The defeated Turkish Empire lost World War I, and the Muslim Khilafat movement began in British India in support of the defeated Turkish Sultan But how much of this was connected to Islam? The "Khalifa," or the Islamic head of state, was the Sultan of Turkey So the entire Muslim community began to rally in support of the Turkish Sultan.

Although the defeat of Turkey was in the rules of war, it is unclear how the issue of disrespect for Islam became involved The wave of this movement also reached British India Muslims in India also began a Khilafat movement in support of the Khalifa However, the Khilafat movement was linked by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to the Indian independence movement.

The Khilafat was not an individual issue, it was an ideology, Gandhi wrote in his journal Young India On 23 October 1919, Gandhi presided over the first conference of the All-India Khilafat Committee in Delhi Gandhi was the only Hindu to be present at the Khilafat Conference The following year, he passed the resolution for the non-cooperation movement in the Calcutta Conference of the Congress on the Muslim religious movement called "Khilafat.

" Thus, it can be said that Gandhi's movement was not directed towards Swaraj in India. In fact, before understanding the Khilafat, one must understand " Pan Islam " The religion, civilization, culture and history of all Muslims around the world are one and the same. So the purpose and goal of Muslims as a nation is one and that is to establish ".

Dar-ul-Islam" i e Muslim countries instead of non-Muslim countries around the world This was understood by Dr B R Ambedkar He understood that the objective of the Muslim invasion was not to merely conquer and plunder the state The objective of this campaign was to establish a pan-Islamic India without any understanding of Hinduism.

Did Dr Gandhi not understand that?.

However, it was this pan-Islamism that gave Gandhi his brainchild, Hindu-Muslim unity in India Gandhi did the opposite He mobilised Muslims in support of the defeated Sultan of Turkey, the non-cooperation movement of the Congress Gandhi's support for the Khilafat movement, which was not directed at the liberation of India, was a suicidal decision.

Gandhi travelled all over India with Muhammad Ali, Shaukat Ali and Abul Kalam Azad from 1 August to 1 September 1920 to mobilise public opinion for the movement Another notable event occurred after Gandhi extended his support to the Khilafat movement The Nawab of Afghanistan was in the news for planning to invade India at the invitation of Indian Muslims.

Muhammad Ali spoke in support of the idea and said that if Afghans invade India with the motive of Jihad, then Muslims of India are not only bound to join it, if Hindus do not cooperate with it, they will also be fought!.

While everyone was surprised by Muhammad Ali's announcement, Gandhi declared that he would certainly help the Afghan Nawab against the British government Gandhi also said that he would appeal to the countrymen and say that it was a crime to help a government that had lost the nation's trust! But surprisingly, no Congress leader at that time had protested against Muhammad Ali or Gandhi's words.

This unilateral suicidal decision to support Gandhi's Khilafat had consequences for the majority of Hindus living in the Malabar Coast region of southern India Because of the Khilafat movement, the "Moplah Rebellion" broke out there When the Moplah rebels were defeated by the British, they attacked the Hindu population there.

Their brutal attacks caused untimely deaths of millions of Hindus, forced conversions, and forced conversions of girls Many had to leave their homes and take shelter in the forests.

However, historian Dr Ramesh Chandra Majumdar points out that Gandhi's decision was wrong According to him, Gandhi failed to understand that the Khilafat movement, which was inspired by Pan Islam, struck at the root of Indian nationalism Gandhi himself accepted the fact that a nation and society far removed from India, unconnected to India, could never be part of the Indian nation if they did not have the core interests and genuine sympathies of the majority of the people.

They were a separate nation, living in India but not India.

Gandhi's suicidal decision led to the brutal persecution of Hindus in the Malabar region of South India by the Moplahs In the next section, we will discuss some of the horrors of the Moplah Rebellion.

References: 1) Dr B R Ambedkar -- Writings and Speeches, < ID3 >) History of the Freedom Movement in India, < ID2 > : Dr < ID1 >.