Page 60 - NIS English 16-31 February,2023
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Nation Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD
STERLING CONTRIBUTION IN THE PROGRESS
OF EDUCATION
BORN: 11 NOVEMBER 1888, DIED: 22 FEBRUARY 1958
M aulana Abul Kalam Azad, a poet and which he joined the Congress in 1920. Just
polyglot who was well-versed in
three years later, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
several languages like Arabic, English,
Urdu, Hindi, Persian, and Bengali, was born on became the youngest President of the Indian
National Congress at the age of 35. He was
November 11, 1888, in Mecca. He received jailed several times by the British from 1920
traditional Islamic education from his father to 1945 due to his activism in the freedom
and other teaching scholars at his home in struggle. While strongly opposing the partition
Calcutta. of the country, he envisioned an India that
He adopted the surname "Azad" as a sign of his would embrace both Hindus and Muslims.
mental emancipation from the narrow outlook of He used to especially participate in the
religion and life. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad became discussion on subjects related to education
active in journalism and politics at an early age. in the Constituent Assembly. He believed
He joined the revolutionary movement against that India as a nation should aspire to high
British rule after being inspired by two prominent educational standards. As the country's first
education minister from 1947 to 1958, he
advocated free and compulsory education for all
MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD children up to the age of 14.
BREATHED HIS LAST ON FEBRUARY Abul Kalam Azad established the Adult
22, 1958. HIS AUTOBIOGRAPHY, "INDIA Education Board for the education of
illiterate adults. He was also instrumental in
WINS FREEDOM," WAS PUBLISHED IN setting up the University Grants Commission
1959, AFTER HIS DEATH. and other educational institutions, such
as the Indian Institute of Science and
the IITs. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
breathed his last on February 22, 1958.
His autobiography, "India Wins Freedom," was
revolutionaries from Bengal, Aurobindo Ghosh
and Shyam Sundar Chakravarty. Within two published in 1959, after his death.
He was posthumously awarded the Bharat
years, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad helped establish Ratna in 1992. To remember his invaluable
secret revolutionary centers across northern
India and in Bombay. In 1912, Maulana Azad contribution to the field of education,
November 11 is celebrated as National
started a weekly magazine in Urdu called Al-Hilal.
The government banned Al Hilal in 1914. Education Day. Paying tribute to Maulana
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad started another Abul Kalam Azad on his birth anniversary,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, " He was
weekly newspaper, Al-Balagh, with the mission
of propagating Indian nationalism and Hindu- an ingenious thinker and a sharp intellectual.
Muslim unity, which was not only banned by the His role in the freedom struggle has been very
government in 1916 but also expelled him from inspiring. He was always very enthusiastic
Kolkata. Maulana Abul Kalam met Mahatma about the field of education and worked
Gandhi during the Khilafat Movement after tirelessly to promote brotherhood in society.''
58 New India Samachar February 16-28, 2023
