This year marks the 150th birth anniversary of Maulana Hasrat Mohani (1875–1951) — a towering figure in India’s struggle for independence, whose life seamlessly combined the roles of revolutionary freedom fighter, fearless journalist, and accomplished poet. On this significant occasion, it is essential to revisit his multifaceted legacy — a legacy defined by unyielding commitment to freedom, resistance to oppression, and the belief that literature and politics could serve as twin weapons against injustice.
Syed Fazal-ul-Hasan, popularly known as Hasrat Mohani, was one of the most eminent, fearless, and revolutionary freedom fighters of India. A poet, journalist, writer, politician, and parliamentarian, he left a deep mark on the political and cultural landscape of the first half of the twentieth century.
He was born in 1875 into a respected middle-class Sādātfamily to Syed Azhar Hussain and Shahar Bano in QaṣbahMohan, Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. Following family tradition, his early education began at the maktab, where he learned the Holy Qurān and Hadīth. He then attended Mohan Middle School, excelling in his studies and consistently ranking at the top of his class.
In 1894, he passed the Middle Examination with the first position in the entire United Provinces. He then joined Government High School, Fatehpur, and passed the Entrance Examination in 1898 with a first division and distinction. His outstanding academic record attracted the attention of Ziauddin Ahmad (later Principal of MAO College and Vice-Chancellor of AMU), who persuaded him to join MAO College, Aligarh. On 15th March 1899, he joined the MAO College Aligarh where he was admitted in F.A. which he passed in 1901. He obtained B.A. degree in 1903.
Political Awakening at Aligarh
Hasrat Mohani’s political consciousness emerged during his years at MAO College Aligarh. His boldness, fearlessness, commitment to justice, and passion for freedom became increasingly evident during this period. He distinguished himself as a brilliant student, eloquent speaker, and talented poet. Actively involved in the Student’s Union, he became a champion of nationalist politics in campus and served as secretary of the Siddon’s Students’ Union Club. His fiery speeches in both Urdu and English enlivened meetings, earning him the reputation of a revolutionary speaker. He also served as food monitor in the boarding house and secretary of Anjuman-e Urdū-e Muʿallā, the college’s Urdu literary society.
Due to his anti-British sentiments, Principal Morrison expelled him from the college in 1903. Fortunately, Mohsin-ul-Mulk (1837-1907), then Secretary of the MAO College Board, intervened and allowed him to appear for the examination as a private candidate. He graduated the same year, securing top marks among his peers. Although he received several lucrative job offers after graduation, Hasrat Mohani rejected them all, choosing instead the path of independent journalism and revolutionary politics.
Journalism and Revolutionary Writings
To awaken political consciousness, he launched Urdū-e Muʿallā, a monthly literary-political magazine in July 1903 from Aligarh, published intermittently until 1940s. It became one of the era’s most prominent political magazines, publishing sharp critiques of British imperialism and promoting nationalist causes.Through his fiery political writings in Urdū-e Muʿallā, he succeeded in inspiring patriotic feelings, as well as awakening political consciousness amongst Indians in general and Muslims in particular. Some of his political articles that appeared in Urdū-e Muʿallā are as follows: Swadeshī Taḥrīk Aur Boycott(January, 1904) Muslamān National Congress aur Political Agitation (Sep, 1904) National Congress Kā Ikīswān Ijlās(Twenty first session of Congress, January, 1906), Report Congress, Bombay(July, 1904), Farīq Naram kī Bāz ġhalat̤ fahmiāñ (Some of the misapprehension of moderate group, September, 1907), t̤ālib Iʿlm aur politics (Students and Politics, August 1909), Muṣtafa Kāmil Number(Feb 1908)
During the Bengal Partition agitation, the magazine strongly supported the Swadeshi Movement by publishing articles in favour of movement. In 1908, after publishing an article criticizing British educational policy in Egypt, his press was confiscated and he was sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment.
In 1914, he launched the quarterly poetic journal Tażkara-tul-Shoʿrā, and the daily Mustaqil from Kanpur. Through these platforms, Mohani inspired patriotic fervor, especially among Muslims, urging them to join the national struggle.
Entry into National Politics: Tilak, Swadeshi & Congress Days
Indeed, his radical and revolutionary views at the college level transformed the whole line of traditional Muslim thinking in Indian political arena. Earlier to him not a single graduate from MAO stands up against the College administration to challenge the so-called policy of Muslims to distance themselves from politics and concentrate their activities only to education.
Hasrat Mohani was the first prominent Muslim graduate of MAO College to openly challenge the institution’s apolitical stance. In 1904, he joined the Indian National Congress and attended its sessions from 1904 to 1907, aligning himself withBal Gangadhar Tilak and the “extremist” faction. He was sharply critical of the Congress moderates and fully supported Tilak’s call for Swaraj. The Surat session of 1907 saw a split between moderates and extremists, after which Mohani left the Congress. In December 1909, he published a glowing poetic tribute to Tilak in his magazine Urdū-e Muʿallā, which included the immortal lines praising Tilak’s steadfastness and courage.
Āzādī Hind kī ḳhūāhish ko maqbūl ḳhūāṣ o aām kīā
dil ahl-e sitam ke baiṭh gaʾi voh Bāl Tilak ne kām kīā
sab Hind ke aḳhbāron ne maẓmūn likhe kaise kaise
jis se firangī ḍarte the us rāz ko t̤asht az bām kiā
ho jo ro jafā ya z̤ulm-o-sitam haṭnay kay nahīñ pīchai ko qadam
jis ne yeh kahā dub jāʾiñge hum vallāh ḳhayāl ḳhām kiā
hum shāmil firqa naram nahīñ hamaīñ pahlī shakist kī sharamnahīñ
āġhāz men kab āzadoñ ne bekār ġhum anjām kiā
balvant Tilak ae faḳhar-o vat̤an bacharam amīr dām mehan
yād aāʾī terī jis dam ḥasrat ne jhuk kar salām kiā
The translation is as follows:
He (Tilak) popularised the desire of India’s independence among elites and common people
The hearts of the oppressed sat down, that Bal Tilak worked
All Indian newspapers wrote what sort of articles
The secret that the British were afraid of was revealed
We are not fearful of any cruelty, tyranny, injustice and oppression, we don’t step back
Whoever said that they will be suppressed, by Allah, they thought it wrong
We are not from a moderate group, we are not ashamed of the first defeat
In the beginning, when did the freedmen mourn in vain?
Balwant Tilak O! Pride of beloved nation
Whenever remembered you, Hasrat bowed down and greeted.
Champion of the Swadeshi Movement
In 1905, after attending the All-India Industrial Conference in Bombay, Hasrat Mohani became a strong advocate of the Swadeshi Movement. He and his wife, Nishat-un-Nisa Begum, opened a Swadeshi store in the Rasalgunj locality of Aligarh to promote indigenous goods. Unlike some leaders who limited Swadeshī to hand-spinning, Mohani argued for a practical approach that included goods produced in Indian mills. In his article Swadeshī Taḥrīk aur Boycott, he wrote:
“The subject (or the ruled) can get national rights from the ruler in either of the three ways: First, by appealing for pity with a begging bowl in hand -which has already been proved totally ineffective, second by taking recourse to riots and bloodshed, thus empowering the ruler, which apparently is not possible at the moment; hence we are , it seems, left with just one opinion, i.e., sparing the nation the humiliation of bowing down and begging, as also avoiding bloodshed, suffering and hardships that the road to struggle leads to; to take the middle path of defensive resistance, which may deliver the goods without causing much harm.”
Association with Khilafat and Communism
He was a member of Central Khilafat Committee (CKC) from 1919 to 1928 and served as a member of Non-cooperation committee of CKC from 1920-1922. He opposed the CKC’s pro-Ibn-e-Saud Policy. He played an active role in the issues and developments related to the cause of community, society and nation such as Kanpur Mosque case in 1913 and silk letter conspiracy.
In 1921, it was Hasrat Mohani who coined the immortal slogan ‘Inquilāb Zindāhbād’, which was later popularised by Bhagat Singh and his comrade. In December 1921, at the Ahmedabad session of Indian National Congress, he was the first, who proposed the resolution for complete independent (Āzādi-e-Kāmil) of India but at that moment Gandhi ji was against this proposal. As Gandhiji believed that this resolution could not be incorporated until the Hindu-Muslim Unity is completely achieved which also meant that the idea was premature? So, this resolution in the end defeated at the Congress session. He was also the President of the Muslim League at Ahmedabad session in 1921. He also supported the communist and socialist ideology and was the co-founder of communist party. He was the chairman of the reception committee of first All India Communist Party Conference which held on December 25, 1925 at Kanpur and delivered its welcome address. In 1929, he opposed the Motilal Nehru Report and left the Congress but remained actively involved in freedom struggle.
Later Political Career
In October 1937, in a Lucknow session of Muslim League, he moved a resolution ‘that the object of the AIML shall be the establishment in India of full independence of a federation of free democratic states in which the rights and interests of the Muslims and other minorities are adequately and effectively safeguard in the Constitution’. In July 1932, he also founded All India Azad Party, the purpose of this party according to him was ‘to establish a federation of free and United India’.
He was a firm believer in Hindu-Muslim Unity. He wrote Urdu poems to praise Lord Krishna and annually visited Mathura to attend the Krishna Celebrations. He also performed several Hajj. He devoted his whole life to oppose the British Raj, and both by his prose and poetry he vehemently criticised the government policies and its functioning. In 1946, he became the member of Central legislative Assembly from Kanpur on Muslim League ticket but didn’t support the two-nation theory and remained in India after partition. He was the member of Constituent Assembly which drafted Indian Constitution but he refused to sign the draft to protest the partition and India’s membership of the commonwealth. He passed away on 13th May 1951 at Lucknow.
Literary Contributions
He authored several notable books, including Sharh-e-Kalām-e Ġhālib (1905), Nukat-e-Suḳhan (1916), and Mushāhidāt-eZindān (1918). The latter, written during his imprisonment in Allahabad Jail, serves as a prison diary vividly portraying the hardships of jail life first serialised in Urdū-e Muʿallā from December 1909 to January 1911. His Kulliyāt-e Hasrat Mohani, a comprehensive collection of his poetry, was first published in 1928.
References and Further Readings:
▪ Manglori, Syed Tufail Ahmad. Mohammedan College Directory, 1875-1911, (Aligarh), Nizami Press, Badaon, 1914
▪ Mohani, Hasrat. Mushahidat-e-Zindan, 1918
▪ Desnavi, Abdul Qawi. Hasrat Ke Siyasi Zindagi ChundJhalkian, 1956.
▪ Hanafi, Muzaffar. Hasrat Mohani, NBT, New Delhi, 1990
▪ Khan, Habib. Hasrat Mohani, Sahitya Academy, New Delhi,1990
▪ Siddiqui, Ateeq. Hasrat Mohani Qaid-e-Farang Me, Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu Hind, New Delhi, 1982
▪ Hussain, Surayya. Hasrat Mohani, Department of Urdu, AMU, 1985
▪ Farooqui, Asad Faisal. Aligarh Ke Urdu Sahafat, Educational Book House Aligarh, 2016.
▪ Naqvi, Professor Noor-ul-Hasan. “Hasrat Mohani” Fikr-o-Nazar, Namwaran-e-Aligarh (Teesra Karwan, Vol. 1), Vol. 24, January-1987-July 1988.
▪ Quarterly Urdu Adab, New Delhi (Hasrat Number), issue 1-4, 1981
