Today marks the 84th death anniversary of Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari.
Dr. Ansari was born on 25th December 1880, at his ancestral home in Yusufpur-Mohammadabad in the Ghazipur district of what was then known as the United Provinces, (UP).

#Thread #DrMAAnsari

Dr. Ansari was a descendant - in a direct line - of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari of Herat through Khwaja Abdurreman. The family migrated to India in two batches; first in the reign of Mohammad bin Tughlaq and subsequently with Babur’s army in 1526.

#DrMAAnsari

Dr. Ansari was educated in Hyderabad, where his brothers were in the service of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and then received a degree in medicine from the Madras Medical College.
He moved to Edinburgh for higher studies and received a Master of Surgery from @EdinburghUni, in 1910.

Following his time at the University of Edinburgh, Ansari interned at the London Lock Hospital and finally began work as a house surgeon at the Charing Cross Hospital, London.
To honour his exemplary services, the hospital named a ward after him; a first for an Indian.

Following his return to India, Dr. Ansari became heavily embroiled in the politics raging around him and in 1912, he led the Indian Medical Mission to Turkey during the course of the Balkan Wars. “...his Mission to Turkey made him a bridge between #Turkey and India.”

@Akcapar

Dr. Ansari was conferred one of the highest honours of the #Ottoman Empire, “The Order of the Osmanieh” by the Ottoman Sultan for his services to the Ottoman Empire.
#Turkey #Khilafat

Upon his return to India from #Turkey Dr. Ansari continued his medical practice from Delhi while remaining politically active.
He was instrumental in forging the Lucknow Pact (1916), between Congress and the Muslim League.
He was also President of the Muslim League in 1918.

Dr. Ansari was a lifelong member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) from 1922 onwards. He was also General Secretary of the Congress Party 5 times between 1922-1932.
In 1927, he became President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC).
@INCIndia

He co-founded the Jamia Millia Islamia in 1920, personally donating land and raising finances for its establishment in Delhi. He remained its Vice Chancellor from 1928 until his passing away.

#JamiaMilliaIslamia
@jmiu_official

Few know that Dr. Ansari also helped in the founding of the Kashi Vidyapeeth at Benaras, in 1921 and was one of its earliest supporters.
#Varanasi

Mahatma Gandhi said of Dr. Ansari;

"...He was my infallible guide on Hindu-Muslim questions....” https://m.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-doctor-and-his-legacy/cid/1461659

His home in New Delhi, Dar-us-Salām (The Abode of Peace), was the venue for many meetings and deliberations of the Congress Party and it was here that Mahatma Gandhi would stay during his visits to Delhi, while Dr. Ansari was alive.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dnaindia.com/delhi/report-bapu-s-lesser-known-favourite-home-in-delhi-s-daryaganj-2670575/amp

In a letter to the Turkish intellectual Halide Edibe shortly before his death, Dr Ansari wrote;

“I consider the brotherhood of man as the only tie, and partitions based on race and religion are, to my mind, artificial and arbitrary.” (1936)

At the time of his death, Dr. Ansari was serving as the President of the Congress Parliamentary Board (CPB).
Mahatma Gandhi’s touching obituary of Dr. Ansari is given in the attached document.
Dr. Ansari was succeeded as the CPB President by Sardar Patel.
@INCIndia

Dr. Ansari passed away on this day in 1936, aged only 56, following a heart-attack as he was returning from his summer-home in Mussoorie to Delhi.

His legacy and vision of Hindu-Muslim unity and a secular #India -though severely tested - live on.
He was buried at Jamia Millia.