Charu Bahri
for, IndianMuslims.info
Saif-ud-Din Kitchlew was born in Amritsar in January 1888 to Azizuddin Kitchlew and Dan Bibi. His father, a Kashmiri Muslim was a well-to-do pashmina and saffron trader, himself son of a similar merchant named Ahmed Jo, who had migrated from Kashmir in the middle of the 19th century. His ancestry is further traced to a brahmin family of Baramulla where one of his ancestors named Prakash Ram Kitchlew is said to have accepted Islam.
Dr. Kitchlew schooled in India but pursued his graduation studies from Cambridge University, successfully acquiring a B.A. Subsequently, he studied law in London and even obtained a doctorate from the German University of Munster. Once his studies were complete though, he returned to India and started practicing law.
He took a keen interest in social and political activities. His earliest achievement in social leadership was his election as Municipal Commissioner of the city of Amritsar in 1919. His political involvement slowly grew in momentum alongside the Indian freedom struggle. The peoples’ reaction to the Rowlatt Acts inspired him to actively participate in the nationalist movement as a result of which he was arrested with Dr. Satyapal for leading protests against the legislation in Punjab. At this time, Mahatma Gandhi was also prevented from entering Punjab. The famed Jallianwala Bagh public meeting was called to protest the arrest of these leaders when General Reginald Dyer and his troops appeared on the scene, blocked the only entrance to the venue and fired pitilessly on the unarmed, peaceful civilian gathering. Hundreds were killed and over a thousand were injured. The act was derided as the worst oppressive attack on civilians since the Indian mutiny of 1857 and as a result, riots broke out throughout Punjab and in other places.
A true nationalist, Dr. Kitchlew’s contribution as a Muslim freedom fighter from Punjab is believed to have been underplayed. In his Punjabi play, Jallianwala (published by the Nanak Singh Pustakmala), Dr. Santokh Singh Sheharyar has elucidated several interesting facts about Kitchlew’s life.
Dr. Sheharyar’s writing suggests that though Dr. Kitchlew was an ardent Muslim, he was equally sincere about and worked for Hindu-Muslim unity. Apparently, Kitchlew’s first speech after the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy went on the lines of, “This is a day of rejoicing. This day created a new age. This day made us one. Hindus and Muslims are not two, the only difference is that one party calls God ‘Parmeshwar’ and the second calls Him ‘Allah’. The inhabitants of India are the product of this land. How can we be separated?�
When he saw water being served at the local railway station as ‘Hindu pani’ (Hindu water) and ‘Muslim pani’ (Muslim water), Kitchlew would personally intervene to serve water to members of both communities from the same pitcher.
Meanwhile, Dr. Saif-ud-Din Kitchlew rose in position in the Indian National Congress. He initially gained experience working with the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee. In 1924, he was elected general secretary of the All India Congress Committee. He was also chairman of the reception committee of the Congress session in Lahore in 1929-30, where on January 26 1930 the Congress declared Indian independence as its aim and called for an era of civil disobedience to achieve complete independence.
Dr. Kitchlew was one of the founders of Naujawan Bharat Sabha or Indian Youth Congress, which enthused thousands of Indian youth to the cause of nationalism. As a result of his involvement with the political movement and his passionate, inspiring speeches, he was arrested a number of times during the freedom struggle.
Dr. Kitchlew was also member of the Foundation Committee of the Jamia Millia Islamia. A staunch Indian and believer in nationalism, Saif-ud-Din Kitchlew vehemently opposed the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan. In fact, in 1947 he strongly opposed the Congress party’s acceptance of the partition of India. He spoke out against this decision at public meetings across the country, even at the All India Congress Committee session that ultimately voted for the resolution. He is said to have called this vote a “surrender of nationalism for communalism.�
Post partition and independence, Dr. Kitchlew left the Congress and came closer to the Communist Party of India. He moved to Delhi and spent the rest of life working for closer political and diplomatic relations with the USSR, in appreciation of which he received the Lenin Award for International Peace.
Saif-ud-Din Kitchlew died in October 1963.