"When I spoke up,

you cut off my tongue.

I picked up my pen,

you cut off my hand.

I wanted to move forward,

you cut my legs.

I tried to turn over,

and you injured me in the back.

And today you are in a helpless,

hapless and in a miserable condition.

A community with a faith that can turn the tides before bending is in such a situation today because you were sentimental.

When you go to Pakistan,

you might find your co-religionists,

but never your countrymen.”

- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed was born on November 11, 1888 in the holy city of Mecca, was one of the foremost leaders of the Indian freedom struggle. He was also a great scholar and poet. He was appointed as independent India's first Minister for Education and drafted India's Constitution.

Azad's father was Maulana Khairuddin, a scholar who authored a dozen of books and had thousands of disciples. He began to master several languages, including Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Bengali, Arabic, and English. He was also trained in the Mazahibs of Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali fiqh, shariat, geometry, mathematics and algebra, philosophy, world history and science, reputed tutors hired by his family. But Maulana Azad had a natural inclination for writing and this resulted in the miraculous start of the monthly "Nairang-e-Alam" in 1899 at Calcutta when he was hardly 11 years old. The periodical carried the poetical collection of the contemporary poets. This was followed by the launch of the weekly "Al-Misbah" in 1900 which carried articles on contemporary issues.

The "Al-Hilal" weekly was a landmark in the history of the press in India created revolutionary stir among the masses. Its circulation figures rose to 2, 90,000 by 1914. The message of patriotism and nationalism coupled with religious fervor inherent in the weekly gained wide acceptance among the masses.

Apart from these publications, in 1923, at an age of 35, he became the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress. Maulana Azad was in the forefront in all the major movements for the independence like the Khilafat Movement (1919-23), the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) the Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-32) and the Quit India Movement (1942).

Along with his political career where he always led from the front, he left remarkable impact on Urdu Literature. Al-Bayan (1915) and His Magnum Opus ”Tarjuman-ul– Qur’aan” (1933-1936) which are commentaries, Tazkirah (1916) an autobiographical work and His other books include ‘Gubar-e-Khatir’, ‘Hijr-o-Vasal’, ‘Khatbat-I-Azad’, ‘Hamari Azadi’.

He was a staunch opponent of partition and supported a confederation of autonomous provinces with their own constitutions but common defense and economy. Partition hurt him greatly and shattered his dream of an unified nation where Hindus and Muslims can co-exist and prosper together.

After India became independent in 1947, As India's first Minister of Education, he emphasized on educating the rural poor and girls. As Chairman of the Central Advisory Board of Education, he gave thrust to adult literacy, universal primary education, free and compulsory for all children up to the age of 14, girls education, and diversification of secondary education and vocational training. Under Maulana Azad's tenure, a number of measures were undertaken to promote primary and secondary education, scientific education, establishment of universities and promotion of avenues of research and higher studies. The Maulana established many institutions such as the Sahitya Academy, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Lalit Kala Akademi, and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. He oversaw the setting up of the Central Institute of Education, Delhi. Under his leadership, the Ministry of Education established the first Indian Institute of Technology in 1951 and the University Grants Commission in 1953., He also laid emphasis on the development of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and the Faculty of Technology of the Delhi University. He foresaw a great future in the IITs for India.

In 1956, he served as president of the UNESCO General Conference held in Delhi. Azad spent the final years of his life focusing on writing his book India Wins Freedom, an exhaustive account of India's freedom struggle and its leaders, which was published in 1957.

On February 22, 1958 Maulana Azad passed away. Jawaharlal Nehru described Maulana Azad as "a great man ' a man of luminaries, intelligence and intellect with an amazing capacity to pierce through a problem to its cause. The word "luminous" is perhaps the best word I can use about his mind. And referred to him as Mir-i- Karawan (the caravan leader), "a very brave and gallant gentleman.

“The Emperor of learning" remarked Mahatma Gandhi about Azad counting him as "a person of the calibre of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras".

The Government of India celebrates the Birth Anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on November 11 every year as NATIONAL EDUCATION DAY.

In 1992 he was posthumously awarded India's highest civilian award, the BHARAT RATNA. Numerous institutions across India have also been named in his honour. Some of them are the College in New Delhi, the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology in Bhopal, the Maulana Azad National Urdu University in Hyderabad, Maulana Azad Centre for Elementary and Social Education ( Delhi University) the College in Kolkata, the Maulana Azad library in the Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh and Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu.

These steps can be described as fitting tributes by the nation to a person who had unchallenged credentials as a freedom fighter, revolutionary journalist, social reformer, champion of communal harmony and an unparalleled Education Minister