Zafar Ali Khan's Struggle for Freedom and His Prison Days
Mavlana Zafar Ali Khan was a multi-faceted figure who rose to prominence with his intellectual, literary and political personality during the struggle against the British for the freedom of the Indian subcontinent. As a journalist he fought against the persecution and oppression of the English Rulers of that land, even going to England to criticize the repressive press laws on the Indian subcontinent and trying to make his voice heard for the formation of a free press there. . He was imprisoned many times for his courage and frankness and his newspaper was closed and reopened upon payment of bail. . Despite spending more than five years in prison, he mobilized his own wealth and that of his family's to make the voices of the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent heard. He faced financial difficulties and endured prison torture, but did not stop the struggle for freedom and aid to the Turks. He played a big role in the freedom of the Indian Muslim people and in their establishment as a separate state.
Mevlânâ Zafer Ali Hân’ın Özgürlük Mücadelesi ve Hapishane Günleri
Mevlana Zafer Ali Hân, Hindistan Pakistan alt kıtasının İngilizlere karşı yürüttüğü özgürlük mücadelesinde fikrî, edebî ve siyasî kişiliğiyle ön saflarda yer almış çok yönlü bir kişiliktir. Zulüm ve baskılara karşı gazeteci kimliğiyle mücadele etmiştir. İngiltere’ye giderek Hint alt kıtasındaki baskıcı basın kanunları eleştirmiş ve özgür basının Hint alt kıtasında oluşması için sesini duyurmaya çalışmıştır. Bu cesaret ve açık sözlülükle mücadelesinden dolayı birçok kez hapsedilmiş, gazetesi kapatılmış ve kefalet ödenerek tekrar açılmıştır. Beş seneden fazla hapiste hayatını geçirmiştir. Kendi ve ailesinin servetini Hint alt kıtası Müslümanlarının seslerini duyurmak için seferber etmiştir. Malî zorluklara sabretmiş, hapishane eziyetlerine katlanmış ancak özgürlük mücadelesini ve Türklere yardımdan geri durmamıştır. Müslüman Hint halkının özgür olarak ayrı bir devlet olarak yaşamasında rol almıştır.
Mavlana Zafar Ali Khan is one of the most important personalities of the Indian subcontinent. He supported the struggle for freedom on the subcontinent against British rule. Zafar Ali Khan started to determine the political agenda of the subcontinent and guided subcontinent politics. Mavlana Zafar Ali Khan became a main player in the struggle for freedom against the British, and using the Zamindar newspaper he especially supported the struggle for freedom in the field of journalism. He was called the “Father of Indian Journalism” because he was the first person on the Indian subcontinent to start to defend Indian local people, especially Indian Muslims’ rights through journalism and through his speeches. Moreover, he tried to educate people and, by means of journalism, get them to unite and to support the Ottoman Islamic Caliphate which was the last independent country for Muslims. Zafar Ali Khan’s dream was to establish an Islamic Union, and in order to do this he continued his struggle for the Islamic Union with his writings which strengthened the Ottoman Islamic Caliphate and showed a reaction against the British in a period when the Ottoman Empire was collapsing and when the Indian subcontinent was a colony under the British. In this way the people of the Indian subcontinent enthusiastically began to struggle for their rights. In particular, he wrote about Tripoli, the Balkan wars, and the Turkish National Struggle in the "Crescent and the Cross of the war" and also wrote many articles in this direction. In this way, while standing by the Turks on the one hand, and by shaping national consciousness on the subcontinent on the other, he created public opinion in the struggle for freedom against the British. The Hindu people also took their place among the pioneers of the Khilafat Movement. In particular, he was closely followed by the British with his fiery speeches and his articles. The British tried to close his newspaper down many times through various processes and after each closure which incurred a penalty, he paid this with the support of the Indian people and continued on his path of freedom. He was also sentenced to prison many times. During his imprisonment, he continued to write political poems and kept up his struggle for freedom as well. Mavlana Zafar Ali Khan’s name is even today counted as a national symbol of the Indian Subcontinent. His intellectuality, bravery and confidence are accepted by everyone.
