Dr M A Ansari
(1880 - 1936)
President - Madras, 1927
The ancestors of Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari came to India during the reign of
Sultan Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. The family started its career serving in the
royal army and holding respectable posts in the court. It settled at
Yusufpur, now in the Ghazipur District of U.P. The Ansaris of Yusufpur
managed to hold respectable governmental positions. But by the time
Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari was born on December 25, 1880, the prosperity of the
family was on the decline. Graduating from the Victoria High School,
Ghazipur in 1896 Mukhtar Ahmad moved to Hyderabed where his two brothers
were in the service of the Nizam, for his university education.
Immediately after his graduation in medical science from Madras Medical
College, Mukhtar Ahmad proceeded to England on a Nizam State Scholarship
for higher medical education. He qualified for M.D. and M.S. in 1905,
topping the list of successful candidates, by virtue of which he was the
only Indian to be appointed Registrar, Lock Hospital, London. Later he was
taken as the House Surgeon at the Charing Cross Hospital, London. The
hospital acknowledged Dr. Ansari's outstanding services in the field of
surgery by opening a ward in his name as the Ansari Ward.
During his long and fruitful stag in England Dr. Ansari was drawn into
the Indian national scene by meeting and developing intimate relations
with some Indian national leaders who used to visit London quite
frequently. It was in London that he met and became a life-long friend of
Motilal Nehru, Hakim Ajmal Khan and young Jawaharlal.
In spite of the ample opportunities for him to continue in a
comfortable life abroad Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari returned home in 1910.
After a short may at Hyderabed and his home town, Yusufpur, he established
his medical practice in Delhi. Soon after, Dr. Ansari started taking part
in active politics. The first move in this direction was his leading, in
December 1912, the Ansari Medical Mission to Turkey to provide medical and
surgical aid to the fighting Turkish army in the Balkan War. Although the
mission was organised by Muslim leaders, it paved the way for the Indian
national leaders to put India on the world map by advocating and fostering
international understanding.
This was the period when the Congress and the Muslim League were close
in their political goals and one did not find it difficult to express
oneself simultaneously from both the platforms. Thus, Dr. Ansari succeeded
in establishing himself in both circles, and played an important role in
the Lucknow Pact of 1916 in which the Muslim League and the Congress
agreed upon the idea of proportional representation. In 1918 he presided
over the annual session of the Muslim League held at Delhi. His
Presidential Address was proscribed by the Government because of his bold
and fearless stand in it for the cause of the Khilafat and his
unconditional support to the demand for complete freedom. Again in 1920 he
was the President of the Nagpur session of the All-India Muslim League; at
Nagpur also met at the same time the Indian National Congress under the
president-ship of Vijayaraghavachariar of Madras, and the All-India
Khilafat Committee with Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as its President. A joint
session of all the three organisations was held.
Like in the Muslim League, Dr. Ansari held a high position in the
Congress also. For almost all through his life he was member of its
Working Committee. He was its General Secretary in the years 1920, 1922,
1926, 1929, 1931 and 1932, and President in 1927 (Madras Session). On
question of entry in the Council to the government from inside Dr. Ansari
remained with Gandhiji in the camp of the 'no-changers' who were against
the entry. His personal relationship, however remained unsevered with the
'pro-changers', prominent among them being Pandit Motilal Nehru and
Vithalbhai Patel. His Delhi Palatial house, 'Darus-salam', the Abode of
Peace, was for all practical purposes like Congress House. Gandhiji used
to stay there whenever he visited Delhi.
Although part of the inner circle Indian national life Dr. Anari also
had access to the inner circle of the British bureaucracy in India. Thus,
he often came to know in advance governmental decisions regarding
prominent national leaders and was able to alert them in time
non-cooperation days he took a keen interest in the establishment of
independent national institutions for higher education, two them being the
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and the Kashi Vidyapith at Benares. From
its inception on October 29, 1920 Jamia Millia Islamia had the
unconditional support of Dr. Absari. He was elected its Chancellor after
the death of its firm Chancellor, Hakim Ajmal Khan.
Impressed by the political and social services of her husband Mrs.
Ansari a devout and orthodox Muslim, also took a keen interest in the
uplift of Delhi Women.
On the night of May 10, 1936 when he was returning from Mussoorie where
he had gone to pay a professional visit to the Nawab of Rampur, Dr. Ansari
heart beat for the lad time in the railway compartment. The news reached
Delhi before the train brought his body back which was finally laid to
rest in the lap of his beloved Jamia Millia Islamia.
- Mushirul Haq
India has been turned into a vast internment camp and a number of
Indians abroad have been successfully locked out. Respectable citizens
have been prevented from leaving India even for purposes of health,
business or travel.
From the Presidential Address - Dr. M. A. Ansari
I.N.C. Session,
1927, Madras |
