Thread by @_Shams11

January 1 marks the birth anniversary of the poet-politician who refused to sign the Indian Constitution, Maulana Hasrat Mohani.

He was elected as a member to the constituent assembly tasked with framing the Constitution of India.

During the Constituent Assembly debates, Maulana emerged as one of the most outspoken critics.

He believed that the Constitution should be drafted by the genuine representatives of people, not those who were privileged enough to have the right of franchise during British rule.

On Nov 26, 1949 when the Indian Constituent adopted the Constitution of India, he was the only member to register his dissent.

Pt. Nehru rushed to his desk and said:
"Maulana,what are you doing? Your only vote against the proposed Constitution will become a part of the history."

Maulana replied very politely:

"That is why I raised my voice to make sure that at least one voice of dissent was made against the proposed Indian Constitution which has not done justice with the Indian Muslims."

His memorable words challenging Sardar Patel in the Constituent Assembly, will long run in the memory of future generations:

"You should not think that the Muslims are orphans today. I am here to defend their rights against all odds and will fight for them till death."

Maulana Hasrat Mohani consistently argued for proportional representation saying:

"If they do not allow even this conception of proportional representation, even a party like Socialist Party who got 35% of votes in the elections in UP, could not get a single seat."

Hasrat Mohani is also famous for coining the notable slogan "Inquilab Zindabad" and was one of the first Indians to demand for complete independence (Azaadi e kaamil) as early as 1921.

"hum qaul ke sadiq hain, agar jaan bhi jaati,
wallah kabhi khidmat e angrez na karte"

He was arrested on 23rd June 1908 for his subversive political activities, the second Indian leader to have been arrested after Tilak.

He started publishing monthly journal Urdu-e-Mu'alla as an editor from 1903 & was perhaps the first Indian to be convicted under the Press laws.

Mohani never feared imprisonment, and was jailed 3-4 times.
In jail he faced severe punishments like sentence of heavy physical exertion of grinding 38 kgs of wheat every day.

Hasrat wrote a lot of ghazals in jail and some of his masterpieces were produced in jail.

He wrote in Allahabad Jail in 1908:

kat gaya qaid mein maah e ramzaaN bhi hasrat,
garche samaan sehr ka tha na iftaari ka

It is widely believed that ghazals of Hasrat Mohani always addressed romantic love stories, but if we turn our sight to political background,

his romantic ghazals have room to be metaphors of Hindu-Muslim unity.

He was famous for being a man of indomitable thinking.

Gandhi writes about Hasrat Mohani that "non-cooperation and civil disobedience were Mohani's brainchild."

Hasrat Mohan was associated with various parties as a founding- member or member like:
Indian National Congress, Khilafat Conference, Majlis-e-Ehroar, Jamiat-Ualama-E-Hind, Azaad Party, Anjuman-e-Khuddanul-Ahramin, Muslim League, Communist Party.

What some today perceive as 'contradictory behavior' is testimony to the fact that Mohani couldn't reconcile the voice of his conscience with the compromise of time.

His ideals were rooted in the Islamic faith and he always described his opinion without any influence of power.

Mohani could never be one of those 'towering politicians' with the tactics of getting huge supporters,
precisely because he stood ground for his beliefs and never weighed his conduct in the scales of profit and loss.

Today Hasrat Mohani finds himself at the margins of the political struggle of the subcontinent, precisely because he does not fall in the ambit of any political party as such.

It's important for us to revisit his legacy, so as to chalk out an enlightened future for ourselves.

Here is a famous ghazal penned by Maulana Hasrat Mohani "Chupke Chupke Raat Din" immortalized in the voice of Ustad Ghulam Ali.