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Maulana
Hasrat Mohani got his surname as Mohani probably because he lived
long time in a place called Mohan in Unnao district. Mohan is a town
area in Unnao district and situated just 20 KM from Lucknow.
Biography
NO one in the realm of poetry and politics was as practical as
Maulana Hasrat Mohani. Throughout his life, he worked and struggled
hard for the cause of the independence of the country.
A man of simplicity and sincerity, he stood undaunted against the
onslaught of the British rulers and ultimately scarified his
everything for the sake of his mission. During the freedom movement,
a major part of his life was spent in the prison.
When Pakistan came into existence, the Maulana was advised by the
Quaid-i-Azam to stay in India in his attempt to extend protection to
the Indian Muslims. Hasrat sincerely obeyed the command of the Quaid,
since self-interest for him was the worst form of bigotry. The
Maulana never migrated to Pakistan to reap benefit from the
newly-established country.
Maulana Syed Fazlul Hasan Hasrat Mohani was born in 1878 in Unnao, a
renowned city of the United Provinces. His forefathers had migrated
from Neshapur to India and took shelter at Mohan. In his early days,
Arabic and Persian used to be the main pillars of education and
naturally Hasrat received his education on the same pattern. Later
on, he was admitted to Mohan Middle School, from where he passed his
Middle Class Examination in 1894 and stood first in the whole
province. He then proceeded to Fatehpur and took admission in
Government High School in 1899. He passed his matriculation
examination with distinction and was awarded scholarship.
In those days, Aligarh was regarded as the major centre of learning
for the Muslims of undivided India. Young students from all over the
country were joining M.A.O. College. The noted educationist, Dr
Ziauddin was then the head of the college. He was much impressed by
the outstanding position of young Hasrat in the matric examination.
He immediately invited Maulana Hasrat for further education in Sir
Syed's institution. The Maulana graduated in 1903. Among his
classmates were the well-known leader Maulana Shaukat Ali and the
literary figure, Sajjad Haider Yalderam (father of Qurrat-ul-Aain
Haider).
Urdu-i-Moalla:It was in Aligarh that Hasrat took interest in
literature and politics, and gradually created a niche for himself
in both the realms. In 1903 he started publishing a journal Urdu-i-Moalla
which was devoted to the cause of Urdu literature on the one hand
and supported the political views of emerging nationalism on the
other. The renowned historian, Maulana Shibli Nomani was so
impressed by his penetrating articles on political situation of the
country, that he commented: "Hasrat Mohani is bold and brave enough
in initiating freedom fighting."
During the publication of Hasrat's magazine, an incident took place
which not only revealed his strong principles but also brought into
light the practical steps he had taken in political fields. In 1908,
a leading article was published in an Egyptian journal criticising
the so-called policy adopted by the British Empire against the
Islamic state. Hasrat Mohani managed to publish its Urdu translation
in Urdu-i-Moalla. Translator's name was intentionally not printed.
(According to Maulana Sulaiman Nadvi's investigation, he was Iqbal
Ahmad Sohail, a brilliant student of Aligarh University who later
emerged as a noted poet). The Indian Government wanted to know who
had translated the said article and pressurized Hasrat to disclose
the name of the translator. The Maulana bluntly refused to violate
the confidence of the contributor. He took the whole responsibility
of the translated article on his own shoulders.
Jail term:As a result, he was prosecuted and had to spend two-years
in jail. During this first imprisonment, he had to undergo a wide
range of unbearable tortures.
Maulana Hasrat was a great patriot and a freedom fighter. He played
a leading role in politics and associated himself with the Swadeshi
movement. He had also been active in Khelafat Tehrik. He
wholeheartedly participated in the activities of the All-India
Muslim League. He presided over the Fourteenth Annual Session of All
India Muslim League held at Ahmedabad on December 30, 1921. While
delivering his presidential address he boldly declared:
"It was the All-India Muslim League which actually realized the
first and most essential condition of Indian independence."
In 1936, the Mualana fully devoted himself towards the uplift of the
League. He was then elected as a member of Muslim League
Parliamentary Board, United Provinces. He also served as a permanent
member of UP Muslim League Working Committee.
Critical day:In those critical days, when Congress was endeavouring
hard to belittle the Muslim League, Hasrat Mohani along with Maulana
Zafar Ali Khan, took effective steps in popularizing All-India
Muslim League among the Muslim masses. Hasrat Mohani even took
active part in 25th Annual Session of Muslim League held at Lalbagh,
Lucknow, in October, 1937 under the presidentship of Quaid-i-Azam
Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It was in this session that Maulana Hasrat
Mohani moved the following resolution:
"The object of the All-India Muslim League shall be the
establishment in India of full independence in the form of a
federation of free democratic states in which the rights and
interests of Musalmans and other minorities are adequately and
effectively safeguarded in the constitution."
Seconding this significant resolution, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan said
that the Muslims always thought in terms of independence. India did
not comprise a single nation. If that were so, then according to the
best principles of democracy, the Muslims would always be at the
mercy of the majority community.
Among those who supported this resolution were Abdur Rahman Siddiqi,
Hussain Imam, I.I. Chundrigar, Chaudhry Khaliquz Zaman and Begum
Mohammad Ali Jauhar. The resolution was passed unanimously by all
amidst the slogans of Hindustan Azad, Islam Zindabad and Allah-o-Akbar.
Urdu poetry:As far as Urdu poetry is concerned, Hasrat Mohani ranks
high. He possessed a perfect command over the language. He could
easily elaborate and expound in his ghazal all that he had to say on
all the subjects. With a masterly touch, he brought the freshness of
emotional response in Urdu ghazal and used the simplest vocabulary
with telling effect. His idiom was spontaneous and romanticised,
bringing unique sense of lyricism which evoked down-to-earth images
for poetic communication. His ghazal soon gained unprecedented
popularity.
Hasrat Mohani is undoubtedly the first Urdu poet who widened the
horizon of ghazal - a genre regarded as the symbol of love affairs.
Being a revolutionary man, he changed the so-called tradition of
poetry through the imposition of political views and observations.
In his Kulyat (collection of his ghazals), we could easily find a
number of verses embodied with the political issues.In 1918, the
Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms were announced, according to which the
government of India must remain wholly responsible to parliament,
and the control of provincial administration should be partly made
over to the provincial legislature. Maulana Hasrat, being unafraid
of any possible conviction, severely criticised this reform.
Throughout his life, Hasrat came into violent clash with the
British. His only mission was to get rid of the foreign rulers, and
to wrest complete freedom from their hands.
Hasrat, an inveterate enemy of foreign bureaucracy, always came to
be looked upon with suspicion. To crush and kill his enthusiasm, the
Indian government put him behind bars many a time. The Maulana was
often kept in solitary confinement, forced to work for hours. He had
always to live in a jail within a jail, not allowed to see or talk
to any one. Despite all these tortures and troubles, his ambitions
always remained high.
The war of independence was not to be fought single-handed. The
entire nation was required to come into violent clash with the
British Empire. For this very purpose, Mualana Hasrat inspired the
Muslims and called upon them to take Direct Action:
This man of fearless soul passed away on May 13, 1951 and was buried
in Lucknow - far away from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for
which he sacrificed his all. While commenting on the literary
achievements of Maulana Hasrat, a noted critic, Dr Mohammad Sadiq,
writes in his voluminous book A History of Urdu Literature."
"As I see it, his importance is more historical than literary. To
him goes the credit of having first broken away from the excessive
artificiality of the Lucknow poets of his day and of bringing poetry
into touch with life as he knew it." |
