Maulana Barkatullah

Source: Indian Express
GS I: Modern Indian History from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present – significant events, personalities, issues.

Overview

1. News in Brief
2. Maulana Barkatullah – His Early Life
3. Role In India’s Freedom Struggle

Why in the News?

The executive council of Bhopal’s Barkatullah University passed a proposal to change its name to Vagdevi Bhojpal University.

News in Brief

• The proposed renaming of Barkatullah University in Bhopal has revived a wider discussion about the legacy of Barkatullah.
• Maulana Mohamed Barkatullah Bhopali , one of India’s most prominent revolutionary freedom fighters.
• Historians have highlighted that instead of changing the university’s name more should be done to popularize the legacy of Barkatullah.

Maulana Barkatullah- His Early Life

• Believed to have been born on July 7, 1854, in Bhopal.
• A meritorious student, studied in Bombay and then London.
• He started teaching in Liverpool and there he came into contact with Indian revolutionaries.
• In 1899, he moved to US.
• Here he maintained contact with the freedom fighter Maulana Hasrat Mohani.
  • Maulana Hasrat Mohani, coined the slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad’ which translates to ‘Long Live The Revolution’.
  • Later it was popularized by the revolutionary Bhagat Singh during 1920s.

Role In India’s Freedom Struggle

Belief and Ideas

• Maulana Mohamed Barkatullah Bhopali was a revolutionary nationalist, journalist, and anti-colonial activist.
• He devoted his life to attaining India’s Independence from British rule.
• Through speeches and publications, he became one of the most prominent internationally connected figures of the freedom movement and mobilised support against British Imperialism.
• Barkatullah firmly believed that the British could be driven out of India only if Hindus and Muslims fought shoulder to shoulder and resisted the ‘Divide-and-Rule’ policy.

Prime Minister of the Provisional Government of India

• Barkatullah, Raja Mahendra Pratap (a Hindu) and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi (a great Islamic thinker), formed a Provisional Government of India in Kabul in December 1, 1915 (during World War I).
• It was a part of efforts to secure India’s Independence from British rule.
• In this provisional government in exile, Raja Mahendra Pratap served as President and Maulana Barkatullah served as Prime Minister and Ubaidullah Sindhi served as Home Minister.
• This highlighted the vision of India where people of different faiths fought for a common goal.

Association with Ghadar Party

• Barkatullah worked prominently for the Ghadar Movement.
• He edited publications associated with Ghadar Party.
• He travelled to California for Ghadar Party Event, where he breathed his last.The 

Conclusion

• Unlike many freedom fighters who worked from inside India, Barkatullah spent most of his life in exile and mobilised his support.
• He connected with the anti-colonial movement around the world until is last breath and became one of the most prominent Indian revolutionaries of his time.

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