Every year on November 11, the birth anniversary of freedom fighter and scholar Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is celebrated as National Education Day. Maulana Abul Kalam was the first Education Minister of independent India (1947 to 1958).

Biography: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad or Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin was born on November 11, 1888 in Mecca. He was a famous Indian Muslim scholar. He was a poet, writer, journalist and Indian freedom fighter. Maulana Abul Kalam became the first education minister of independent India.

Maulana Azad belonged to the Afghan Ulema family who came to India from Herat during the time of Babur. His mother was of Arabic origin and his father Mohammad Khairuddin was a Persian. When Azad was 11 years old, his mother died. He had his early education through Islamic methods. At home or in the mosque, he received education from his father and later from other scholars. Apart from Islamic education, he received education in philosophy, history and mathematics.

National Education Day 2021: Why is Education Day celebrated?

At the age of thirteen, he married Zulaikha Begum. Azad learned English through dedicated self-study and read a lot of western philosophy. He did not like Muslim traditional education and he agreed with the views of modern educationist Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.

Azad, unlike other Muslim leaders, opposed the partition of Bengal in 1905 and rejected the separatist ideology of the All India Muslim League. He travelled to Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Syria. Azad started participating in revolutionary activities and got support from revolutionaries like Sri Aurobindo and Shyamsunhar Chakraborty.

Biography of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad- Read In Hindi

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a supporter of the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. He worked for Hindu-Muslim unity, and he was among the Muslim leaders who opposed the principle of a separate Muslim nation (Pakistan). He played an important role in the Khilafat movement.

Publication of magazines against British rule

In 1912, weekly journalism called Al Hilal began to be published. Through Al-Hilal, he started promoting communal harmony and Hindu Muslim unity and at the same time attacked British rule. How did the British rule like its criticism and Hindu-Muslim unity, finally the government banned this magazine? He started putting out another magazine called Al-Balagh. Through this also he started to carry forward his mission of Indian nationalism and Hindu-Muslim unity.

Azad also wrote several books in which he opposed British rule and advocated self-government in India. He has also written a book on India’s freedom struggle, ‘India Wins Freedom’ which was published in 1957.

After Independence:

He was the first education minister of independent India. Maulana Azad was called ‘Indian Institute of Technology’ ie ‘IIT’. And credit for the establishment of the ‘University Grants Commission. He established institutions of excellence to develop education and culture-

1. Sangeet Natak Akademi (1953)
2. Sahitya Akademi (1954)
3. Lalitkala Akademi (1954)