ICCR remembers Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on his 62nd death anniversary; President pays floral tributes at his Mazar

New Delhi, February 22: Remembering the education stalwart, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on his 62nd death anniversary, the Indian Council for Cultural Relation President Dr Vinay Sahsrabuddhe paid floral tributes at his Mazar in New Delhi on Saturday. Mov ed by the revolutionary journalist's endeavor, ICCR Delhi Director General Dinesh Patnaik meanwhile noted Azad's contribution towards strengthening cultural contacts between India and other eastern countries.

 

 

On National Education Day every year, India celebrates birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who was not only a noted scholar, poet and a revolutionary journalist but also remembered for his invaluable contributions in the Indian freedom struggle. Popularly known as Maulana Azad, he served as the first education minister of independent India and was well versed in many languages viz. Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Bengali.

 

 

Born on November 11, 1888, in Mecca, Azad spent his childhood in Mecca and Medina where he was grown up in Arabic atmosphere for the first ten years of his life. He bent his knees before his profound scholar father for his early education. His unquenchable thirst for knowledge rewarded him with all standards of modern scholarships. His articles, written on varied topics, attracted the attention of many scholars including Nazir Ahmad, Altaf Hussain Hali Muhammad Iqbal, and other well-known personalities of that time.

After India’s independence, Maulana Azad served as the first Minister of Education in Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet from 1947 to 1958. He also was the man behind the Indian Council for Cultural Relation (ICCR) organisation to establish and strengthen cultural contacts between India and other eastern countries. At various times, this organisation provided an impetus to the study of Asiatic problems as they presented themselves.

 

 

Through the Education Ministry, Maulana Azad introduced a scheme for providing financial help to many literary figures in the country who could not carry on their literary pursuits due to economical burdens. The country’s prominent and old poets and journalists too owe their old-age pension to the late Maulana.