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IV POLITICAL IDEAS AND ROLE OF MAULANA OBAIDULLAH SINDHI ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF ©octor of P)ilogup!)j> IN POLITICAL SCIENCE BY NAIM ULLAH KHAN Under the Supervision of DR. M. H. KIDWAI Reader DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 1^3 ^ FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH. 1981 IV POLITICAL IDEAS AND ROLE OF MAULANA OBAIDULLAH SINDHI ABSTRACT THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF ©OCtor Llf $ilf!lOGUpI)D IN POLITICAL SCIENCE Under the Supervision of DR. M. H. KIDWAI Reader DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY ALIGARH. 1981 *ft&X&A£X The Revolt of 1857 had struck a heavy blow to the aspirations of Indian Muslims. They loot all hope* of recovery of thair lost povar and dominion* Thara vara now only two alternativce left for than l«e«, aither to surrender the dreaaa of Independence for all times, aooept the British rule and try to obtain thair patronage or to faoa boldly thair nlsfortunea and try to evolve a political order in cooperation with their fallow country men which would guarantee equal opportunities of welfare and a self-respecting life for nan of all faitha, fha first alternative waa adopted by Sir Sayyed Ahmad Khan who euccesefully lad a aovement in favour of English education and cooperation with the British Govern* taent. Ma played a key role in the political resurgence of the Indian Hue lima. Sir Sayyed Ahaad Khan'a views and movement sat with strong opposition from the Deoband School. While Sir Sayyed beoame interested in the politico of Huelima after the Revolt of !857» the U learn had been seized of the situation much earlier. a* il «• Tha Deoband movamant, as tha Ulema believed had been initiated by Shah Waliullah,a great Muslim divina and a social and political reformer of the eighteenth century and had once culminated In the holy war (Jehad) lad by Sayyad Ahmad Shahid against the British rule. The suppre ssion of tha Revolt poeed before then the sama problem which Shah Vallullah had to face after tha oollapae of tha i.oghul rule. They know that they lacked reeottrcefulneae for an armed struggle against tha mighty British Empire* ^hey, therefore, founded a religious seminary at Deoband in tha -aharanpur district to train religious leaders for tha eommunlty and to keep alive tha spirit of Jehad against tha foreign rulers of India* Prominent among than were Haulana Hohammad Qneim HanautTi (1837*1860) and Maulana Raahid Ahmad Oaagohl (1828-1905)* They had also tha clarity of vision to see that tha independence of India could not be achieved vita* out Hlndu-Muella unity and cooperation. Shay had, therefore, welcomed tha formation of tha Indian national Congress and when in 1888 Sir Sayyad Ahmad Khan advised Muslims not to join tha Congreac, tha Deoband ulema condemned sir Sayyad*s attitude and even issued a religious decree (fatava) against Sir Sayyad»a organisations,- tha Patriotic Association as vail aa Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Defence dissociation. Thue tha attempts Q£ sir Sayyad to obtain - ill - the cooperation of the Ulema in hie plan were repudiated by the authorities of Deotoand as the two differed widely in their political attitude. 1111 the end of the nineteenth century Ceoband lay low for Government kept over it a careful watch. It was eking out an existence in extremely hard conditions—lack of funds was the greatest worry, for those In a position to help were afraid of the frowns of the powers that be, yet the school stunk courageously to its ideals and did not falter in its chosen path* io&ong the earliest entrants to the school was Haulana Mahmood Hasan who spent praetieally all his life in the school, first as a pupil and then as a teacher and principal of the institution* Early in life he had made up his mind about his mission which he pursued till the last day* The object of the mission was liberation of India* In 1905 he began to promote his plans actively* and started his work on two fronts—within the country and abroad* The two were to rise simultaneously in armed revolt and drive the British out of India* The armed rising was not planned as a purely Muslim affair* From Punjab the Mkhs and from Bengal the revolutionary party members were invited to eooperate. These preparations were carried out in secret. In his plan he was very much assisted by his favourite pupil Maulana Obaldullah Bindhi. m. if <•» Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi (1372*1944) was a roaarkable member of the eoband School. lie was bora in a Sikh family of Sialkot district. Whilat yet a boy of fifteen ho rebelled against hie family religion and accepted Islam. In 1869. ho reached Beoband to join tho famous religious seminary of Indian Muslims - Dar-ul-Jloc/s in perault of religious knowledge* A% fieoband he remained very close to Sheikh-ul- hind ttaulana Mah»ood Hasan who acquainted hie with the writings of Shah toliullah and Maulana lanautYl. He waa also initiated In the politico - religious spirit under* lying; the £ar*ul«Uloo«u After his graduation Maulana Obaiduilah -indhi went back to Blndh and started his career as a teaoher. In 1908 he was called back to Deoband by hie learned teaoher and eatrueted with the programme of Jamlat-ul-Aasar# an organi sation of the alumni of the Beoband seminary. He worked aa its secretary for four years i.e. 1309-1913• In 1915 Maulana Eladhi waa directed by hei^i-ul-Hind to novo to Delhi and work in iTaaarat-ul-i.uarif. Its main object was to instruct the western educated Kuslia youth in the wuranic teachings in a way that would enable then to shake off their 111 founded scepticism about the Islaalo beliefs. - v - During his stay In Dalai he was introduced to Dr. M.A. Ansari, riattl,na Abul lalam Aaad and Maulana Mohammed All who war© greatly respowGltols tor changing the course of Indian Muslim politics from that of cooperating with the Government to that of stiff oppoaition of it» policies. haulana Sindhi, time, entered into active politics but he had to take up still more important work because of the outbreak of the First feorld War in 1914. That was the time when the British Government was trying hard to destroy all that had been left of the Ottoman Empire because it had joined the First World Mar as an ally of Germany. The Indian Muslims were very much enthusiastic to help their Turkish brethren. All their hopes rested with the &hilafat as the Sultan of the Turkish Empire also happened to be the iChalifat-ul-Muoleratn. At this at age the iiaulana was directed by -,heikh-ul- Hind to proceed to Kabul on a mission to persuade the Amir of Afghanistan to help the Indian nationalist* in their struggle against the British. At that time Amir Habibullah i£han wae the ruler of Afghanistan. He showed some interest in the plan and advised Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi to coope rate with the Indian national Congress. A Congress Committee was organised in Kabul which was later affiliated to the Indian national Congress on the recommendation of br. Anaari. the Amir, however, did not wish to offend the British. - Ti - Besides, he was alBo bound by a treaty to taks no decision on foreign policy without the approval of the British Government. The I ado-merman hiasien also visited Kabul at this time. ..aulana ubaidullah Eindhi and the Indian members of the Indo-Oeraan Ilisslon—Raja Mahendra Pratap and &aulvi Barkatullah established the provisional govern ment of India which sent missions to Russia, Turkey and Japan for soliciting their aid in liberating India. Efforts vere made to raise troops and the Punjabi youngmen who had flad to Kabul were enrolled as officers of the revolutionary army* /it the same time in order to unify the Muslim states against Britain an organisation called? iab Allah* (the amy of God) was formed with headquarters at Medina under Maulana kahmood Hasan and with other centres at Kabul, Tehran and Constantinople. Schemes wars • et on foot to sslse the military magasines in India, but the first attempt at Firosepur failed. gain letters* known a® "Bilk letters" ware issued on behalf of the provisional Government of India, in which the plans of the organisation and its programme were explained. he object of the plan was to destroy the British rule by means of an attack on the Morth~**st Frontier, supplemented by the peopls*s rising in the country. - vii - lieanwhile imbibullah Khan wae assassinated and Amir Asaaullah &han eame to the throve. With the accession of Aair j^manullah Khan, the hope© of liaulana Obaldullah Bindhi and his associates rose vary high, A short war ensued between tha new Amir and the i^ritieh in which members of tha provisional government and iiisb Allah rendered commendable services which were suitably acknowledged by tha Afghan Government. Amir Aiaanullah Khan further declared that ha would complete the work raulana Mahaood Hasan had begun. Tha situation in Kabul after tha Afghan war, however, compelled ;-faulana . Indhi to leave Afghanistan* lie prooaadad to Moscow and stayed there for about seven months. Ha utilised tha opportunity to study the socialist aysten of Soviet ; usoia. Prom Eaacow, he moved on to Constantinople and Ankara where he spent tha next three years—-1923 to 1926* These were years of transformation of iHirkey under the powerful leadership of -taturic Mustafa *iamal Pasha* l*!aulana Slndhl was a witneaa to three revolutions—one in Kabul, another in iiussia,a European country and the third among the lluallaa of Turkey.