by VIKHAR AHMED SAYEED
Azad on his way to the Viceregal Lodge for the Shimla Conference on July 16, 1945. M.A. Jinnah refused to shake hands with Azad when the two met in the presence of the Viceroy, Lord Wavell, at the Lodge
PHOTO/The Hindu Archives.
A strong sense of pathos surrounds the life of Mohiuddin Ahmed, more famously known as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. He was undoubtedly a great leader who played a prominent role in the decades leading up to India’s Independence. Thus, his legacy is somewhat secure in nationalist historiographies but cast a look at his political record.
In his younger days, Azad was an avid pan-Islamist fighting valiantly for the cause of the Khilafat (the Islamic Caliphate), but with the abolition of the caliphate by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (the builder of modern Turkey) in 1924, he was forced to reorient his activism. Right from the days of his precocious youth, he strived to emerge as the leader of Muslims in British India. This aim was thwarted by his own commitment to Hindu-Muslim unity and the focussed intentions of Mohammed Ali Jinnah to emerge as the sole spokesman for Indian Muslims. Did Azad’s stewardship of the Indian National Congress (INC) through the most tumultuous years leading to Independence—from 1940 to 1946—prevent or delay Partition? No, here, too, he failed as his impatient colleagues at the INC gave in to Jinnah’s intransigence. How then do we evaluate the legacy of Azad, a man around whom a faintly tragic halo shimmers softly?
Two books published in 2014 deepen the readers’ knowledge of Azad while also providing them with ideas on how to engage with his nuanced legacy. Syeda Saiyidain Hameed’s biography, Maulana Azad, Islam and the Indian National Movement, is a landmark in Azad studies for its rich detail, empathetic narrative, and perceptive analysis.
Hameed’s father was a bureaucrat who had worked closely with Azad during his tenure as the first Education Minister in independent India, thus providing the author with an initial connection to Azad. (Azad held the portfolio until his death in 1958.) The other book under review, Islam, Pluralism, Nationhood, introduced and edited by Mushirul Hasan, is a useful reproduction of select primary historical documents pertaining to Azad.
The material is not exhaustive but the editor has curated it thoughtfully to represent the versatility of Azad as a politician, theologian, writer, and administrator. Here, the reader will find in the book, among other things, the cover page of the first issue of Al Hilal, a weekly Urdu newspaper established by Azad, the British intelligence correspondence on the threat posed by Azad, Azad’s Urdu and English writings, his speeches to INC delegates, and samples of his notes in Urdu.
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