Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Born in Mecca in 1888, Maulana came to India in 1890 as a child. The best part of his formative years was spent in Calcutta. In 1916, he was to meet Gandhiji in Calcutta, and was greatly influenced by his speeches. Azad joined the freedom movement of India, and was arrested by the British for his seditious writings, and detained in jail at Ranchi for four years. On his release in January, 1920 he met Gandhiji in the latter's Sabarmati Ashrama, and became his ardent follower. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was a profound scholar, a great patriot and a veteran statesman. He was an outstanding Muslim whom no provocation and no pressure could deflect from the path of nationalism. He became the symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity, enjoying in a large measure the confidence of both the communities even on trying occasions. Azad was highly respected by the Muslims, even when he was very young, as he was a great scholar of merit. He was a reputed scholar of the Quran. As an orator in Urdu, he w...