Muhammad Yaqub Hassan Seth

MUHAMMAD YAQUB HASSAN SETH

Date of Birth: June, 1875 and Date of Death: 23^rd March, 1940

Muhammad Yaqub Hassan Seth, who had firm faith in non violent struggle, was born in June, 1875 in a rich business family in Nagapur.  He was educated in the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh and entered into business field.  He left for Bangalore for the expansion of his business and reached Madras in 1901, where he settled down.  Though he was doing his business, he was also taking part actively in public welfare activities.  He got elected to the Madras Municipal Corporation.  He joined the All India Muslim League in 1906 and held several posts in that party in Madras.  He worked for the expansion of the Muslim League in South India.  He started an English weekly Muslim Patriot and an Urdu Weekly Quami Halchal in 1906 and published those magazines without interruption for about two years.  When he was imprisoned, in jail he wrote a commentary on Quran, which was published with the financial help of the Nizam of Hyderabad.  He demanded for the legitimate representation of Indians in key posts in the Government and in the Army.  When Mahatma Gandhi visited Madras in 1915, Yaqub Hassan met him and was influenced by him.  He took membership in the Indian National Congress and played an active role whenever Mahatma Gandhi visited Madras.  He also played a key role in getting the Lucknow Pact approved by the Congress and the Muslim League.  He participated actively in Khilafat and Non Cooperation Movement in 1919.  He quit all his official positions as a response to the call of Mahatma.  He went to London with the Khilafat delegation to draw the attention of the British Government.  Defying the orders of the British Government, he went to Malabar, where he campaigned for non violence and communal harmony among Hindu and Muslims in the year 1921.  As a result, he was imprisoned for six months.  He participated in the regional conference held by the Congress, where he criticised the British Government, for which he was imprisoned again for two years.  He got elected to the Madras Legislative Council in 1929 and held different posts both in the Congress and the Muslim League.  Later, he got elected from Chittoor Constituency in the undivided Madras Province and worked as a minister in Rajagopalachari’s Cabinet during 1937-39.  He strongly opposed the idea of division of India from the very beginning.  Muhammad Yaqub Hassan Seth passed away on 23^rd March, 1940.