Ubaidullah Sindhi

Ubaidullah Sindhi (10 March 1872 – 21 August 1944) was a political activist of the Indian independence movement and one of its prominent leaders. According to Dawn, Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi struggled for the independence of nation and for an exploitation-free society. He was also the Home Minister of first Provisional Government of India established in Afghanistan in 1915.

Ubaidullah Sindhi was the life member of Jamia Millia Islamia, in New Delhi, British India. He served the Jamia Millia Islamia for a long period of time on a meagre salary. A boys' hostel in Dr. Zakir Husain Hall of Boys' Residence in Jamia Millia Islamia has been named after him.

Early life Ubaidullah was born on 10 March 1872 in a Punjabi Sikh family belonging to Khatri Uppal clan, in the district of Sialkot, Punjab, British India as Buta Singh Uppal. His father died four months before Ubaidullah was born, and the child was raised for two years by his paternal grandfather. Following the paternal grandfather's death, he was taken by his mother to the care of her father, at his maternal grandfather's house. Later, young Buta Singh was entrusted to the care of his uncle at Jampur Tehsil, Punjab, when his maternal grandfather died. Mahmud Hasan Deobandi, left India to seek the help of Galib Pasha, the Turkish governor of Hijaz, while at Hasan's directions, Ubaidullah proceeded to Kabul to seek Emir Habibullah's support there. Initial plans were to raise an Islamic army (Hizb Allah) headquartered at Medina, with an Indian contingent at Kabul. Maulana Hasan was to be the General-in-Chief of this army. Ubaidullah had proposed to the Afghan Emir that he declare war against British India. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is known to have been involved in the movement prior to his arrest in 1916. Mahendra Pratap was proclaimed its president, Barkatullah the Prime minister, Ubaidullah Sindhi the Minister for India, another Deobandi leader Moulavi Bashir its War Minister, and Champakaran Pillai was to be the Foreign Minister. This provisional government later attempted to obtain support from Soviet leadership. After the February Revolution in Russia in 1917, Pratap's government corresponded with the nascent Soviet government. In 1918, Mahendra Pratap met Trotsky in Petrograd before meeting the Kaiser in Berlin, urging both to mobilise against British India.

However, these plans faltered, Emir Habibullah remained steadfastly neutral while he awaited a concrete indication where the war was headed, even as his advisory council and family members indicated their support against Britain. The Germans withdrew their support in 1917, but the 'Provisional Government of India' stayed behind at Kabul. In 1919, this government was ultimately dissolved under British diplomatic pressure on Afghanistan. Ubaidullah had stayed in Kabul for nearly seven years. He even encouraged the young King Amanullah Khan, who took power in Afghanistan after Habibullah's assassination, in the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The conclusion of the war ultimately, forced Ubaidullah Sindhi to leave Afghanistan as King Amanullah came under pressure from Britain. He remained in Afghanistan until the end of World War I, and then left for Russia.

Later works Ubaidullah then proceeded from Afghanistan to Russia, where he spent seven months at the invitation of the Soviet leadership, and was officially treated as a guest of the state. During this period, he studied the ideology of socialism. According to an article in a major newspaper of Pakistan, titled 'Of socialism and Islam', "Islam showed not only deep sympathy for the poor and downtrodden but also condemned strongly the concentration of wealth in a number of Makkan surahs. Makkah, as an important centre of international trade, was home to the very rich (tribal chiefs) and the extremely poor." In 1923, Ubaidullah left Russia for Turkey where he initiated the third phase of the 'Shah Waliullah Movement' in 1924. He subsequently spent two years in Turkey. He issued the 'Charter for the Independence of India' from Istanbul. Ubaidullah then left for Mecca, Arabia in 1927 and eventually reached Hijaz (Saudi Arabia) where he spent about 14 years learning and pondering over the philosophy of Islam especially in the light of Shah Waliullah Dehlawi's works. In his career, he was a Pan-Islamic thinker. Right after his return to India, he started meeting Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and planned his movement to Germany and Japan. They met several times and are supposed to have discussed a plan similar to the one carried out by Ubaidullah, Raja Mahendra Pratap and Maulana Barkatullah during the First World War. He was opposed to the Pakistan plan of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Muslim League. In his view Muslims and Hindus of India were one civilization and he was against the idea of foreign help in Indian affairs. Ubaidullah left for Rahim Yar Khan to visit his daughter in 1944. At the village 'Deen Pur' near Khanpur town in Rahim Yar Khan District, he was taken seriously ill, and died on 21 August 1944. Zaati Diary (an autobiography)

Legacy Pakistan Postal Services has issued a commemorative postage stamp in honor of Ubaidullah Sindhi in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series in 1990. Saeed Ahmad Akbarabadi wrote Maulana Ubaidullah Sindhi awr Unke Naaqid.