Moulana Azad - A giant of the freedom struggle
He was the first who had raised the issue of national system of education. His initiatives are the bedrock of the 'National Policy on Education (1986) - updated in 1992. According to Azad's philosophy, up to a given level to all students.
HISTORIAN CHARLES A Beard, writing in the America Mercury, noted,"The statesman is one who divines the long future, foresees the place of his class and nation in it, labours intelligently to prepare his countrymen for their fate, combines courage with discretion, takes risks, exercises caution when it is necessary and goes off the stage with a reasonable degree of respectability." Many of our countrymen forget to count the contributions of Moulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Azad, a giant warrior in the Indian struggle of freedom. Though plenty of places in the country bear the name of Moulana Abul Kalam Azad today, few remember his contributions to the freedom struggle and modern education of our country.
Born on November 1888, in Mecca to an Arab mother and Bengali father, he got his primary education under the tutelage of his father and later by appointed teachers of their respective fields. Moulana Azad was a renowned scholar, poet, well versed in English, Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Arabic and Bengali.
He was trained and educated to become a clergyman and in that capacity, wrote the new interpretation of ’The Holy Quran’. He was disliked by the conservative Ulema of Deoband for his modern approach to religion.
In 1912, he started the publication of “Al Hilal,” a revolutionary weekly journal to increase revolutionary fervour amongst Muslim youth. Moulana Mohd Ali Johar and Gandhi, both were impressed and admired his talents and incisive write-ups. In the beginning of his career, he had developed an interest in pan-Islamic doctrines of Jamal Uddin Afghani and the Aligarh thoughts of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Later, he came in close contact with Sri Aurobindo Ghosh and SC Chakravarty. He was always an advocate of Hindu - Muslim unity and the company of these revolutionaries kindled a new flame in his approach to achieve freedom. “Al Hilal” played an important role in forging Hindu-Muslim unity. The British government felt threatened with the popularity of the journal and banned it in 1914. They charged the paper as propagator of secessionist values. Moulana was undaunted and put all his resources to start a new journal - “Al- Balagh” with the same mission. It was the turning point and the administration finally banned the paper and expelled Moulana Azad from Calcutta and interned to Ranchi jail. He was released after the First World War in 1920.
After his release, Moulana joined Indian National Congress and took active part in the Non-Cooperation movement started by Gandhi. He was elected president of the INC in 1923, in the special session.He was again arrested in 1930, during the Salt Satyagraha and incarcerated in Meerut jail for one and half year. Azad became the Congress president again in 1940.
He vehemently opposed the partition of the country. Unlike other politicians, he never acquiesced to the idea of carving the country and felt let down by the Congress leadership in general and Muslim League in particular. He remonstrated, warned and alerted the country through his articles, books and speeches about the adverse and dangerous consequences of partition. He had fought all his life for a country, in which Hindus and Muslims would co-exist peacefully. Moulana Azad served as minister of education in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet from 1947 to 1958 and died of cardiac arrest in 1958.
In the first Azad Memorial Lectures on November 11, 1959, Pandit paid his tribute to this great son of Mother India, saying, “Moulana was a great religious scholar, journalist, writer, poet, philosopher and above all, a great political leader whose services and sacrifices in the freedom struggle will be long remembered along with his matchless contribution as free India’s first Education Minister.”
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