| Name(s) |
ABUL KALAM
(Muhiyuddin Ahmed) AZAD |
| Date of
Birth |
November 11, 1888
– Mecca, Saudi Arabia. |
| Date of
Death |
February 22, 1958
– Delhi, India. |
|
Identity |
Indian scholar and
a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement. |
|
Date-wise Events / Works |
- 1923: At an age of 35, he
became the youngest person to serve as the President of the
Indian National Congress.
- August 07, 1942: He gave an
electrifying speech before a gathering of over 100,000
people at Gowalia Tank in Mumbai.
- August 09, 1942: On this
day he was arrested and was imprisoned with the entire
Congress Working Committee from 1942 to 1945 at the fort in
Ahmednagar.
- 1940 to 1945: He served as
Congress president from 1940 to 1945, during which the Quit
India rebellion was launched.
- June 16, 1946: He attacked
Jinnah's demand for Pakistan and the mission's proposal of
this day that envisaged the partition of India, and became a
strong proponent of the mission's earlier proposal of a
federal system with a limited central government and
autonomy for the provinces.
- June 03, 1947: The British
announced a proposal to partition India on religious lines,
with the princely states free to choose between either
dominion. Though Azad was strongly opposed to partition, yet
he abstained from voting on the resolution.
- August 15, 1947: He became
the first Education Minister of Free India on this day.
- January 16, 1948: While
addressing the conference on All India Education on this
day, he emphasised that we must not for a moment forget, it
is a birthright of every individual to receive at least the
basic education without which he cannot fully discharge his
duties as a citizen.
- 1952: He was elected as a
member of the Lok Sabha.
- 1957: He was elected as a
member of the Lok Sabha.
- February 02, 1958: He
retired as the first Education Minister of Free India on
this day.
- 1992: Posthumously
decorated with BHARAT RATNA Award.
- November 16, 2005: On this
day the Delhi High Court ordered that the tomb of Maulana
Azad in New Delhi be renovated and restored as a major
national monument.
|
|
Other Events &
Developments |
- He was the first Education Minister in the
Government of India.
- He was popularly addressed as 'Maulana Azad'; the
honorific ‘Maulana’ means ‘learned man’.
- He had adopted 'AZAD’ as his pen name.
- He became the leader of the Khilafat Movement, during
which he came into close contact with the Indian leader
Mahatma Gandhi.
- He worked hard to organise the non-co-operation movement
in protest against the 1919 Rowlatt Acts.
- He also promoted Swadeshi (indigenous) products and the
cause of Swaraj (Self-rule) for India.
- He was a strong proponent of Hindu-Muslim unity,
secularism and socialism.
- He also was imprisoned, together with the entire
Congress leadership, for three years.
- He was the most prominent Muslim opponent of the demand
for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan and served in the
interim national government.
- As India's Education Minister, he promoted the
establishment of a national education system with free
primary education and modern institutions of higher
education, including the Indian Institutes of Technology and
the foundation of the University Grants Commission.
- His birthday is celebrated as National Education Day in
India.
|
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