Mohammad Abdul Rehaman Saheb

MOHAMMAD ABDUL REHAMAN SAHEB

Date of Birth: 1898 and Date of Death: 22^nd November, 1945

            Mohammad Abdul Rehaman Saheb was born in 1898 at Azhikode near Kanamganor in Kerala.  His father was Abdul Rehaman Saheb and mother Aisumma.  He quit his college studies in 1920 in response to the call given by Mahatma Gandhi to participate in the Khilafat and Non Cooperation Movement.  He played a vital role in the Khilafat and Non Cooperation movement.  He wrote an essay criticising the anti-people policies of the British Government in ‘The Hindu’ Daily Newspaper, for which he was imprisoned for two years in the Vellore jail.  After his release from the prison, he intensified his activities.  He started a magazine ‘Al-min’ in 1928 to mould the public opinion against the tyranny of the British rule.  But the magazine was banned in 1939, because of its clear-cut Anti-British stand.  When the Kerala regional Congress Committee declared Salt Satyagraha in 1930, Mohammad Abdul Rehaman jumped into the movement, for which he was sentenced for 9 months imprisonment.  He was even brutally tortured by the British police during the Salt Satyagraha.  It took a long time for him to recover from the wounds inflected by British police.  As he was adored by the people, he got elected to the Calicut Municipality in 1931.  Though he was defeated in the Central Assembly elections in 1934, he could easily win in Madras Legislative Assembly elections held in 1937.  Mohammad Abdul Rehaman was not only a politician, but also a committed social reformer.  He fought against the superstitions, irrational customs and traditions.  He organised several programmes for the development of Dalits and for the entry of Dalits into temples successfully in response to the call given by Mahatma Gandhi.  Though, he left the Congress in 1939 and formed ‘Kerala Forward Bloc’, he never distanced himself from the Indian National Movement.  The British Government imprisoned him on the charges of treason in 1940, and was released in September, 1945.  Later, he supported the All India Muslim League and got recognition as a non communal secular leader.  He hailed from a wealthy family and he spent all his riches for the Indian freedom movement.  Mohammad Abdul Rehaman Saheb, who fought for the emancipation of the motherland from the yoke of the British and worked relentlessly for the welfare of the fellow people till his last, died on 22^nd November, 1945.