By Justice Markandey Katju–
November 11, 2023 will be the 135th birth anniversary of one of my heroes, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad or just Maulana Azad. Many of my heroes are people who refused to succumb to the popular mood of the day, and were therefore lonely figures, jeered, reviled and abused by the vast majority.
When a large section of Indian Muslims supported the Muslim League and demanded Partition of India on the basis of the two-nation theory, Maulana Azad was almost a lonely figure, strongly opposing Partition and telling Indian Muslims that Partition would bring upon them enormous sufferings.
But most Muslims refused to listen to him, and he was vilified, abused and denounced as “a Congress showboy” and as an enemy of Islam and Muslims.
That rascal Jinnah called him “a shameless man”. Once, when his train was passing through Aligarh, and had stopped at its railway station he was almost killed by some AMU students.
Addressing Muslims of India at the time of Partition, Maulana Azad said, in words which bring tears to one’s eyes: “Tumhe yaad hai? Maine tumhe pukaara, tumne meri zubaan kaat daali, maine qalam uthaaya, tumne mere haath kalam kar diye, maine chalna chaaha, tumne meri kamar tod di.” (Loosely translated, it means, “Do you remember? When I called upon you, you cut off my tongue. When I picked up my pen, you chopped my hands. When I tried to walk, you broke my back.”
You can watch his historic speech at New Delhi’s Jama Masjid in 1947 here.
At a time when many Indian Muslims were carried away by Jinnah’s pernicious advocacy of the bogus two-nation theory and demand for Partition (which was really a British ploy and swindle), Maulana Azad stood like a rock, almost alone among Muslims, despite death threats, and said Partition will be disastrous, particularly for Indian Muslims.
His prophecy has come true, considering the plight of both India and Pakistan today. Had we remained united, and under secular modern-minded leaders, we would by now have become a mighty modern industrial giant, with our people enjoying a high standard of living, and leading decent lives.
Instead, we have wasted our precious resources for decades in hostility with each other.
On 11th November, the Kalidas Ghalib Academy is holding an online webinar to honour this great son of India.
This organization was created for promoting interfaith amity and communal harmony, by the use of art and literature, to inspire our people in the coming mighty historical people’s struggle, and to combat communalism and divisive forces.
I am the patron of this body (justicekatju@gmail.com), the chairperson is Ms Husnara Salim, the grandniece of Maulana Azad, who runs the Maulana Azad Foundation (husnarasalim@gmail.com), and its vice-chairmen are Irfan Ali, who lives and works in Princeton, New Jersey; Gunasekharan Dharmaraja based in Chennai (gdharmaraja@gmail.com) and Asif Azmi, based in Delhi. The Gen Secy is Dr Arshi Malik, based in Aligarh (arshimalik@gmail.com).
READ: Justice Katju’s column on Maulana Azad’s grandniece Husnara Salim
I requested my friend Waseem Barelvi, perhaps the greatest living Urdu poet in India today, whose father was a staunch supporter of Maulana Azad, to write a few poetic lines in honour of Maulana Azad, which I propose to read in the online webinar.
He responded by texting this to me on WhatsApp: “Leejiye aapke hukm ke ehtaram mein chand sher hazir hain.”
He then sent this poem:
‘Ye hai to sab ke liye ho ye zid hamari hai
Is ek baat pe duniya se jang jaari hai
Main qatra ho ke bhi toofaan se jang leta hun
Mujhe bachaana samandar ki zimmedari hai
Dua karo ke salaamat rahe meri himmat
Yeh ek charaagh kai aandhiyon pe bhaari hai’
I have paraphrased it as follows:
‘Watan ko batne na denge yeh zid hamaari hai
Is ek baat pe duniya se jang jaari hai
Main qatra ho ke bhi toofaan se jang leta hun
Mujhe bachaana samandar ki zimmedaari hai
Dua karo ki salaamat rahe meri himmat
Ye ek charaagh kai aandhiyon pe bhaari hai’
