Khilafat.

After arrest of Ali Brothers and other leaders, Gandhi gave a memorandum to the government for their release and lift the ban from civil liberties or face mass civil disobedience (which he planned to start from Bardoli as a no-tax movement).

But things took a different turn and Chauri-Chaura incident took place. Gandhi called off the movement (even in face of disappointment of leaders like Nehru, Subhash etc) and he was sent to Jail for 6 years which was reduced (1922-24) owing to his health.

At this moment Gandhi declared his frustration with colonial government and declared that attitude of government has turned him from a supporter of government to its sharpest critic. He said during his trial – ‘I came reluctantly to the conclusion that the British had made India more helpless than she ever was before, politically and economically’. Judge handed down him same sentence as was given to Tilak in 1908.

Achievements of Non-Cooperation Movement

(i) Congress became a mass party: Hitherto, one of the important criticism of Congress had been that it was a party of elites representing only a minority. For the first time people from all sections participated. From 1920 Session of the Congress, joining fee was reduced (25 paisa per annum) considerably and so was reduced Age of Joining (18 years from 21 years), which took it into even villages and expanded its mass base.

(ii) Khilafat movement produced many leaders of tall stature like: Maulana Azad, Saifuddin Kitchlew, M A Ansari and so on

(iii) Charkha a National Symbol: Under Gandhi a new ideological support was given in form of NonViolence and Satyagraha which later became important tools for national struggle

(iv) Muslims also Participated: Barring the incident of Moplah rebellion in Malabar the movement saw participation of Muslims also

(v) Removed fear of British Might from the minds of people

(vi) Many educational institutes like Jamia Milia Islamia, Bihar Vidyapeeth, Kashi Vidyapith, Gujarat Vidyapith etc were established.

Failures of Non-Cooperation Movement

(i) Swaraj – as it was claimed – was not achieved within 1 year. This disheartened many.

(ii) Alienation of Muslims: Failure of Non-Cooperation also meant failure of Khilafat. Ali brothers accused congress for failure. Further movements by Congress saw less enthusiastic participation from Muslims.

(iii) Divide in Congress: With recall of movement, many resented this step and others became anxious to take part into Provincial elections and Swaraj Party is born.

(iv) Revival of Revolutionary Activities: This also gave birth to second phase of revolutionary activities after partition of Bengal.

(v) Mass Reach: Khadi was unaffordable to poor and this was the reason that middle class and poor swept away from movement.

Share

& Comment

Tweet