Mohammad Ali Jauhar

Muhammad Ali Jauhar Khan
Autochromeportrait by Auguste Léon, 1920
10thPresidentofAll-India Muslim League
In office 30 December 1917 – 1 January 1918
Preceded by	Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Succeeded by	Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan
41stPresidentofIndian National Congress
In office 1923–1923
Preceded by	Chittaranjan Das
Succeeded by	Abul Kalam Azad
Personal details
Born	(1878-12-10)10 December 1878 Rampur,Rampur State,British India
Died	4 January 1931(1931-01-04)(aged 52) London,England
Resting place	Jerusalem
Political party	All India Muslim League
Other political affiliations	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Amjadi Bano Begum ​ ​ (m.1902⁠–⁠1931)​
Relations	Shaukat Ali(brother) Zulfiqar Ali Khan (brother) Gauhar Ali Khan (brother)
Parent(s)	Abdul Ali Khan (father) Abadi Bano Begum(mother)
Occupation	Journalist,scholar,political activist,poet
Known for	Khilafat movement
Religion	Islam
Founder of	Jamia Millia Islamia

Muhammad Ali Jauhar Khan(10 December 1878 – 4 January 1931) was anIndianMuslim freedomactivist,a pre-eminent member ofIndian National Congress,journalistand a poet, a leading figure of theKhilafat Movementand one of the founders ofJamia Millia Islamia.

Jauhar was a member of theAligarh Movement.He was elected to become the President ofIndian National Congressparty in 1923 and it lasted only for a few months owing to the differences with the organization, especially Gandhi, on the haphazard ending of Non-cooperation movement. In the following years, he ended up being antithetical to it and accused Gandhi and Motilal Nehru of succumbing to the appeasement of Hindus as they regarded Muslims “the minorities” in India and refused to accommodate Muslim demands in the political representation. Being one of the founders, esteemed member and 10th president of theAll-India Muslim League,he represented the party in the first round-table conference held in London.

Early life and career

Muhammad Ali was born in 1878 atRampurinNorth-Western Provinces,British India.He was born to a wealthyRohillafamily with ancestry from theYusufzaiclan ofPathans.His father,Abdul Ali Khan,died when he was five years old.His brothers wereShaukat Ali,who became a leader of theKhilafat Movement,and Zulfiqar Ali. His motherAbadi Begum(1852 – 1924), affectionately known as 'Bi Amman', inspired her sons to take up the mantle of the struggle for freedom from the British colonial rule. To this end, she was adamant that her sons were properly educated. Due to the efforts, determination and sacrifice of their mother, he and his brothers were able to get a good quality education.

Despite the early death of his father, Jauhar attendedAligarh Muslim Universityand theAllahabad University,eventually moving toEnglandin 1898, attending theLincoln College, Oxford,studying modern history.

Upon his return to India, he served as education director for the Rampur state, and later joined theBarodacivil service.He became a writer and an orator of the first magnitude and a farsighted political leader, writing articles in major British and Indian newspapers likeThe Times,London,The Manchester GuardianandThe Observer.He launched theEnglishweeklyThe Comradein 1911 inCalcutta.It quickly gained circulation and influence internationally. He moved toDelhiin 1912 and there he launched anUrdu-language daily newspaperHamdardin 1913.He marriedAmjadi Bano Begum(c. 1886–1947) in 1902. Amjadi Begum was actively involved in the national and Khilafat movement.

Jauhar worked hard to expand the Aligarh Muslim University, then known as theMuhammadan Anglo-Oriental College,and was one of the co-founders of theJamia Millia Islamiain 1920, which was later moved to Delhi.

Khilafat movement in India

Jauhar had attended the founding meeting of theAll India Muslim LeagueinDaccain 1906, and served as its president in 1918.He remained active in the League till 1928. Jauhar "had the unique distinction of having directed the affairs of the three most important political parties/movements in the country — TheIndian National Congress,theAll India Muslim Leagueand theKhilafat movement."

He represented theMuslim Leaguedelegation that travelled toEnglandin 1919 to convince the British government to influence the Turkish nationalistMustafa Kemalnot to depose theSultan of Turkey,who was theCaliph of Islamand the presumed leader of all theIslamic nationsof that time.British government's rejection of their demands resulted in the formation of theKhilafatcommittee which directed Muslims all over India to protest and boycott the British government.

In 1921, Jauhar formed a broad coalition with the nationalist leaders likeShaukat Ali,Abul Kalam Azad,Hakim Ajmal Khan,Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari,Syed Ata Ullah Shah Bukharias well asMahatma Gandhi,who then enlisted the support of theIndian National Congressand many thousands of Hindus, who joined the Muslims in a demonstration of unity against the British government. Jauhar also wholeheartedly supported Gandhi's call for a national civil resistance movement and inspired many hundreds of protests and strikes all over India. He was arrested by British authorities and imprisoned for two years for what was termed as a seditious speech at the meeting of the Khilafat Conference.

Alienation from Congress

Jauhar was disillusioned by the end of Khilafat movement and Gandhi's suspension ofnon-cooperation movementin 1922, owing to theChauri Chaura incident.This incident, on 4 February 1922, when a large group of protesters, participating in Gandhi's non-cooperation movement clashed with police, who opened fire and killed three protesters. In retaliation, the demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station, killing 22 policemen. TheIndian National Congresssuspended the non-cooperation movement on the national level as a direct result of this incident.

He restarted his dailyHamdardand left the Congress Party. He opposed theNehru Report,which was a document proposing constitutional reforms and a dominion status of an independent nation within theBritish Empire,written by a committee ofHinduandMuslimmembers of the Congress Party headed by PresidentMotilal Nehru.It was a major protest against theSimon Commissionwhich had arrived in India to propose reforms but having no local Indian member nor making any effort to listen to the Indians' voices and aspirations. Mohammad Ali was put in jail.So All Parties Conference on Nehru report was represented by Shaukat Ali, Begum Mohammad Ali and 30 other members of the Central Khilafat Committee which includedAbdul Majid Daryabadi,Azad Subhani,Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi,Abul Muhasin Muhammad Sajjadand others. Mohammad Ali opposed the part of the Nehru Report's 'acception' of separate electorates for Muslims, and supported theFourteen PointsofMuhammad Ali Jinnahand the Muslim League.He became a critic of Gandhi, breaking with fellow Muslim leaders like Abul Kalam Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, who continued to support Gandhi and the Indian National Congress.

Imprisonment in Karachi

In 1921, the British government established a court inKhaliqdina HallinKarachiand punished him with two-and-a-half years' imprisonment inKarachi central jail.Besides this jail sentence, he had served many and frequent jail sentences due to his anti-government activities. However, he kept fighting forthe Muslim League.

1930 Round Table Conference in London

Ultimately Mohammad Ali's frequent jail sentences, his diabetes and lack of proper nutrition while jailed, made him very sick. Despite his failing health, he wanted to attend the firstRound Table Conferenceheld inLondonin 1930.Ali attended the 'Conference' inLondon(the chairman beingSir Agha Khanof the Muslim delegation) to show that only the Muslim League spoke for India's Muslims. Reportedly his words to the British government were that he would not return to India alive unless the country was set free, "I would prefer to die in a foreign country so long as it is a free country, and if you do not give us freedom in India, you will have to give me a grave here."

Death and legacy

Main article:List of institutions and places named after Mohammad Ali Jauhar

Grave of Mohammad Ali Jauhar in Jerusalem

He died of a stroke inLondonon 4 January 1931 and was buried inJerusalemby the choice of his relatives, friends and admirers.The inscription on his grave in theKhātūniyya Madrasa,which is near theDome of the Rock,says: "Here lies al-Sayyid Muhammad Ali al-Hindi."

Commemorative postage stamp

Pakistan Postal Servicesissued a commemorative postage stamp for Mohammad Ali Jauhar in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series on his birth anniversary in 1978.A number of educational intuitions likeMohammad Ali Jauhar UniversityinRampur,India, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Academy of International Studies in Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi, India,Maulana Mohammad Ali Collegein Bangladesh and places includingJohar Town,Jauharabad,Gulistan-e-Jauharin Pakistan are named after Jauhar.

In popular culture

Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauharis a 1984documentary filmdirected by Saiyed Ahmad and produced by theGovernment of India'sFilms Division,it covers his political career and life as anIndian freedom fighter.

Speeches

"I had long been convinced that here in this Country of hundreds of millions of human beings, intensely attached to religion, and yet infinitely split up into communities, sects and denominations, Providence had created for us the mission of solving a unique problem and working out a new synthesis, which was nothing low than a Federation of Faiths… For more than twenty years I have dreamed the dream of a federation, grander, nobler and infinitely more spiritual than the United States of America, and today when many a political Cassandra prophesies a return to the bad old days of Hindu-Muslim dissensions I still dream that old dream of 'United Faiths of India.'" —Mohammad Ali Jauhar; from the Presidential Address, I.N.C. Session, 1923, Cocanada (now Kakinada).

However later, he started supporting the concept of Pakistan and thePakistan Movement.

External links

Biographical pages

• Rehmat Farrukhabadi(2005).Muhammad Ali Jauhar and the Mutiny Trial (محمد علی جوہر ۱ور مقدمہِ بغاوت) in Urdu.Oxford University Press.ISBN9780195978940.Archived fromthe originalon 29 October 2014.Retrieved5 September2023.
• "Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar".Profile of Mohammad Ali Jauhar on 'Pioneers of Freedom' website.Archived fromthe originalon 29 July 2013.
• "Ali brothers".nazariapak.info website.Archived fromthe originalon 16 September 2004.
• "Presidents of Indian national Congress (Mohammad Ali Jauhar listed as President in 1923)".Kamat website.