Khaksar Movement
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The Khaksar movement was established by Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi in 1931, with the aim of freeing India from the rule of the
British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. The Khaksars opposed the partition of India and favoured a united country. The membership of the Khaksar movement was open to everyone and had no membership fee regardless of the person's religion, race and caste or social status. The emphasis was on the brotherhood of mankind and being inclusive for all people.


History

Around 1930, Allama Mashriqi, a charismatic Muslim intellectual whom some considered to be of anarchist persuasion, revisited the principles for self-reform and self-conduct that he had laid out in his 1924
treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...
, entitled ''Tazkira''. He incorporated them into a second treatise, ''Isharat'', and this served as the foundation for the Khaksar movement, which Roy Jackson has described as being "... essentially to free India from colonial rule and to revive Islam, although it also aimed to give justice and equal rights to all faiths." They took their name from the Persian words ''khak'' and ''sar'', respectively meaning ''dust'' and ''like'' and roughly combined to translate as a "humble person".Profile of The Khaksar Movement on storyofpakistan.com website
Retrieved 19 January 2018
Adopting the language of revolution, Mashriqi began recruiting followers to his cause in his village of Ichhra near
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
. An early report said that the movement began with 90 followers. It quickly expanded, adding 300 young members within a few weeks. By 1942 it was reported that the membership was four million and Jackson remarks that it was "phenomenal in its success." There was also an associated weekly newspaper called '' Al-Islah''. On 4 October 1939, after the commencement of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Mashriqui, who was then in
Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...
jail, offered to increase the size of the organisation to help with the war effort. He offered a force of 30,000 well-drilled soldiers for the internal defence of
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, 10,000 for the
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
, and 10,000 to provide help for
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or to fight on European soil. His offer was not accepted. On 19 March 1940 just 3 days before All India Muslim Leagues most momentous meeting, at least 32 or as much as 300 Khaksars, including their Pivotal Leader Agha Zaigham were mercilessly killed by the Punjab Police under the command of the SP Mr. D. Gainsford in Lahore. Because of which then Premier of Punjab sir Sikandar Consulted Jinnah for postponement of Muslim League session which Jinnah denied. Due to the movement's rigid manifesto and strict policies to adhere to their own ideology, it often came into conflict with the ruling British government. Allama Mashriqi and some of his followers spent much time in British government's jails. Mashriqi was kept in jail without any legal proceedings. In protest, he had fasted to the point of death. Mashraqi was released from Vellore Jail on 19 January 1942, but his movements were restricted to Madras Presidency. He remained interned until 28 December 1942. Mashraqi arrived in New Delhi on 2 January 1943. The Khaskar Movement was vocal in its
opposition to the partition of India Opposition to the partition of India was widespread in British Raj, British India in the 20th century and it continues to remain a talking point in South Asian politics. Those who opposed it often adhered to the doctrine of composite nationalism ...
, and instead favored a united India. During the partition itself, the Khaksars took a vow to do what they could to protect those in distress; this resulted in many lives being saved, including Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. In one incident, a Khaksar volunteer entered a local colony near Rawalpindi to calm people down, but was stabbed to death. Allama Mashriqi disbanded the Khaksar Tehrik on 4 July 1947 considering that the Muslims of India were more than satisfied after the newly revived hope of a new separate Muslim state i.e.
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
and he felt that they had lost much of their motivation which could meet the requirements of the Khaksar movement. Khaksar movement's declared objectives of ''unity of India regardless of religion'' eventually came in conflict with
All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party founded in 1906 in Dhaka, British India with the goal of securing Muslims, Muslim interests in South Asia. Although initially espousing a united India with interfaith unity, the Muslim L ...
's and
Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...
's objectives of two-nation theory based on the religions of Hindus and Muslims of British India. A significant number of the Indian Muslim population gravitated to the formation of a separate Muslim nation and thus helped create Pakistan in 1947. In October 1947, after the creation of Pakistan, Mashriqi founded the Islam League. The Khaksar was banned in India after the government launched a crackdown against organizations dedicated to promoting communal hatred or preaching violence in the aftermath of the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30 January 1948 at age 78 in the compound of The Birla House (now Gandhi Smriti), a large mansion in central New Delhi. His assassin was Nathuram Godse, from Pune, Maharashtra, a Hindu nationalist, with ...
. Khaksar Tehrik was later revived as a civilian political group after the death of Mashriqi on 27 August 1963 at
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
and it sometimes made political alliances with other Pakistani political parties, for example, it joined the Pakistan National Alliance in 1977.


Ideology


Twenty-Four Principles

Mashriqi had said in 1931 that the Khaksar movement had three distinct objectives; "to emphasize the idea of superiority of God, unity of the nation and service to mankind". In addition, Mashriqi outlined twenty-four principles on 29 November 1936 in an address to a Khaksar camp at
Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...
. This initial speech and subsequent set of principles laid out by the movement founder, encouraged members of the movement to serve the people regardless of their
caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...
or religion; and Khaksars were expected to convince others to join the movement through "love and affection".


Fourteen Points; The Khaksar Creed

On 14 March 1937, Mashriqi again addressed a camp of Khaksars at
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
to further clarify the fourteen points that became the foundation of the movement. These points solidified the notion that the movement was both dictatorial and militaristic. In other words, the movement founder Mashriqi was mainly shaping the policy guidelines. The organization was set up in a way where Mashriqi was the ''Khaksar-e-Azam'' (the biggest khaksar) with an advisory council but Allama could overrule any advice. He was entitled to remove any movement member from the organization while there was no procedure to remove him. At this point, its aims were to establish self-rule in India. However the success of Muslim rule in India necessitated certain conditions, such as: "(a) "regard for the religious and social sentiments of the various communities that live in
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
: (b) maintenance of their particular culture and customs, and (c) general tolerance". The volunteers of the Khaksar movement were expected to participate daily in military parade and social work. They were seen drilling and parading in playgrounds, streets and neighborhoods wearing khaki uniforms with spades on their shoulders. The movement workers were required to bear their own expenses and find spare time for work of social welfare in the community.


Khaksar symbols

All members, regardless of rank, wore the same uniform: a khaki shirt with khaki ''pyjama'' secured with a belt, together with military boots. The khaki colour was chosen because it was "simple and unassuming" and "cheap and available for all"; in practice, however, the uniforms were paid for by the Khaksar organisation. They wore a red badge (''akhuwat'') on their right arm as a symbol of brotherhood. On their heads, Khaksars wore the white handkerchief of the
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and ''Hajis'', consisting of a white cloth the length and width of one and one-half yards which was secured around the head with a cotton string. Some Khaksar's wore the Punjabi style turban on their head with the cloth flowing down and a fan shaped ''shamla'' peaking up. All Khaksars carried a ''bailcha'' (spade) as a sign of unity and strength. In addition, the spade represents humility; in the same way that a spade is used to level the ground, the Khaksars used it as a symbol of the "leveling" of society. In other words, it was meant to be used to level the existing society for equity and equality and remove the existing division among the rich and the poor. The flag of the Khaksars is a modified Ottoman symbol: a crescent moon and a star on a red background.


See also

* All India Azad Muslim Conference *'' Composite Nationalism and Islam'' *
Hindu–Muslim unity Hindu–Muslim unity is a religiopolitical concept in the Indian subcontinent which stresses members of the two largest faith groups there, Hindus and Muslims, working together for the common good. The concept was championed by various persons, s ...


References

Notes Citations


External links

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Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khaksars Political history of Pakistan Political parties in Pakistan Defunct political parties in India Indian independence movement Pakistan Movement History of Islam in Pakistan Partition of India Political terminology in Pakistan 20th century in Lahore India in World War II 1948 disestablishments in India Political parties of minorities in Pakistan