Makhdoom Mohiuddin

Makhdoom Mohiuddin was an Urdu poet and trade union leader in Hyderabad.¹ He was secretary of the Communist Party in Hyderabad State.¹ He was born on 4 February 1908 at Andole, in Medak district, and died on 25 August 1969.¹

Most of the details on this page come from the Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, published by the state government in 1980.¹ It gives his full name as Abu Sayeed Mohammad Makhdoom Mohiuddin Khudri.¹

Teacher, poet and trade unionist

He was the son of Ghous Mohiuddin and took an M.A. at Osmania University.¹ For some time he taught at the City College, Hyderabad.¹ He became a leader of workers’ unions.¹ He was chief vice-president of the union of the Nizam’s State Railway employees.¹

Arrests, 1944–1946

He was imprisoned in the Central Jail, Hyderabad, from 15 January to 15 April 1944.¹ The Who’s Who says this was for a public speech in favour of a national government for India.¹ On 16 August 1946 he was arrested again, over the founding of the All Hyderabad Trade Union Congress.¹ He was released later.¹

The Telangana armed struggle

Sarojini Regani names him (spelt “Moqdoom Moinuddin”) among the leading members of the Communist Party in Hyderabad.² In her account, the party in Hyderabad worked as a wing of the Andhra Communist Party based at Vijayawada.²

After the police action of September 1948, the new Hyderabad government issued Hyderabad Reborn (1949).³ It names “Mukdum Mohiuddin” among the members of the communists’ State Committee.³ Under this committee, it says, the party set up district, taluk and village organisers and armed squads (dalams).³ The book calls the members of these squads goondas (thugs).³

After 1950

He was joint secretary of the All-India Trade Union Congress.¹ In 1953–54 he worked for it at the headquarters of the World Federation of Trade Unions in Vienna.¹ He travelled to China, the Soviet Union and countries of Eastern Europe and Africa for peace conferences and trade union work.¹

From 1957 he was a member of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council.¹ He led the Communist Party of India group in the Council until his death on 25 August 1969.¹

His writings

The Who’s Who lists his Urdu works.¹ They include the poems or collections Azad-e-Watan, Haveli, Andhera, Jang-e-Azadi, Telangana and Bisat-e-Raqs.¹ He also wrote a study, Tagore and his Poetry.¹ In December 1976 the Andhra Pradesh Urdu Academy gave him a special award of Rs. 3,000 after his death, for Bisat-e-Raqs.¹

Footnotes

1. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 415 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²²

2. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 208 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

3. Hyderabad Reborn (1949), p. 114 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴