Aligarh Muslim University alumnus and former registrar Syed Muhammad Afzal was honored with the Presidential Police Medal in New Delhi on Republic Day today. These awards were given for their 25 years of devotion and honest service.
At present, Syed Muhammad Afzal is serving as the post of Additional Director General of Police in Bhopal Madhya Pradesh (EOW). Earlier, Syed Muhammad Afzal has been awarded various awards and medals for his services. Syed Afzal has been a student of AMU and a secretary of the University Literary Club.
Dr. Ahmed Mujtaba Siddiqui, Joint Secretary, Albarkat Education Society said that he has been the registrar of Jamia Milia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University.
MSO National President Shujaat Ali Quadri, also expressing his happiness on giving award to SM Afzal. He has congratulated the SM Afzal and Albarkat family on behalf of the MSO.
source: http://www.timesheadline.com / Times Headline / Home> India> New Delhi> Society / January 26th, 2019
Tadvi Bhil, a tribal community listed under Scheduled Tribes, is found in small pockets of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Payal Tadvi, the medical student who committed suicide in Mumbai belonged to this community.
Dr Payal Tadvi committed suicide on May 22
Twenty-six-year-old medical student Dr Payal Tadvi committed suicide on May 22 over alleged harassment by three seniors in Mumbai. The gynaecology PG student belonged to the Tadvi Bhil Muslim community and got admission through a reserved category seat in TN Topiwala National Medical College in 2018. A year later, she was found hanging in her hostel room . The community, to which she belonged, is concentrated in four states of India.
Who are Tadvi Bhil Muslims?
Tadvi Bhil, a tribal community listed under Scheduled Tribes, is found in small pockets of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. They are a sub-caste of the larger Bhil community. Those who adopted Islam are known as Tadvi Bhil Muslims.
The Tadvi Bhil Muslims are syncretic and unrigid in their practice of Islam. They also retain many aspects of Hindu culture. “You will find them wearing a sari, or they will fold and join their hands in front of an idol. They offer namaz but their lifestyle remains traditionally and culturally Hindu,” Shekhar Madhukar Sunarkar, a Gandhian social worker said.
According to Sameer Tadvi, a Jalgaon local, there are an estimated 62,000 Tadvi Bhil Muslims in Jalgaon itself – the largest in Maharashtra. Some experts say it is possible the community is over a lakh in Jalgaon in three blocks — Raver, Yawal, and Chopda.
What is the history of Tadvi Bhil Muslims?
Razia Patel, retired head of the minority cell at the centre for educational studies, Indian Institute of Education, Pune, says the Bhil Muslims were a nomadic tribe living in mountains and hills. “Due to the Forest Act, several were displaced. They slowly spread out from North of Maharashtra and took up farm jobs,” Patel said. In Maharashtra, they are spread over Nandurbar, Dhule and Jalgaon.
Shekhar Madhukar Sunarkar said several Tadvi Bhil converted to Islam when Aurangazeb toured Burhanpur, an important Mughal outpost (in modern day Madhya Pradesh).
What is the level of education among Tadvi Bhil Muslims?
Very few in the community are educated. Literacy rates remain low. Experts say they are among the last to gain benefits of government schemes and reservation quotas.
Payal’s family claims that she was the first woman in their community to become a gynaecologist. The community has poor health outreach and Payal wanted to open a hospital in Jalgaon along with her husband. About 30 years ago, Sunarkar says, the community saw another woman who studied to get an MBBS degree. But Payal was the first to pursue a Doctorate in Medicine.
source: http:/www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Explained / by Tabassum Barnagarwala, Mumbai / May 29th, 2019
Daisy Khan was just 3 when she put on a pair of red boxing gloves and walked to the front yard of her family home in Kashmir. She had been bullied by a bigger child the day before and her father wanted to teach her how to throw a punch in order to stand up for herself. In those gloves, young Daisy saw the need to not physically fight a bully but to become someone else, someone who fights for what she believes in. And ever since that day in the yard, Daisy has never set down her boxing gloves.
As Founder and Executive Director at the Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality (WISE) – a women-led organisation committed to peacebuilding, equality and justice for Muslims around the globe – she continues to don her gloves and shows up to the world’s arena every single day.
“It is a moral imperative for people of all faiths to speak out against injustices committed in the name of their religion, because ‘a crime committed in the name of religion is a crime against religion.”
Daisy Khan founded WISE in 2005 to address the propagation of gender inequality in the name of Islam. “Every religion has seen the oppression as well as the emancipation of women. It is a moral imperative for people of all faiths to speak out against injustices committed in the name of their religion, because ‘a crime committed in the name of religion is a crime against religion.’ ” asserts Khan. Among its many successful programmes and actions, WISE partnered with an Afghani WISE woman to conduct the Imam Training Programme to End Violence Against Women (ITP) in 2010 in Afghanistan.
Communities in Afghanistan deeply trust and respect Imams – even the Taliban. With the aim to clarify distorted patriarchal misinterpretations of the Quran, WISE spread the message about girls’ education through 50 of the most respected Imams in Jalalabad and Kabul. Wary at first, the Imams soon embraced the programme as it spoke of women’s rights within an Islamic framework with no ulterior agenda. Daisy emphasises this role of Muslim men who can wield power openly or behind the scenes – whether they reside in conservative, traditional or secular societies – to restore the God-given rights of women. This is reflected in Prophet Muhammed, who honoured his wife Khadijah, gave property rights to women, abolished the pre-Islamic practice of female infanticide, scrupulously helped with chores, respected his daughters and sought his wife’s advice on community affairs. The Prophet, in his last sermon, even emphasised this point by saying “treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers.”
Daisy Khan believes that “an essential part of women’s struggle is the demand that their voices be at the forefront of the debates about their roles, responsibilities and status.”
Daisy Khan believes that “an essential part of women’s struggle is the demand that their voices be at the forefront of the debates about their roles, responsibilities and status.” The author and reformer maintains that women advocates who recognise and appreciate the importance of religion in the day to day lives of Muslim women , and who speak with a humane voice – the Islamic voice – are effectively challenging the religious legitimacy of people who use Islam to disadvantage women and girls. “Muslim women activists who tend to avoid Islam altogether suffer from an absence of religious legitimacy which in turn fails to speak to most Muslims,” explains Khan.
Image Credit: Penguin Random House India
WISE established the first Global Muslim Women’s Shura Council to examine issues that Muslim women of all sects were facing worldwide. Its 30 members included women from different nationalities with divergent views and comprised of scholars who were well versed in Islamic law, as well as activists with comprehensive knowledge of contemporary issues faced by Muslim women. The Council has mitigated any criticism because its position papers on FGM, child marriage, domestic violence, adoption and women’s leadership are thoroughly researched, evidence-based and grounded in scripture. The Council discussed how, wherever obstructions have been encountered by women, it has not been by Islam the faith, but by local traditions and customs and interpretations mandated by men in the name of faith. With the support of this council, women would no longer have to rely on the interpretation of male scholars with outdated attitudes toward women.
One woman challenged Daisy Khan. She asked the author – who gave you the authority to create a Muslim women’s shura council? Daisy’s answer was to point to the sky.
However, everyone did not agree. One woman challenged Daisy Khan. She asked the author – who gave you the authority to create a Muslim women’s shura council? Daisy’s answer was to point to the sky. She cited the Quran 42:38–39: “Those who respond to their Lord, and establish regular prayer, whose affairs are conducted by mutual consultation [shura] among themselves, and from what we have provided them, they spend, and who, whenever tyranny afflicts them, defend themselves.”
Khan also shared that there were shura councils dominated by men all over the world and that there were no barriers to women creating one for themselves. It took a number of years to create an effective working structure for the shura council. “I attribute the success of the Council to one key factor – by bringing a religious dimension to Muslim women’s advocacy, we were able to prove that Muslim women’s rights are embedded in Islam,” states Daisy.
Daisy Khan believes that it is important to engage in serious dialogue with people of other faiths, distinctly when religious and ethnic differences become powerful tools that tear the social fabric of society
Daisy Khan believes that it is important to engage in serious dialogue with people of other faiths, distinctly when religious and ethnic differences become powerful tools that tear the social fabric of society. Prior to setting up WISE, Khan co-founded the American Society for Muslim Advancement (now the Cordoba House), with her husband Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, where she led interfaith collaborative events such as the theatre productions Same Difference and the Cordoba Bread Fest Banquet which saw Christians, Jews and Muslims come together on stage. “If we look at things with human eyes, we see a multitude of perspectives; but with sincere interfaith dialogue, we can step into a space where we see one another as God’s creatures, bound by one compact, by one set of ethical and moral values. In that space, we see with God’s eyes, we see with no astigmatism,” expresses Khan.
The author observes that a vast majority of Muslims reject violence as they continually struggle to divorce themselves from extremism. American Muslims are peaceful and patriotic members of their communities who proactively condemn terrorism – yet, one terrorist attack is used to condemn an entire faith community. “The branding of all Muslims as a national security threat may be popular today, but in reality, it is offensive and counter-productive; it burns bridges, brings in a rhetoric of ignorance on the world stage and allows extremists on both sides to divide us by playing on our worst fears. Now, more than ever, is the time for unity – unity of purpose and unity of achievement. This is a practical unity – one that we can use to build a better future,” emphasises Daisy Khan.
Feature Image Credit: Penguin Random House India
Born With Wings: The Spiritual Journey of a Modern Muslim Woman, by Daisy Khan, has been published in Viking by Penguin Random House India. It is priced at Rs. 599, and is available online and in bookstores.
source: http://www.shethepeople.com / She The People / Home / by Jessica Xalxo / June 19th, 2019
Dr Ausaf Sayeed’s last posting in the Kingdom was as the consul general in Jeddah from August 2004 to July 2008. — File photo
Exclusive Interview
HYDERABAD-based Dr Sayeed served in Saudi Arabia thrice in different capacities – first, as the Consul (Haj) in Jeddah in 1995-96, then as the Second/First Secretary in Riyadh from 1996-98 and as Consul General of India in Jeddah from 2004-2008. He has earlier served as the Consul General of India in Chicago (for mid-west US) and as the Ambassador of India to Seychelles before assuming charge as the subcontinent’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Dr Ausaf Sayeed hails from a literary family. His father Awaz Sayeed is a literary figure in Hyderabad.
“The bilateral relations between India and Saudi Arabia are at an all-time high”, believes the newly appointed Indian Ambassador to the country Dr Ausaf Sayeed. Crediting the step up to the recently concluded ‘highly successful’ first state visit of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, the Indian Ambassador discusses the benefit of Saudi investments in India, problems of the Indian Diaspora and plans to adopt a pro-people approach in this exclusive first interview with Syed Khalid Shahbaz, after his appointment as the Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia.
Following are the excerpts of the interview:
How do you perceive returning to Saudi Arabia this time as an Ambassador?
I have served in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia thrice before in various capacities – first as Consul (Haj) in Jeddah in 1995 to 1996, then as Second/First Secretary in Riyadh from 1996 to 1998 and as Consul General of India in Jeddah from 2004-2008. However, I regard my current assignment as Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia as one of my most important and prestigious postings. It also comes at a time when the bilateral relations between India and Saudi Arabia are at an all-time high with the recently concluded highly successful first State visit of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India from 19-20 February 2019.
What according to you are issues faced by Indians in Saudi Arabia?
We have a large Indian Diaspora comprising of 27 lakhs individuals who are working in different sectors of the Saudi economy and contributing meaningfully to the development of the Kingdom. The Indian workers generally enjoy a very good reputation in all the Gulf Countries, including Saudi Arabia and are much sought after for their sincerity, dedication and hard work. Over the years, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development of Saudi Arabia and the Protectorate of Emigrants and other official bodies in India have evolved a healthy mechanism of early resolution of common issues affecting the Indian workers. The Community Welfare wings of the Indian Embassy and the Consulate General of India are very proactive and are rendering real-time assistance to the Indians in need. Typically, the issues related to service conditions, payment of dues, etc. Those Indian community members with children going to high school are also faced with the challenge of higher education for their children for which opportunities are limited for expatriate children in the Kingdom.
Your service as the Haj Council and Consul General is perceived as remarkable by many. What is the reason behind this success?
I have been fortunate to work closely with people in my various assignments starting from the Regional Passport Officer in Hyderabad (May 1993- January 1995) and later as a diplomat in different countries. I had always made myself accessible to people, who could reach out to me very easily through email, phone or social media to discuss anything of concern to them. This also enabled me to understand the pulse of the people and helped me in dealing with issues in a practical and fair manner.
The bilateral relations between India and Saudi are strong. As an Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, what role will you be playing to help bilateral relations become even more formidable?
India and Saudi Arabia enjoy cordial and friendly relations reflecting the centuries-old economic and socio-cultural ties. Both countries have decided to work together closely in different fields such as oil & gas, trade & commerce, investments, security and strategic cooperation and to jointly counter the menace of international terrorism which is threatening global peace.
Saudi Arabia is a major source of energy for India, as we import about 20% of our crude oil requirement from the Kingdom. As you are aware India is the third largest consumer of crude in the world after the US and China.
Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner, after China, USA and the UAE. India’s bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia is worth the US $27.48 billion. More than 420 Indian companies operate in the Kingdom through joint ventures or with 100 per cent ownership.
Recently, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has announced its decision to invest around US $100 billion in India in the areas of energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture, minerals and mining, manufacturing, education and health care. This includes Saudi Aramco’s proposed investment in the world’s biggest oil refinery and petrochemical complex to be set up on the West Coast of India.
My endeavour would be to closely follow-up on the various Agreements signed and other important decisions taken during the recent high-level visits between the two countries so that the bilateral political, strategic, economic and people-to-people relations are consolidated and strengthened further.
A significant proportion of Indians are returning to India from Saudi Arabia? What can be done to prevent further fallback and offer them employment in Saudi Arabia?
The migration of Indian workers to the Gulf Countries is robust and dynamic and depends on the demand and supply in these countries. Despite the nationalization of jobs in many countries, a large number of Indians continued to go to the Gulf Countries seeking newer job opportunities. We have 33 lakh Indians working in the UAE and 27 lakhs in Saudi Arabia. There were special measures put in place for Indian workers to mitigate the effects of nationalization and minimize the impact. The governments of India and Saudi Arabia have started working on integrating the migration platforms of both the countries viz., e-Migrate and e-Tawtheeq to create a robust migration environment.
Saudi Arabia is investing one billion dollars in India. Can these NRIs who are returning home be accommodated in new and proposed projects for their employment in any way?
The proposed investments from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in India cover diverse sectors of the economy and are expected to create growth and dynamism in these sectors which would be very good for the overall economic growth.
During your previous terms, you have proactively promoted and propagated the use of Urdu language, culture, and related traditions but the activities were not continued after your departure. Does your return to Saudi Arabia hint at its revival?
I had always encouraged cultural diplomacy and greater people-to-people engagement as an effective way of creating understanding between civilizations. During my previous stint in Jeddah, I have organized the first India Festival, the First Asian Festival the First Asian Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. I was also closely involved with the formation of the Saudi-India Friendship Society under the patronage of the Saudi Ministry of Information and Culture and the Saudi-India Civil Society Dialogue. Certainly, I would do everything possible to encourage all such constructive activities.
What is your opinion about organizing a global Urdu conference in Riyadh / Jeddah?
A large section of the Indian Diaspora in the Kingdom is Urdu speaking. I had encouraged the introduction of external Urdu examinations of MANUU in Saudi Arabia for the benefit of Non-resident Indians (NRIs). However, due to unavoidable circumstances, these examinations had to be discontinued. I was also instrumental in introducing an Annual Urdu Mushaira in Jeddah since 1995. This has become one of the most sought-after literary events in Saudi Arabia with Mushairas and other literary events being held in Riyadh and other cities too. An International Urdu Conference was also organized in Jeddah under the umbrella of the Consulate in 2008 in coordination with MAANU and several socio-cultural organizations in Jeddah. Certainly, all literary and cultural activities would be given due encouragement.
What are goals and targets during your tenure as an ambassador in Saudi Arabia?
Once I settle down I will focus on each of the areas of bilateral importance to both countries.
Your message for the NRIs?
I wish to complement all members of the Indian Diaspora for their hard-work, sincerity and dedication and for creating strong bridges of understanding between India and Saudi Arabia. I would like to assure everyone that both the Embassy of India in Riyadh and the Consulate General of India in Jeddah would adopt a pro-people approach and work closely for the welfare of the Indian community.
Surrender of Baillie to Hyder Ali, 1780, illustration from ‘Cassell’s Illustrated History of England’ (20th century) 1780
It was 1765 and a Duke in faraway England known for breeding race horses named his foal Hyder Ally. A few years later in 1782, and many more thousand miles away at the other end of the world, a single mast ship named Hyder Ally gave the fledgling navy of United States of America one of its greatest victories. How are these two events related and what connection did they have with the people of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore, the precursor to modern day Karnataka state, India?
In 1749 a 27-year old youth Haidar Ali (Hyder Ally as the British spelled his name), born at Budikote in modern day Kolar district, Karnataka put his military skills in action for the Mysore Army during the nine month siege of Devanahally Fort against a Poligor. Poligars (or Palegaras in Kannada language) were the local strong men, each controlling a few fortified settlements prior to the British rule. In early 1750s Haidar was also part of the action between the French and English in their struggle to install a person of their choice as Nawab of Arcot in which the Mysore Army sided with the English. Haidar Ali increased his stature among the military circles of the Mysore Army and was elevated asFaujdar of Dindigul in 1755. He successfully led Mysorean resistance to the Maratha invasion in 1759 and was consequently elevated as the Chief Commander of its army. Haidar’s perseverance in fighting his political foes paid off and in 1761 he was the lone survivor around the utterly weak Mysore King of the Wodeyar dynasty. He proclaimed himself a Nawab soon and found himself the de-facto ruler of Mysore Kingdom, being the most successful in protecting it from invasions by both other Indian kingdoms as well as Europeans 1. By then the British East India Company had its eyes set firmly on peninsular India having taken control of Bengal in 1757 as a consequent of the Battle of Plassey.
Back in England, Peregrine Bertie was the 3rd Duke of Ancaster in England having succeeded his father in Jan 1742 2. He raised a regiment of foot for the King of England during the rebellion in Scotland in 1745 3. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of a General in the Army in 1755 and later as a Lieut. Gen., in 1759 4. Peregrine was a leading horse racer who started a number of famous racing lines 5. He was appointed Master of the Horse to Queen Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland in 1765. Peregrine as a military administrator was probably aware of the military and political happenings in India. In fact he was transferred in a year from the post of the Master of the Horse to the Queen to that of the King, where he was ‘responsible for overall management of all the royal stables, horses, carriages’. This transfer was due to the changes affected by the stock-holders of East India (EI) Company in England. The stock-holders were apparently alarmed by the acts of the English Prime Minister Lord Chatham to curb the influence of EI Company which by then controlled huge resources and land across in India. Given this background Peregrine was probably informed of the meteoric rise of Haidar Ali in south India’s political and military theatre. Indeed in 1760 an overconfident English Army detachment under Major Moore tasted its first defeat at the hands of Mysoreans under Haidar Ali at Trivadi near Pondicherry. And through that decade Haidar continued to spoil the political, economic and military aims of East India Company in Peninsular India with ramifications beyond this country given the global nature of the company’s trade. Did the military acumen of this Mysorean soldier play a role in Peregrine in naming his foal Hyder Ally in 1765 6,7? This may not be surprising as another race horse breeder in England named a foal Tippoo Saib in 1769 8, 9. Just a couple of years ago in June 1767, 17-year old Tipu Sultan (or Tippoo Saib as the British preferred to call him), heading a small force of the Mysore Army, stormed East India Company’s HQ in south India at Madras and nearly imprisoned the Madras councillors who threw themselves into the sea and escaped in a dingy. A year later Tipu recovered Mangalore from the British who fled the fort leaving behind their sick and wounded 10. The military and political deeds of this father-son seem to have left an impression on the British psyche.
US Navy’s tryst with Hyder Ally
Chance a race horse imported into USA by Col. Tayloe was a line of Peregrine’s Hyder Ally 8,11. Interestingly foals within America were also being named Hyder Ally (and Tippoo Saib) in 1770s.
A pamphlet advertisement for a stallion of Hyder Ally’s line published in the city of Portsmouth, USA in 1798. Accessed from Library of Congress, USA on November 5, 2017 from this link.
The first Hyder Ally to be foaled in America was in 1777 and four other foals were recorded with the name in 18th century 12, 13. But something very interesting was recorded in eye witness accounts of America’s history in 1770s. An upheaval overtook the country in 1775 as ordinary Americans rose against the Government of Great Britain, declared independence and flew their own flag 14, 15. Apparently the first flag of the Union, now the US national flag- the Stars and Stripes, sent to the state of Maryland was hosted on a sailboat by teenaged Joshua Barney at Baltimore in October 1775 who served the US Navy since then.
‘Rocket Warfare’, by Charles H. Hubbell (1898–1971) captures the humiliation of British at the Battle of Pollilur (Sep. 1780) by Mysorean war rockets
In 1780, in far-away Mysore Kingdom, America’s ally against the British through the French, the East India Company was suffering one of its worst reverses in its military history. The reverberations of the humiliation of British at Battle of Pollilur in September 1780 inspired the Americans who received the news 16 on 23 August 1781. On 19 October 1781, the British land force led by Charles Cornwallis (who later led EI Company’s army and its Indian allies to defeat Haidar Ali’s son Tipu Sultan in the 3rd Anglo Mysore War) surrendered to the Americans led by George Washington. Nine days later Cornwallis’ surrender was celebrated at Trenton, New Jersey with the town being decorated with American colours. The town’s who’s who along with inhabitants attended a service at the Presbyterian Church, where a discourse highlighting the occasion was delivered by a Reverend. In the afternoon the gathering drank 13 toasts accompanied with a discharge of artillery one of which was for ‘The great and heroic Hyder Ali, raised up by Providence to avenge the numberless cruelties perpetrated by the English on his unoffending countrymen, and to check the insolence and reduce the power of Britain in the East Indies’.
In October 1781, the British land force led by Charles Cornwallis surrendered to the Americans led by George Washington (Incidentally a decade later Cornwallis gave EI Company and its Indian allies victory over Haidar Ali’s son Tipu Sultan in the 3rd Anglo Mysore War in India). But America was far from being an independent nation. The British still ruled the seas. They kept a keen watch on the ships entering and exiting the ports of north east USA, often capturing the vessels and looting goods 17.
General Washington an American sloop-of-war was captured by Admiral Arbuthnot, and placed in the king’s service under a new name The General Monk, which was then used to pirate American ships. By 1782 the commerce of Philadelphia City as well as the ordinary life of the residents of the coast and nearby streams was deteriorating. As the fledgling American Union was not in a position to protect the affected vessels the State of Pennsylvania, at its own expense, fitted a number of armed vessels that operated in waters leading to Philadelphia. The state purchased Hyder Ally, a small sloop (single mast ship) equipped it with sixteen six-pounder guns to help protect the American vessels. 23-year old Lieutenant Joshua Barney, now in the US navy, arrived at Philadelphia where he was honoured with the command of Hyder Ally17. Assigned with recruiting men, Barney used a poem penned by Philip Morin Freneau18 to attract young American men to the ship. The poem exalted Haidar Ali’s bravery against the British with the following lines:
Come, all ye lads who know no fear,
To wealth and honour with me steer
In the Hyder Ali privateer,
Commanded by brave Barney.
From an eastern prince she takes her name,
Who, smit with freedom’s sacred flame,
Usurping Britons brought to shame,
His country’s wrongs avenging;
Come, all ye lads that know no fear.
With hand and heart united all
Prepared to conqueror to fall.
Attend, my lads! to honor’s call —
Embark in our Hyder-Ally!
And soon Barney led a force of a hundred and ten men. On April 8, 1872, he received instructions to protect a fleet of merchantmen to the Capes just before the sea, at the entrance of Delaware Bay. Dropping the convoy at Cape May road he was awaiting a fair wind to take the merchant ship to sea when he saw three ships19 which he realised were waiting to plunder the convoy. Barney immediately turned the convoy back into the bay, using Hyder Ally to cover the retreat. Soon the bigger General Monk under the command of Captain Rogers of the Royal Navy nearly double his own force of metal, and nearly one-fourth superior in number of men caught up with Hyder Ally. Despite being fired upon, Barney held Hyder Ally’s fire till within pistol shot when both the two vessels got entangled. A desperate fight, lasting for only 26 minutes though, resulted in the lowering of flags by General Monk indicating her surrender. Both vessels arrived at Philadelphia a few hours after the action, bearing their respective dead. The Hyder Ally had four men killed and eleven wounded. The General Monk lost twenty men killed and had thirty-three wounded including Captain Rogers himself, and every officer on board, except one midshipman!20
Source: ‘Life of Commodore Joshua Barney, Hero of the US Navy (1776-1812), 1912
A hero is celebrated
Philadelphia burst in celebrations. Ballads were made upon this brilliant victory and sung through the streets of the city! And echoing with Barney’s name was that of Hyder Ally. Here are some lines 14:
And fortune still, that crowns the brave
Shall guard us o’er the gloomy wave —
A fearful heart betrays a knave!
Success to the Hyder-Ally!
While the roaring Hyder-Ally
Cover’do’er his decks with dead !
When from their tops, their dead men tumbled
And the streams of blood did flow,
Then their proudest hopes were humbled
By their brave inferior foe.
In 1782 the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed a vote of thanks to Captain Barney and ordered a gold-hilted sword to be prepared, which was afterwards presented to him in the name of the state by Governor Dickinson. It was a small sword with mountings of chased gold- the guard of which on the one side had a representation of the Hyder Ally, and on the other the General Monk 14. Barney was the last officer to quit the Union’s service, in July, 1784, having been for many months before the only officer retained by the United States.
Source: ‘Life of Commodore Joshua Barney, Hero of the US Navy (1776-1812), 1912
Barney was sent by the American Government to Paris. A reception was given in France him as a hero of dashing naval exploits during the Revolutionary War 21. A painting representing the action between the two shipswas executed in 1802 by L. P. Crepin in Paris by order of Barney, while in the service of the French Republic. The same was presented by him on his return to the United States, to Robert Smith, Esquire, then secretary of the navy 22. The painting is now in the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland 14. Barney was an intimate friend of Count Bertrand, one of Napoleon’s generals 15. Napolean incidentally had an alliance against the British with Haidar Ali’s son Tipu Sultan, during the latter’s life time 23.
Barney was appointed a Captain in the Flotilla Service, US Navy on 1814 April 25 24. He took part in seventeen battles during the Revolutionary War and in nine battles during the War of 1812. A British Musket-ball lodged inside his body in battle at Bladensburg, Maryland in August 1814 25. He passed away on December 1, 1818, aged 60.
70 years after Hyder Ally’s victory over General Monk, James Cooper wrote “This action has been justly deemed one of the most brilliant that ever occurred under the American Flag. It was fought in the presence of a vastly superior force that was not engaged, and the ship taken was in every essential respect superior to her conqueror.”17
The world today is considered a global village thanks to the scaling down of boundaries between nation states and individuals alike. But it may surprise us even in the 18th century seemingly local political events and humans made an impact on lands and societies far away. The name Haidar Ali, after an adventurer from an obscure place in the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore who gave many a lesson in military and political strategies to global colonial powers of England and France, echoing across the proverbial seven seas in distant North America for nearly a century is testament of this 26, 27.
Painting of Commodore Joshua Barney at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, ‘Life of Commodore Joshua Barney, Hero of the US Navy (1776-1812), 1912
Sources/ Notes:
Col. Mark Wilks, Historical Sketches of the South of India, Volume 1 of 3, 1810. Wilks traces the origins and political lives of Mysore Kingdom’s rulers and provides an insight into their military campaigns.
The New Peerage, or Present state of the Nobility of England, Vol. 1 of 4, 1784
The Gentleman’s Magazine, Vol.78, Part 1, 1808
George Cokayne, Complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, 1887
Allan Chivers, The Berties of Grimsthorpe Castle, 2010. Peregrine established the racing lines of Blank, Paymaster and Pacolet which were well-known in England. Their foals went to establish themselves in the US.
Blank was one of his favourite horses and he named a foal sired by it as Hyder Ally.
Hyder Ally was later sold by Bertie to C.Blake who then sold it to Richard Vernon. The later, in Oct. 1773, raced it at New Market, considered the birthplace and global centre of thoroughbred horse racing. Many of this horse’s progeny were imported into America and entered racing.
allbreedpedigree.com Online database on Pedigree horses. Downloaded Oct. 10, 2017.
It is interesting that it was not uncommon for race horses to have names originating in the east. Such names in 1700s included Mumtaz Mahal and Salim7. But Pergerine’s only horse named after a human was Hyder Ally.
Prof. B Sheikh Ali, Tipu Sultan – A Crusader for Change
American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine, Vol. 2, 1831
J.H.Wallace, American Stud Book, Vol. 1, 1867
Other books that document Hyder Ally foals and sires are William Pick and R.Johnson’s The Turf Register, and Sportsman & Breeder’s Stud-Book (1803) and Patrick Nisbett Edgar’s The American Race-turf Register, Sportsman’s Herald, and General Stud Book, Vol. 1 of 2 (1833)
A biographical memoir of the late Commodore Joshua Barney (1832) by Mary Barney sister of Joshua Barney provides in-depth information of the latter’s personal and military life.Born on July 6, 1759, 13-year old young Philadelphia Joshua Barney set sail on his maiden merchant ship journey to Ireland in 1771 with his brother in law Captain Thomas Drysdale. He sailed back home the following year and made trips to ports in Europe again. He set sail for Nice, France in December 1774 during which journey Captain Drysdale died. He took control of the ship which needed urgent repairs and therefore docked at Gibraltar, Spain instead. In a few months he sailed to Algiers, Algeria from Alicant, Spain to deliver Spanish troops during which he witnessed the annihilation of these troops by the Algerians which made him return to Alicant soon. He immediately set sail across the vast Atlantic Ocean for Baltimore, USA. As he entered the Chesapeake Bay on 1st October he was surprised by the British Sloop of war Kingfisher. An officer searched his ship and informed him that Americans had rebelled and that battles were being fought. He was fortunate enough to escape detention. Returning to Philadelphia he was determined to serve the Americans fight against British. At that time a couple of small vessels were under at Baltimore ready to join the small squadron of ships stationed then at Philadelphia and commanded by Commodore Hopkins. Barney offered his services to the commander the sloop Hornet, one of these vessels. He was made the master’s-mate, the sloop’s second in command. A new American Flag, the first ‘ Star-spangled Banner’ in the State of Maryland, sent by Commodore Hopkins for the service of the ten gun Hornet, arrived from Philadelphia. At the next sunrise, Barney unfurled it in all pomp and glory. In 1776, Robert Morris, President of the Marine Committee of the Congress offered him a letter of Appointment as a Lieutenant in the Navy of the United States in recognition of his efforts during a naval battle engagement in Delaware.
A summary of Mary Barney’s book14 is well recapped with notes in William Frederick Adams’ Commodore Joshua Barney: many interesting facts connected with the life of Commodore Joshua Barney, hero of the United States navy, 1776-1812 (1912).
Frank Moore, ‘Diary of the American Revolution’, Volume 2, 1860
James Fenimore Cooper in History of the Navy of the United States of America (1853)
‘The sailor’s invitation’, Freneau’s Poems written and published during the American Revolutionary War (1809)
Two ships and a brig- a sailing vessel with two masts
As explained by Barney himself in his painting of this war commissioned later
A. Bowen, The Naval Monument,1815, Concord, Massachusetts, U. S. A. gives an account of the reception received by Barney in France
The painting was accompanied by a description, in the hand-writing of Commodore Barney, which is reproduced in Mary Barney’s book
Record of Service, Bureau of Navigation, Navy Department, United States Navy
The conduct of Commodore Barney, at the battle of Bladensburgh, was appreciated by his military opponents as well. He was wounded in the engagement and was taken prisoner by General Ross and Admiral Cockburn but paroled on the spot. At the time of his death in 1818, the ball was extracted and given to his eldest son. For the valuable services of her husband, Congress granted Mrs. Barney a pension for life.
William Goold, Portland in the past, 1886 has information of at least one more well-known ship named Hyder Ally built in the US in 1800s after the one described in this story. This ship, like many other US ships, resorted to pirating British ships in the Indian Ocean all the way up to the island of Sumatra and around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa in the run up to the British-American War of 1812.27. Corbett’s Annual register (1802) documents the ship ‘Tippoo Saib’ registered in Savannah, Georgia, the southern most of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British in 1776 and formed the original ‘United States of America’.
Given the hate-spewing era that we are living in, Mumbai’s Farzeen Chaudhary is setting an example of love, peace, and motherhood
Mumbai :
Who said that having four kids, managing two schools in different cities was more than a woman can handle? Meet Mrs. Farzeen Chaudhary, 34, from Mumbai who thought that 4 kids and two schools weren’t enough things to do in a lifetime that she went ahead to foster a baby.
“I’ve always wanted to adopt, even before I became a mother of four. Little did I know that those with 3 or more kids cannot adopt as per the Indian Law”, said Farzeen. Then one random day she said she received a message looking for a foster family for a new born baby. Fostering is a relatively new concept in India. A child who has been given up for adoption takes anywhere from 2-6 months to move into his/her permanent adoptive home. So when a child is being fostered by a family he/she lives with the family temporarily and then goes away.
Some NGO’s like The Family Service Centre based in Colaba, Mumbai, believes in fostering. Where instead of keeping the baby in an orphanage during this waiting period they keep babies under their care with foster families.
Coming back to the story, Farzeen first discussed the idea with her husband who was equally excited to participate in this selfless act. It’s not everyday that such an opportunity comes your way, she said.
They both immediately got in touch with the NGO that confirmed to the message. Mrs. Chaudhary said, “We were a little apprehensive that being a Muslim shouldn’t come in our way of fostering a baby who may belong to another faith. As a Muslim I am very clear that my religion not only allows but promotes helping one another, no matter whatever be the religion. You know in the Quran there is a verse that says, ‘You were made into nations and tribes so that you may know one another, not so that you may despise each. When my religion supports me then there is no botheration.”
Farzeen Chaudhary with Rahil.
The next big concern before them were their children. How would they tell their children who are only 12, 10, 7 and 2 years old that a baby will come home, stay with them and after some time leave and go away? Being a part-time trained counselor she was concerned her children would get attached to the baby and it could cause some emotional disturbances. After some discussion, they decided to openly talk to their children.
“We both sat our kids down and told them that there is one such baby who needs a temporary house. We put it up as a problem that we were still trying to solve. My older son Ali said that of course, we should keep him with us. I was so touched and reassured we were working in the right direction. We then discussed how in life there are some things that we need to do for others. Fostering this baby will mean that we are willing to do everything for him while keeping our needs and emotions aside. It’s not about us here but all about him. Being Muslims we discussed incidences from the Prophet’s (SAW) lifetime where he had acted selflessly only to benefit a total stranger”, she said philosophically.
Now that the ground was set there were only a few days before 7 days old little angel, baby Rahil came to their house. She said it was a day of celebration coupled with equal anxiety. With tears in her eyes, Farzeen went into a flashback saying, “I’ll never forget the first few days he spent with us. As a mother of four, I could tell that he was very anxious and could sense he had been moved away from his birth mother. He would constantly cry. I had moved into my living room with him so that others could sleep peacefully. Each time he cried I held him close to my heart and while looking in his eyes I would reassure him that I would not give up on him. That he was safe with me and no one could harm him. To my astonishment, he would immediately fall back to sleep. So many nights I’ve slept with him on my chest, close to my heart. To me, he is purely a gift sent by God to teach us some very difficult lessons in life.”
She continued, “Whenever I see Rahil in the day my blood boils. I want to ask for what fault of his was he abandoned? Two people decide to indulge in sexual behaviours without being committed to marriage and out comes a baby like Rahil only to be thrown away? A few moments of pleasure can cost an innocent baby displacement for an entire lifetime! To the youngsters reading this, please think about Rahil before you indulge in such acts. He deserves the loving security of his own birth parents”. She repeated herself in anguish over and over again. The anger and the disappointment was very apparent.
It’s already been seven months since Rahil has been with Farzeen and her family. She worked out his presence in the family very strategically and says that no one in the family is very attached to him. She said it was done keeping in mind that his leaving should not disturb anyone. “After all, I am just a foster parent, any day he would be given away to someone for adoption by the NGO. When Rahil has found us who are willing to keep him forever why does the law want to displace him one more time? That kid has had enough already. I still am hopeful of a miracle happening and Rahil staying back with us, but that isn’t stopping us from being mentally prepared that one day he might leave us to stay with another family,” said Farzeen with a sigh.
On being asked, if she would continue fostering such kids, she said, “Yes. If Rahil leaves us, we will foster another child. It has been a fulfilling experience for us as a family. We have learnt to love unconditionally and open our doors to total strangers.”
source: http://www.caravandaily.com / Caravan / Home> India / Caravan News / April 17th, 2019
As Union Public Service Commission announced civil services final examination results this year some 30 Muslims appeared in the list. Muslim Mirror talked to some of the youth at the felicitation ceremony done by Zakat Foundation who cleared the exam this year.
Zakat Foundation of India (ZFI) in collaboration with Interfaith Coalition for Peace organised a felicitation program for the 19 ZFI fellows who cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams this year.
During the event, many ZFI fellows shared the experience of their UPSC journey.
“ It doesn’t matter if you have done your schooling from a prestigious school or some of a govt. school what actually matters is the dedication level you have towards the goal,” said Shafqat Amna UPSC topper from Bihar.
Shafqat Amna is the daughter of a retired teacher of the village of East Champaran, Md Zafir Alam. She secured 186th rank in the Civil Service of UPSC, and has shown a way for Muslim girls aspiring to be IAS officer in the country.
Another inspiring story is of Maulana Shahid Raza Khan, an Islamic theology graduate from Al Jamiatul Ashrafia, and a M.Phil in West Asian Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He has cleared the UPSC Civil Services Exam with a national rank of 751.
Shahid, who hails from Aminabad village in Bihar, completed his schooling from Sahapur High School in Gaya in 2007. He has an Alimiyah degree from Al Jamiatul Ashrafia, an Islamic seminary in Mubarakpur, Uttar Pradesh. Shahid is one of the few graduates of a madrasa, to receive a degree from a university and then clear the prestigious civil services exam.
“I did all my schooling from Madrasa and I had no idea about the common schooling process. I had to start from a very basic level. I used to study maths that people usually study in their class 3rd. It was a tough journey to start all over from the beginning but I am glad I made it in my second attempt, said Maulana Shahid Raza Khan from Bihar.
Another inspiring story is that of Bushra Bano. Bushara , who was a professor in Saudi Arabia said that she wanted to serve her own country and that was the reason that strengthened her goal.
“I am married, I have a child and I was doing a job so I had lot of responsibilities. It is very tough to manage your home, job and study at the same time. I didn’t join a coaching but I am very much dedicated towards my country and it motivated me to stay on the path of the UPSC journey’” she said.
If you have a ‘killer instinct’ and believe in ‘never give up’ then nothing is impossible for you. The story of Sayyed Riyaz Ahmed, a successful candidate from Maharashtra is the best example of it .
“I failed in grade 12 and made five attempts to clear UPSC exams in 2018 with 261 ranks. Failures are not a stumbling block for those who try harder,” Ahmed told the gathering who succeeded to crack UPSC in his fifth attempt.
Another successful candidate was Rena Jamil from Jharkhand who had prepared for the exams from home through ZFI guidance.
“It gives us the confidence that though the competitive exams are challenging, there is always hope for those who work hard to achieve the heights,” said Jamil, who was placed at 380 in the rank list.
The ZFI was established in 1997 as a grassroots level organization to train and empower aspirants from minority and socially backward communities to the UPSC exams.
Syed Zafar Mahmood, its president, and his team coach candidates for Civil Service examinations by placing them in reputed coaching centers.
The event was attended by SM Shakil (VP ZIF), Dr Nazira Mahmood, Justice Zakiullah Khan, Dr Tariq Mansoor (VP Aligarh Muslim University), Ms Robyn Glokoski (First Secretary, New Zealand High Commission in India), Zamiruddin Shah (ex vice chief of army staff),Prof Najma Akhter (VC Jamia Millia Islamia) and many other dignitaries from India.
source: Muslim Mirror
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Featured News> News> Top Stories / by Yasmeen Khan / May 06th, 2019
The new social media-driven Indian Muslim has suddenly realised that ‘haleem’ is a name for God. What does that say about religion in a hyperconnected age?
Baba Ki Haleem/Facebook
While out to buy some haleem during the first week of Ramzan, I discovered that the popular Kolkata restaurant Saiqa had introduced a new dish: daleem. A red menu board on a tiled wall proudly advertised the dish, ensuring nobody missed it.
There is a lot to be said for Saiqa, a mostly working-class place, but I had never thought food innovation to be among its charms. Curious, I asked the person manning the counter about the culinary invention – only to be met with a googly. “It’s not a new thing – it’s haleem only,” said Mohammad Asghar Ali, the son of the proprietor. “Daleem is actually the correct name.”
Photo credit: Shoaib Daniyal
Was daleem actually the right name? I had grown up eating the lentil-wheat-meat stew that was available only during Ramzan, the Islamic month of dawn-to-dusk fasting. I was pretty sure it had always been called haleem.
But as it turned out, Saiqa wasn’t an outlier. A number of Mughlai restaurants across Kolkata had made the nomenclatural switch, breaking away other restaurants that still stuck to a name of which I now suddenly felt possessive: haleem.
The question was why. Why were eateries across Kolkata – and other parts of South Asia – suddenly changing the name of this dish that crowns iftar spreads during Ramzan? As it happens, this almost trivial renaming is an indicator of just how radically social media is impacting religion and, in this case, Indian Muslims.
From Arabia to India
The origin of India’s haleem goes back to an ancient Arab dish: the hareesah. There are records of it being consumed in the Abbasid Caliphate in the 8th century. The dish was simple but laborious to prepare it : it involved boiling shredded meat, cooking it again with ground wheat all night in a tannur (or tandoor) and then, grinding this mixture to a smooth paste. This dish is still consumed in West Asia, Iran and in Hyderabad’s Arab quarter , Barkas.
Once it reached India, the simple hareesah received some significant upgrades to suit desi palates. Spices were added, as also a variety of lentils (Saiqa claims it includes 13 different kinds). A new name was given to this dish: haleem, the Persian name for the bland wheat-and-meat hareesah.
The hareesah from Hyderabad’s Arab quarter, Barkas. Photo credit: Shoaib Daniyal
Saiqa’s Asghar Ali was clear on why daleem was the correct name for the dish: “Dal se banta hai, isliye daleem.” It’s made with dal (lentils), hence daleem.
But the real reason had less to do with alliteration and more to do with the almighty. “Haleem is a name for Allah,” explained Shamsher Alam of Zam Zam, another Mughlai restaurant in Kolkata that now goes with daleem. “It seemed wrong to name a food item that uses a name for Allah, so last year I changed it.”
How did Alam realise this evident fact after happily selling haleem for two decades? As with so much else in these fractious times, the culprit was social media. “Nowadays, mashallah, we have a lot of information on WhatsApp and on the internet,” said Alam. “Someone saw it there and told me. That’s when I realised I should change the name.”
Going viral
Alam wasn’t alone. Debates around whether it’s right to name a stew after an attribute of God have raged across South Asia. In 2017, The Times of India reported on this tussle among the Muslims of Hyderabad, the world capital of haleem. Much the same discussion is happening in Pakistan and Bangladesh , too.
Not everyone in the subcontinent supports the rechristening. One Pakistani user on Twitter brusquely called it a “postmodern renaming attempt by mullah clowns ”. A Bangladeshi food blogger argued that it is clear that when she uses haleem for the name of a dish, she is not referring to the attributes of God. “Allah knows what is in my heart. I don’t intend to please a few important people,” she wrote on her Facebook page, showing the incredible power of social media in engendering conflict even on a thing as universally loved as haleem.
Kolkata’s biggest Mughlai restaurant chain Arsalan has also resisted calls to change the name. “Wakeel [the Urdu word for lawyer] is also one name for Allah. Will people stop using that too?” asked Mohammad Ghulam Mustafa, a member of the family that owns Arsalan. “People who don’t read the namaaz, read a few messages on WhatsApp and start to think they are an alim [Islamic scholar]. That is the problem.”
Social media faith
Mustafa’s snarky dismissal of “WhatsApp alims” is the most interesting insight to arise from what is at best a quirky change of name. Social media has given – for better or worse – the average Muslim more of a say in his religion, a role that was earlier performed by religious scholars.
Quite a bit of social science research has noted the impact of social media on faith and its role in weakening religious gatekeepers. American sociologist Paul McClure argues that the internet encourages “religious tinkering” and “religious participation as free agents”. Adding to that, Heidi Campbell, an American scholar of religion, notes how social media allows people to constantly reinvent their religious identities:
“It used to be that a religious identity was something you took on through maybe religious education or confirmation or baptism. You kind of put it on like a cloak. But now people see identity as something that you can negotiate, that you construct and you perform. So individuals especially use the Internet and other resources to seek out their own ‘spiritual tribe’ online – a group of people where they can make sense of their religious self and their religious belief. Facebook and Twitter, blogs, social media allow people to express their religious identity, to experiment and to create a cohesive identity that’s free from institutional constraints.”
Predating Mustafa’s “WhatsApp alim” quip, a 2011 article in The Guardian says: “Individuals now have a much more autonomous role in deciding whom to approach as a source. Those people may have official, traditional credentials or they may be Rabbi Google.”
A pot of haleem at Saiqa in Kolkata. Photo credit: Shoaib Daniyal
While the greatest impact of social media is on Christianity, given the deep penetration of the internet in the West, its effects are spreading to Muslims and how they practise their faith. Mohammed Ibahrine of the American University in Sharjah writes on the London School of Economics’ Middle East Centre blog:
“For centuries, interpretations of the Quran were kept a reserved domain for a small minority of ulama (the plural of alim). Social networking websites have become avenues for disseminating sacred interpretations, sometimes undermining traditional religious authorities. The blossoming of digital fatwas is also an indication of the splintering of orthodoxies and the emergence of heresies. Consequently, religious authority has become a contested domain, rather than an accepted reality by the uneducated masses.”
Modern conservatism
While this undermining of the traditional ulama is democratic, it might also, paradoxically, lead to conservative outcomes. In Indonesia, for example, social media is encouraging irreligious millennials to become born-again, ultra-orthodox Muslims as part of a movement known as hijrah .
While there has been no such stark change in India, clearly even here, social media is allowing people to fashion their own understanding of Islam, free of traditional social structures. One outcome of this is an attempt to follow a so-called purer form of Islam in which even a detail as trivial as the name of a stew – unnoticed for centuries – is “corrected” by social media didacticians.
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Magazine> Language Log / by Shoaib Daniyal / June 03rd, 2019
In Aurangabad, Dalits, Muslims and other communities who faced communal violence united to buck the national trend.
Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel is congratulated by supporters. Photo: Facebook
Aurangabad:
Anyone visiting Aurangabad can sense the brewing emergency in the air. In late April, in the thick of the election, a video surfaced of a teenager – seemingly a Muslim – who abused prominent personalities of Maharashtra. Rival parties alleged that the video was being distributed by the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a newcomer to the city’s politics.
Harshvardhan Jadhav, an independent candidate who was formerly with the Shiv Sena, responded with his own video, demanding an apology from the AIMIM and threatening to ransack its offices. Jadhav is also the son-in-law of the state BJP president, Raosaheb Danve.
Imtiaz Jaleel, the AIMIM’s candidate, shared another video in response, which helped calm the situation. In the video, Jaleel, while appealing for peace, denied all allegations against the AIMIM and urged the police to take strict action against those trying to instigate violence in the city. Jadhav was forced to share another video taking back his threat and apologising to the city police . This timely and sensible intervention both by the police and Imtiaz Jaleel, who represents the alliance of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) and AIMIM from the Aurangabad constituency, saved the city from another bout of violence.
On May 23, Imtiaz Jaleel won the Aurangabad Lok Sabha seat, becoming the first Muslim MP from Maharashtra in 15 years, and the first Muslim MP from this constituency since the Congress’s Qazi Saleem in 1980.
A new solidarity
During the campaign, the city witnessed a new solidarity, especially between Muslims and Dalit-Bahujans of the city, regularly on display at the party office of MIM at Buddi Lane near Jama Masjid in the old part of the city. In my conversations with supporters of Imtiaz Jaleel, everyone was enthusiastic about the cross-community alliance – and its potential as a watershed moment for the growth of and peace in Aurangabad in the coming years.
With a Muslim population of about 31% and Schedule Caste population of 15.7%, Aurangabad, in the heartland of Marathwada, is a hotbed of communal polarisation. Incessant violence since the 1980s, and the militant politics of the Shiv Sena resulted in a deep segregation of the city on religious and caste lines. The demand to rename Aurangabad as Sambhaji Nagar has created a more recent spectacle of Hindutva power-politics.
In January 2018, the city was hit by violence after the Bhima-Koregaon clashes . That May, again, two people died and many shops and properties were destroyed in communal violence.
The city seems on the edge of descending into a curfew-like situation. Even on the day of the Lok Sabha election results, offices and shops closed early as rumors of possible violence spread.
Urban local body elections in Aurangabad are essential for control over the city. The first corporation elections in 1988 turned the city into a battleground, and many people died. In 1985, just three years before the elections, the Shiv Sena had inaugurated the party’s city branch. There was full-scale rioting during the municipal elections in 1988 because of the Sena’s anti-Muslim politics. It won 27 of the 60 seats in the first municipal corporation elections of the city. Since then, it has been the main contender. Its dominance has led to deep-fissures in the city’s social fabric.
From the late 1980s, the Shiv Sena would dominate the parliamentary constituency; Chandrakant Khaire held his seat from 1999 to 2014.
MIM’s entry
Imtiaz Jaleel with Asaduddin Owaisi / pic Facebook
In 2015, AIMIM made its debut in civic body polls. It won 25 of the 113 seats, and emerged as the second-largest party, after the Sena-BJP alliance. In the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections, the AIMIM’s Imtiaz Jaleel won the Aurangabad Central seat. In later municipal elections, the party worked to consolidate Dalit, Muslim and OBC votes. It has worked in its favor, presenting a secular and accommodative image on the ground.
After last year’s Bhima-Koregaon attacks, many Dalit voters moved away from the Shiv Sena. Four-term MP Chandrakant Khaire lost the citizens’ confidence more generally. His interference in the municipal corporation and zilla parishad had alienated residents, and the city’s garbage and water crisis had become his signature failures. This also contributed to Harshvardhan Jadhav’s split from the Sena-BJP alliance. As a result, this election was a battle between two pro-Hindutva candidates, Jadhav and Khaire. This allowed the MIM-VBA candidate to win by a margin of just 4,492 votes over Khaire.
Post-1980, incessant violence in cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Aurangabad has forced Muslims into geographic areas where they are cut-off from the mainstream. This spatial division has made Muslim spaces more vulnerable to violence, and irrelevant and invisible to the larger electoral and cultural politics of the nation.
Since the communal violence of 1988 in Aurangabad, the city has become more segregated everyday due to the capture of the political stage by Hindutva parties. In the absence of a progressive politics to bridge the gaps between the communities, ties could not be rebuilt.
In 2019, however, a new assertion – bringing together Dalits, Muslims and other communities who faced the worst of the violence these last three decades – offered a glimpse of a new politics, and of a city turning from hate and toward assimilation and peace.
Asaf Ali Lone is an independent researcher. His research interests are urban segregation, marginalities and resistances.
source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Politics / by Asif Ali Lone / June 08th, 2019
IT major Wipro founder Azim H. Premji, who turned a small maker of vegetable oil into a $8.5 billion software behemoth, will retire as the company head by July-end and handover reins of the firm to his son, Rishad.
Mr. Premji, who turns 74 next month, will retire as executive chairman upon the completion of his current term on July 30, 2019, after having led the company for 53 years, Wipro said in a statement.
He, however, will continue to serve on the board as a non-executive director for five years till July 2024 and has also been conferred the title of founder chairman.
Wipro board also announced that chief executive officer and executive director Abidali Z. Neemuchwala will be re-designated as CEO and managing director, while Rishad Premji will be re-appointed as whole-time director for a period of five years with effect from July 31, 2019, to July 30, 2024. Mr. Rishad Premji will be designated as executive chairman.
These changes will be effective July 31, 2019, subject to shareholders’ approval.
₹52,750 crore for philanthropic activities
A recipient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan awards, Mr. Azim Premji now plans to devote more time for philanthropic activities.
He had, in March 2019 gifted an additional ₹52,750 crore of the company’s shares to support philanthropic activities, making it the most generous donation in the nation’s history.
About 34% of shares held by companies controlled by Mr. Azim Premji, India’s second-richest person, were irrevocably renounced and earmarked to the Azim Premji Foundation, taking the total donations to over ₹1.4 lakh crore.
Mr. Azim Premji’s Foundation, which works in the education sector and supports over 150 non-profits serving under-privileged with financial grants, has 67% of economic ownership of Wipro.
‘Pioneers of Indian technology industry’
“Azim Premji, one of the pioneers of the Indian technology industry and founder of Wipro Limited will retire as executive chairman upon the completion of his current term on July 30, 2019 after having led the company for 53 years. However, he will continue to serve on the board as non-executive director and founder chairman,” Wipro said in a statement announcing the top deck changes.
Mr. Azim Premji transformed a small hydrogenated cooking fat firm to a $8.5 billion global tech titan that is counted among India’s top IT exporters and also led the transformation of Wipro Enterprises into a global FMCG, infrastructure engineering and medical devices powerhouse, with revenues of about $2 billion.
He will remain the chairman of Wipro Enterprises and continue to chair the board of Wipro-GE Healthcare, the statement added.
“It has been a long and satisfying journey for me. As I look into the future, I plan to devote more time to focus on our philanthropic activities. I have great confidence and trust in Rishad’s leadership to steer Wipro in its next phase of growth as we move forward,” Mr. Azim Premji said.
‘Unflinching commitment’
Commenting on the changes, chairman designate Mr. Rishad Premji said Wipro has, over the decades, demonstrated that success can built on the foundation of strong values and uncompromising integrity.
“This is a testament to the spirit and dedication of thousands of Wiproites. I am very excited about our future and the opportunity to create value for all our stakeholders in these transformative times for Wipro and the technology industry,” he said.
Ashok S. Ganguly — independent director and chairman, Board Governance, Nomination and Compensation Committee at Wipro — said Mr. Azim Premji’s “unflinching commitment” to values made him an exemplar of how business and ethics can and must go together.
“His exceptional generosity makes him one of the greatest philanthropists of our time,” he added.
Mr. Ganguly further said that Mr. Rishad Premji’s understanding of the global technology industry, strong strategic orientation and diverse leadership experience make him the “right person to guide Wipro”.
“He is also best positioned to represent the interests and fundamental social purpose of the largest shareholder of Wipro,” Mr. Ganguly noted.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Business / by PTI / Bengaluru – June 06th, 2019
