Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and the Partition of India

Abstract

One of the greatest scholars of Muslim culture and finest interpreters of the Quran and Islamic theology, a leading Muslim journalist, a distinguished 'servant ' of Indian nationalism, a champion of Hindu-Muslim unity and communal harmony, Maulana Abut Kalam Azad ranks together with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru as one of the prominent and dignified leaders of Indian freedom movement and shines as a 'secular polestar' in the political canvas of India. Although he was a 'Maulana ', his religion was absolutely free from narrow-mindedness and he was the greatest among the nationalist Muslims who fought for a united India. When Jinnah was fighting for a separate homeland for the Muslims, Azad proposed a completely different plan in order to prevent the partition but finally failed to avert it in 1947. The present paper makes a sincere attempt to highlight the role of Azad in national liberation movement, analyze his mind and approach towards the partition scheme and also tries to evaluate and relate his philosophy and activities in the present context.