The Ottoman Caliphate was formally abolished on this day in 1924. Earlier, after a post-World War I treaty in 1920 envisaged a dismemberment of Turkey, the Congress under Gandhi struck an opportunistic alliance with the pan- Islamic Khilafat Movement

The Mahatma’s Khilafat folly Why did Indian Muslims side with Turkey? The Ottoman Sultan was the titular head of the Muslim world. So when the Brits imposed the treaty on Turkey, they saw it as an attack on Islam. And Gandhi saw an opportunity to unite Hindus and Muslims. So, in an act of monumental folly, the pan-Islamic crusade became a part of the Non- Cooperation Movement

Malabar massacre of Hindus Inflamed by the preachings of the Khilafat Movement, the Mapillas of Kerala, “notorious for their fanaticism”, perpetrated large-scale murder and arson in the late summer of 1921, the violence directed as much against the Hindus as against the British, wrote Nirad C Chaudhuri

The only thing sincere in this Hindu-Muslim entente was the hatred of British rule, shared equally by both the communities. Its effervescence at the time made them overlook ... the danger of confirming the Indian Muslims in their Islamic group-consciousness

The Khilafat movement was a tragicomical mistake ... it was an intrinsically antinationalist movement pitting specifically Islamic interests against secular and non-Muslim interests ... By thinking he could reconcile Khilafatism and Indian nationalism, Gandhi also offended his Muslim allies (who didn’t share his commitment to non-violence) by calling off the agitation when it turned violent. The result was more violence Koenraad Elst, Indologist