Who was Dr Zakir Hussain
Dr. Zakir Hussain was a renowned educationist of India, He contributed like Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan to the Indian education system.
From a young age, Zakir Hussain had a passion for doing politics, that is why he contributed to India in the field of education.
Zakir Hussain had climbed the ladder of success in the field of education in modern India over time. Therefore his name is known among the famous person of India.
He believed that national renaissance could not be achieved only through politics.
He believed that after educating India, it can be easily developed and therefore he put full emphasis on the field of education.
Zakir Hussain worked as the Vice-Chancellor for nearly 22 years at the famous University of India, Jamia Millia Islamia.
The goal of his life was to educate India without any discrimination. Due to which he was awarded the highest civilian award of India i.e. Bharat Ratna Award.
Early Life
Dr. Zakir Hussain’s father’s name was Fida Hussain and his mother’s name was Nazni Begum. He was born on 8 February in Kayamganj Farrukhabad in the year 1897. Along with Zakir, they were seven siblings and Zakir was the third of them.
Zakir Hussain was very young when he lost his father, after which everything his mother had to do. unfortunately, 3 years later, his mother had also died, after which Zakir was left alone and he had to do everything.
Zakir Hussain did not give up, despite being an orphan he completed his studies at Islamia High School in Etawah.
After this, he joined Anglo Mohammedan Oriental College, And this college is known as Aligarh Muslim University in the modern era of India.
From the college days, the interest in politics started to be born in Zakir Hussain.
Going forward, his image in India was like a leader, but even before that, he used to be a student leader in college.
He had obtained a BA degree and was studying M.A, then he left his studies after seeing the Khilafat Movement and Non-Cooperative Movement being run by Mahatma Gandhi.
Student Life and Political Career
In the year 1920, he led some students and teachers, and in the same year on October 19 or 20, Aligarh Muslim University was also established.
After that, he built Jamia University in New Delhi’s Karol Bagh but after some time it was shifted to Jamia Nagar in Delhi by Zakir Hussain.
Zakir lived as a teacher in Jamia for the first two years, After this, he developed such a passion to become a teacher that he went to Berlin Friedrich William University located in Germany to do a Ph.D. in Economics.
He went to Germany with the collection of Mirza Ghalib’s poetry, the famous Urdu language poet. After this, when he returned to India, he also took part in the Swaraj and Civil Disobedience Movement run by Mahatma Gandhi.
But he had contributed like a teacher in the freedom struggle of the country and he used to participate in different movements from time to time.
In the year 1927, he has appointed the head of Jamia Millia Islamia University, therefore this university could be revived because the popularity of this university was over.
For nearly 20 years since 1927, he made his full contribution to the Jamia Millia Islamia University. Although there was a time in those days when Zakir Hussain could be expelled from the college, but he was successful in saving his teacher’s post.
When he used to be a teacher, he used to propagate the importance of education among the public. Even he, along with people like Mahatma Gandhi and Ajmal Khan, had propagated education among the general public, due to which he came into the public eye.
Ever since coming into the public eye, he started trying to improve the educational system of India and due to his persistent efforts, people like Mohammad Ali Jinnah also praised him.
By the way, Mahatma Gandhi also used to promote education a lot because he himself used to be a lawyer by profession.
After the victory of the Congress in the year 1937, a teachers’ assembly was organized to establish a national policy. Mahatma Gandhi was also in this assembly and he encouraged more work-oriented education than book-centric education.
On October 23, 1933, Zakir Hussain was elected the Chief Chairman of the Education Committee and according to him, basic education was to be brought to the public. And he submitted the report in an assembly in December 1937.
After the independence of India, in the year 1948, Zakir Hussain was appointed as the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. (Bhagat Singh)
It was a difficult time when Zakir Hussain took over Aligarh Muslim University because at that time many teachers of Aligarh Muslim University were supporting the fact that Pakistan became a country.
In the year 1956, Zakir Hussain’s name was also nominated in the Parliament, although at that time he was appointed as the Governor of Bihar, Zakir was the Governor of Bihar from the year 1957 to 1962 for about 5 years.
In the year 1962, Zakir was elected the Vice President of India and served for 5 years. After this, keeping in view his work, he was elected the President of India in the year 1967, after which he again worked for India for 5 years. He was the first Muslim of India.
When he was President, almost every person was influenced by him because people loved his behavior. He was a very kind person, he contributed to India almost everywhere in the field of politics, and education.
His name has also been written in golden letters in the history of India, which will always be remembered.
Dr Zakir Hussain Personal life
If we talk about Zakir Hussain’s personal life, he was married at the age of 18, his wife’s name was Shah Jahan Begum.
Two daughters were born to Shah Jahan Begum at Zakir Hussain’s house, one of whom was named Sadia Khan and the other was named Safia Rehman.
Apart from this, Zakir’s grandson also did politics for the Congress and contributed to India.
Zakir Hussain Death
Zakir Hussain was the first President of Azad India, who died before the Presidents, he died on May 3 in the year 1969.
His dead body was buried in the premises of Jamia Millia Islamia, besides a tomb was built for his wife in Jamia Millia.
Jamia Millia Islamia is one of the biggest successes of his life, he has made a big contribution to India by doing so.
Even in modern India, students go to study in Jamia Millia Islamia, and the universities built by him are counted among the top universities of India.
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