Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed Azad 
pronunciation (help·info) (
Urdu:
مولانا ابوالکلام محی الدین احمد آزاد,
Bengali:
আবুল কালাম মুহিয়ুদ্দিন আহমেদ আজাদ) (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was an Indian scholar and a senior political leader of the
Indian independence movement. Following India's independence, he became the first
Minister of Education in the Indian government. In 1992 he was
posthumously awarded India's highest civilian award, the
Bharat Ratna.
[1] He is commonly remembered as
Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'learned man', 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]
Azad was one of the main organisers of the
Dharasana Satyagraha
in 1931, and emerged as one of the most important national leaders of
the time, prominently leading the causes of Hindu-Muslim unity as well
as espousing
secularism and socialism.
[3] He served as Congress president from 1940 to 1945, during which the
Quit India
rebellion was launched. Azad was imprisoned, together with the entire
Congress leadership, for three years. Azad became the most prominent
Muslim opponent of the demand for a separate Muslim state of
Pakistan and served in the interim national government.
Amidst communal turmoil following the partition of India, he worked
for religious harmony. As India's Education Minister, Azad oversaw the
establishment of a national education system with free primary education
and modern institutions of higher education. He is also credited with
the establishment of the
Indian Institutes of Technology and the foundation of the
University Grants Commission, an important institution to supervise and advance the higher education in the nation.
[3]
Early life
Azad was born on 11 November 1888 in
Makkah,
Saudi Arabia. His forefathers had immigrated to India from
Herat, Afghanistan, after the
Shi'a Safavids took over Persia and
Babur established the
Sunni Mughal Empire in India. Azad's father was
Maulana Khairuddin, a Bengali Muslim of
Afghan origins, while his mother was an
Arab, the daughter of Sheikh Mohammad Zaher Watri.
[4] Azad's real name was Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin who became known as Maulana Azad by everyone.
[4] He lived with his family in the
Bengal region until he left India during the
First Indian War of Independence and settled in Mecca, where he met his wife, Zulaikha Begum.
He returned to
Calcutta with his family in 1890.
[5][6] Azad began to master several languages, including
Arabic, English,
Urdu,
Hindi,
Persian and
Bengali.
[4] He was also trained in the Mazahibs of [Hanafi], [Maliki],
Shafi'i and
Hanbali fiqh,
shariat, mathematics, philosophy,
world history and science by reputed tutors hired by his family. An avid and determined student, the
precocious Azad was running a library, a reading room, a debating society before he was twelve, wanted to write on the life of
Ghazali at twelve, was contributing learned articles to
Makhzan (the best known literary magazine of the day) at fourteen,
[7]
was teaching a class of students, most of whom were twice his age, when
he was merely fifteen and succeeded in completing the traditional
course of study at the young age of sixteen, nine years ahead of his
contemporaries, and brought out a magazine at the same age.
[8] In fact, in the field of journalism, he was publishing a poetical journal (
Nairang-e-Aalam)
[9] and was already an editor of a weekly (
Al-Misbah), in 1900, at the age of twelve and, in 1903, brought out a monthly journal,
Lissan-us-Sidq, which soon gained popularity.
[10] At the age of thirteen, he was married to a young Muslim girl, Zulaikha Begum.
[6] Azad compiled many treatises interpreting the
Qur'an, the
Hadith, and the principles of
Fiqh and
Kalam.
[5]
Revolutionary and journalist
Azad developed political views considered radical for most Muslims of the time and became a full-fledged Indian nationalist.
[5]
He fiercely criticised the British for racial discrimination and
ignoring the needs of common people across India. He also criticised
Muslim politicians for focusing on communal issues before the national
interest and rejected the
All India Muslim League's communal separatism. Azad developed curiosity and interest in the
pan-Islamic doctrines of
Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and visited
Afghanistan, Iraq,
Egypt, Syria and
Turkey. But his views changed considerably when he met revolutionary activists in
Iraq and was influenced by their fervent
anti-imperialism and nationalism.
[5] Against common Muslim opinion of the time, Azad opposed the
partition of Bengal in 1905 and became increasingly active in
revolutionary activities, to which he was introduced by the prominent Hindu revolutionaries
Sri Aurobindo and
Shyam Sundar Chakravarty.
Azad initially evoked surprise from other revolutionaries, but Azad won
their praise and confidence by working secretly to organise
revolutionaries activities and meetings in Bengal,
Bihar and
Bombay (now called Mumbai).
[5]
Azad's education had been shaped for him to become a cleric, but his
rebellious nature and affinity for politics turned him towards
journalism. He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 called
Al-Hilal
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.
[5] His work helped improve the relationship between Hindus and Muslims in
Bengal, which had been soured by the controversy surrounding the partition of Bengal and the issue of separate
communal electorates.
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. Azad started a new journal, the
Al-Balagh,
which increased its active support for nationalist causes and communal
unity. In this period Azad also became active in his support for the
Khilafat agitation to protect the position of the
Sultan of
Ottoman Turkey, who was the
caliph
for Muslims worldwide. The Sultan had sided against the British in the
war and the continuity of his rule came under serious threat, causing
distress amongst Muslim conservatives. Azad saw an opportunity to
energise
Indian Muslims
and achieve major political and social reform through the struggle.
With his popularity increasing across India, the government outlawed
Azad's second publication under the
Defence of India Regulations Act and arrested him. The governments of the
Bombay Presidency,
United Provinces,
Punjab and
Delhi prohibited his entry into the provinces and Azad was moved to a jail in
Ranchi, where he was incarcerated until 1 January 1920.
[11]
Non-co-operation
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
Rowlatt Acts
in 1919, which severely restricted civil liberties and individual
rights. Consequently, thousands of political activists had been arrested
and many publications banned. The
killing of unarmed civilians at Jallianwala Bagh in
Amritsar
on 13 April 1919 had provoked intense outrage all over India,
alienating most Indians, including long-time British supporters from the
authorities. The Khilafat struggle had also peaked with the defeat of
the
Ottoman Empire in
World War I and the raging
Turkish War of Independence,
which had made the caliphate's position precarious. India's main
political party, the Indian National Congress came under the leadership
of Mahatma Gandhi, who had aroused excitement all over India when he led
the farmers of
Champaran and Kheda in a successful revolt against British authorities in 1918. Gandhi organised the people of the region and pioneered the art of
Satyagraha — combining mass civil disobedience with complete non-violence and self-reliance.
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 warmly welcomed Congress support and began working together on a programme of
non-co-operation
by asking all Indians to boycott British-run schools, colleges, courts,
public services, the civil service, police and military. Non-violence
and Hindu-Muslim unity were universally emphasised, while the boycott of
foreign goods, especially clothes were organised. Azad joined the
Congress and was also elected president of the
All India Khilafat Committee.
Although Azad and other leaders were soon arrested, the movement drew
out millions of people in peaceful processions, strikes and protests.
This period marked a transformation in Azad's own life. Along with fellow Khilafat leaders Dr.
Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari,
Hakim Ajmal Khan and others, Azad grew personally close to Gandhi and his philosophy. The three men founded the
Jamia Millia Islamia
in Delhi as an institution of higher education managed entirely by
Indians without any British support or control. Both Azad and Gandhi
shared a deep passion for religion and Azad developed a close friendship
with him. He adopted the Prophet Muhammad's ideas by living simply,
rejecting material possessions and pleasures. He began to spin his own
clothes using
khadi on the
charkha, and began frequently living and participating in the
ashrams organised by Gandhi.
[citation needed] Becoming deeply committed to
ahinsa (
non-violence) himself, Azad grew close to fellow nationalists like
Jawaharlal Nehru,
Chittaranjan Das and
Subhas Chandra Bose.
[11] He strongly criticised the continuing suspicion of the Congress amongst the Muslim intellectuals from the
Aligarh Muslim University and the Muslim League.
The rebellion began a sudden decline when 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. The following year, the caliphate was overthrown by
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and the 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 president. Azad led efforts to organise the
Flag Satyagraha in
Nagpur.
Azad served as president of the 1924 Unity Conference in Delhi, using
his position to work to re-unite the Swarajists and the Khilafat leaders
under the common banner of the Congress. In the years following the
movement, Azad travelled across India, working extensively to promote
Gandhi's vision, education and social reform.
Congress leader
Azad became an inspiring personality in the field of politics. Azad became an important national leader, and served on the
Congress Working Committee
and in the offices of general secretary and president many times. The
political environment in India re-energised in 1928 with nationalist
outrage against the
Simon Commission
appointed to propose constitutional reforms. The commission included no
Indian members and did not even consult Indian leaders and experts. In
response, the Congress and other political parties appointed a
commission under
Motilal Nehru to propose constitutional reforms from Indian opinions. In 1928, Azad endorsed the
Nehru Report, which was criticised by the Ali brothers and Muslim League politician
Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Azad endorsed the ending of separate
electorates based on religion, and called for an independent India to be committed to
secularism. At the 1928 Congress session in
Guwahati, Azad endorsed Gandhi's call for
dominion
status for India within a year. If not granted, the Congress would
adopt the goal of complete political independence for India. Despite his
affinity for Gandhi, Azad also drew close to the young radical leaders
Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Bose, who had criticised the delay in
demanding full independence. Azad developed a close friendship with
Nehru and began espousing socialism as the means to fight inequality,
poverty and other national challenges. Azad decided the name of Muslim
political party
Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam. He was also a friend of
Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukhari founder of All India Majlis-e-Ahrar. When Gandhi embarked on the
Dandi Salt March that inaugurated the
Salt Satyagraha in 1930, Azad organised and led the nationalist raid, albeit non-violent on the
Dharasana salt works
to protest the salt tax and restriction of its production and sale. The
biggest nationalist upheaval in a decade, Azad was imprisoned along
with millions of people, and would frequently be jailed from 1930 to
1934 for long periods of time. Following the
Gandhi-Irwin Pact in 1934, Azad was amongst millions of political prisoners released. When elections were called under the
Government of India Act 1935,
Azad was appointed to organise the Congress election campaign, raising
funds, selecting candidates and organising volunteers and rallies across
India.
[11]
Azad had criticised the Act for including a high proportion of
un-elected members in the central legislature, and did not himself
contest a seat. He again declined to contest elections in 1937, and
helped head the party's efforts to organise elections and preserve
co-ordination and unity amongst the Congress governments elected in
different provinces.
[11]
At the 1936 Congress session in
Lucknow, Azad was drawn into a dispute with right-wing Congressmen
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr.
Rajendra Prasad and
Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari
regarding the espousal of socialism as the Congress goal. Azad had
backed the election of Nehru as Congress president, and supported the
resolution endorsing socialism. In doing so, he aligned with Congress
socialists like Nehru, Subhash Bose and
Jayaprakash Narayan.
Azad also supported Nehru's re-election in 1937, at the consternation
of many conservative Congressmen. Azad supported dialogue with Jinnah
and the Muslim League between 1935 and 1937 over a Congress-League
coalition and broader political co-operation. Less inclined to brand the
League as obstructive, Azad nevertheless joined the Congress's vehement
rejection of Jinnah's demand that the League be seen exclusively as the
representative of Indian Muslims.
Quit India
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 the viceroy 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 "
Day of Deliverance"
for Muslims. Jinnah and the League's separatist agenda was gaining
popular support amongst Muslims. Muslim religious and conservative
leaders criticised Azad as being too close to the Congress and placing
politics before faith.
[11] As the Muslim League adopted a resolution calling for a separate Muslim state in its session in
Lahore in 1940, Azad was elected Congress president in its session in
Ramgarh. Speaking vehemently against Jinnah's
Two-Nation Theory
— the notion that Hindus and Muslims were distinct nations – Azad
lambasted religious separatism and exhorted all Muslims to preserve a
united India, as all Hindus and Muslims were Indians who shared deep
bonds of brotherhood and nationhood. In his presidential address, Azad
said:
"...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."
[11]
In face of increasing popular disenchantment with the British across
India, Gandhi and Patel advocated an all-out rebellion demanding
immediate independence. The situation had grown precarious as the
Japanese conquered Burma and approached India's borders, which left
Indians insecure but resentful of the British inability to protect
India. 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 "
Quit India,"
Azad began exhorting thousands of people in rallies across the nation
to prepare for a definitive, all-out struggle. As Congress president,
Azad travelled across India and met with local and provincial Congress
leaders and grass-roots activists, delivering speeches and planning the
rebellion. Despite their previous differences, Azad worked closely with
Patel and Dr. Rajendra Prasad to make the rebellion as effective as
possible. On 7 August 1942 at the
Gowalia Tank
in Mumbai, Congress president Azad inaugurated the struggle with a
vociferous speech exhorting Indians into action. Just two days later,
the British arrested Azad and the entire Congress leadership. While
Gandhi was incarcerated at the
Aga Khan Palace in
Pune, Azad and the Congress Working Committee were imprisoned at a fort in
Ahmednagar,
where they would remain under isolation and intense security for nearly
four years. Outside news and communication had been largely prohibited
and completely censored. Although frustrated at their incarceration and
isolation, Azad and his companions attested to feeling a deep
satisfaction at having done their duty to their country and people.
[12]
Azad occupied the time playing
bridge
and acting as the referee in tennis matches played by his colleagues.
In the afternoons, Azad began working on his classic Urdu work, the
Ghubhar-i-Khatir.
Sharing daily chores, Azad also taught the Persian and Urdu languages,
as well as Indian and world history to several of his companions. The
leaders would generally avoid talking of politics, unwilling to cause
any arguments that could exacerbate the pain of their imprisonment.
However, each year on 26 January, the leaders would gather to remember
their cause and pray together.
Azad, Nehru and Patel would
briefly speak about the nation and the future. Azad and Nehru proposed
an initiative to forge an agreement with the British in 1943. Arguing
that the rebellion had been mis-timed, Azad attempted to convince his
colleagues that the Congress should agree to negotiate with the British
and call for the suspension of disobedience if the British agreed to
transfer power. Although his proposal was overwhelmingly rejected, Azad
and a few others agreed that Gandhi and the Congress had not done
enough. When they learnt of
Gandhi holding talks with
Jinnah in
Mumbai in 1944, Azad criticised Gandhi's move as counter-productive and ill-advised.
[13]
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 federation with a weak
central government and great autonomy for the provinces. Additionally,
the proposal called for the "grouping" of provinces on religious lines,
which would informally band together the Muslim-majority provinces.
While Gandhi and others were suspicious of this clause, Azad argued that
the Jinnah's demand for Pakistan would be buried and the concerns of
the Muslim community would be assuaged.
[14] Under Azad and Patel's backing
[citation needed],
the Working Committee approved the resolution against Gandhi's advice.
Jawaharlal Nehru replaced Azad 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 indicted 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.
[15]
Azad had grown increasingly hostile to Jinnah, who had described him as the "Muslim
Lord Haw-Haw" and a "Congress Showboy."
[16] Despite being a learned scholar of Islam and a
Maulana, Azad had been assailed by Muslim religious leaders for his commitment to nationalism and secularism,
[dubious – discuss] which were deemed un-Islamic.
[citation needed]
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:
[17]
"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
Punjab
were to be partitioned on religious lines, and on 3 June 1947 the
British announced a proposal to partition India on religious lines, with
the
princely states free to choose between either dominion. The proposal was hotly debated in the
All India Congress Committee, with Muslim leaders
Saifuddin Kitchlew and
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
expressing fierce opposition. Azad privately discussed the proposal
with Gandhi, Patel and Nehru, but despite his opposition was unable to
deny the popularity of the League and the unworkability of any coalition
with the League. Faced with the serious possibility of a civil war,
Azad abstained from voting on the resolution, remaining silent and not
speaking throughout the AICC session, which ultimately approved the
plan.
[18]
Post-Independence
India's partition and independence on 15 August 1947 brought with it a
scourge of violence that swept the Punjab, Bengal, Bihar, 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
West Pakistan and
East Pakistan, created out of
East Bengal.
Violence claimed the lives of an estimated one million people. Azad
took up responsibility for the safety of Muslims in India, touring
affected areas in Bengal, Bihar, Assam and the Punjab, guiding the
organisation of refugee camps, supplies and security. Azad gave speeches
to large crowds encouraging peace and calm in the border areas and
encouraging Muslims across the country to remain in India and not fear
for their safety and security. Focusing on bringing the capital of Delhi
back to peace, Azad organised security and relief efforts, but was
drawn into a dispute with the
Deputy prime minister and
Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel when he demanded the dismissal of Delhi's police commissioner, who was a
Sikh accused by Muslims of overlooking attacks and neglecting their safety.
[19]
Patel argued that the commissioner was not biased, and if his dismissal
was forced it would provoke anger amongst Hindus and Sikhs and divide
the city police. In Cabinet meetings and discussions with Gandhi, Patel
and Azad clashed over security issues in Delhi and Punjab, as well as
the allocation of resources for relief and rehabilitation. Patel opposed
Azad and Nehru's proposal to reserve the houses vacated by Muslims who
had departed for Pakistan for Muslims in India displaced by the
violence.
[19]
Patel argued that a secular government could not offer preferential
treatment for any religious community, while Azad remained anxious to
assure the rehabilitation of Muslims in India.
secularism,
religious freedom and equality for all Indians. He supported provisions
for Muslim citizens to make avail of Muslim personal law in courts.
[20]
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
Indian Parliament, the
Lok Sabha
in 1952 and again in 1957, Azad supported Nehru's socialist economic
and industrial policies, as well as the advancing social rights and
economic opportunities for women and underprivileged Indians. In 1956,
he served as president of the
UNESCO General Conference held in Delhi. Azad spent the final years of his life focusing on writing his book
India Wins Freedom, an exhaustive account of India's freedom struggle and its leaders, which was published in 1957.
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 illiteracy, universal primary
education, free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 14, gir
s education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training.[21] Addressing the conference on All India Education on 16 January 1948, Maulana Azad emphasised,
[21]
We must not for a moment forget, it is a birth right of every
individual to receive at least the basic education without which he
cannot fully discharge his duties as a citizen.
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.
Criticism
During his life and in contemporary times, Maulana Azad has been
criticised for not doing enough to prevent the partition of India
although he was committed to united India till his last attempt. He was
condemned by the advocates of Pakistan, especially Muslim League.
[17]
Legacy and influence
Azad is remembered as amongst the leading Indian nationalists of his
time. His firm belief in Hindu-Muslim unity earned him the respect of
the Hindu community and he still remains one of the most important
symbols of communal harmony in modern India. His work for education and
social upliftment in India made him an important influence in guiding
India's economic and social development.
The Ministry of Minority Affairs of the central Government of India
setup the Maulana Azad Education Foundation in 1989 on the occasion of
his birth centenary to promote education amongst educationally backward
sections of the Society.
[26]
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
[27]
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".
[17] "The Emperor of learning" remarked
Mahatma Gandhi about Azad counting him as "a person of the calibre of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagorus".
[21]
His Birthday, 11 November is celebrated as National Education Day in India.
Trivia
Maulana Azad was born on the same day as
Acharya Kripalani,
who also was prominent freedom fighter and succeeded the former as the
President of Indian National Congress at the Meerut session in 1946.
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE
JAI HIND
VANDE MATARAM
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
