Khilafat House

Mahatma Gandhi

Motilal Nehru

Khilafat movement

stumbles upon four hundred-yearold registers used to document meeting attended by Gandhi, Nehru, the Ali brothers and others.A tedious search for leaserelated documents at Byculla’s historic Khilafat House led to discovery of four 100-year-old registers which were used to document meetings attended by, the Ali brothers and other prominent figures during the freedom struggle.There are over 500 pages of notes and scribbles that provide interesting insights into a period when the— started to galvanise Muslims against the Raj and dismemberment of Turkey’s Ottoman Empire by the British — merged with Mahatma Gandhi’s noncooperation movement. The marriage of the two campaigns was a key moment in the Indian history and provided a major boost to the freedom fight.The records found at Khilafat House — where Gandhiji and other leaders held parleys — contain details of discussions that took place way back in 1919, when the Khilafat movement was started. The deliberations focused on appointing leaders in various parts of the country to lead protests against the British.At one meeting, the participants discussed ways to help government employees and soldiers who were illtreated by their British bosses. One plan involved raising funds for them so they could quit the service and join the struggle for independence.At another meeting, leaders finalised a plan to support the rebels fighting the occupation of Turkey. According to a note in one of the registers, Indian leaders raised £50,000 for the rebels and sent a delegation to Ancyra and Angora, as the Turkish capital of Ankara was known then, to secretly deliver the cash.“The registers were kept in a rarely accessed area of the house. We stumbled upon them while looking for some documents that we have to submit to the BMC for lease extension,” said Sarfaraz Arzoo, vice-chairman of Khilafat House.“The property is in a poor condition so there are some areas and rooms where no one enters. After we could not find lease-related documents, we opened a room that had not been opened for a long time. We found the registers in a cupboard there.”Two of the registers contain hastily written minutes of meetings, while the other two have detailed descriptions in a standard format. They contain signatures of Gandhiji; brothers Maulana Shaukat Ali and Mohammad Ali Jouhar, who were the Khilafat movement’s leading voices; Saifuddin Kitchlew and other leaders who met at Khilafat House.“It’s like we have found forgotten treasure. We knew the registers existed, but didn’t know they were lying in a cupboard here,” Arzoo said.The registers have been sent to the Turkish consulate in the city for digitisation.