Yakub Hasan Sait

Yakub Hasan Sait was born in Nagpur, Central Provinces and Berar in 1875.[1] He had his schooling and early education in Nagpur and he had his higher education from Aligarh University.[1] Soon after completion of his degree in 1893, Sait moved to Bangalore and started his career as a businessman.[1]

Sait moved to Madras in 1901 and gradually settled in the city. For a particular period of time, he worked as an international business agent under Nawab C. Abdul Hakim.[2][3] Due to his immense knowledge of the Quran and other Muslim religious scriptures, Sait was often called "Maulana".[4]

Soon after his arrival in Madras, Sait entered public life and was elected member of the Madras Corporation. Sait was one of founders of the All India Muslim League.[1] He was an active party worker and visited England as a delegate of the League. He was also the only Muslim politician from the Madras Presidency involved in the drafting of the Lucknow Pact.[5]

In 1916, Sait was elected to the Madras Legislative Council by the South Indian Chamber of Commerce. He joined the Indian National Congress and participated in the Khilafat agitations[1][5] in 1919 and was imprisoned for six months. He was arrested and imprisoned once again in 1921 for his participation in the Non-Cooperation Movement.[5] On his return from jail in 1923, he resigned from the Congress and founded the Madras Province Muslim League.[1] This move was prompted by Sait's preference for Dominion Status when the Congress declaration of independence as its primary goal.[6] As a result, no Muslim leader from the Presidency participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement.[6] Sait stood for the elections and was elected to the Assembly. In 1927, Sait allied with the United Nationalist party of N. G. Ranga.[7][8]

A little before the 1937 elections, Sait, left the Madras Provincial Muslim League and joined the Indian National Congress.[9] Soon, he became one of the top leaders of the provincial Congress.[9] He condemned Mohammad Iqbal's two-nation theory and supported a united India.[9] However, he still supported most of the other policies of the Muslim League.[9]

Sait won the 1937 elections to the Madras assembly.[1] He was made a minister in the Madras cabinet and was given in charge of the Public Works Department.[1] Sait resigned along with other ministers when Britain declared war on Germany.

In March 1940, a few months after resigning as Minister, Sait suffered chest pains and had to be hospitalized.[10] He died soon afterwards.[10]

In the 1930s, most Tamil Muslim politicians were concentrated in the Madras Provincial Muslim League.[11] These Muslim Leaguers were against the atheist policies of the Self-Respect Movement.[11] At the same time, there was also not much support for the Indian National Congress amongst the Muslims in the Presidency.[11]

During his campaigning for the Indian National Congress, Sait was accused of disrespecting Islam at a meeting in Coimbatore by not standing while verses from the Quran were read.[11] Throughout the remainder of the campaign, he was shown black flags at rallies.[11]

• The Saits

• "Biography:Yakub Hasan Sait from Haripura Congress Souvenir". Indian National Congress. 1938.