11th November
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA HAS DECIDED TO OBSERVE 11th NOVEMBER, THE BIRTHDAY OF MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD, A GREAT FREEDOM FIGHTER, AN EMINENT EDUCATIONIST AND FIRST UNION MINISTER OF EDUCATION, AS ‘NATIONAL EDUCATION DAY’ EVERY YEAR FROM 2008 ONWARDS.
A brief biography is given here
Abul Kalam Azad
Date of birth: 11 November 1888
Place of birth: Mecca, Ottoman Empire (now in Saudi Arabia)
Date of death: 22 February 1958
Place of death: Delhi, India
Movement: Indian independence movement
Major organizations: Indian National Congress
Maulana Abul Kalam Muhiyuddin Ahmed (11 November 1888 – 22 February 1958) was a Muslim scholar and a senior political leader of the Indian independence movement. He was one of the most prominent Muslim leaders to support Hindu-Muslim unity, opposing the partition of India on communal lines. Following India’s independence, he became the first Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name.
As a young man, Azad composed poetry in Urdu as well as treatises on religion and philosophy. He rose to prominence through his work as a journalist, publishing works critical of the British Raj and espousing the causes of Indian nationalism. Azad became a leader of the Khilafat Movement during which he came into close contact with Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi. Azad became an enthusiastic supporter of Gandhi’s ideas of non-violent civil disobedience, and worked actively to organize the Non-cooperation movement in protest of the 1919 Rowlatt Acts. Azad committed himself to Gandhi’s ideals, including promoting Swadeshi (Indigenous) products and the cause of Swaraj (Self-rule) for India. He would become the youngest person to serve as the President of the Indian National Congress in 1923.
As India’s Education Minister, Azad oversaw the establishment of a national education system with free primary education and modern