Saquib Salim
“Mr. Bari is an old friend of mine and in the Congres, we have been working along the same lines ever since the Swaraj Party days (1922). Moreover, I have great regard for his character. He is bold, upright, honest, fearless, and self-sacrificing and has a truly non-communal and non-provincial mentality. That such a person should espouse the cause of Jamshedpur labour was a great gain for the latter.” Subhas Chandra Bose wrote this on Professor Abdul Bari on 1 April 1939.
Unsung Heroes of Freedom Struggle
Professor Abdul Bari was one of the tallest freedom fighters from Bihar and arguably the first and most prominent politician who laid down his life to stop the communal violence during the partition of India.
Bari joined the Congress during the non-cooperation movement and gave his services as a teacher at a National Educational Institution in Patna, which was founded by the nationalists to oppose the English government’s education. Soon, he became the face of the anti-British activists in Bihar.
During the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930, Bari was one of the most important leaders in Bihar along with Dr. Rajendra Prasad. In his memoirs, Prasad later recalled how Bari led the protests against the charge of Pathan soldiers of the British.
Prof Abdul Bari
Parsad writes, “Prof. Abdul Bari was a person who could be easily recognized as a Muslim by his beard. He was a gentleman of high stature and had a stout body in which beat an equally stout heart. He and I were in the crowd on one of these afternoons when the police gave some blows to him also. He did not mind them of course, but the wonder was not that he did not mind the blows, but that the crowd also kept quiet. One of the policemen on horseback pushed him and then led him along the road as if he were under arrest. He whispered to Abdul Bari: “You are a Musalman. How is it that you are in this crowd?” Prof. Abdul Bari said: “Allah has sent me here for you.” The man felt thoroughly upset and left him alone.”
On another occasion, Prasad recalled that Bari was beaten severely by the police when they were protesting together against the British government.
The popularity of Bari as a mass leader can be judged from the fact that once when a policeman hit him with a lathi (cane) another policeman took revenge on the other one.
“After one of the constables had given a severe lathi blow to Prof. Abdul Bari,” writes Rajendra Prasad, “who fell dazed, he wanted to give another blow, but some of these other constables had stopped him from doing so, and as a protest given the assailant a lathi blow. He wanted to complain about this to the Superintendent of Police, but the others forestalled him and reported to the Superintendent that some of the constables did not know how to use lathis and had by mistake beaten one of themselves while beating the crowds. The Superintendent could at once see the situation and instead of taking any action against the persons complained against transferred them to the Lines at the headquarters.”
Prasad also recorded that the District Magistrate of Bhagalpur himself apologised for misbehaviour of the police to Bari and him.
During the mid-1930s, Bari became more involved with the workers’ movements. He shifted base to Jamshedpur and started leading a Trade Union. Previously, Subhas was heading the workers movement at Jamshedpur.
When every prominent leader of Congress was arrested in August 1942 after the call of the Quit India Movement, Bari could not be arrested till 30 April 1943. He was one of the tallest leaders of Congress who was outside the prison during that time and thus played an important role in the mass movements that happened in late 1942 in Bihar and Bengal. He was arrested from Kolkata by CID.
Bihar was engulfed with communal violence in 1946. Thousands were killed and more displaced. Bari believed that future communal violence could be checked only if the lawbreakers were punished by the court of law.
He believed that those were not riots between Hindus and Muslims but the forces against freedom and for freedom. In India, like any other conflict, it had been painted as a Hindu and Muslim riot.
A list was prepared of the rioters and he was going to meet Mahatma Gandhi on 28 March 1930 to discuss the list when five people murdered him. It was later accused that influential instigators of riots did not want themselves in trouble.
Harijan reported the next day, “Gandhiji referred to his visit earlier in the day to Prof. Bari’s house to console the members of the bereaved family and ask them not to grieve and to hearten them for the work that had specially descended upon the weak shoulders of his children. Gandhiji said that as he entered the house he was struck with its simplicity and the simple life Prof. Bari had led.
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“The house was located in an ordinary narrow lane and what he saw inside the house fully bore out what everyone had said about Prof. Bari, that he was a poor man and that though he had opportunities he scrupulously maintained his integrity as far as public finances were concerned. At a time when the administration of the country was in the Congress’s hands and crores of rupees had to be administered, men of Prof. Bari’s honesty would have been of invaluable help….. God had willed otherwise and He had deprived Bihar of the great service of a very brave man with the heart of a fakir.”
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