Maulana Azad, Independent India's first education minister, was a learned man who fought for communal harmony and gave leadership to both the Gandhian movements as well as to the Khilafat agitation. Even today, he remains one of the biggest symbols of Hindu-Muslim unity.

Although Azad's education was fit for becoming a cleric, his rebellious nature and affinity for politics turned him towards journal­ism. He established an Urdu weekly newspaper in 1912 called AI-Hilal and openly attacked British policies. Espousing the ideals of Indian nationalism, Azad's publications were aimed at encouraging young Muslims into fighting for independence and Hindu-Muslim unity. His work helped improve the relationship between Hindus and Muslims in Bengal, which had been soured by the controversy surrounding the partition of Bengal and the issue of separate com­munal electorates. With the onset of World War I, the British stiffened censorship and restrictions on political activity. Azad's AI-Hilal was consequently banned in 19 14 under the Press Act and he started a new journmal- Al- Balagh. During this period Azad also actively supported the Khilafat agitation.

Azad's active participation in the Non-Cooperation movement after the passage of the Rowlatt Act in 1919 brought him in close con­nection with Mahatma Gandhi and his philoso­phies. He adopted Gandhi's ideas by living sim­ply, rejecting material possessions and pleasures. He began to spin his own clothes using on the charkha, and began frequently living and partic­ipating in the ashrams organized by Gandhi. Becoming deeply committed to ahimsa (non­violence) himself, Azad grew close to fellow nationalists like Jawaharlal Nehru, Chittaranjan Das and Subhash Chandra Bose. When Gandhi embarked on the Dandi Salt March that inaugurated the Salt Satyagraha in 1930, Azad organized and led the nationalist raid, on the Dha­rasana salt works in order to protest the salt tax and restriction of its production and sale. The biggest nationalist upheaval in a decade, Azad was imprisoned along with millions of people.

During the post Independence Hindu-Mus­lim clash, Azad took up the responsibility of protecting the Muslims in India. He toured the affected areas of the country organising refugee camps, security and supplies. He gave speeches to large crowds encouraging peace and calm in the border areas and requesting Muslims across the country to remain in India and not fear for their safety and security.
During his life and in contemporary times, Azad has been criticised for not doing enough to prevent the partition of India. At the time of partition, the biggest criticism against him was not doing enough for protecting the Muslims. However, Azad is remembered as amongst the leading Indian nationalists of his time. His firm belief in Hindu-Muslim unity earned him the respect of the Hindu community and he still remains one of the most important symbols of communal harmony in modem India.