BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain pays tribute to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain paid tribute to India's first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad on his birth anniversary on Monday. Hussain was joined by grandnephew of Azad Firoz Bakht at his Mazar (grave) near Jama Masjid. "Azad's message is relevant and important these days. Our country was divided on August 14, 1947, and it got united two days ago. The way people accepted the Supreme Court verdict in Ayodhya case and also behaved responsibly, the soul of Azad would be happy for sure," said Shahnawaz Hussain.

READ | PM Modi Extends Birthday Wishes To Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio

"From the steps of Jama Masjid here, Azad had told Muslims of the country that those of you who are going to Pakistan, you will find your religion there but not your country. Those who have gone there are referred by them as 'Muhajir' or Refugees today," Hussain added.

Azad, an eminent educationist

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's birth anniversary is celebrated as 'National Education Day' every year on November 11 in the country. Azad was a freedom fighter, scholar and an eminent educationist and was a key architect of education in independent India. The first National Education Day celebrations were inaugurated by former President Pratibha Patil on November 11, 2008 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, in memory of Maulana Azad. Azad was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, in 1992.

READ | Ayodhya Verdict Welcomed By 'one And All': Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

READ | Tejashwi Celebrates 30th B'day In The Skies On A Chartered Aircraft

Maulana Azad's contribution as the Education Minister

Among the institutions that he founded as the Education Minister were – Institute of Technology(IIT), University Grants Commission (UGC), Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), Sahitya Academy, Lalit Kala Academy, Sangeet Natak Academy and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). These prominent institutions are the backbone of India's education system and bear testimony to Azad's vision and his farsightedness. According to historians, Maulana Azad "laid the base for higher education and for technological and scientific research and education that was instrumental in industrialisation and the recent emergence of knowledge-based industries."

(With ANI inputs)

READ | Jammu: Educational Institutes Reopen After Restrictions Were Lifted