National Education Day:

Abul Kalam
Azad was born on
November 11, 1888 in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia. A
leading figure in India's
struggle for freedom,
apart from being a
noted writer, poet and
journalist, he adopted
the pen name Azad
(Free). In his childhood,
he had a traditional
Islamic education,
alongwith training in
subjects like
mathematics,
philosophy, world
history and science by
tutors at his home.
Through his own
efforts, he learnt
English, alongwith
Western philosophy,
history and
contemporary politics.
He visited countries like
Afghanistan, Iraq,
Egypt, Syria and
Turkey. He opposed the
partition of Bengal in
1905. He established an
Urdu weekly newspaper
in 1912 named Al-Hilal. It
was consequently
banned in 1914,
following which he
started a new journal,
the Al-Balagh.
He published many
works criticizing the
British rule and
advocating self-rule for
India. It was as a leader
of the Khilafat
movement that he
became close to
Mahatma Gandhi. He
became the youngest
President of the Indian
National Congress in
1923.He always
supported the cause of
Hindu-Muslim unity and
opposed the demand
for a separate Muslim
state of Pakistan. After
India's independence, he
served as the first
Minister for Education.
He served in the
Constituent Assembly
formed to draft India's
constitution and was
elected to the Lok
Sabha in 1952 and in
1957. In 1956, he served
as president of the
UNESCO General
Conference in Delhi. His
exhaustive book on
India's freedom
struggle titled India
Wins Freedom was
published in 1957. This
great leader passed
away on February 22,
1958