Excerpt: How Maulana Azad Prevented A Congress Split Before Independence

Anti-colonial sentiments began to rise during Azad's house arrest near Ranchi, which lasted more than three years. India had already seen two Home Rule League agitations led by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Annie Besant. Mahatma Gandhi had experimented with two mass movements in Champaran and Kheda in 1917-18. The British government had brought in the repressive Rowlatt Act, which led to a mass upsurge and ultimately culminated in the tragic massacre of the innocent and peaceful crowd in Jallianwala Bagh on 13 April 1919. Mahatma Gandhi had already extended his support to the Khilafat Movement with the intention of getting more support for the anti-colonial struggle in the subcontinent. Azad was released during this period of significant political developments on 27 December 1919, but he stayed in Ranchi until the beginning of January 1920.

On his release, Azad had to decide between himself a secluded corner where he could read and write or throwing his weight behind the freedom struggle. 'It was a torrent in consonance with my will and intent, a torrent in which I could hear the voice of heavens, calling a man to accept God's will instead of his own.' Ultimately, Azad upheld 'God's will' and surrendered his own, thus making a sacrifice for the cause of the country. It was soon after his release from jail that Azad first met Gandhi on 18 January 1920. The meeting seemed to have had a profound impact on both men. Gandhi had tried meeting Azad in Ranchi while he was interned there, but the government did not permit this. Azad entered the nationalist struggle through the Khilafat agitation and was later closely involved with most of the mass movements that we shall briefly discuss. Soon after coming out of exile, he presided over the Khilafat Committee meeting in Calcutta in February 1920, where he presented the programme of non-cooperation, which was adopted by the All-India Khilafat Committee four months before the Congress did. In a way, Azad was responsible, along with Mahatma Gandhi, for the adoption of the non-cooperation programme, though the latter became the sole exponent and practitioner of the idea.

It is pertinent here to refer briefly to Maulana's role as Congress president twice - both occasions were equally challenging. Maulana was released from prison on 1 January 1923 after the Khilafat-Non-cooperation protests but found the political climate in the country rather dismal. The Congress party was on the verge of a split on the issue of council entry, the two groups were 'No-Changers' and 'Pro-Changers' and the senior Congress leadership was divided on the issue. Azad was asked to chair the special session of the Congress in Delhi on 15 December 1923. This speaks volumes about Azad's stature, as he was accepted by all despite being just thirty-five-years old. He did succeed in reconciling the two Congress factions, thus preventing the catastrophic split.

The second challenge came in 1940 when the Congress party decided to field Maulana Azad for the position of Congress president, again in a very volatile political situation. Once Gandhi threw his weight behind Azad, there was hardly any contest. Azad polled 1,841 votes against his rival M. N. Roy, who got only 181 votes. The Muslim League and Jinnah had been vociferous in their demand for a separate Muslim nation earlier that year, so Azad had a huge task ahead of him - he had to convince Jinnah that after living together for centuries, 'We all are an indivisible nation. No vision of separation from each other can ever fructify.' Jinnah and the Muslim League saw Azad's stance as a major challenge to Muslim consolidation, which was a crucial factor in lobbying for a separate state successfully. Jinnah's hostility towards Azad was palpable:

I refuse to discuss with you by correspondence or otherwise as you have completely forfeited the confidence of Muslim India. Cannot you realize that you are made a Muslim Show Boy Congress President? You represent neither Muslims nor Hindus. The Congress is a Hindu body. If you have self respect resign at once. You have done your worst against the League so far. I know you have hopelessly failed. Give it up.

Azad remained steadfast in his role as the president of the Congress during these turbulent political times, which finally led to the historic Quit India resolution during the AICC meeting in Bombay during 7-9 August 1942. Gandhi declared that the Quit India Movement had to be based on non-violence, just as his previous movements had been. In a last bid to quell dissent, all senior leaders of the Congress were arrested soon after this by colonial authorities, including Maulana Azad, who was sent to the Ahmednagar Fort prison. Azad was released after three years in June 1945, during which he lost his wife. The Muslim League used this opportunity, when most of the Congress leaders were incarcerated, to communalize the polity to an irreversible degree.

Published with permission of Aleph Book Company from 'Maulana Azad: A Life' by S. lrfan Habib. Order your copy here.

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