Was Mahatma Gandhi’s Support For Khilafat Movement Big Mistake?

Why Mahatma Gandhi’s Support for the Khilafat Movement Was His Biggest Blunder

Mahatma Gandhi is widely revered as the leader of India’s independence movement and a champion of non-violent resistance. However, one of his most controversial political decisions was his support for the Khilafat Movement (1919–1924)—a movement led by Indian Muslims to restore the Ottoman Caliphate, which had been weakened after World War I. While Gandhi’s intention was to unite Hindus and Muslims in the struggle for Swaraj (self-rule), his endorsement of this religious movement had several unintended and disastrous consequences. Many historians and political analysts argue that this was one of the biggest blunders of his life.

1. Mixing Religion with Politics

Gandhi’s primary mistake in supporting the Khilafat Movement was that he brought religion into the national political struggle. Until then, the Indian freedom movement had largely been secular, focusing on national identity rather than religious divisions. By aligning the Non-Cooperation Movement with the Khilafat cause, Gandhi made Indian nationalism dependent on a religious issue that was not directly related to India’s own freedom struggle.

The Khilafat Movement was aimed at preserving the power of the Ottoman Caliph, the symbolic head of the global Muslim community. However, the Caliphate had little to do with India’s national interests. Gandhi’s decision to support this foreign issue confused the freedom struggle’s objectives and introduced religious identity politics into India’s independence movement.

2. Weakening Hindu-Muslim Unity

One of Gandhi’s key motivations for backing the Khilafat cause was his hope that it would unite Hindus and Muslims against British rule. He believed that by supporting a movement that mattered to Muslims, he could bring them into the broader national struggle. However, this strategy backfired.

Instead of fostering Hindu-Muslim unity, the Khilafat Movement exacerbated communal divisions. It reinforced a separate Muslim political consciousness, as many Muslim leaders began to prioritize Islamic interests over Indian nationalism. Once the Khilafat cause collapsed, many Muslims felt alienated from the Congress-led freedom struggle, while Hindus felt that their concerns had been sidelined. This growing divide later contributed to the demand for a separate Muslim nation—Pakistan.

3. The Moplah Rebellion: A Bloody Consequence

One of the most tragic outcomes of Gandhi’s Khilafat support was the Moplah Rebellion (Malabar Rebellion) of 1921 in present-day Kerala. Inspired by the Khilafat Movement, Moplah Muslims launched an armed uprising against British authorities. However, what started as an anti-colonial movement quickly turned into a massacre of Hindus.

Thousands of Hindus were killed, forcibly converted to Islam, or driven out of their homes. Temples were looted, and entire villages were burned. This violence shattered the illusion of Hindu-Muslim unity, proving that communal sentiments, once awakened, could take a dangerous turn. Gandhi’s failure to strongly condemn the Moplah atrocities led to criticism that he was too lenient on Muslim extremists while expecting Hindus to remain passive in the face of violence.

4. Khilafat Leaders Turn Against Gandhi

Gandhi had tied his Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) to the Khilafat Movement, believing that a joint Hindu-Muslim struggle would be more effective. However, when the movement lost steam after Turkey itself abolished the Caliphate in 1924, its Muslim leaders felt betrayed. Many of them, including Muhammad Ali and Shaukat Ali, who were once staunch allies of Gandhi, later distanced themselves from him and the Congress.

This division weakened the national movement and contributed to the rise of separate Muslim political organizations, such as the All India Muslim League, which later championed the demand for Pakistan.

5. Damage to the Non-Cooperation Movement

Gandhi’s decision to merge the Khilafat cause with the Non-Cooperation Movement was another major misstep. The freedom struggle should have been focused on clear political and economic objectives, such as ending British rule, gaining constitutional rights, and achieving Swaraj. Instead, the movement became entangled in religious sentiments, which distracted from the primary goal of independence.

When the Khilafat cause ended in failure, Muslim support for non-cooperation declined sharply. This left the movement in disarray, leading to its abrupt suspension after the Chauri Chaura incident in 1922, where a violent mob set a police station on fire, killing 22 policemen. Had Gandhi kept the independence movement separate from religious issues, it might have retained broader support and continued with greater momentum.

6. Alienation of Hindu Supporters

Gandhi’s appeasement of the Khilafat leaders alienated many Hindus, who felt that the Congress was prioritizing Muslim concerns over national unity. Some nationalist leaders, including Lala Lajpat Rai and C.R. Das, expressed concerns that Gandhi’s strategy was giving undue importance to pan-Islamic sentiments at the cost of Indian interests.

This growing resentment led to the rise of Hindu nationalist movements, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925. Many Hindus who had initially supported Gandhi’s vision of unity lost faith in his leadership, leading to long-term political and ideological divisions in Indian society.

7. Strengthening Islamic Identity Politics

Rather than integrating Muslims into a united Indian identity, the Khilafat Movement strengthened their separate political consciousness. It encouraged Indian Muslims to view themselves first as part of the global Muslim community and only secondarily as Indian nationals. This shift had long-term consequences, as it laid the foundation for the separate Muslim identity that later fueled the Pakistan movement.

Even though the movement itself collapsed, the communal divisions it created continued to shape Indian politics for decades. Many Muslim leaders who had been active in the Khilafat struggle later became vocal supporters of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s demand for Pakistan, arguing that Muslims needed their own nation.

Conclusion

Mahatma Gandhi’s support for the Khilafat Movement was well-intentioned but deeply flawed. By tying the Indian freedom struggle to a pan-Islamic religious cause, he inadvertently strengthened communal divisions, weakened Hindu-Muslim unity, and contributed to the eventual partition of India in 1947.

Instead of fostering unity, his decision led to religious violence, alienated Hindus, and distracted the freedom movement from its primary goal. While Gandhi remains a revered figure for his contributions to India’s independence, his handling of the Khilafat issue remains one of the most controversial and damaging aspects of his leadership. Had he kept the independence movement strictly focused on nationalistic and secular goals, India’s struggle for freedom might have taken a very different course—one that did not lead to partition and decades of communal strife.