Reshmi Rumal Movement

The Reshmi Rumal Movement was an Indian armed movement that planned to declare war against the British empire in the early 20th century.

During British rule in second decade of the 20th century, Maulana Mehmood ul Hasan and his team planned to bring a revolution against the British Empire. Their plan was to motivate Indian youth and train them. A large number of youth and his students joined this movement. The key leaders of that movement were Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni, Maulana Shah Raheem Raipuri, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi and Maulana Muhammad Mian Mansoor Ansari.

It was an armed movement so they needed arms and ammunition. Therefore, they needed support from countries outside india especially anti-British countries, such as Turkey, Afghanistan, and Russia. Shaikhul Hind sent Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi to Afghanistan for special task and Maulana Ansari to the tribes of the Frontier area to get their support for a war against the British raj, he with Maulana Husain Ahmad Madni set off to Hijaz (current Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) in 1915 to get Turkish support. He met with Ghalib Pasha and obtained his signature on a declaration of war. He then planned to visit the Frontier area via Baghdad and Baluchistan, but his plan was exposed and he was arrested with Maulana Madniat Makkah and detained at Malta where he remained for over three years till his release in 1920.

This movement is known as Tehreek-e Reshmi Rumal (Silken Kerchief movement) because the letters exchanged between Shaikhul Hind and his colleagues containing the outlines of the plan to recruit the volunteers for the army and to establish a national government(soraj) were written on silk piece of cloth.