The book India Wins Freedom gives a detailed description and analysis of the formation of India and the meaning of India partitioned ‘Pakistan’.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is a person who is the custodian of being a pacifist, well-read, peace-loving, an intellectual of secularism, sovereignty and a man of his words. The book ” India Wins Freedom” is one of his book which tells and unveils the utmost importance of a history and events which are still kept hidden and treasured in the safe side of the contemporary relevance of the nation.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was named Firoz Bakht at birth but was known in his youth as “Muhiyuddin Ahmad” and later adopted the pseudonym of ” Abul Kalam Azad” he was educated by his father ” Maulana Khairuddin ” and he migrated to Mecca after the revolt of 1857. The family settled in Calcutta, Azad’s political awakening was stimulated by the partition of Bengal in 1905.
” India Wins Freedom” was written by Azad’s personal secretary ” Humayun Khan” finely scrutinized by Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad before bringing in the domain of general public. The book gives the detailed description and analysis of the formation of India and the meaning of India partitioned ” Pakistan”. Moreover to this Maulana Abul Kalam Azad established his entire journey where he and his colleagues like, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Chandra Sekhar Azad, Dr Rajidra Parshad, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Mrs Asaf Ali, etc has left no stone unturned to make the nation united and prosperous.
Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad’s book is the introduction and the guide to understand the journey and his involvement in the history of India’s Freedom struggle, prior to this journey Azad was just a mediocre student as his father was a man who believes in the old days teachings and way of life, he had no faith in western education of the modern type. He held that modern education would destroy the Islamic faith. The sooner he understood that to understand the socio-political aspects and the needful circumstances he has to take the modern education and he started reading philosophy, geometry, mathematics and algebra.
Azad gradually increased the interest of reading more and more, it was soon after this that he came across the writings of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, he was greatly impressed by his views on modern education. And he says for Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and I quote
” I realised that a man could not be truly educated on the modern world unless he studied modern science, philosophy and literature. I decided that I must learn English”.
After this phase of life has passed, Azad’s development of a strong desire to bring the artistic and cultural heritage of being an Indian, he started his own journal like ” Al-Halal Press- which was published in 1912, this publication brought a revolution in making the turning point in the history of Urdu journalism. It was famous and was the best grader’s journals within a short time.
During this period, he happened to join Congress and begun the journey of making the nation free from British India, this indeed took several years of hard work and dedication to which it cost them a harsh life and livings. Azad become the Congress president on 3rd September 1939, he then began the journey to consider congress the only tool to understand the cunning policy of divide and rule of the British during his presidency tenure British India came across various issues and international events like , British government requesting Indians to take part in the war with China, Japan.
When the war on the international borders took it ceases the Congress thought British India will come up with a different attitude to the Indian problems as a concern and they came up with Cripps Mission of 1942. Which however failed and didn’t succeed due to the selfishness outcomes of the British government, to this Azad makes a personal note for Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and he says I quote
” I want to make it absolutely clear that Jawaharlal attitude was not due to any doubt regarding India’s freedom. His attitude was a natural results of his understanding of the international situation. He was from the beginning confirmed anti-fascist”.
The Quit India Movement proposal by Congress Working Committee.
When the Congress working committee resolution was published it created an electric wave of atmosphere in the country, People couldn’t believe to consider what the implications were but indeed felt that the Congress was launching a mass movement to make British quit India. The masses in the public and the congress committee has implicit faith in the leadership of Gandhi that he would bring the revolution of a victory in the history of India’s independence, to this some people even believed that Gandhi would do some kind of magic to fetch the freedom of India from the British government.
Gandhi Ji to this promised the nation and the government that the quit India movement would solely be the non-violent rebellion against the British government. But to the dismay of the Congress working committee and Mahatma Gandhi, the quit India movement stands failure and was brought down and sacked by the government.
As the viceroy in no terms would accept any responsibility to thumbs up to the proposals of the Congress working committee to the British government as the war on the international borders was ongoing. To this, all the major heroic leaders of Congress Working Committee including Mahatma Gandhi was arrested and the Quit India movement was undertaken as the failure and nonfunctional.
Ahmednagar Fort Jail.
Just after the mass failure of Quit India movement, the leaders of congress namely Jawaharlal Nehru , Sardar Bhallav Bhai Patel, Mrs Asaf Ali, Shankar Rao Deo, Govind Ballabh Pant, Dr Pattabhi Sitaramayya, Dr Syed Mahmud, Acharya Kriplani, and Dr Prafulla Ghosh, was arrested by the British India government and was brought in the Ahmadnagar Fort jail. And Gandhi was taken to Poona jail.
This is was the time when Jawaharlal Nehru and Azad was writing their respective books ”Discovery of India” ”India wins freedom” respectively in the jail itself.
The period of confinement and jailing the leaders of Congress witness a great treacherous and traitors among the Congress working committee leaders, he was Dr Syed Mahmud who wrote an apology letter to viceroy to which he took help from Jawaharlal Nehru and Azad to understand some correct use of English phrases and words, later Azad confirms this in his book, he said in his letter that he was not involved in the Quit India movement resolution by the Congress working committee, when it was passed.
This came to the notice of Jawaharlal Nehru and Azad after the British government released his letter publically, to which he thought that his letter would be kept secret from the public domain.
This was when Gandhi Ji approached Mr Jinnah as there was a great Political blunder around. Jinnah left congress due to which he lost his political importance in the twenties. It is in regards of Gandhi owing to his legacy Mr Jinnah could regain his importance in Indian political life, the large section of Indian Muslims was doubtful about Jinnah and his policy. But it was a time when people thought that Gandhi was then running after Jinnah and entreating him, many of them developed a new interest for Jinnah.
Azad to the extent also said:
” That it was Mahatma Gandhi who first gave currency to the tittle ” Qaid-i-Azam” or a great leader as applied to Mr Jinnah ”.
The “India Wins Freedom” of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad puts remarking lights in the partition part of the history of India’s struggle for freedom, he unveils some astounding facts which the current social-political atmosphere of the country has kept it in the darkest side of the history, though in my surprise I found it the darkest ever read in the history. It all started with the following raws of events accordingly.
The Mountbatten Mission.
Lord Mountbatten had been in the headlines famously during the war years, he duly spent some time in India and then again left for overseas, when lord Wavell resigned from his post, British India sent lord Mountbatten as the viceroy and as the governor-general to India.
He was the man of hypocrisy and double standard in keeping words, he undertook India’s socio-political condition as the utmost opportunity to barge into the communal lines of the nation.
Lord Mountbatten was a man with all words towards both Congress and the Muslim league. This was the time when the league got all over buckling up towards the two nation theory. There were riots and massacre cold-blooded murders of both the communities, keeping the nation plunged into the deep mourning.
To this happenings, the events were shocking and distraction, Lord Mountbatten took its best use and established the perfect time to hit the hot iron with his proposals of dividing India in the basis of communalism, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Churchill describing the pathetic scene of British India.
Lord Mountbatten was now powerful with his decision and here Azad quotes
” It must be placed on record that the man in India which first fell for lord Mountbatten’s idea was Sardar Patel”
Prior to this for Jinnah, the theory of nation called ” Pakistan” was a bargaining counter of appraisal from British India and the United Indians.
Sardar Patel confirmed himself as the believers in the partition, to which Gandhi never approved off, and Azad too, Gandhi never wanted the division of united India in the basis of the communalism selfishness.
To this Azad spoke in the book,
” Infact, Sardar Patel was fifty percent on favour of the partition even before lord Mountbatten appeared on the scene”
He to the amount was convinced and cleared that we couldn’t work with the Muslim league further anymore to which he openly said he was prepared to have a part of India divided to which only he could get rid of the Muslim league.
” It wouldn’t not perhaps be unfair to say that Vallahbahi Patel was the founder of Indian partition”
And to this lord, Mountbatten appeared as the master of a roster as to decide when to turn and divide the nation into two parts, India and Pakistan.
This was the gruesome situation for Gandhi and Azad, not Jawaharlal Nehru, as he was already been convinced by Sardar Patel for the acceptance of the two-nation theory, the partition of India.
Azad gave his best to persuade Sardar Patel to not to approve and accept the proposals of dividing India as it will lead India nowhere in terms of peace and love, we will lit an everlasting fire if hatred for this history of India’s struggle of freedom. But it didn’t work fine, Sardar remained as he was, he was determined to the Partition, to Azad failure to persuade Sardar Patel, he approached Jawaharlal Nehru
” I warned Jawaharlal Nehru that history would never forgive us if we agreed to partition. The verdict would be that India was divided not by the Muslim league but by the Congress” said Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
Jawaharlal also didn’t turn up to his words, and was the only hope remaining constant was Mahatma Gandhi, but before approaching Gandhi Azad took the way to Mountbatten lodge and had the conversation to cease the proposal of two nation theory, Azad in his conversation,
”If we acted in haste accepted partition we would be doing the permanent injury to India. Once the country was divided no one could foresee the repercussions and there would be no retracing of the step” said Azad to Lord Mountbatten in his lodge.
But at the end, nothing worked the nation was divided into two parts the Republic India and Pakistan.
Divided India
After the partition there was no delay when the communal tension occurred in different parts of India, which lead to the rivers of blood flowed in large parts of the country, innocent men and women and children were massacred, the Indian army was divided and Nothing could be done to stop the murder of innocent Hindus and Muslims.
The entire nation was in the pool of hatred and revenge, the nation was bleeding with pain and grudges, there seems no hope to stop this hell. The Muslims in Delhi was killed, massacred mercilessly, to this Azad surveyed the parts of the nation and Delhi, he accompanied all the Muslim and others religious beliefs person to take shelter in his own house.
Amidst this turmoil in the capital and the other parts of the nation, there was one thing unusual in the Congress working committee leaders, that was the attitude of Sardar Bhallav Bhai Patel’s which send some shocking and unpleasant surprises to the understanding of Gandhi and Azad, as there were huge massacre and peace was nowhere to be seen in the country, the nation was passing through its lean phase, the home ministry was under Patel and he was responsible for the maintenance of law and order in the nation, but there was nothing from his part,
There are the excerpt images from the book which will establish the fact according to Azad’s personal comments.
In the same period Sardar Patel was leaving for Bombay the next morning , he formally spoke to Gandhi and complained ” that there was no real issue of such fasts ” said Patel to Gandhi.
To this Gandhi replied calmly
” I am not in China now but in Delhi. Nor have I lost my own eyes and ears. If you ask me to disbelieve the testimony of my own eyes and ears, and tell me taht Muslims have no cause for complaint, I surely Cannot convince you nor nor can you convince me. Hindus and sikhs are my brothers, they are flesh of my flesh and if they are now blind with rage , I will not blame them.” Said Gandhi in reply to Patel’s complain.
Mahatma Gandhi has always been the beacon of peace and harmony with his actions and words, he was also not left with any further action except the last pious act of love and peace. He thought to take up fasting for the noble cause to stop the communal tension in the entire country. Gandhi began his fast on the 12th of January 1948.
To this Azad was worried because Gandhi was not healthy prior to the Partition and post to the partition too, this brought a sense of unrest in the mind of Azad and Jawaharlal Nehru, to take up with the same situation, Azad requested many a times to Gandhi to break his fast, he assured Gandhi to deal the situation with different angle of action, but Gandhi denied and remain adamant about his choice,
Azad took this to the public and ask them to maintain peace, buy Gandhi didn’t still wake up from the fast, after all, in the end, Gandhi kept some terms and conditions to break his fast, and those were the following in the picture below.
To this the sustainability came to be seen, the peace begins to be heard, and amount of love can be felt, the people started living together and was tighten too much to be left lost in between the grudges and revenge. Gandhi broke his fast and regained strength day by day.
To this some group of people were unhappy, the small group of Hindus had started to harbour the bitter against Gandhi Ji, it was ever since he started negotiations with Mr Jinnah after his release from Poona. The section of Hindus, the Mahasabha and RSS went openly to say that Gandhi was helping Muslims against Hindus.
It was shocking to notice, that the Indian history has recorded on 30th January 1948 at 5.30 Gandhi was shot dead by the bullets of ” Nathuram Godse” the sentence before shooting three bullets to Gandhi ” you are too late today” says Nathuram Godse. And fled from the crowd.
India lost the father of the nation, the hope of peace and harmony, love and respect.
Azad heard as if in a dream ”Gandhi is dead“
To this shock, the entire nation mourned, but in disappointment, there were parts of India where sweets were distributed and we’re cheering.
After Gandhi’s assassination it marked an end of an era and to this shock, hardly two months passed since Gandhi’s death when Sardar Patel had a heart attack.
” My own reading is that this is was the result of the shock he had received the accusations of murdering Gandhi” says Azad in the book.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author. The facts and opinions appearing in the article do not reflect the views of NEWSD and NEWSD does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.
