Forgotten Muslim Freedom Fighters of India | Barkatullah Bhopali & Asim Bihari

As soon as August 15th comes, certain names immediately come to mind. Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose, and Maulana Azad are just a few. But the story of India's independence doesn't end with these names. Thousands fought for this country's freedom. Some spent years behind bars, some were hanged, and some spent their entire lives away from their homeland, fighting against British rule across the world. But sadly, their names are rarely found in our books today. Today, we will introduce you to two such Muslim freedom fighters. One was the Prime Minister of a government who sent a letter on a gold plate from Kabul to the Russian Emperor Nicholas II to seek his support for India's independence, and the other pasted his newspaper on a wall in a Kolkata street. The reason was that those for whom he was writing couldn't afford newspapers, and most couldn't even read them. Both were demanding freedom. This is the story of Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali and Maulana Ali Hussain Asan Bihari.

If I were to ask you who was the first Prime Minister of India, most people would name Jawaharlal Nehru. But very few know that even before independence, a provisional government was formed in India, and its Prime Minister was Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali. Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali was born on July 7, 1854, in the Itwara neighborhood of Bhopal. He received his early education in Bhopal. He began with Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. But his quest for knowledge took him around the world. Later, he mastered seven languages, including English, German, Japanese, and Turkish. He left India in the 1880s. He believed that the British Empire could not be defeated from within India alone; it had to be surrounded from all sides.

After leaving Bhopal, his first stop was England. In 1895, he was invited to work at the Muslim Institute in Liverpool. But this journey wasn't just about work. This is where he became associated with the revolutionary circles that dreamed of India's independence. Later, he stood shoulder to shoulder with leaders like Lala Hardayal and Raja Mahendra Pratap. This was also where he had his first direct confrontation with the British government. When former British Prime Minister Gladstone made racist and insulting remarks about Indians, Barkatullah wrote articles, delivered speeches, and responded openly. As a result, the British began keeping a close watch on him.

But Barkatullah was not one to stop. His next stop was Japan. In 1899, he arrived in Japan, where he was appointed Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Tokyo. While there, he first published a magazine called Islamic Fraternity. When it was banned, he started a newspaper called El Islam. He continued to write against the British government in both Urdu and English. His writings began to reach India and were so influential that the British government tried to pressure Japan to ban him as well. But Barkatullah was not one to give in.

Meanwhile, in 1913, his travels took him to San Francisco, where he joined the Ghadar Party. His motives were clear: no petition, no resolution. He wanted Indian soldiers recruited in the British army to surrender their guns. And in Tokyo, the very next year, in 1914, his professorship was also terminated. Just imagine, the entire Empire had to intervene to strip a professor of his job. This gives an idea of the significant threat Barkatullah had become to the British.

Meanwhile, the message of Ghadar was spreading rapidly, reaching more than 12 countries. Thousands of Indians abandoned their livelihoods and returned home. But Barkatullah's fight wasn't just against the British. He also wanted to unite Indians. In a pamphlet to the poet Hasrat Mohani, he wrote that the Muslims of India have two duties: one to the country and one to the religion. And these two duties can only be fulfilled when Hindus and Muslims become completely united.

Then came December 1, 1915. The First World War was raging at that time. Barkatullah, Raja Mahendra Pratap, and Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi arrived in Kabul, and in the Bagh-e-Babur, India's first provisional government was announced, beyond the reach of the British outside India. Now, consider who was running this government: its president was Raja Mahendra Pratap, a Hindu king; the prime minister was Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali, a maulana from Bhopal; and the home minister was Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi, born into a Sikh family, who later converted to Islam. This wasn't just a list of names. It was a picture of the India he dreamed of: a country that did not belong to any one religion.

This was the government that sent a letter to the Tsar, the Russian Emperor. They also spoke with Germany and Turkey. The Russian Emperor refused. So, in 1919, Barkatullah himself traveled to Moscow and met with Lenin. A maulana, meeting a communist revolutionary, faced only one issue: India's independence. But Barkatullah never returned to his homeland. He died in San Francisco in September 1927. He was buried in Sacramento. He was 73 years old. He lived across four continents, but he never saw the sun of a free India with his own eyes. Barkatullah raised India's voice on the world map.

Let's now turn to a freedom fighter who awakened his own people within India. But before that, a small question: what was the first thing the East India Company attacked in this country? The answer is India's handloom and handicrafts. Indian textiles were once famous throughout the world. But the Company enacted policies that flooded Indian markets with foreign textiles, ruining millions of weavers. This pain later became a part of literature and poetry. The poet Josh Malihabadi, in his famous poem titled "The Sons of the East India Company," criticized British rule, saying: "You used to chop off the thumbs of artisans. Death was looming over the sweltering India."

Ali Hussain was born into these ruined families on April 15, 1889, in the Khasganj neighborhood of Bihar Sharif. His family was poor, and his profession was weaving. But poverty wasn't the only legacy. His grandfather, Maulana Abdul Rahman, was among those who led the region in the 1857 rebellion. His education ended early. At the age of 16, a search for work led him to Kolkata, where he began working at the Usha Company. It was there that he became involved with the Khilafat movement. When the Ali brothers, Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Shaukat Ali, were arrested, Asim Bihari began organizing gatherings for their mother, Bi Amma. He paid the price for this: who gives a job to someone associated with the movement? He lost his job, and new ones were also cut off. But he had to feed himself and keep the movement going. So, to earn a living, he started the same work that the city's poorest people did at that time: rolling beedis. Later, he adopted a pen name and became known as Asim Bihari. And this is where his real story begins.

While rolling beedis, he formed a group of fellow workers, and named it Darul Muzakara, meaning "house of debate." There, articles on the country and society were written, read, and debated. At just 22, he formulated a five-year plan for the education of adults. Two years later, he established the Bazm-e-Adab in his hometown, Nalanda. Just imagine, a beedi worker was formulating a five-year plan for the education of his community.

Then came 1919. After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, anger swept across the country. Lala Lajpat Rai, Maulana Azad, and many other leaders were arrested. Asim Bihari launched a unique campaign for their release. He appealed to the entire country to send letters and telegrams of protest, from every district, every town, every village. It is said that the number of such messages reached nearly 150,000.

The following year, he founded the Jamiat-ul-Momineen at Tati Bagh in Kolkata. Later, this organization became known nationwide as the Momin Conference. For the first time, weavers, artisans, and working classes had a political voice of their own, and in April 1921, they launched the very thing with which we began this video: Al Momin, a wall newspaper. Articles were written on large sheets of paper, and pasted on the walls of localities, and those who couldn't read would stand there and have it read aloud to them. Later, this newspaper began to be printed. Just imagine, he didn't wait for people to learn to read before he gave them something to read; he created a newspaper that could reach both literate and illiterate people. This is perhaps why he is also known as the father of the Pasmanda movement.

During this period, Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Azad, and Mohammad Ali Jauhar also attended a gathering at Tati Bagh. It is said that Gandhi offered one lakh rupees to the organization, with some conditions. One lakh rupees was everything for such a poor organization at that time. Asim Bihari refused. He argued that if the organization was the voice of the workers, it could not operate on anyone else's terms.

Wherever a branch of the Momin Conference opened, libraries would also open. Educational centers would also open, and employment opportunities would also begin. Asim Bihari himself never became president; he became general secretary only after much persuasion, and for the rest of his life he promoted others. He devised a simple allowance for himself, but even that was often not paid in full. Beedi workers called him Kamali Baba, and his name in the movement was Kashti-e-Safar, meaning "walking ambassador."

Then came the 1940s, when the country's politics was moving towards Partition. Asim Bihari openly opposed it. He argued that Hindus and Muslims had lived together for centuries and could not be separated by drawing a line. He believed that Partition would cause the greatest harm to the working classes, already struggling with poverty and injustice. He died on December 6, 1953, at Kamruddin's house in Atala, Allahabad. He was buried there, leaving behind neither property nor position, just the movement.

Maulana Barkatullah Bhopali and Maulana Ali Hussain Asim Bihari — two different cities, two different paths, but with the same destination. One raised the voice of India's independence on the world map. The other gave voice to those within India whose voices no one wanted to hear. But their fight wasn't just against the British. Both dreamed of an India where freedom wasn't just about changing governments, but about the foundation of justice, equality, and equal citizenship. For Barkatullah, an independent India was one where a Hindu king and a Muslim maulana could sit in the same cabinet. For Asim Bihari, freedom was where even a weaver's son could study, a laborer could have a voice, and even the most vulnerable sections of society could live with dignity.

But this story isn't just about Barkatullah and Asim Bihari. It's the story of hundreds of people who sacrificed their lives for India's independence. But today, their memories are fading from our collective memory. Some of these names include Ashfaqulla Khan, who was only 27 years old when he was hanged after the Kakori incident. Hasrat Mohani, who raised the slogan "Inquilab Zindabad" and was the first to demand complete independence. Saifuddin Kitchlew, whose arrest led to the firing on the crowd at Jallianwala Bagh. Begum Hazrat Mahal, who led Awadh against the British in 1857. Pir Ali Khan, who was hanged in Patna in 1857. Sheikh-ul-Hind Maulana Mahmud Hasan, who spent years imprisoned in Malta. And Bi Amma, whose voice kept the Khilafat movement alive across the country. This list is very long and perhaps incomplete, because many of these names never reached our books.

Even today, in this country, an entire community is repeatedly asked to prove its loyalty. But the question isn't whether there is proof; the proof is recorded on every page of history. The only question is why we weren't taught those pages. And perhaps this is why the fight hasn't ended even today. Now the question isn't who did what for the country, but who will find a place in our collective memory and whose name will gradually be erased.

Consider, for example, a university in Bhopal. For nearly four decades, a name has been attached to it: Barkatullah. But on June 3, 2026, its Executive Council unanimously decided to remove this name. The file is now with the Governor. What is the reason stated in the proposal? That compared to Raja Bhoj, Barkatullah has no significant contribution to this region, except that he was a resident. Imagine — a man who served as prime minister in India's first provisional government and dedicated his entire life to the country's independence is being accused of having no significant contribution. And on the other hand, the situation regarding Asim Bihari is even more silent. Nothing was ever named after him. One's grave is in Sacramento, the other's is in Allahabad. One never saw an independent India. The other saw it, but perhaps not the India he had dreamed of.

This 15th August, when you hoist the tricolour, don't just remember those whose names we were reminded of. Remember also those who were gradually erased from our memory. Because dates aren't just written; dates are also remembered, and remembering them is also a political exercise.