The Comrade

Last updated

The Comrade was a weekly English-language newspaper that was published and edited by Mohammad Ali Jauhar between 1911 and 1914.

Contents

Mohammad Ali was a forceful orator and writer, contributing articles to various newspapers including The Times , The Observer and The Manchester Guardian before he launched The Comrade. Produced on expensive paper, The Comrade quickly gained circulation and influence becoming famous even internationally, securing subscribers in several foreign countries. [1] The paper, launched from Calcutta, shifted to Delhi, the newly announced capital of the Raj, in 1912 where the first issue of the Delhi edition appeared on 12 October. In 1913, in order to reach out to the Muslim masses, he started an Urdu daily, the Hamdard. [2]

Aims and editorial stance

Mohammad Ali was a member and senior leader of the Muslim League and The Comrade often voiced that party's political line. Ali wrote a series of articles in his paper criticising the annulment of the Partition of Bengal in 1911 and criticised papers such as The Tribune , Surendranath Banerjee's The Bengalee and others that were opposed to the League and the Aligarh school of politics. [3] In its inaugural edition of 14 January 1911, the paper outlined “the frank recognition of yawning differences that divide” Hindus and Muslims. [4] Nevertheless, The Comrade advocated Hindu-Muslim entente, and called on both communities to work together for the national cause.

Ali aimed to create national and global networks of support for Muslim causes through The Comrade. It carried several articles that highlighted the plight of Muslims globally during important international events of the time such as the Balkan Wars, the occupation of Egypt by the British and Turkey's role in the First World War. The articles and editorials were particularly scathing of a perceived British hostility to the Muslim world in general and to Turkey in particular. In his Discovery of India , Jawaharlal Nehru observed thus about Ali and his journalistic stance in The Comrade: "The annulment of the Partition of Bengal in 1911 had given him a shock and his faith in the bona fides of the British Government had been shaken. The Balkan Wars moved him and he wrote passionately in favour of Turkey and the Islamic tradition it represented. Progressively he grew more anti-British and the entry of Turkey in World War I completed the process" [5]

With the start of the First World War, the British government became keen that Indians remain loyal to the Allied cause. The British Indian government was particularly concerned about Muslim public opinion and Pan-Islamic activism. They singled out Mohamed Ali and his newspapers for galvanising Muslim sentiment against the British and the Allies during the early period of the First World War. [6]

Closure and legacy

In 1914 Ali wrote, in The Comrade, an article entitled "The Choice of the Turks" in which he listed a series of wrongs that he said had been done against them by the British, but nonetheless advised the Turks to join with the Allies. This article proved to be the undoing for his paper. On 26 September 1914 The Comrade was banned by the colonial authorities, its deposit of Rs. 2,000 forfeited and all copies of the newspaper impounded under the provisions of the Press Act of 1910. [7]

After the withdrawal of the Non-Cooperation Movement and the collapse of the Khilafat Movement in 1922, Ali, who along with his brother Shaukat Ali, had played an important role in them, revived The Comrade and the Hamdard in 1924, using them to preach a message of Hindu-Muslim amity. The Comrade however closed down two years later.

In 1937, the Bengali journalist and freedom fighter Mujibur Rahman Khan founded an English periodical named The Comrade in honour of Maulana Mohammad Ali's eponymous original. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jawaharlal Nehru</span> Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964

Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's prime minister for 16 years. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, his books written in prison, such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), have been read around the world. During his lifetime, the honorific Pandit was commonly applied before his name in India and even today too.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All-India Muslim League</span> Political party in British-ruled India

The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abul Kalam Azad</span> Indian politician

Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin Ahmed bin Khairuddin Al-Hussaini Azad was an Indian independence activist, Islamic theologian, writer and a senior leader of the Indian National Congress. Following India's independence, he became the First Minister of Education in the Indian government. He is commonly remembered as Maulana Azad; the word Maulana is an honorific meaning 'Our Master' and he had adopted Azad (Free) as his pen name. His contribution to establishing the education foundation in India is recognised by celebrating his birthday as National Education Day across India.

The Khilafat Movement (1919–24), also known as the Caliphate movement or the Indian Muslim movement, was a pan-Islamist political protest campaign launched by Muslims of British India led by Shaukat Ali, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, Hakim Ajmal Khan, and Abul Kalam Azad to restore the caliph of the Ottoman Caliphate, promote Muslim interests and to bring the Muslim in national struggle. During that time the idea of a separate nation for Muslims in India started to build up slowly. It was a protest against the sanctions placed on the caliph and the Ottoman Empire after the First World War by the Treaty of Sèvres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasrat Mohani</span> Indian freedom fighter and poet of the Urdu language

Syed Fazl-ul-Hasan, known by his pen-name Hasrat Mohani, was an Indian activist, freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement and a noted poet of the Urdu language. He coined the notable slogan Inquilab Zindabad in 1921. Together with Swami Kumaranand, he is regarded as the first person to demand complete independence for India in 1921 at the Ahmedabad Session of Congress. Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi supported the complete independence motion demanded by Hasrat Mohani.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaukat Ali (politician)</span> Indian activist

Shaukat Ali was an Indian Muslim member of the Khilafat Movement. He was the elder brother of the renowned political leader Mohammad Ali Jouhar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian nationalism</span> Territorial nationalist movement

Indian nationalism is an instance of territorial nationalism, which is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was fully developed during the Indian independence movement which campaigned for independence from British rule. Indian nationalism quickly rose to popularity in India through these united anti-colonial coalitions and movements. Independence movement figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru spearheaded the Indian nationalist movement. After Indian Independence, Nehru and his successors continued to campaign on Indian nationalism in face of border wars with both China and Pakistan. After the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 and the Bangladesh Liberation War, Indian nationalism reached its post-independence peak. However by the 1980s, religious tensions reached a melting point and Indian nationalism sluggishly collapsed. Despite its decline and the rise of religious nationalism; Indian nationalism and its historic figures continue to strongly influence the politics of India and reflect an opposition to the sectarian strands of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Ali Jauhar</span> Indian Muslim activist (1878–1931)

Muhammad Ali Jauhar, was an Indian Muslim activist, prominent member of the All-India Muslim League, journalist and a poet, a leading figure of the Khilafat Movement and one of the founders of Jamia Millia Islamia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muslim nationalism in South Asia</span>

From a historical perspective, Professor Ishtiaq Ahmed of the University of Stockholm and Professor Shamsul Islam of the University of Delhi classified the Muslims of South Asia into two categories during the era of the Indian independence movement: nationalist Muslims and Muslim nationalists. The All India Azad Muslim Conference represented nationalist Muslims, while the All-India Muslim League represented the Muslim nationalists. One such popular debate was the Madani–Iqbal debate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohamed Barakatullah Bhopali</span>

Mohamed Barakatullah Bhopali, known with his honorific as Maulana Barkatullah, was an Indian revolutionary with sympathy for the Pan-Islamic movement. Barkatullah was born on 7 July 1854 at Itwra Mohalla Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India. He fought from outside India, with fiery speeches and revolutionary writings in leading newspapers, for the independence of India. He did not live to see India independent. He died at San Francisco in 1927 and buried at Sacramento City Cemetery California. In 1988, Bhopal University was renamed Barkatullah University in his honour. He was also Prime Minister of first Provisional Government of India established at Afghanistan in 1915.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ubaidullah Sindhi</span> Indian scholar and political activist

Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi was a political activist of the Indian independence movement and one of its vigorous leaders. According to Dawn, Karachi, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi struggled for the independence of British India and for an exploitation-free society in India. He was also Home Minister of first Provisional Government of India established in Afghanistan in 1915.

Al-Hilal was a weekly Urdu language newspaper established by the Indian Muslim independence activist Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The paper was notable for its criticism of the British Raj in India and its exhortation to Indian Muslims to join the growing Indian independence movement. Al-Hilal ran from 1912 to 1914, when it was shut down under the Press Act.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Bengal</span>

United Bengal was a proposal to transform Bengal Province into an undivided, sovereign state at the time of the Partition of India in 1947. It sought to prevent the division of Bengal on religious grounds. The proposed state was to be called the Free State of Bengal. A confessionalist political system was mooted. The proposal was not put up for a vote. The British government proceeded to partition Bengal in accordance with the Mountbatten Plan and Radcliffe Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohammad Habib</span> Indian historian (1895–1971)

Mohammad Habib (1895–1971) was an Indian historian, who worked at the Aligarh Muslim University. He was involved in the Indian Independence movement, and was an associate of both Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Majeed Khwaja</span> Indian lawyer and activist (1885–1962)

Abdul Majeed Khwaja was an Indian lawyer, educationist, social reformer and freedom fighter from Aligarh. In 1920, he along with others founded Jamia Millia Islamia and later served its vice chancellor and chancellor.

<i>Viceroys House</i> (film) 2017 historical drama film

Viceroy's House is a 2017 fictional film directed by Gurinder Chadha and written by Paul Mayeda Berges, Moira Buffini, and Chadha. The film stars Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson, Manish Dayal, Huma Qureshi, and Michael Gambon. It was selected to be screened out of competition at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival.

The Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) was the branch of the All India Muslim League in the British Indian province of Bengal. It was established in Dacca on 2 March 1912. Its official language was Bengali. The party played an important role in the Bengal Legislative Council and in the Bengal Legislative Assembly, where two of the Prime Ministers of Bengal were from the party. It was vital to the creation of the Dominion of Pakistan, particularly after its election victory in 1946.

The Mohammadi was a Bengali language monthly art journal. It was founded by Mohammad Akram Khan who worked as its editor.

The All India Azad Muslim Conference, commonly called the Azad Muslim Conference, was an organisation of nationalist Muslims in India. Its purpose was advocacy for composite nationalism and a united India, thus opposing the partition of India as well as its underlying two-nation theory put forward by the pro-separatist All-India Muslim League. The conference included representatives from various political parties and organizations such as Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, Majlis-e-Ahrar-ul-Islam, All India Momin Conference, All India Shia Political Conference, Khudai Khidmatgar, Krishak Praja Party, Anjuman-i-Watan Baluchistan, All India Muslim Majlis, and Jamiat Ahl-i-Hadis. The Canadian orientalist Wilfred Cantwell Smith felt that the attendees at the Delhi session in 1940 represented the "majority of India's Muslims". The Bombay Chronicle documented on 18 April 1946 that "The attendance at the Nationalist meeting was about five times than the attendance at the League meeting."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi</span> Indian independence activist

Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi was an Indian Sunni Islamic scholar and an activist of the Indian independence movement, who served as the fourth general secretary of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. He fought against British rule for 25 years (1922-1947) and spent eight years in jail. As a politician, he opposed the partition of India, and served as a member of the Indian Parliament for the Indian National Congress from Amroha from 1952 to 1962.

References

  1. ↑ "Maulana Muhammad Ali Jouhar". Story of Pakistan. 17 October 2013.
  2. ↑ "Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee". www.dpcc.co.in. Archived from the original on 2010-08-25.
  3. ↑ S. M. Ikram, Indian Muslims And Partition Of India, New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers, 1992, p. 156.
  4. ↑ "Maulana Mohammad Ali Johar". Pakistan Herald.
  5. ↑ Jawaharlal Nehru, The Discovery of India, Penguin India, 2004. p. 382.
  6. ↑ Public spaces of discourse: innovations and interventions in colonial India, Gurpreet Bhasin, Open University. http://www.mediapolis.org.uk/Papers/Gurpreet%20Bhasin.pdf
  7. ↑ "Full text of "Muhammad Ali, his life, services and trial"". archive.org. 1922.
  8. ↑ "Khan, Mujibur Rahman1". banglapedia.org.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.