Thread by @syedurahman

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad delivered a very emotional speech from the podium of Jama Masjid immediately after Partition lamenting sorry state of affairs of the Indian Muslim community. You can read the full speech that came directly from his heart that was filled with love and care

My brethren,
You know what has brought me here today. This congregation at Shahjahan’s historic mosque is not an unfamiliar sight for me. Here, I have addressed you on several previous occasions. Since then we have seen many ups and downs.
#MaulanaAzadSpeech

At that time, instead of weariness, your faces reflected serenity, and your hearts, instead of misgivings, exuded confidence. The uneasiness on your faces and the desolation in your hearts that I see today, reminds me of the events of the past few years.
#MaulanaAzadSpeech

Do you remember? I hailed you, you cut off my tongue; I picked my pen, you severed my hand; I wanted to move forward, you broke off my legs; I tried to run, and you injured my back. When the bitter political games of the last seven years were at their peak
#MaulanaAzadSpeech

I tried to wake you up at every danger signal. You not only ignored my call but revived all the past traditions of neglect and denial. As a result the same perils surround you today, whose onset had previously diverted you from the righteous path.
#MaulanaAzadSpeech

Today, mine is no more than an inert existence or a forlorn cry; I am an orphan in my own motherland. This does not mean that I feel trapped in the original choice that had made for myself, nor do I feel that there is no room left for my ashiana (nest).
#MaulanaAzadSpeech

What it means is that my cloak is weary of your impudent grabbing hands. My sensitivities are injured, my heart is heavy. Think for one moment. What course did you adopt? Where have you reached, and where do you stand now? Haven’t your senses become torpid?
#MaulanaAzadSpeech

Aren’t you living in a constant state of fear? This fear is your own creation, a fruit of your own deeds. It was not long ago when I warned you that the two-nation theory was death-knell to a meaningful, dignified life; forsake it. #MaulanaAzadSpeech

I told you that the pillars upon which you were leaning would inevitably crumble. To all this you turned a deaf ear. You did not realize that, my brothers! I have always attempted to keep politics apart from personalities, thus avoiding those thorny valleys.
#MaulanaAzadSpeech

That is why some of my messages are often couched in allusions. Partition of India was a fundamental mistake. Manner in which religious differences were incited, inevitably, led to devastation that we have seen with our own eyes. Unfortunately, we are still seeing it

There is no use recounting the events of the past seven years, nor will it serve any good. Yet, it must be stated that the debacle of Indian Muslims is the result of the colossal blunders committed by the Muslim League’s misguided leadership

These consequences however, were no surprise to me; I had anticipated them from the very start. Now that Indian politics has taken a new direction, there is no place in it for the Muslim League. Now the question is whether or not we are capable of constructive thinking.

For this, I have invited Muslim leaders of India to Delhi, during the 2nd week of November. Gloom cast upon your lives is momentary; I assure you we can be beaten by none save our own selves! I have always said, and I repeat it again today; eschew your indecisiveness,

..eschew your indecisiveness, your mistrust, and stop your misdeeds. This unique triple-edged weapon is more lethal than 2-edged iron sword which inflicts fatal wounds, which I have heard of. Just think about life of escapism that you have opted for, in the sacred name of Hejrat.

Get into the habit of exercising your own brains, and strengthening your own hearts. If you do so, only then will you realize how immature your decisions were. Where are you going and why? Raise your eyes. The minarets of Jama Masjid want to ask you a question.

Where have you lost the glorious pages from your chronicles? Wasn't it only yesterday that on banks of the Jamuna, your caravans performed wazu? Today, you are afraid of living here. Remember, Delhi has been nurtured with your blood. Brothers, create a basic change in yourselves.

Today, your fear is misplaced as your jubilation was yesterday. The words coward and frenzy cannot be spoken in the same breath as the word Muslim. A true Muslim can be swayed neither by avarice nor apprehension. Don’t get scared because a few faces have disappeared.

Only reason they had herded you in a single fold was to facilitate their own flight. Today, if they have jerked their hand free from yours, what does it matter? Make sure they have not run away with your hearts. If your hearts are still in right place, make them the abode of God

Some 13 hundred years ago, through an Arab ummi, God proclaimed, “Those who place their faith in God and are firm in their belief, no fear for them nor any sorrow.” Winds blow in and blow out: tempests may gather but all this is short-lived. The period of trial is about to end.

Change yourselves as if you had never been in such an abject condition. I am not used to altercation. Faced with your general indifference, however, I will repeat that the third force has departed, and along with it, its trappings of vanity. Whatever had to happen has happened.

If your hearts have still not changed n your minds still have reservations, it is a different matter. But, if you want a change, then take your cue from history cast yourself in new mould. Having completed a revolutionary phase, there remains a few blank pages in history of India

You can make ourselves worthy of filling those pages, provided you are willing. Brothers, keep up with the changes. Don’t say, “We are not ready for the change.” Get ready. Stars may have plummeted down but the sun is still shining.

Borrow a few of its rays and sprinkle them in the dark caverns of your lives. I do not ask you to seek certificates from the new echelons of power. I do not want you to lead a life of sycophancy as you did during the foreign rule.

I want you to remind you these bright etchings which you see all around you, are relics of processions of forefathers. Do not forget them. Do not forsake them. Live like their worthy inheritors, and, rest assured, if you do not wish to flee from scene, nobody can make you flee.

Come, today let us pledge that this country is ours, we belong to it and any fundamental decisions about its destiny will remain incomplete without our consent. Today, you fear the earth’s tremors; once you were virtually the earthquake itself.

Today, you fear the darkness; once your existence was the epicenter of radiance. Clouds have poured dirty waters and you have hitched up your trousers. Those were none but your forefathers who not only plunged headlong into the seas, but trampled the mountains,

…laughed at the bolts of lightening, turned away the tornadoes, challenged the tempests and made them alter their course. It is a sure sign of a dying faith that those who had once grabbed the collars of emperors, are today, clutching their own throats.

They have become oblivious of the existence of God as if they had never believed in Him. Brothers, I do not have a new prescription for you. I have the same old prescription that was revealed to the greatest benefactor of mankind, the prescription of the Holy Quran:

“Do not fear and do not grieve. If you possess true faith, you will gain the upper hand.” The congregation is now at an end. What I had to say, I have said, briefly. Let me say once again, keep a grip on your senses. Learn to create your own surroundings, your own world.

This is not a commodity that I can buy for you from the market-place. This can be bought only from the market-place of the heart, provided you can pay for it with the currency of good deeds. May God’s grace be on you!