Maulana Azad
President of the Indian National Congress | |
---|---|
In office 1940–1946 | |
Preceded by | Rajendra Prasad |
Succeeded by | J. B. Kripalani |
In office 1923–1924 | |
Preceded by | Mohammad Ali Jauhar |
Succeeded by | Mahatma Gandhi |
Personal details | |
Born | 11 November 1888 |
Died | 22 February 1958 Delhi, India | (aged 69)
Cause of death | Stroke |
Resting place | Jama Masjid, Delhi |
Political party | Indian National Congress |
Spouse | Zulaikha Begum |
Occupation | Theologian, scholar, political activist |
Awards | Bharat Ratna (posthumously in 1992) |
Signature | |
Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad ((ⓘ); 11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian independence activist, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following India's independence, he became the First Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'Our Master' and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as National Education Day across India.[2][3]
As a young man, Azad composed poetry in
In October 1920, Azad was elected as a member of foundation committee to establish Jamia Millia Islamia at Aligarh in U. P. without taking help from British colonial government. He assisted in shifting the campus of the university from Aligarh to New Delhi in 1934. The main gate (Gate No. 7) to the main campus of the university is named after him.
Azad was one of the main organizers of the
Biography
Early life
Azad was born on 11 November 1888 in Mecca, then a part of the Ottoman Empire, now a part of Saudi Arabia. His real name was Sayyid Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al Hussaini, but he eventually became known as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.[6] Azad's forefathers had come to India from Herat. His father was a Muslim scholar who lived in Delhi with his maternal grandfather, as his father had died at a very young age.[7] During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he left India and settled in Mecca. His father Muhammad Khairuddin bin Ahmed Al Hussaini wrote twelve books, had thousands of disciples, and claimed noble ancestry,[8] while his mother was Sheikha Alia bint Mohammad, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammad bin Zaher AlWatri, himself a reputed scholar from Medina who had a reputation that extended even outside of Arabia.[6][7]
Azad settled in
Education and influences
Azad was
Early journalistic career
Azad began his journalistic endeavours at an early age. In 1899 at the age of eleven he started publishing a poetical journal Nairang-e-Aalam at Calcutta and was already an editor of a weekly Al-Misbah in 1900.[14] He contributed articles to Urdu magazines and journals such as Makhzan, Ahsanul Akhbar, and Khadang e Nazar.[14]
In 1903, he brought out a monthly journal, Lissan-us-Sidq. It was published between December 1903 to May 1905 until its closure due to shortage of funds.
Struggle for Indian Independence
In 1908, he took a trip of Egypt, Syria, Turkey and France where he came into contact with several revolutionaries such as followers of Kamal Mustafa Pasha, members of Young Turk Movement and Iranian revolutionaries.
Al-Hilal and Khilafat movement
He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 called Al-Hilal from Calcutta, and openly attacked British policies while exploring the challenges facing common people. Espousing the ideals of Indian nationalism, Azad's publications were aimed at encouraging young Muslims into fighting for independence and Hindu-Muslim unity.[20] With the onset of World War I, the British stiffened censorship and restrictions on political activity. Azad's Al-Hilal was consequently banned in 1914 under the Press Act.[21]
In 1913, he was founding member of the
In this period Azad also became active in his support for the
Azad started a new journal, the Al-Balagh, which also got banned in 1916
Non-co-operation Movement
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2021) |
Upon his release, Azad returned to a political atmosphere charged with sentiments of outrage and rebellion against British rule. The Indian public had been angered by the passage of the
Taking charge of the Congress, Gandhi also reached out to support the Khilafat struggle, helping to bridge Hindu-Muslim political divides. Azad and the Ali brothers – Maulana
This period marked a transformation in Azad's own life. Along with fellow Khilafat leaders
In 1921, he started the weekly Paigham which was also banned by December 1921.[23] He along with the editor of Paigham, Abdul Razzak Mahilabadi was arrested by the government[24] and sentenced to one year imprisonment.[25]
During the course of 1922, both the Khilafat and the non cooperation movement suffered blow while Azad and other leaders like the Ali brothers were in jail.[26] The movement had a sudden decline with rising incidences of violence; a nationalist mob killed 22 policemen in Chauri Chaura in 1922. Fearing degeneration into violence, Gandhi asked Indians to suspend the revolt and undertook a five-day fast to repent and encourage others to stop the rebellion. Although the movement stopped all over India, several Congress leaders and activists were disillusioned with Gandhi. By 1923, Ali brothers grew distant and critical of Gandhi and the Congress. Azad's close friend Chittaranjan Das co-founded the Swaraj Party, breaking from Gandhi's leadership. Despite the circumstances, Azad remained firmly committed to Gandhi's ideals and leadership.
In 1923, he became the youngest man to be elected
Congress leader
Azad served on the
At the 1936 Congress session in
Quit India Movement
In 1938, Azad served as an intermediary between the supporters of and the Congress faction led by Congress president Subhash Bose, who criticised Gandhi for not launching another rebellion against the British and sought to move the Congress away from Gandhi's leadership. Azad stood by Gandhi with most other Congress leaders, but reluctantly endorsed the Congress's exit from the assemblies in 1939 following the inclusion of India in World War II. Nationalists were infuriated that Viceroy Lord Linlithgow had entered India into the war without consulting national leaders. Although willing to support the British effort in return for independence, Azad sided with Gandhi when the British ignored the Congress overtures. Azad's criticism of Jinnah and the League intensified as Jinnah called Congress rule in the provinces as "Hindu Raj", calling the resignation of the Congress ministries as a "
" Full eleven centuries have passed by since then. Islam has now as great a claim on the soil of India as Hinduism. If Hinduism has been the religion of the people here for several thousands of years, Islam also has been their religion for a thousand years. Just as a Hindu can say with pride that he is an Indian and follows Hinduism, so also we can say with equal pride that we are Indians and follow Islam. I shall enlarge this orbit still further. The Indian Christian is equally entitled to say with pride that he is an Indian and is following a religion of India, namely Christianity."[22]
In face of increasing popular disenchantment with the British across India, Gandhi and Patel advocated an all-out rebellion demanding immediate independence. Azad was wary and sceptical of the idea, aware that India's Muslims were increasingly looking to Jinnah and had supported the war. Feeling that a struggle would not force a British exit, Azad and Nehru warned that such a campaign would divide India and make the war situation even more precarious. Intensive and emotional debates took place between Azad, Nehru, Gandhi and Patel in the Congress Working Committee's meetings in May and June 1942. In the end, Azad became convinced that decisive action in one form or another had to be taken, as the Congress had to provide leadership to India's people and would lose its standing if it did not.
Supporting the call for the British to "
Azad occupied the time playing
Partition of India
With the end of the war, the British agreed to transfer power to Indian hands. All political prisoners were released in 1946 and Azad led the Congress in the elections for the new Constituent Assembly of India, which would draft India's constitution. He headed the delegation to negotiate with the British Cabinet Mission, in his sixth year as Congress president. While attacking Jinnah's demand for Pakistan and the mission's proposal of 16 June 1946 that envisaged the partition of India, Azad became a strong proponent of the mission's earlier proposal of 16 May. The proposal advocated a federal system with a limited central government and autonomy for the provinces. The central government would have Defence, Foreign Affairs and Communication while the provinces would win all other subjects unless they voluntarily relinquished selected subjects to the Central Government. Additionally, the proposal called for the "grouping" of provinces on religious lines, which would informally band together the Muslim-majority provinces in the West as Group B, Muslim-majority provinces of Bengal and Assam as Group C and the rest of India as Group A. While Gandhi and others expressed scepticism of this clause, Azad argued that Jinnah's demand for Pakistan would be buried and the concerns of the Muslim community would be assuaged.[29] Under Azad and Patel's backing,[citation needed] the Working Committee approved the resolution against Gandhi's advice. Azad also managed to win Jinnah's agreement to the proposal citing the greater good of all Indian Muslims.[7]
Azad had been the Congress president since 1939, so he volunteered to resign in 1946. He nominated Nehru, who replaced him as Congress president and led the Congress into the interim government. Azad was appointed to head the Department of Education. However, Jinnah's Direct Action Day agitation for Pakistan, launched on 16 August sparked communal violence across India. Thousands of people were killed as Azad travelled across Bengal and Bihar to calm the tensions and heal relations between Muslims and Hindus. Despite Azad's call for Hindu-Muslim unity, Jinnah's popularity amongst Muslims soared and the League entered a coalition with the Congress in December, but continued to boycott the constituent assembly. Later in his autobiography, Azad indicated Patel having become more pro-partition than the Muslim League, largely due to the League's not co-operating with the Congress in the provisional government on any issue.[7]
Azad had grown increasingly hostile to Jinnah, who had described him as the "Muslim Lord Haw-Haw" and a "Congress Showboy."[30][31] Muslim League politicians accused Azad of allowing Muslims to be culturally and politically dominated by the Hindu community. Azad continued to proclaim his faith in Hindu-Muslim unity:[32]
"I am proud of being an Indian. I am part of the indivisible unity that is Indian nationality. I am indispensable to this noble edifice and without me this splendid structure is incomplete. I am an essential element, which has gone to build India. I can never surrender this claim."
Amidst more incidences of violence in early 1947, the Congress-League coalition struggled to function. The provinces of Bengal and
Azad, committed to a united India until his last attempt, was condemned by the advocates of Pakistan, especially the Muslim League.[34]
Post-Independence career
India's partition and independence on 15 August 1947 brought with it a scourge of violence that swept the Punjab, Bihar, Bengal, Delhi and many other parts of India. Millions of Hindus and Sikhs fled the newly created Pakistan for India, and millions of Muslims fled for
Azad remained a close confidante, supporter and advisor to prime minister Nehru, and played an important role in framing national policies. Azad masterminded the creation of national programmes of school and college construction and spreading the enrolment of children and young adults into schools, to promote universal primary education. Elected to the lower house of the
As India's first Minister of Education, he emphasised on educating the rural poor and girls. As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Education, he gave thrust to adult literacy, universal primary education, free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 14, girl's education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training.[37] Addressing the conference on All India Education on 16 January 1948, Maulana Azad emphasised,[37]
We must not for a moment forget, it is a birthright of every individual to receive at least the basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen.
He oversaw the setting up of the Central Institute of Education, Delhi, which later became the Department of Education of the
I have no doubt that the establishment of this Institute will form a landmark in the progress of higher technological education and research in the country.
Literary works
Azad wrote many books including
Ghubar-e-Khatir
Ghubar-e-Khatir (Sallies of Mind), (
The book is basically a collection of 24 letters he wrote addressing his close friend Maulana Habibur Rahman Khan Sherwani. These letters were never sent to him because there was no permission for that during the imprisonment and after the release in 1946, he gave all these letters to his friend Ajmal Khan who let it published for the first time in 1946.
Although the book is a collection of letters but except one or two letters, all other letters are unique and most of the letters deal with complex issues such as existence of God,[42] the origin of religions, the origin of music and its place in religion, etc.
The book is primarily an Urdu language book; however, there are over five hundred of couplets, mostly in Persian and Arabic languages. It is because, Maulana was born in a family where Arabic and Persian were used more frequently than Urdu. He was born in Mekkah, given formal education in Persian and Arabic languages but he was never taught Urdu.
It is often said that his book India Wins Freedom is about his political life and Ghubar-e-Khatir deals with his social and spiritual life.[43]
Legacy and influence
The Ministry of Minority Affairs of the central Government of India set up the Maulana Azad Education Foundation in 1989 on the occasion of his birth centenary to promote education amongst educationally backward sections of the Society.[44] The Ministry also provides the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National Fellowship, an integrated five-year fellowship in the form of financial assistance to students from minority communities to pursue higher studies such as M.Phil. and PhD[45] In 1992 government of India honoured by giving posthumously Bharat Ratna.[46]
Numerous institutions across India have also been named in his honour. Some of them are the
He is celebrated as one of the founders and greatest patrons of the Jamia Millia Islamia. Azad's tomb is located next to the Jama Masjid in Delhi. In recent years great concern has been expressed by many in India over the poor maintenance of the tomb.[34] On 16 November 2005 the Delhi High Court ordered that the tomb of Maulana Azad in New Delhi be renovated and restored as a major national monument. Azad's tomb is a major landmark and receives large numbers of visitors annually.[48]
Jawaharlal Nehru referred to him as Mir-i- Karawan (the caravan leader), "a very brave and gallant gentleman, a finished product of the culture that, in these days, pertains to few".[34] Mahatma Gandhi remarked about Azad by counting him as "a person of the calibre of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagorus".[37]
Azad was portrayed by actor Virendra Razdan in the 1982 biographical film, Gandhi, directed by Richard Attenborough.[49]
A television series, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, aired on DD National in the 1990s and starred Mangal Dhillon in the title role.[50][51] DD Urdu aired Seher Hone Tak, a docudrama television series by Lavlin Thadani based on his life and political career, with Aamir Bashir portraying the role of Azad. It was later shortened and re-released as the film Aashiq-e-Vatan - Maulana Azad.[52] Woh Jo Tha Ek Massiah Maulana Azad, a 2019 biographical film about Azad was directed by Rajendra Gupta Sanjay and Sanjay Singh Negi, with Linesh Fanse playing the title role.[53]
His birthday, 11 November is celebrated as National Education Day in India.[54]
Commemorative stamps released by India Post (by year) -
-
1966
-
1988
-
2015
See also
- Cyrus the Great as Dhul-Qarnayn, a theory first proposed by Azad
- Indian Council for Cultural Relations, international cultural promotion organization founded by Azad
References
- JSTOR 41932590.
- ^ "International Urdu conference from Nov. 10". The Hindu. 7 November 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
- ^ Chawla, Muhammad (2016). "Maulana Azad and the Demand for Pakistan: A Reappraisal". Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society. 64 (3): 7–24.
- ^ Anil Chandra Banerjee (1981). Two Nations: The Philosophy of Muslim Nationalism. Concept Publishing Company. p. 211.
- ^ "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Biography – Maulana Azad Indian Freedom Fighter – Information on Maulana Azad – History of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad". www.iloveindia.com. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- ^ Calcuttawith his family in 1890.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-250-0514-8.
- ^ Biography Of Maulana Azad. Iccrindia.net. Retrieved on 7 December 2018.
- ^ OL 30677644M. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-88706-196-7.
- ^ Ayoob, Mohammed (25 May 2018) Remembering Maulana Azad. The Hindu. Retrieved on 7 December 2018.
- ISBN 9788171563746
- ^ Maulana Abul Kalam Azad – The Builder of Modern India. Indiaedunews.net (11 November 2008). Retrieved on 7 December 2018.
- ^ a b Qaiyoom 2012, pp. 678
- ^ Qaiyoom 2012, pp. 678, 679
- ^ Qaiyoom 2012, pp. 679
- ^ Qaiyoom 2012, pp. 679, 680
- ^ Qaiyoom 2012, pp. 680
- ^ Osmani, Ahmed. Maulana Azad's Political History. pp. 67–85
- ^ Qaiyoom 2012, pp. 680, 681
- ^ a b Qaiyoom 2012, pp. 683
- ^ a b c d e f Huq, Mushirul (23 July 2006). "President Azad". Archived from the original (PHP) on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2006.
- ^ Pant 2010, pp. 1314
- ^ Douglas 1993, pp. 180
- ^ Douglas 1993, pp. 189
- ^ Douglas 1993, pp. 190
- ^ Nandurkar. Sardarshri Ke Patra (2). p. 390.
- ^ Gandhi, pp. 330–32
- ISBN 9788125008842.
- ISBN 9780670081455.
- ^ "The man who stayed behind". The Hindu. 11 November 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ^ Hasan, Mushirul (January 2000). "One hundred people who shaped India in the 20th century, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad – II". India Today, special millennium issue, January 2000. Archived from the original (PHP) on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 14 June 2007.
- ^ Gandhi, p. 402
- ^ a b c d
Azad, Abul Kalam (2010). Ghubar-e-Khatir. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi. p. 5,7. ISBN 978-81-260-0132-3.
- ^ a b Gandhi, pp. 432–33
- ^ Gandhi, pp. 502–05
- ^ a b c Speech of Hon'ble Human Resource Minister on National Education Day 2009, Ministry of HRD, Government of India Archived 7 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "About us Central Institute of Education". Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2010.
- ^ UGC Genesis Archived 6 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ IIT Kharagpur, History Archived 13 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Proceedings of the 19th meeting of The Central Advisory Board of Education, New Delhi on 15 and 16 March 1952 Archived 16 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 978-81-260-0132-3.
- JSTOR 1460895.
- ^ Maulana Azad Education Foundation website. Maef.nic.in. Retrieved on 7 December 2018.
- ^ Shri Salman Khurshid Launches Maulana Abul Kalam Azad National Fellowship, Press Information Bureau, Government of India, 22 December 2009.
- ^ "National Education Day celebrated". The Hindu. Krishnagiri. 14 November 2011. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- Sharma, Arun Kumar (7 November 2010). "Visionary educationist". The Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
- ^ "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies --- Museum". makaias.gov.in. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
- ^ "Restore Maulana Azad's grave: HC". Express News Service, Expressindia.com. 17 November 2005. Archived from the original (PHP) on 4 December 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
- The Deccan Herald, The Free Press Journal. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)Bulletin on Film Volume XLVII No. 6. 15 June 2003. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Mazahir Rahim (21 April 2016). "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad - Ep 1". YouTube. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021.
- ^ National Film Festival. Directorate of Film Festivals. 1993. p. 125.
- ^ "Aashiq-e -Vatan Maulana Azad". Explara.com.
- Times of India.
- ^ "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad remembered on National Education Day". The Indian Express. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
Cited sources
- Gandhi, R (1990). Patel: A Life. Navajivan, Ahmedabad.
- Pant, Vijay Prakash (2010). "MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD: A Critical Analysis Life and Work". The Indian Journal of Political Science. 71 (4): 1311–1323. JSTOR 42748956.
- Qaiyoom, Nishat (2012). "Maulana Azad's Journalistic Crusade Against Colonialism". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 73: 678–685. JSTOR 44156263.
- Douglas, Ian Henderson (1993). Abul Kalam Azad: An Intellectual and Religious Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-563279-8.
Further reading
- Ashraf, Muhammad Arslan. Why Partition of India?: Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Azad - Congress and Muslim League (2016) online , 20pp
- Maulana Azad's commentary on the Holy Qur'an – Tarjuman al-Quran
- Die politische Willensbildung in Indien 1900–1960; 1965 von Dietmar Rothermund
- Life and Works of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, from Ravindra Kumar, published by Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1991
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, by Mahadev Haribhai Desai
- The Educational Ideas of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, by G. Rasool Abduhu, published by Sterling Publishers, 1973
- India's Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, by Abulkalam Azad, Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, Mujib Rizvi, Sughra Mahdi, published by Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 1990
- Maulana Azad ek Muttala by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Jawahar aur Azad, Edited by Professor Abdul Qavi Desnavi, Saifia College, Bhopal, 1990.
- Maulana Azad Aur Bhopal by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Fikro Nazar (Maulana Azad Number), Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 1989, p. 107–112.
- Maulana Azad: A Life [1], by S. Irfan Habib, Aleph, New Delhi, 2023.Pattabhi, Sitaramayya (1946). Feathers & Stones "my study windows". Padma Publications.
- Nandurkar, G. M. (1981). Sardar's letters, mostly unknown. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Smarak Bhavan.
- "Brief sketch of life and thinking of Maulana Azad". Liveindia.com.
- "Life of Azad". CIS-CA. Archived from the original on 19 April 2003. Retrieved 26 November 2005.
- "Maulana Abul Kalam Azad: The Odd Secularist". India Today. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2006.
External links
- Abul Kalam Azad at Encyclopædia Britannica
- APJ Abdul Kalam Scholarship Archived 30 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Azad's Careers – Roads taken and roads not taken – Lineages of the Present: Ideology and Politics in Contemporary South Asia By Aijaz Ahmad
- An Introduction to Abul Kalam Azad & collection of his quotes – Eminent Indian freedom fighters Vol2 Chapter 11 p. 310 By S.K. Sharma
- Abu'l Kalam Azad, Chapter 44, pp. 325–333, Modernist Islam, 1840–1940: a sourcebook By Charles Kurzman
- National Education Day 2012 Celebrated at Sangam University Bhilwara Rajasthan
- Some Rare Speeches of Maulana Azad in the Audio Archives of Bhatkallys.com