Syed Hasan Imam (31 August 1871 – 19 April 1933) was an Indian

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as the President of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

and was elected in September 1918.From the Archives (August 27, 1918): The Special Congress (Syed Hasan Imam)
Archives of The Hindu (newspaper), Published 27 August 2018, Retrieved 26 August 2019Syed Hasan Imam, President of Indian National Congress who represented India at the 'League Of Nations'
Heritage Times (newspaper), Published 19 April 2019, Retrieved 26 August 2019

Biography

He was the fourth Muslim (After Badruddin Tyabji, Rahimtulla M. Sayani and Nawab Syed Muhammad Bahadur) to become the President of

. One of his ancestors was the private tutor to

Mughal emperor The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...

Aurangzeb Alamgir I (Muhi al-Din Muhammad; 3 November 1618 – 3 March 1707), commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, also called Aurangzeb the Conqueror, was the sixth Mughal emperors, Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707, becomi ...

. Hasan Imam's father was a professor of history at Patna College. By his first wife, Syed Hasan Imam had a son Syed Medhi Imam, educated at Harrow and

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, a barrister of the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

and scholar of Latin and Greek. Hasan Imam also married an Indo-French lady, and Bulu Imam the human rights campaigner, and wildlife expert is their grandson. Regarded as one of India's finest barristers, some barristers such as Chittaranjan Das (C.R. Das) and H.D. Bose considered Hasan as the best barrister in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. He is related to many other barristers besides those within his own immediate family including Sir Sultan Ahmed and Syed Abdul Aziz. Hasan Imam's

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

educated nephew Syed Jafar Imam was also his son-in-law and later became a Supreme Court judge.

Law and political career

Hasan Imam, son of lmdad Imam, and younger brother of freedom fighter Sir Ali Imam, was born at Neora village, Patna district,

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

on 31 August 1871. A

Shia Muslim Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...

by faith, he belonged to a distinguished, educated landed family. After a course of schooling, interrupted frequently by ill-health, he left for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in July 1889 and joined the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

. While there, he campaigned actively for Dadabhai Naoroji during the General Election of England in 1891. He was called to the Bar in 1892; he returned home the same year and started law practice in the Calcutta High Court. Hasan Imam became a Judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1912. On the establishment of the Patna High Court in March 1916, Imam resigned the Judgeship of the Calcutta High Court and started practice at

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

. In 1921, he was nominated a Member of the Bihar and Orissa Legislative Council. From 1908 onwards he took part in political affairs. In October 1909, he was elected president of the Bihar Congress Committee and in the next month he presided over the fourth session of the Bihar Students' Conference. He resumed political activity on a larger scale after resigning the Judgeship in 1916. Hasan Imam was one of the prominent Indian leaders who called upon Montagu, the Secretary of State for India, in November 1917 and was listed by him among "the real giants of the Indian Political World". He presided over the special session of the Indian National Congress held at Bombay, 1918, to consider the

Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms The Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms or more concisely the Mont–Ford Reforms, were introduced by the colonial government to introduce self-governing institutions gradually in British India. The reforms take their name from Edwin Montagu, the Sec ...

Scheme. It was an important, but difficult, session to handle because opinion was sharply divided on the merits of the scheme. Hasan Imam played a moderating role. It was his opinion, where he thought a hostile environment between Hindus and Muslims would make it impossible to achieve freedom from the British rule. A staunch constitutionalist, he was opposed to the ideology of the Non-cooperation movement. Hasan Imam took a leading part in the Khilafat Movement. He joined the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930 and was elected Secretary of the Swadeshi League formed in

. He actively campaigned for the boycott of foreign goods and use of Khaddar. Earlier in 1927, he "materially conduced to the success" of the boycott of the Simon Commission in

. Hasan Imam was a strong advocate of social reforms, particularly the amelioration of the position of women and the depressed classes. As a member of the Tikari Board of Trustees, he promoted schemes for girls' education. He exposed the economic exploitation of the country, both under the Company and the Imperial rule. He was President of the Board of Trustees of the Biharee, the leading English daily of Bihar; he was also one of the founders of the succeeding Searchlight.

Death

He died on 19 April 1933 and lies buried on the banks of river Sone in Japla, a town in

Palamu district Palamu district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand, India. It was formed in 1892. The administrative headquarters of the district is Medininagar, situated on the South Koel River, Koel River. Palamu district lies in north-western par ...

near the border of

and

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imam, Syed Hasan Indian Shia Muslims Indian barristers Politicians from Patna Presidents of the Indian National Congress 1871 births 1933 deaths Indian National Congress politicians from Bihar 19th-century Indian lawyers 20th-century Indian lawyers 19th-century Indian politicians 20th-century Indian politicians Indian independence activists from Bihar