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Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (1890-1988)

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, famously known as ‘Frontier Gandhi’, was born in 1890 in Uttamanzai village of Charsaddah tahsil in the Peshawar district of Pakistan. His father Khan Behram Khan was the Sardar of village Uttamanzai. He joined the British Indian Army after completing his studies. Hee quit the army, however, outraged by the misbehavior of British Officers towards Indian colleagues, in 1906. Later, he went to Aligarh to pursue his higher education. He returned to his native village as desired by his mother without completing his studies. He travelled across the north west frontier region, observing the troubles of the people. More and more, he felt that education was the way forward. So, he started ‘Azad National School’ with the help of his friend Abdu Aziz in 1910 in Uttamanzai. His efforts led to qualitative change in the lives of the Pathans. He entered into Indian national movement by participating in the Anti-Rowlatt agitation in 1919. He met Mahatma Gandhi in 1928 at Calcutta becoming a close aide and follower. He started a society named ‘Khuda-i-Khidmatgar’ (Servants of God) in 1929, persuading the Pathans to lay down their traditional use of arms. When the British Police turned the Khissa Khani Bazar in Peshawar into a heap of corpses, ‘the Servants of God’ did not even pelt a single stone against police, but faced the bullets but answered with non violent agitation. Ghaffar Khan attended the All India Congress meeting at Karachi on March 31, 1931 along with the volunteers of the ‘Khuda-i-Khidmatgars’. It was here that the historic Fundamental Rights resolution was passed giving workers, farmers and women equal rights. He spent 15 years in jail for participating in the Indian National Movement. He opposed the resolution passed by the Congress in May 1947 acquiescing to the division of the nation, for which he had to face the ire of the leaders of the Muslim League. He expressed his anguish to Gandhi and said ‘you have left us to the wolves’. The government of Pakistan was irked by his comments and declared him a covert and imprisoned him. As a result, Ghaffar Khan had to spend 15 more years in jail and 6 years in exile. The government of India honoured him with the highest civilian award ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 1987. ‘Frontier Gandhi’ Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, who followed the path laid by Gandhiji till his end, passed on 20 January, 1988.

Anis Begum Kidwai (1906 – 1982)

Anis Begum Kidwai, who participated in the Indian national movement with passionate commitment, was born in 1906 in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh. Her father was Shaik Wilayat Ali. Anis Begum married to Shafi Ahmed Kidwai. Her father Wilayat Ali and her husband both were freedom fighters. Both her husband and brother-in-law, Rafi Ahamed Kidwai were leaders of the Indian national movement The Anis Kidwai family had to face the ire of the British police; since the earning members of the family quit their jobs in favour of a committed political activism, there was also financial constraints. Neither state repression nor financial troubles could diminish her commitment, however. Anis Begum Kidwai was deeply hurt by the Partition of the country. Her husband Shafi Ahmed Kidwai, who worked for harmony among the Hindus and Muslims and opposed the division of the nation, was killed by communal forces. Despite this profound loss, a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in Delhi after the demise of her husband, propelled her to work along with women leaders like Subhadra Joshi, Mridula Sarabhai and such others, under the guidance of Gandhiji to support and help the women, who were suffering like her due to division of country. She helped start and run rescue and relief camps for the victims. They called her with affection ‘Anis Aapa’ (Sister Anis). After Independence, she became the member of the Rajya Sabha in 1957, a post she held until 1968. She penned her experiences of the brutal division of the country in her book ‘Azadi Ki Chaon Mein’. She also wrote books ‘Zulum’ and ‘Ab Jinke Dekhne’, in which she described and decried the cruelty of the communal forces. She also published an anthology of essays ‘Nazre Khush Guzre’ in 1976. Her literary skills were recognized by the government of India. She was honoured with the Sahitya Kala Parishad award. Anis Begum Kidwai, who was successful simultaneously in politics, literature and public service, passed away on July 16, 1982.

Vaikkam Mohammad Basheer (1908-1994)

Vaikkam Mohammad Basheer, who used his literary skills as weapons in the struggle for the emancipation of the mother land India from the yoke of British, was born in Thalayola-parambu village, North Travencore district in Kerala on January 1, 1908. After completing his primary education in his native village, he joined in an English medium school at Vaikkam, where he saw Mahatma Gandhi for the first time in 1924. Inspired, he joined the Swadeshi Movement and started wearing Khadi. He quit his education to join the national movement and joined the Indian National Congress. He reached Kozhikode to participate in the Salt satyagraha, for which he was imprisoned for nine months. Later, he was influenced by the armed struggle against the British. As a result of his participation in the anti-British revolutionary activities, he had to spend about seven and half years in several jails. He started a newspaper ‘Ujjeevanam’ to spread revolutionary ideology among the people. The British government banned the news paper and issued an arrest warrant against him in 1931. Then, Basheer went underground to avoid arrest. He spent about seven years underground doing several works in different places for his survival. He returned in 1937 and intensified his activities. The British Government declared him a ‘dangerous person’ and arrested him in 1941. He spent three months as an under trial prisoner. During that period he penned his first book about the police and public affairs narrating his lock up experiences. Since then, he continued his writing, publishing several novels, short stories etc. He was able to win the hearts of the readers with his mesmerizing literary style. He wrote most of his books during his imprisonment. His books were translated into several Indian languages. He started a novel way of selling his literature: he took it personally from door to door. A critique of state repression and atrocities by the police, his books were banned often. Basheer was strongly opposed to the idea of the division of the nation. He was totally dedicated to his literary work after independence. The government of India honoured him with ‘Padam Sri’ in 1982 recognizing his literary efforts and his contribution towards the Indian freedom movement. He was fondly called ‘Boipur Sultan’. Vaikkam Mohammd Basheer, freedom fighter, man of letters and the man of the masses, passed away on July 5, 1994 in Boipur.

Hajara Beebi Ismail ( --1994)

Hajara Beebi Ismail was the wife of Mohammed Ismail Saheb, a freedom fighter from Tenali of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. The couple were strongly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and dedicated themselves to the Khadi campaign movement. Her husband Mohammed Ismail started the first Khaddar Store in Guntur district for which he got fame as ‘Khaddar Ismail’. In those days, Tenali was the headquarters for the Muslim League in the Andhra region where it was very active. Since Hajara and her husband followed Gandhi they faced stiff opposition from the Muslim League Hajara Beebi did not lose courage though her husband was arrested several times for his role in the national movement. Both husband and wife, the Ismail couple wanted their children to be educated where nationalism was taught. Thus, they sent their girl children to a Hindi School. Opposed to Muslim communalists, they had to face boycott. Hajira Beebi stood strong against this treatment even after she lost her husband Khaddar Ismail in 1948. He succumbed to the ill health caused by repeated imprisonments. The government offered her land after the demise of her husband under freedom fighters category. But, she refused politely to take the land and said that she does not want to get her patriotism valued through assets. Moreover, she donated her family’s own land to ‘Kavuru Vinayashram’ to keep the promise made by her husband. Even after the demise of her husband, she was devoted to the wider struggle. She got their Khadi Store run by her children after her husband and she wore Khadi till her last breath. Hajara Beebi Ismail, who was a dedicated Khadi activist like her husband, passed away on June 16, 1994 in Tenaili.

Hajara Begum (1910-2003)

Hajara Begum, who fought against the British to liberate India and worked for the welfare of the toiling masses of the country, was born on December 22, 1910 at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. She came to know about the sacrifices of the freedom fighters who were fighting against the British from her father, who was a police officer. After the failure of her marriage, she went to London to pursue her higher education, where she got acquainted with the anti-British forces. This led her to decide to fight against the British Imperialist forces to liberate the nation. She had to face the anger of the British Government as she was criticizing their acts in several International fora. She returned to India and joined as a lecturer in the Karamat Hussain women’s College at Lucknow in 1935. She also worked along with famous poet Sajjad Zahir and formed the All India Progressive Writers’ Association. She got married to a nationalist leader Dr. Zainul Abedeen Ahmed in 1935 and both joined the Indian National Congress the same year. Facing the ire of the authorities, they resigned their jobs and dedicated themselves totally to the Indian national movement. While participating in the activities of the Indian National Congress, Hajara Begum also campaigned for the Communist Party without the knowledge of the Police. She actively took part in the election campaign in those days, and as a result of this a number of Congress leaders got elected. She attended a secret political workshop at Kotthapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in 1937. She spoke on different subjects in the workshop as a lecturer. Hajara Begum was against gender bias since her youth.. She fought against all types of inequalities successfully. She left the Indian National Congress in 1940 along with her husband and since then played a vital role in organizing unorganized labour. She was popularly known as ‘Hajara Aapa’ in the circles of toiling people and women. The Soviet Union honoured her with ‘Supreme Soviet Jubilee Award’ in 1960 in recognition of her work for the downtrodden people on the eve of the birth centenary of Lenin. Hajara Begum, who spent her entire life in the service of the country, breathed her last on January 20, 2003.

(Source: The Immortals, Syed Naseer Ahamed (2014) published by Azad House of Publications)