Allama Mashriqi & Subash Chandra Bose

Allama Mashriqi aka Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi(Sage of the East) and Subhas Chandra Bose are two prominent leaders of the Indian sub-continent. Both of them fought against colonial rule with equal enthusiasm. However, in weaving together historical facts, some historians tend to credit one over the other.

No doubt, Subhas Chandras Bose is a freedom fighter. But at the same time, we misrepresent or wipe out Mashriqi’s paramount role in the Indian freedom movement. Atleast now after several years of independence let's know about facts about that have been hidden from the public view.

Bose and Mashriqi share many similarities. Mashriqi and Bose were both born in British India; Mashriqi in Amritsar (Punjab), and Bose in Calcutta (Bengal). The two men fought for the same cause – freedom from British colonial rule. Similarly, both of them believed that Gandhi’s methods were ineffective in overthrowing the colonial rulers and adopted military tactics.

Considering them to be a grave threat, the British jailed them at different times. Gandhi, who opposed their ideas, supported their arrest. During their political careers, Mashriqi and Bose founded parallel/provisional Governments: Mashriqi in India, and Bose outside the country.

Mashriqi and Bose headed prominent political movements – Mashriqi founded the Khaksar Tehrik, a private army, in 1930, much before Bose took control of the Indian National Army (INA) in 1943. Much like the INA, the Tehrik welcomed people from all faiths. Through the Tehrik, Mashriqi taught Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and others how unity and discipline in their ranks could help overturn foreign rule.

Within a short time, Mashriqi’s army of Khaksars spread throughout India; the Tehrik also established branches in different parts of the world. Mashriqi and the Khaksars fought relentlessly to free the Indian subcontinent from colonial rule. In the process, many of the Khaksars were imprisoned; several lost their lives – including Mashriqi’s son, Ehsanullah Khan Aslam.

The colonial rulers did everything to crush Mashriqi, his family, and the Khaksars; they imprisoned them, tortured them, spread false allegations against them and labelled them as “fifth columnists.” But Mashriqi, his family, and the Khaksars were determined to fight back. They mobilised people with fiery speeches and rallied support through pamphlets, demonstrations, road marches, and mock wars.

In July 1943, Bose became the head of the Indian National Army, also known as the Azad Hind Fauj, with the help of the Japanese, part of the Axis powers. However, the INA focused its efforts on liberating India and fought against the British colonial forces from outside the country.

In 1945, the British forces defeated the INA. Many of INA’s soldiers were put on a public trial for treason, murder, and torture. Soon after, Bose fled; subsequently, in 1945, he died in a plane crash.

The INA’s role ended prior to independence. But some historians in India claim that Bose brought freedom to the Indian subcontinent while ignoring Mashriqi’s efforts. To prove their point, they put forth several questionable arguments. For example, they argue that the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, mentioned in 1956 to then acting Governor of West Bengal, Justice PB Chakraborthy, that the British had abandoned their rule in India because of Bose’s INA. This seems to be based purely on hearsay. There is not a single, authentic British document or public statement by Clement Attlee, or any other high-ranking British official, which indicates that Attlee made this statement.

Also, why would the British declare the INA victorious when they defeated the INA? If anything, it seems plausible that Attlee confused INA soldiers with Khaksars – as the uniformed Khaksars were the ones fighting inside India. Moreover, after the INA’s surrender in 1945, many INA soldiers – the likes of Major General S.D. Khan and Col Ihsan Qadir – had joined the Khaksar Tehrik.

In fact, as the CIA mentions, by March 1945, the “INA strength…was estimated to have declined to about 35,000.” But on the other hand, as reported by the weekly newspaper Al-Islah, by December 1946, the Khaksar Tehrik multiplied in strength, with over five million Khaksar soldiers.

Some historians also claim that the INA inspired the mutiny of the Royal Indian Navy in 1946. This claim may have some validity, but, again, lacks evidence and is based on questionable assumptions.

In Mashriqi’s case, there are several historical documents and events – from the 1930s and 40s – that show how he and the Khaksars worked tirelessly to end the British rule. For example, in March 1946, upon Mashriqi’s instructions, 3,000 Khaksar soldiers employed in the British Indian Armed Forces brought about a mutiny.

In the period leading up to independence, Mashriqi and the Khaksars worked aggressively to ensure that the British would have no choice but to quit India. In November 1946, they planned a coup at a Khaksar military camp in Peshawar and conducted military exercises. On the last day of the camp (Nov 10, 1946), Mashriqi delivered a fiery speech to 120,000 people (including 10,000 uniformed Khaksars) through which he inspired the masses to revolt. On 1 December 1946, just a few weeks after his speech at Peshawar, Mashriqi made the following announcement through a pamphlet:

"in the entire India, four million Khaksars, side by side with hundreds of thousands, rather millions of supporters, shall march simultaneously…This moment shall dawn upon us very soon and that is why it is being ordered that a grand preparation for this historical day should commence immediately…so that British can clearly witness the day of India’s freedom…"

Furthermore, in December 1946, through his newspaper, Al-Islah, he called for a street march of 10 million people from all faiths and backgrounds (with spades). Such an open, county-wide invitation to revolt was a clear sign of an impending rebellion, something the British could not control.

Soon, the British Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, announced that power shall be transferred “by a date not later than June 1948.” Following this announcement, Mashriqi wanted to ensure that this was not a ploy by the colonial rulers to instigate country-wide riots between Muslims and Hindus to legitimise the argument that the country was not ready for independence. So, in March 1947, he ordered 300,000 Khaksar soldiers to assemble in Delhi on 30 June 1947, to overthrow the British rule. Subsequently, two months later, on 5 May 1947, Mashriqi, again, addressed over 50,000 people in Patna and called for a Muslim-Hindu revolution:

"…The last remedy under the present circumstances is that one and all rise against this conspiracy [partition] as one man. Let there be a common Hindu-Muslim Revolution in which not hundreds but millions will lose their lives by the bullets of Birla and the British. Millions will die, no doubt, in this way but hundreds of millions will be saved forever. If man has decided to kill man for sheer lust of power and with nothing to show to the world except tyranny and loot, it is time that we should sacrifice men in millions now in order to uphold Truth, Honour and Justice."

Faced with the prospect of a revolution, the colonial powers saw the writing on the wall; Lord Mountbatten hurriedly announced the Mountbatten Plan to transfer power. Weeks before the assembly of 300,000 Khaksars, the plan was accepted by both – Muslim and Hindu leaders, including M.K. Gandhi. Despite the acceptance of the plan, and a strict lockdown on public assemblies via Section 144, over 70,000 Khaksars still assembled in Delhi, according to The Tribune, Lahore, 02 July 1947; according to the Khaksar circle, the gathering was much larger than the 80,000.

A powerful ruler does not quit or transfer power without a substantial threat to their rule; Mashriqi and the Khaksars were the threat that ultimately compelled the British to relinquish their rule in the Indian sub-continent.

Bose certainly played a role in the freedom movement. But his role was limited to fighting from outside India and ended before independence was achieved. Mashriqi and the Khaksars, on the other hand, launched their resistance from within India; they were a powerful force that helped ensure the end of the British colonial rule in 1947.

It is ironic, then, that Mashriqi’s crucial role in the Indian freedom movement has been ignored. The Government of India should officially recognise Mashriqi’s contributions in the freedom movement – as it has done with Bose – and release the Khaksar Tehrik’s confiscated documents (pre- and post-partition), not showing any partiality on grounds of religion. 

The public must be aware, not only of Mashriqi’s sacrifices in bringing freedom to the Indian sub-continent but also of Mashriqi’s struggle to keep India united. By not declassifying Mashriqi and the Khaksar Tehrik’s documents, India and Pakistan are depriving their people the truth about how the freedom in the Indian sub-continent was achieved.

Courtesy: Farhan Mashriqi, historian and biographer Grandson of Allama Mashriqi. This article was originally published in The Madras Courier, the first newspaper of the erstwhile Madras Presidency by Grandson of Allama Mashriqi; this edited article is possible only because he took it to the media.

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