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Friday, December 22, 2017

Moulana Zafar Ali Khan



MOULANA ZAFAR ALI KHAN
Date of Birth: 1873 and Date of Death: 27th November, 1956
            Moulana Zafar Ali Khan was born in 1873 in Kotmarta village, Sialkot district in Punjab province, which is now in Pakistan.  His father, Munshi Sirajuddin was an employee in postal department.  Zafar Ali Khan completed his higher education in Patiala and worked in the postal department for a short period.  Later he did his graduation from Mohammadan Anglo-Oriental College, Aligarh.  He was very much fond of literature from his young age, which moulded him into a famous poet.  After his graduation, he worked in the Urdu translation department under Nizam State.  He quit the job because of his Anti-British ideology.  He was a member in the Indian National Congress and also a founder member of the Muslim League in 1906.  He took charge of Urdu magazine ‘Zamindar’ which was started by his father in 1903.  He converted it into a daily news paper in 1909.  The ‘Zamindar’ played an instrumental role in the propaganda of National Movement for which scholars like Moulana Mohammad Ali, Moulana Abul Kalam Azad contributed articles.  Zafar Ali Khan reacted sharply to the problems faced by the Muslims for which he criticized the British rulers in his writings and speeches.  Due to his writings, the British government imposed several sanctions against him.  He was ordered not to leave Kotmarta village from 1914 to1919.  He used ‘Zamindar’ as a powerful instrument to spread the Khilafat Non-Cooperation Movement in 1919.  He did not mind for the warnings and notices from the British officials, though they confiscated his properties and imposed ban on the ‘Zamindar’.  The British government arrested him in 1920 and sentenced him for five years of imprisonment.  He rejected Nehru Report of 1928.  He was put behind the bars once again in 1932.  He was house arrested during 1935-1937.  Later on, he got elected to the Punjab Assembly in 1937 as a Muslim League candidate and continued as such till 1946.  He supported the ‘Pakistan’ resolution of the League in 1940.  After the division of India Moulana Zafar Ali Khan held different official and unofficial posts and fought for the people’s cause till his death on 27th November, 1956.

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