M Muhammad Ismail is a political leader and a prominent social worker who had been working for more than 25 years. He was the best leader of the Muslims. He is the founder of the Indian Union Muslim League. Muhammad Ismail is popularly known as Quaid-e-Millat(Khaide millath) in Tamilnadu and Kerala. Quaid-e-Millat means Leader of the nation. He has not only been the leader of the Muslim League party but also held various important political positions in his career.
Early Life
Muhammad Ismail was born on 5 June 1896 in Pettai, Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. He was born to Moulavi K. T. Miyakhan Routhur. His father was a cloth merchant to the royal family of Travancore and a leader of the Muslim religion. Unfortunately, Muhammad Ismail's father died in his childhood. Thus Muhammad Ismail began his life relying solely on his mother.
As a child, he learned religious texts and the Arabic language from his mother. And at an early age, he became increasingly obsessed with freedom, mainly because he was inspired by Gandhian principles. All this aside he studied at CMS College and MTD Hindu College. Then later Muhammad Ismail was also studied at St. Joseph's College, Trichinopoly, and Christian College, Madras. Then He married Hameeda Bi in 1923.
Career
Muhammad Ismail started a movement called the Young Muslim Society in his hometown in 1909 at the age of 13. He then played a key role in founding the Majlis-ul-Ulama ('Council of Islamic Scholars') movement in 1918. Then he started focusing on business in the 1920s. He was in the business of selling leather and meat. Then due to hard work, he eventually rose to become the head of the Madras Commerce.
Political Career
Muhammad Ismail got a chance in Indian politics after becoming the head of the Madras Commerce. He has been working with the All-Indian Muslim League for a while. He became one of the key leaders of the All India Muslim League in the Madras Presidency in the mid-1930s. After this, he served as the main leader of the party for more than 10 years.
In 1945 due to his hard work, he became the leader of the Madras Presidency of the All India Muslim League. He then won a landslide victory in all the constituencies(28 constituencies) reserved for Muslims in the province of Madras in the Assembly elections held the very next year(in 1946). Thus the All India Muslim League became the opposite party in the Assembly and Muhammad Ismail became the Leader of the Opposition. He was the Opposition Leader in the Legislature for seven years from 1946 to 1952.
Indian Union Muslim League
The All India Muslim League was almost dissolved after India gained independence i.e. exactly when the British government left India and when India was divided into Pakistan. The main reason for this was that most of the leaders of that party were from Pakistan. The party became very weak as they left India. Then a conference was held in Karachi in 1947. At that conference, the Indian Muslim League split into the Indian Union Muslim League and the Pakistan Union Muslim League.
At the conference, the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan became the leader of the Pakistan Union Muslim League and Mohammad Ismail became the leader of the Indian Union Muslim League party. When the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League party came forward to help, Mohammad Ismail said, "We do not need any help. We will take care of the problems of our country. You will just take care of the Hindus and Christians in Pakistan without any harm."
In Parliament
Ismail was allied with the Congress Party in the 1950s but did not like some of the attitudes of the Congress party. He severed ties with the Congress party due to some bitterness with Kamaraj before the 1957 general election. He also lost the election. In the meantime, Ismail was elected to the Rajya Sabha on behalf of Chennai in 1952 and was a member of the Rajya Sabha till 1958.
When he was an MP in the Rajya Sabha he was the first to ask for a portion of his salary to be taken for the National Security Fund. During his tenure as an MP in the Rajya Sabha, he has repeatedly taken up his views in support of upholding Shariah law for Indian Muslims.
In 1956, several new states were formed through the States Reorganization Act of India. After the formation of the state, Ismail switched to the politics of the state of Kerala. He has been elected to the Lok Sabha three times as the candidate of the Indian Muslim League party from the Manjeri parliamentary constituency there. He has been elected for three consecutive terms, 1962 1967, and 1971.
His good character
Even after Muhammad Ismail became the greatest leader, his self-control and respect for others were always there. Muhammad Ismail, who adheres to honesty and dignity, will always take honest opinions in the legislature without offending others. In the legislature, he never spoke in a derogatory manner to the opposition party and never humiliated the opposition party members.
Despite being in the party of Muslims he had only a sense of freedom and never had a sense of religion in his mind. When India was divided into two as India and Pakistan when it came to the Islamic country Pakistan or India, he was in the Indian country that I was Indian without giving place to religion. From this, we can well know his patriotism.
Leader
When it came to the question of whether the Muslim minority in India could live peacefully in India after the partition of India and Pakistan, Ismail was the one who gave them hope and showed them the good way. For the Muslim minority, he raised funds and established educational institutions in Chennai, Trichy, Madurai, Palayamkottai, and many other towns.
Mohammad Ismail, an example of unity, duty, dignity, and honesty, fell ill in 1972 and was admitted to Stanley Hospital in Chennai. He passed away on April 5, 1972. Mohammad Ismail, who bought the greatest respect for Muslims in India and showed them the way to live. Even if he leaves this world, his legacy will be admired for a long time.
Post a Comment