Role of Muslims in Indias Freedom

Movement
The history of Indian national movement would be incomplete and biased without the
presentation of the actual role of Indian Muslims in it. Many historians tried to prove that Indian
Muslim leaders preached the gospel of separation right from the Revolt of 1857 to the day of
independence in 1947, and the Muslim antagonism to the Freedom Movement dates back to its
beginning itself and that Religion can never allow a true Muslim to adopt India as his
motherland. There is also a propaganda that this tendency was ultimately the reason for partition
of the country in 1947 and the ideology of separatism has influenced the Muslim masses so
intensely that they were not satisfied by the concessions granted to them by the majority
community which resulted in fresh demands for a separate homeland. This propaganda has been
resulted in the campaign of hatred against the Muslims. After the attainment of independence it
was hoped that our intellectuals would say good-bye to the British historiography of infusing
communal politics and sowing the seeds of dissension between the two communities in India and
usher in the golden age of freedom. No adequate coverage But contrary to the expectations, the
role of Indian Muslims in the national movement has not been given adequate coverage in the
press or books. It has either been sidetracked or referred to here and there by scholars. Instead of
factual and secular historiography it has been communalized. The contribution of Muslim
revolutionaries, poets and writers is not known today. Similarly scarcely is known about the
contribution of Muhammad Ashfaq Ullah Khan of Shahjehanpur who conspired and looted the
British treasury at Kakori (Lucknow) to cripple the administration and who, when asked for his
last will, before execution, desired: No desire is left except one that some one may put a little soil
of my motherland in my winding sheet. Likewise present generation of students do not know
about Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, a great nationalist who had passed 45 years of his 95 years of
life in jail for the freedom of India; Barakatullah of Bhopal, one of the founders of the Ghadar
party who created a network of anti-British organization and who died penniless in Germany in
l927; Syed Rahmat Shah of the Ghadar party who worked as an underground revolutionary in
France and was hanged for his part in unsuccessful Ghadar uprising in 1915; Ali Ahmad Siddiqui
of Faizabad (UP) who planned the Indian Mutiny in Malaya and Burma along with Syed
Mujtaba Hussain of Jaunpur and who was hanged In 1917; Umar Subhani, an industrialist and a
millionaire of Bombay who presented a blank check to Gandhiji for congress expenses and who
ultimately gave his life for the cause of independence, Muhammad Basheer, Khuda Bux, A.
Zakaria, Zafar Hasan, Allah Nawaz, Abdul Aziz and tens of thousands of revolutionaries are
ignored. There is no doubt about that the Muslims have contributed massively to the national
movement. Their struggle started since the advent of British rule in India. In the annals of
archives Qaiser-ul-Tawarikh mentioned that the number of Muslims executed only in Delhi
during 1857-58 was 27,000, not to speak of those killed in the general massacre. This shows the
great sacrifices they made for the emancipation of their country from British rule. In all the
national uprisings from Sanyasi Movement to independence, the files of the Home Department
are replete with their immense sacrifices that finally led to the withdrawal of British from India
in 1947. What surprises one is the thing that even during the celebration of 50 years of
Independence, their role was not properly taken care of by the press which led the All-India Milli
Council, a body of Muslims to launch a Karavan-e-Azadi Rally, one from Srirangapatnam where
the mausoleum of Tipu Sultan is located and the other from Silchar (Assam) to educate people
about the role of Muslims in the country s freedom struggle. What further pains one is the fate of
Sultan Tipu s epitaph, put on the memorable place where he fell fighting with the British in
defense of his metropolis his country which had been made a cricket wicket by the youngsters
for their cricket practice during the World Cup 1999. No one, not even the local administration
prevented this. This shows the ignorance of Indians of their greatest patriots who laid their lives
for India s freedom. There is no dearth of books on the Indian National Movement but only
passing references have been made in them about the role of Muslims. So much so that in her
book entitled Women In India s Freedom Movement Manmohan Kaur makes reference to only
Begum Hazrat Mahel and Bi-Amma out of the hundreds of women who fought the battle of
freedom with their men folk against the British Raj. Several monographs in which Santimay Ray
s Freedom Movement and Indian Muslims or P.N. Chopra s Role of Indian Muslims in the
Struggle for Freedom; Kamta Chaubey s Muslims and Freedom Movement in India and a few
regional studies like Muzaffar Imam s Role of Muslims in the National Movement and Hasan
Imam s Indian National Movement regarding the role of Muslims have been published. But the
subject is wide and needs a comprehensive study. Such a study is essential to help eradicating
prejudices and many misconceptions against the Muslims grown in the absence of fair
historiography. Shan Muhammad s book Aligarh University professor Shan Muhammad s book
Muslims and India s Freedom Movement that he dedicated to those who suffered for the cause of
India s Independence, is a marvelous work in this regard. It was Institute of Objective Studies,
New Delhi, which extended due encouragement to bring this work in its present shape. This
project was to be released on the 50th anniversary of our independence but got released last
year. An objective study of the national movement reveals that Muslims have never been
wanting in nationalist upsurge. Shoulder to shoulder they have fought with the other
communities for the Independence of India. No single political party could have driver the
British and it was with the indefatigable struggle of all that the British were forced to quit. The
Faraizi and the Wahhabi Movements had disturbed the pace of British plan in the initial stages of
its expansion in India. These movements may rightly be called as the most organized struggle to
oust the British. The Wahhabis with their network all over India obstructed the smooth sailing of
the British and fought gallantly against them. It is in this sense that they are said to be the early
fighters for India s freedom. They resisted their fresh masters, gave them a befitting reply and
convinced them that their stay in India was momentary. It is a pity that their role in the struggle
for freedom has not been adequately presented in the national history. What is more surprising is
the fact that the role and contribution of Muslim women in the war of independence and the
subsequent movement have been totally ignored by the historians. Along with their counterparts
they fought gallantly and suffered heavily. In the revolt of 1857 Asghari Begum (mother of Qazi
Abdur Rahim, the revolutionary of Thana Bhawan, Muzaffarnagar) fought the British and was
burnt alive when defeated. Similarly Habiba and Rahimi who obstructed the advance of English
forces were caught and hanged. It is estimated that about 225 Muslim women gave their lives in
the revolt. The history of the national movement would be incomplete without mentioning the
services of Abadi Begum (mother of Maulana Muhammad Ali), Amjadi Begum (wife of Maulana
Muhammad Ali), Nishat-un-Nisa (Begum Hasrat Mohani), Saadat Bano Kitchlew (wife of Dr
Saifuddin Kichlew), Begum Khursheed Khwaja (wife of M.A. Khwaja), Zulekha Begum (wife
of Maulana Azad), Khadeja Begum and Khursheed Sahiba of frontier, Mehr Taj (daughter of
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan), Zubaida Begum Daoodi (wife of Shafi Daoodi, the reputed
nationalist of Bihar), Kaneez Sajida Begum (Bihar), Muneera Begum (wife of Maulana Mazhar-
ul-Haq), Asmat Ara Begum Sughra Khatoon (Lucknow), Amina Tyabji (wife of Abbas Tyabji),
Begum Sakina Luqmani (wife of Dr Luqmani and daughter of Badruddin Tyabji), Rehana Tyabji,
(daughter of Abbas Tyabji), Hamida Tyabji (granddaughter of Shamsuddin Tyabji), Fatima Taib
Ali, Safia Saad Khan, Shafaat-un-Nisa Bibi (wife of Maulana Habib-ur-Rahman, Ludhiana),
Kulsoom Siyani (wife of Dr Jan Muhammad Siyani, nephew of Rahmtoo They participated in all
the political movements from partition of Bengal to the partition of India with Congress banners
in their hands. They were imprisoned, fined, baton-charged and suffered for a cause. Their life
story itself is a part of the national movement, which cannot be denied and obliterated. The
Collected Works of Gandhi speaks of their magnificent contribution to India s struggle for
freedom