Chachaji

There was no communal divide in those days and hence, there were no communal tensions and troubles. Khilafat movement brought Hindus and Muslims under the leadership of Gandhiji. The Congress took the initiative to forge cohesion and harmony among the Hindus and Muslims. Swami Shraddhanand, the outstanding leader of Arya Samaj, was working hand in hand with the Muslim leaders. He was the only person who was allowed to speak to Muslims from the sacred mimber (rostrum) of Jama Masjid in those days. I was told that no other person belonging to any other religion was ever permitted to do so. This itself was the proof of Hindu-Muslim amity for which Mahatma Gandhi was striving.

The attitudes of the religious groups in those days were not like the religious and communal divide of these days. For the sake of the country’s emancipation, different sects had joined hands. The Sikhs joined us to assist the Congress movement, even though called Akalis. They had not yet become a political party. Just as we formed the Arya Kumar Sabha, they formed the Akali Dal and most of them were young people who would give their lives for the country.

Hindu-Muslim unity was not a marriage of convenience as some critics interpret the event. It was for the sake of the country, for a higher cause that they had fought wholeheartedly; they were completely one in those days. Each respected the other. In the Congress we could never conceive, even for a moment, that one was a Hindu or Muslim or Sikh. This never came to our minds. For instance, take the case of Hakim Ajmal Khan. I remember that he was never a regular member of the District Congress Committee, but was very much respected by the Hindu community on account of his personality and profession. He used his medical skills equally for everyone. When the Khilafat movement was started, it helped the national cause. Of course, it was the need of those times. Such movements work for some time and gradually stagnate and lose their relevance. But the basic truths of all religions are universal. It is only our own bigotry and narrow-mindedness which makes us think in different terms. It hardly makes any difference as to how one sits or prays or acts. Fanaticism is very bad and is a slur on religion.

In the early 1920s, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Barrister Asaf Ali, Maulana Hasri and Abdulla Churibala were the prominent leaders in Delhi. There were thousands of Muslims who were active in the national movement. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari had a well established and lucrative medical practice, and was consultant to many Muslim States. Mr. Faridul Haq Ansari, the nephew of Dr. Ansari, was one of the prominent Congress leaders and he was also a member of the Delhi Provincial Congress Committee for twenty years. In the course of time when parleys between Mahatma Gandhi and Mohammad Ali Jinnah started, things started deteriorating gradually and led to a break up into Hindu and Muslim camps.

Gandhiji’s Fast in Delhi

Gandhiji went on a fast on 18th Sept, 1924 when there were Hindu-Muslim riots. He was fasting in Maulana Mohammad Ali’s house at Kucha Chalan. There was a great stir in the city and everyone was very much disturbed. However, everyone prayed that Gandhiji would pass through the critical stage and come out of it successfully. I felt very deeply about Gandhiji’s fast and I used to go to Maulana Mohammad Ali’s house and sit there for some time every day. The fast helped the cause of Hindu-Muslim unity quite a lot.

The tragedy of the year 1924 was the outbreak of communal troubles in various places and specially at Delhi, Lucknow, Shahjahanpur, Allahabad, Jabbalpur, Gulbarga and at Kohat. The Kohat riots of 9th and 10th September 1924 in the North Western Frontier Province were a severe set-back to the efforts to promote communal harmony, which had taken a decade to build up. It was estimated that 155 people were killed and temples were destroyed in the carnage. A Committee consisting of Gandhiji and Shaukat Ali was appointed to investigate the causes and conditions of the riot. The two produced a report, but they differed in respect of the parties responsible for the disturbances. Other reports on the Kohat outrages printed and published for the Kohat Refugee Working Committee by Lala Nandlal, the Headmaster of Bhartri School, Kohat, created a consternation among the Muslims. A special train therefore had to remove 4,000 Hindus, of whom 2,600 were given shelter for two months at Rawalpindi and 1,400 at other places.

In these circumstances, it was logical for Gandhiji to go on a twenty-one day fast. He held himself responsible for all these murderous riots and felt called upon to expatiate his own guilt. The fast was a critical test for him as he had just recovered from a nearly fatal attack of appendicitis. The fast was commenced in Maulana Mohammad Ali’s house, Delhi, but later he was removed to a house outside the city. The leading Indians of all communities assembled at The Unity Conference, which had prolonged sittings from Sept. 26th to Oct. 22nd 1924. A Central Panchayat was formed consisting of Gandhiji (as Chairman and Convener) and Hakim Ajmal Khan, Lala Lajpat Rai, G.K. Nariman, Dr. D.K. Datta and Master Sundar Singh of Lyalpur. The members of the Unity Conference pledged themselves to make their earnest endeavours to enforce the principles of freedom of conscience and religion and condemn any deviation from them even under grave provocation. They laid down certain fundamental rights about liberty of holding and expressing religious beliefs, sanctity of places of worship, cow-slaughter, music before mosques with a statement of restrictions. The press was advised to be circumspect in its reporting and people were requested to offer their prayers during the last week of Gandhiji’s fast. The 8th of October was meant for mass meetings and prayers for thanks-giving.