Moulana Abul Kalam Azad

MOULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD

Date of Birth: 11^th November, 1888 and Date of Death: 22^nd February, 1958

            Moulana Abul Kalam Azad, who played a vital role in the Indian National Movement, was born on 11^th November, 1888 in Mecca.  His father was Moulana Khairuddin and mother Alia.  The original name of Azad was Abul Kalam Mohiddin Khairuddin.  He was a great scholar in Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Urdu languages.  He started a magazine ‘Nairang-e-Alam’ at the tender age of twelve years.  At the age of thirteen, he wrote articles on literary criticism, for which he was praised as a great scholar, poet and an intellectual.  He participated in the All India Muslim Educational Conference and All India Muslim Editors Conference in 1904.  He liked the ideology of the Muslim League during his earlier days.  He was of the opinion, that armed struggle was the only solution to defeat the foreign rulers.  During that period, he started several revolutionary organisations of his own.  But, he left his revolutionary path from January, 1920 when he first met Mahatma Gandhi.  Since then, he supported Non-Violence Movement.  He entered into the National Movement by participating very actively in the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement.  He wrote several scholarly books and published several Urdu Magazines like ‘Al Hilal’, ‘Al Balag’ and other papers in order to create awareness among the people against foreign rule.  His wish was to inform about the Indian National Movement and inspire the people to fight against the British.  His magazines were banned several times by the British government.  During the Indian National Movement, he spent his life for a period of 10 years and seven months in different jails of the country.  He presided over the Indian National Congress sessions held in Delhi in 1923, when he was only 35 years old.  He also played a vital role in the pact between the Muslim League and Indian National Congress in 1927.  He became the president of the Indian National Congress once again in1939 and continued in that post till 1948.  He strongly opposed the separatist ideology and announced that harmony between the Hindus and Muslims was more important than the independence for the nation.  After independence, he became the first education minister and implemented creative and constructive programmes and schemes in educational arena.  During the Indian Freedom Struggle and even in the post independent era, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad longed harmony between Hindus and Muslims till he breathed his last on 22^nd February, 1958.