The Revolt of 1857 was not merely a product of Sepoy mutiny but was accumulated grievances of the people against the Company’s administration and of their dislike for the foreign regime. Here is the List of important leaders Associated with the Revolt of 1857.
_______________________ Shakeel Anwar / Updated Nov 10, 2020, 11:10 IST
Important leaders Associated with the Revolt of 1857
_____________________________
The Revolt of 1857 is also called the Sepoy Mutiny or India’s First War of Independence. It was started on 10 May 1857 at Meerut, as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company’s army.
It was a prolonged period of armed uprising as well as rebellions in Northern and Central India against the British occupation of that part of the subcontinent. It began as a revolt of the sepoys of the British East India Company’s army but eventually secured the participation of the masses. The revolt is known by several names: the Sepoy Mutiny (by the British Historians), the Indian Mutiny, the Great Rebellion (by the Indian Historians), the Revolt of 1857, the Indian Insurrection, and the First War of Independence (by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar).
The revolt spread over the entire area from the neighborhood of Patna to the borders of Rajasthan. The main centers of revolt in these regions namely Kanpur, Lucknow, Bareilly, Jhansi, Gwalior, and Arrah in Bihar. Following is a list of important leaders who took part in the revolt from different parts of the country:
Important leader Associated with the Revolt of 1857
Place
Leader
Barrackpore
Mangal Pandey
Delhi
Bahadur Shah II, General Bakht Khan
Delhi
Hakim Ahsanullah (Chief advisor to Bahadur Shah II)
Lucknow
Begum Hazrat Mahal, Birjis Qadir, Ahmadullah (advisor of the ex-Nawab of Awadh)
Kanpur
Nana Sahib, Rao Sahib (nephew of Nana), Tantia Tope, Azimullah Khan (advisor of Nana Sahib)
Jhansi
Rani Laxmibai
Bihar (Jagdishpur)
Kunwar Singh, Amar Singh
Allahabad and Banaras
Maulvi Liyakat Ali
Faizabad
Maulvi Ahmadullah (He declared the Revolt as Jihad against English)
Farrukhabad
Tufzal Hasan Khan
Bijnaur
Mohammad Khan
Muradabad
Abdul Ali Khan
Bareilly
Khan Bahadur Khan
Mandsor
Firoz Shah
Gwalior/Kanpur
Tantia Tope
Assam
Kandapareshwar Singh, Manirama Datta
Orissa
Surendra Shahi, Ujjwal Shahi
Kullu
Raja Pratap Singh
Rajasthan
Jaidayal Singh and Hardayal Singh
Gorakhpur
Gajadhar Singh
Mathura
Sevi Singh, Kadam Singh
The revolt of 1857 was an unprecedented event in the history of British rule in India. It united, though in a limited way, many sections of Indian society for a common cause. Though the revolt failed to achieve the desired goal, it sowed the seeds of Indian nationalism.
source: http://www.jagranjosh.com / Jagrn Josh / Home> General Knowledge> History / by Shakeel Anwar, Jagran Josh / November 10th, 2022
“I believe deep down in my heart that the great reality of spiritual revelation given to humanity by the Prophet (blessed be His name) is an infinitely greater thing than any sectarian difference (Shia & Sunni) imposed upon it by subsequent human feeling and by lesser vision than his of the inner realities from which the external life of humanity has developed.” Mirza Ismail, a Shia Muslim by faith, who was the Prime Minister of Mysore had spoken these words at the inauguration of Jamia Mosque, a Sunni mosque, in Bengaluru on 30 May 1941.
Jamia Masjid, Bengaluru
Mirza Ismail remained one of the most important politicians in India as he held the position of Prime Minister (PM) of the second wealthiest state, Mysore, from 1926 to 1941 after which he became PM of Jaipur and Hyderabad.
A Shia by his faith whose foreparents had migrated from Iran and stayed in India, Ismail remained committed to the unity of humans. He believed that Shia and Sunni, Hindu and Muslim, or any caste difference among humans could not stop them from living together harmoniously.
Ismail inaugurated the mosque at Bangalore, which was one of the most important cities in Mysore state, as his last public ceremony in the capacity of the PM of Mysore after resigning from the post. On the occasion he noted, “I am particularly happy that this function, which is the last of my period of service as Dewan of Mysore, gave me the opportunity of expressing an ideal of my life which has been foremost in the past and will remain foremost in the future.”
What was the ideal Ismail talking about? Making a mosque or something else?
The ideal he was talking about was the unity of Shia and Sunni as one Muslim community. He told the people gathered there that the non-Muslims observing this ceremony would not think much about it. In their view a Muslim had come to lay the foundation stone of a mosque of his fellow Muslims. “But to you”, Ismail argued, “fellow-Musalmans, it is not so simple. You know that in the historical development of Islam I belong to a section of the organised expression of the Faith that for centuries has been in sharp opposition to the section to which you, who are going to build this mosque, belong.” He expressed satisfaction that Sunnis had invited him for this event. He told the people that since its very inception he had taken “the greatest possible interest” in this mosque where Sunni Muslims would pray in the manner they wanted.
Ismail went on to tell the people;
“At the centre of Islam is the teaching and practice of brotherhood. You would have been false to the truth of life if, because I am a Shia by birth, you had not invited me to this function, and I would have been equally false to the brotherhood of Islam if, because you are Sunnis, I had not accepted your invitation. Our differences are transient, even trivial, in comparison with the spiritual reality which these differences tend to obscure and weaken.”
Ismail went on to state that love and peace are the essence of Islam and Muslims should stop fighting among themselves as well as with their coreligionists in the country. The mosque is one of the most important mosques in Bengaluru today.
(Author is a neurobiologist with a keen interest in history, society and culture of India)
source: http://www.heritagetimes.in / Heritate Times / Home> Featured Posts> Heritage> Leaders / by Mahino Fatima / March 08th, 2022
Tarana Husain Khan doesn’t write women only as damsels in distress, she writes them as women who challenge.
Tarana Husain Khan.
I don’t remember when my mother first told me, “Boys will be boys.” as an explanation. But I trusted it. The 20-year-old I am now knows it’s an eraser. A cleaning towel that wipes away the grim men produce. Over our words. Over our careers. Over our bodies. It’s an explanation that deletes a lived history with a swift and casual swipe. Tarana Husain Khan’s The Begum and the Dastan resists this erasure.
Khan’s character, Ameera’s grandmother, whom she calls Dadi, tells her the dastan about Feroza Begum, Ameera’s great-grandmother. Feroza Begum attended sawani celebrations at Nawab Shams Ali Khan’s Benazir Palace, defying her family, only to be kidnapped by the Nawab. Although the premise sounds simple, Khan crafts the dastan carefully, preserving the dynamics in Sherpur, a princely state, like one would sour pickle in a jar. Her writing serves as a citation for the overused “Show, don’t tell” technique, arranging the elements of time, location and character through a nuanced understanding of history.
She weaves together the stories of three women, Lalarukh, Feroza and Ameera, with the help of three dastangos, about Kallan Mirza, Ameera’s Dadi, and herself. Each story, within another story, surrenders as a cautionary tale. Sometimes, as a spoiler, that hands you the reins to ride through the rest of the story.
Blame slithers across each story, hissing at every woman who defies and exercises her need for independence. During the forced marriage to the Nawab, women around the bride were “tut-tutting over Feroza’s heartlessness”, believing she aborted her pregnancy from her previous marriage. The blame congeals on Feroza, a victim of forced abortion by the Nawab. In the rumours, the Nawab is a man she loves, not her abuser. The cruelty of these women steps outside the realm of gossip, nipping at Feroza’s right to refuse consent to her nikah.
“‘Feroza Begum, daughter of Altaf Khan urf Miya Jan Khan, your wedding has been arranged to Nawab Shams Ali Khan Bahadur, son of Nawab Murad Ali Khan Bahadur for a sum of two lakh rupees as meher. Do you agree?’
What if she just didn’t say anything?
‘She says “yes”!’ A middle-aged woman dressed in her bridal dress, suddenly shouted towards the curtains. Feroza turned towards the woman. The old lady in charge of her elbowed her ribs.
‘Uh?’ she turned sharply towards the offending lady.
‘I heard it too. She said “yes”!’ said the old lady, then another woman joined in bearing witness to her acquiesce and then another.”
“Why wouldn’t a divorced woman who aborted her child marry the Nawab?” is the rhetoric that these women echo. It’s a form of enabling, but Khan exerts dialogue, channelling prose to amplify Feroza’s reaction, forgotten amidst placeholder approval. She choreographs the myth “she asked for it” by excluding the chorus of the maulvi asking for consent thrice, as is tradition, to exacerbate the rumours that enable, and more terrifyingly, erase. Another dialogue chimes in to note this eager “consent” by Feroza. In these instances, Khan’s narrator, Dadi, is not just a storyteller; but an advocate for forgotten history.
But Khan doesn’t write women only as damsels in distress; she writes them as women who challenge. Feroza wears what she wants, despite the word that the patriarchy will impose on her: nautch. Khan examines how the question of her attire serves as a justification for the harassment. When Bibi, Feroza’s maid, asks her to “let it be”, as she was “wearing that dress”, Feroza doesn’t surrender to the blame. Instead, Feroza asks these questions: what if she was one of the common women? What if she was a nautch?
Khan tackles clothing not only as a form of rebellion but as an identifier of communion and the dismissal of “the other”. When Feroza sights a British woman wearing a “strange gown”, she argues that she should’ve worn “our dress” because she’s in “our country”. Other times, this divide is a form of empowerment.
“Strangely, guys don’t pester scarf-wearing girls with ‘I want to be your friend’ proposals. So us scarfed girls choose to talk to guys we like and make boyfriends on our own. It’s pretty cool that way, though I long to throw away the scarf and open up my hair like I used to at St Mary’s.”
Ameera’s perception of the scarf rewrites the reputation of the vilified veil, untying the folds that make it an oppressive tool while recognising how being “the other” means a kind of protection. A woman’s scarf, her dress, and her jewellery make an argument in this novel. But the expectations that pin a scarf around Ameera’s head, and a nath on Feroza’s nose, encourage a misplaced trust in the men in their lives.
Across the three stories in the novel, protagonists expect men to protect, not because they victimise themselves, but because that’s what’s taught to women: dependence is a desired trait. Khan acknowledges how patriarchy dribbles on the men, drawing out how Lalarukh, Feroza and Ameera feel betrayed by the men in their lives for not protecting them. The cadence of this betrayal morphs across the stories as Khan manipulates language like a glassblower does glass.
“I do believe that in this day and age nobody should bully you into selling your property – these are not the Nawab’s times; but if it was Jugnu’s fees and his exams, Abba would sell off the shops and chuck the case in a heartbeat. We females always depend on our fathers or males to rescue us – our default response to a crisis. Imagine, poor Feroza Begum’s father dumped her in the harem and ran away!”
Khan wields the tone of each story, carefully grafting the premise of a woman wronged in different periods and spaces. She uses the first-person perspective to narrate Ameera’s life, crumbling with her family’s negligence towards her, using a voice akin to a teenager simmering with anger. But for Lalarukh and Feroza, Khan, or rather Dadi and Kallan Mirza, uses the third-person perspective, a voice that is omniscient and viscous, dripping of superiority.
They narrate the violence of Nawab and Tareef Khan, Lalarukh’s kidnapper, without embellishments. The abusers are not kings or sorcerers in the chapters that harrow. They are written as, to no surprise, violators. Khan’s treatment of the dynamic between the Nawab and Feroza contradicts this claim sporadically. But when Feroza reciprocates the Nawab’s ‘love’ for her, he continues to dredge her in the limitations of his harem, remaining free himself, further testifying the degree of his abuse. Feroza is a flawed character, but she is not a flawed victim, and Khan asserts that.
Like Khan, both Dadi and Kallan Mirza are biased narrators, intervening to train their listener(s) to root for the protagonist. They collectively fuel a question: How does tradition, along with law, permit the violation of women? Unfortunately, the stories, or rather the lived experiences that ask this question, are muzzled. But the dastangos, both the real and the fictitious, bite through the labour that accompanies such storytelling. The story prompts the question: How can one write history without condoning it? In The Begum and the Dastan, history is an inspiration, a tool, and an anchor, but it is not a justification.
pix: amazon.in
source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> Book Review / by Isa Ayidh / (book cover image edited in, amazon.in) /June 27th, 2021
Members of SONEI along with guests pose for a group photo on the sidelines of the ‘Star Talk-12’ event held in Guwahati on Thursday.
Guwahati :
‘Star Talk-12’, an initiative of the Stars of North East India (SONEI), a registered public charitable trust and talent hunt platform, was held in Guwahati on Thursday.
The first appointed speaker of the event was Aman Wadud, a young lawyer who recently got his Masters in Law from the University of Texas under a Fulbright Scholarship. Besides sharing his American experience, Aman Wadud gave a very informative presentation of the evolution of Civil Rights in the USA.
The second appointed speaker, Suaid M Laskar, Head of Pan-India Sales, Admissify made a presentation to clear the common doubts people have about studying abroad. Laskar, who has been instrumental in facilitating overseas studies of more than 350 students from Assam, over the last five years, in countries like Australia, Germany, UK and USA, informed the audience that 93 per cent of the students who go abroad for studies belong to middle class families.
Abhishek Kumar, a graduate from Guwahati Commerce College, who is all set to study his Masters in Supply Chain Management at Cranfield University, UK also shared his experience on the occasion.
Alemoon Nessa of Bongaigaon, who recently received two national MSME awards along with a cash component of Rs eight lakh from the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was felicitated on the occasion.
Dr Faizuddin Ahmed, a physicist from Dhubri, who has made it to the Stanford list of world’s top 2% scientists, was also honoured on the occasion.
Shahnaz Islam, a budding poet whose book “Midnight’s melancholy” was launched from Sikkim recently, enthralled the audience by reciting a few poems from her book.
Mirza Arif Hazarika’s short film “Sorry” starring Barasha Rani Bishaya and Ravi Sharma is now live on Disney+Hotstar, a rare honour for an Assamese short film. Mirza shared his experiences of making the film.
Priyanka Paul Banerjee, an upcoming PR practitioner, was also felicitated along with other achievers at the event.
SONEI will complete eight years of its existence in September 2022 during which new projects will be announced in addition to its existing programmes in the field of education, promotion of skills, and social service.
The event was hosted by Samima Sultana Ali and Sharique Hussain.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Education> Positive Story / by Special Correspondent / July 29th, 2022
People bade a tearful adieu to Bhopal’s first plastic surgeon Dr. Zaheer-ul-Islam when he passed away here on Wednesday last.
Bhopal:
People bade a tearful adieu to Bhopal’s first plastic surgeon Dr. Zaheer-ul-Islam when he passed away here on Wednesday last. He was in his late eighties. He is survived by his wife and a large number of relatives and friends to mourn his loss.
Dr. Zaheer-ul-Islam was laid to rest in the graveyard near Bhopal Talkies late in the evening after his Namaz-e-Janaza was performed in the courtyard of historic Sufiya Masjid.
Hundreds of people of Bhopal expressed their heartfelt tributes to him. He was known for his work as well as his cheerful behaviour and smiling face.
Education and Career
Dr Zaheer took his MBBS degree from Indore Medical College and did specialisation in Plastic Surgery from Patna Medical College.
In the cases of plastic surgery, 40 years ago, when different types of techniques were not available, in that era, the record of successful operation of big plastic surgeries remained in the name of Dr. Zaheer.
Pioneer in sex reassignment surgery
He was a pioneer and credited with Madhya Pradesh’s first sex reassignment surgery which was the biggest achievement of his life.
In 1977 he performed a surgery to change the sex of a girl to make her a boy. He changed the gender of a girl named Munnibai to Munnalal.
In the history of plastic surgery, Dr. Zaheer, who was honoured with many conferences and awards at international level, was also called abroad.
Dr. Zaheer served in Bhopal’s Hamidia Hospital associated to Gandhi Medical College (GMC), for nearly 30 years. Along with this, he also taught at GMC. From there he took voluntary retirement.
A poet and aerial photographer too
Apart from this he was a multifarious personality with a poetic blood flowing in his veins. He paid poetic tributes to his near and dear ones who departed this world by composing “Qata’t” which was published in Nadeem, an Urdu daily newspaper. Just 24 hours before he went to eternal sleep he recited the last “Qat’a’” of his life in a video recording saying:
“Mere janaze pe pura shahar tha sharik; ek tum nahin the jiska mujh ko intezar tha”.
He was also an expert aerial photographer with a passion to document the evolving city of lakes.
GMC golden jubilee celebrations were held in 2005. Dr. Zaheer was scriptwriter for the documentary ‘Down the memory lane’. For the poet it came naturally. His passion for aerial photography made him many friends and some dubbed him as ‘would be pilot’.
Dr. Zaheer’s aerial photography of Bhopal dates before the age of the internet and satellite imagery. He welcomed anyone who wanted to use his pictures for publication. As early in 2000, Dr Zaheer digitized his collection for preservation. He also was one of the first to use videos in medical conferences for demonstration.
According to GMC’s Assistant Professor Dr. S. K. Patne plastic surgeon Dr. Zahir was one of our favourite teachers in the medical college and was the first to showcase aerial photographs of the GMC campus, proving college building was designed in shape of medical cross from the top.
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> Inda / by Pervez Bari / July 30th, 2022
He is truly a forgotten warrior of the freedom movement. Few know about him and fewer are familiar with his name but delve into the pages of history and you realise that he deserves a better place.
He participated in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in the Battle of Shamli between the British and the anti-colonialist ulema. The scholars were ultimately defeated at that battle.
He was Mohammad Qasim Nanautawi.
Nanautawi was born in 1832 into the Siddiqui family of Nanauta, a town near Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
He was schooled at Nanauta, where he memorised the Quran and learned calligraphy.
At the age of nine, Nanautawi moved to Deoband where he studied at the madrasa of Karamat Hussain. The teacher at this madrasa was Mehtab Ali, the uncle of Mahmud Hasan Deobandi.
On the instruction of Mehtab Ali, Nanautawi completed the primary books of Arabic grammar and syntax.
Thereafter, his mother sent him to Saharanpur, where his maternal grandfather Wajihuddin Wakil, who was a poet of Urdu and Persian, lived.
Wakil enrolled his grandson in the Persian class of Muhammad Nawaz Saharanpuri, under whom, Nanautawi, then aged twelve, completed Persian studies.
In 1844, Nanautawi joined the Delhi College. Although was enrolled in the college, he would take private classes at his teachers’ home, instead of the college.
Nanautawi stayed in Delhi for around five or six years and graduated, at the age of 17.
After the completion of his education, Nanautawi became the editor of the press at Matbah-e-Ahmadi.
During this period, he wrote a scholium on the last few portions of Sahihul Bukhari.
Before the establishment of Darul Uloom Deoband, he taught for some time at the Chhatta Masjid. His lectures were delivered at the printing press. His teaching produced a group of accomplished Ulama, the example of which had not been seen since Shah Abdul Ghani’s time.
In 1860, he performed Haj and, on his return, he accepted a profession of collating books at Matbah-e-Mujtaba in Meerut. Nanautavi remained attached to this press until 1868.
In May 1876, a Fair for God-Consciousness was held at Chandapur village, near Shahjahanpur.
Christians, Hindus, and Muslims were invited through posters to attend and prove the truthfulness of their respective religions.
All prominent Ulama delivered speeches at the fair. Nanautawi repudiated the Doctrine of the Trinity, speaking in support of the Islamic conception of God.
Christians did not reply to the objections raised by the followers of Islam, while the Muslims replied to the Christians word by word and won.
Mohammad Qasim Nanautawi established the Darul Uloom Deoband in 1866 with the financial help and funding of the Muslim states within India and the rich individuals of the Muslim Indian community.
He conformed to the Sharia and worked to motivate other people to do so. It was through his work that a prominent madrasa was established in Deoband and a mosque was built in 1868. Through his efforts, Islamic schools were established at various other locations as well.
His greatest achievement was the revival of an educational movement for the renaissance of religious sciences in India and the creation of guiding principles for the madaris (schools).
Under his attention and supervision, madaris were established in several areas.
Under Muhammad Qasim Nanautvi’s guidance, these religious schools, at least in the beginning, remained distant from politics and devoted their services to providing only religious education to Muslim children.
Nanautawi died on 15 April 1880 at the age of 47. His grave is to the north of the Darul-Uloom.
Since Qasim Nanautawi is buried there, the place is known as Qabrastan-e-Qasimi, where countless Deobandi scholars, students, and others are buried.
Significantly, the elders of Deoband took more and more part in the struggle for the independence of the country.
After the establishment of Darul-Uloom, the period of participation in national politics began.
Darul-Uloom, Deoband, was a centre of revolution and political, training. It nurtured such a body of such a body of self-sacrificing soldiers of Islam and sympathisers of the community who themselves wept in the grief of the community and also made others weep; who themselves tossed about restlessly for the restitution of the Muslims’ dignity and caused others also to toss about.
They shattered the Muslims’ intellectual stagnation, they broke up the spell of the British imperialism, and, grappling with the contemporary tyrannical powers, dispelled fear and anxiety from the minds of the country.
They also kindled the candle of freedom in the political wilderness.
It is a historical fact that the political awakening in the beginning of the twentieth century was indebted to Deoband and some other revolutionary movements in the country, and the revolutionary freedom-lovers who rose up there were the products of the grace from the spring of thought of Deoband.
Then, after the establishment of Pakistan, the Indian leaders of Deoband guided the Indian Muslims in utterly adverse circumstances and helped keep up their spirits high. — IANS
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home / by Amita Verma / July 31st, 2022
Mohammad Sabir, who is the managing director of Albert Bakery and the fourth generation businessman, believes that ‘keeping it simple and affordable’ is the key factor behind the bakery becoming a culinary landmark known for its lip-smacking desserts.
Chicken swiss roll, chicken shami kababand potato bun at the bakery.
What was once a godown at Kamaraj Road that used to supply bread, salt biscuits, buns, and rusks in 1902, now stands as a major cultural landmark in central Bengaluru. Even after 120 years, the hot cross buns during Christmas or the mutton brain puff during Ramadan at Albert Bakery still tingles the taste buds of dessert and snack lovers in Bengaluru.
Mohammad Sabir, who is the managing director of Albert Bakery and the fourth generation businessman, believes that ‘keeping it simple and affordable’ is the key factor behind the bakery becoming a culinary landmark known for its lip-smacking desserts.
“It was my grandfather Mohammad Suleman who started the godown in 1902. However, in 1921 we moved to Frazer Town and converted the godown into a bakery. We realised bread and buns were part of the daily livelihood for people and that is mostly the reason why we wanted to open a bakery,” said Sabir.
Khova naan.
“Since the bakery was opened during the British rule, my grandfather felt that keeping a name that is Western would be more appropriate and popular and therefore it was named ‘Albert’. However, it is not associated with the name of any of the British rulers or officers.”
His father Nawab Jan added a culinary twist by introducing a range of desserts and snacks that came with new stuffings and flavours. The famous khova naan—a soft and crunchy filo pastry—was first introduced here at Albert Bakery and it is now available in many varieties like mutton khova, coconut khova, and sweet khova.
The bakery is also famous for its other snacks like mutton brain puff, veg sandwich, egg pudding, chicken mayonnaise bun, mutton tandoori roll, chicken swiss roll, chicken shami kabab, banana grape muffin, and chocolate pastries among others.
Mutton brain puff
In what appears to be an unusual practice, the bakery has followed a tradition of opening its doors to its customers from 3 pm every day. “The mornings are closed for customers, but open for our bakers who are onto baking the fresh desserts for the day. We only allow our customers from 3 pm after everything is kept ready to be served with freshness,” says Sabir, who also exports varieties of khova naan to Saudi Arabia.
Albert Bakery is also the go-to shop for people during Christmas. From hot cross buns to plum cakes and roast cookies to marzipan cakes, Sabir calls it a celebration of desserts during Christmas.
Sabir, a hotel management graduate, says that with changing times comes new decisions. “We did not open any outlet for 120 years because we wanted to maintain the originality. However, in the coming days, we are thinking of expanding and are planning to open a new branch of Albert Bakery in Bengaluru soon which will have some surprises in its culinary spread. We will disclose our plans only later,” Sabir adds.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Sanath Prasad, Bengaluru / July 31st, 2022
Shahnawaz Khan Pathan with her parents and brother
Come August and Shahnawaz Khan Pathan of Pune would join the training course for the First Class Judge. Her’s is an incredible journey from living with her family in a ten-by-ten space in Ghorpadi Pait Lohia Nagar slum settlement where she grew up and studied.
Shahnawaz Khan’s story proves that success is not achieved in a day and only one who has the determination to make it will succeed. Shahnawaz Khan Pathan is the third sibling among her four sisters and one brother. Their father Aman Khan Pathan manages the family with his earnings from a small grocery shop.
Shahnawaz Khan Pathan being felicitated by the Pune Bar after her selection as Judge
Despite Aman Khan’s low income, he tried his best to provide proper education to his children as a result all his children are educated.
Shahnawaz Khan Pathan’s success has her father happy and proud. Aman Khan Pathan says that due to the poor financial condition of his family, he was not able to study. Sumaiya not only made his dream come true and also made him a proud father who can tell the world that he is the father of Shahnawaz Khan Pathan.
Speaking with Awaz-the Voice, Aman Khan Pathan became emotional and said: “I am proud of Shahnawaz.”
Her mother Sugrabi Pathan wipes her tears of joy and says that her daughter was always very good in her studies from the very beginning. “We had high hopes from her and see she did it. I always pray for her success and success.”
Shahnawaz Khan with her Uncle Jia Khan Pathan
The family has lived all through in a small hut in the narrow streets of Lohia Nagar. There is hardly an environment conducive to studies.
However, Shahnawaz Khan Pathan worked hard and made history by becoming the first Muslim first-class judge of Pune.
Shahnawaz says that mere imagination does not lead to success. One needs to work hard to fulfill one’s dreams and achieve success.
On her family’s support, Shahnawaz says that her father was always there to guide her. “Even with his meager income, he made every effort to provide for me whenever I needed something.”
However, Shahnawaz has another hero in her life: her uncle Jia Khan Pathan, and his wife – whom she credits with encouraging her and filling her with hope and enthusiasm to keep moving.
Shahnawaz being felicitated by a civil society organisation in Pune
“From the first day till the JFMC interview, Uncleji was with me like my shadow. Whenever I had to go outside the city for writing an examination, my uncle and aunty would accompany me. He never left me alone. My mother and my entire family, friends, and neighbors all kept encouraging me.”
However, her failure to clear the Public service Commission conducted Maharashtra Judicial Services Examination in her first attempt in 2019 caused her disappointment. “At that time my father encouraged me and told me to try it again. I tried with renewed vigor and confidence and this time my name figured in the list of results declared in 2020,” she says.
Shahnawaz has studied at Maharishi Annasaheb Shinde, Zilla Parishad School. Today, when she is all set to become the first Muslim judge of Pune, Shahnawaz says she believes that “education is not preparation for life but education is life.”
She says she was always determined to not let the circumstances of her life become a hindrance in her path. It was only some time back that her family shifted to their new house in the Kondhwa area.
Shahnawaz Khan Pathan speaking at a function
Shahnawaz was a practicing lawyer before becoming a civil judge-cum-judicial magistrate first class (JFMC). She married software developer Sunny Sayyed before on May 25 before the JFMC results were out. She lives with her husband in the Urudi Kanchan area of Pune.
As a legal professional Shahnawaz says that awareness campaigns should be launched to make common people aware of the legal options and legal aspects of life. Legal camps and street plays can be very helpful in this direction. She says that lack of proper information aggravates many problems.
Shahnawaz believes that a common citizen can become a force multiplier in the progress of the country by staying within the purview of the law for redressal of his grievances.
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> India / by Shahtaj Khan, Pune / July 14th, 2022
A few mats and a blackboard make a school on a city lane for 50 kids. This footpath of V Power Gym Street in the Kanakia area of Mira Road in Mumbai attracts the attention of the passers-by but the children remain engrossed in studying and oblivious of the world passing by.
The noise of passing traffic and pedestrians does not affect the privacy of students – mostly children of construction labourers and other daily wage earners – for their minds are focused on what their Yasmeen Madam says.
Yasmin Parvez Khan, a homemaker whose husband is a manager in a global software company, has been trying to provide basic education to children in this makeshift roadside school. She has been setting it up from 3 to 5 pm every day for the past ten years.
She is a volunteer who wants to change the lives of children who can’t afford a regular school for various reasons; she neither runs an NGO nor is affiliated with any government agency.
Gallery of images from Yasmeem’s school
Yasmeen says: “One day I thought of doing something for these poor children. After much deliberation, I realized that no amount of monetary or material help will be of much use to them while education has the potential to change their lives and also impact the future of their families. With this idea, I started teaching two kids and today I have 50 of them.”
Yasmeen’s school is for slum children where they receive basic education and then for formal education, Yasmin Madam takes the children for admission to regular schools. This way Yasmeen plays an important role in initiating these underprivileged children into regular education by invoking their interests in studies and knowledge. “It takes time to get children from very poor families interested in education and getting their parents to understand the importance of education is no less than a harder task.”
Yasmeen says she doesn’t charge a fee but children need many things like notebooks, pencils, books, colours, bags, etc. She has an innovative idea for getting these needs of children fulfilled. Pointing to her blackboard, she says, “Whenever I need something for children, write it on the board and you will be surprised that within a short time, someone delivers it.”
To date, children have never had to wait more than half an hour to get their basic things for studies. She smiles and says that she feels happy to cook for children each Thursday and feed them. After seeing this, many passersby and neighbours have started bringing food and gifts for the children. This makes children very happy and adds to their enthusiasm.
Children enjoying meals cooked by Yasmeen Khan on a Thursday
Yasmeen Madam’s teaching sidewalk has neither walls nor roof, but education is complete. The first child who got his primary education from this footpath and reached school today has reached the 11th standard.
People are often inquisitive about Yasmin Parvez Khan, who wears a Burqa. People stop for a moment when they see a veiled woman teaching children on the sidewalk.
Yasmeen says that initially, even her family was not happy with her decision. “When I explained my point that she has to go to them and teach, they understood.”
She says: “Today, my family including my mother-in-law, father-in-law, husband, and my children support me.” Yasmeen Parvez Khan’s husband is a project manager at Wipro Company.
These days Yasmeen’s school is on Monsoon break. She is looking forward to the end of the monsoon and the resumption of her school.
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> India / by Shantaj Khan, Pune / July 26th, 2022
On the occasion of 74th Independence Day, let us remember these Muslim women who proved their strength, enthusiasm and determinism in the fight for freedom.
These women broke the stereotype of Muslim women in the society, who are merely perceived to be clad in Burqha and were never let out of the house. They participated in the India’s struggle for independence and emerged victorious.
Begum Hazrat Mahal (1830–1879)
Begum Hazrat Mahal, a prominent woman of 1857 rebellion, was born in 1830 Faizabad of Uttar Pradesh. Her actual name was Muhammadi Khanum. Her father is Gulam Hussain of Faizabad. At her tender age itself, she showed good talent in literature.
She was married to Wajid Ali Shah, the Nawab of Awadh. They were blessed with a son Mirza Birjis Khadir Bahadur. On 13 February, 1856, the British troops imprisoned Wajid Ali Shah. They sent him to Calcutta on 13 March and occupied Awadh illegitimately. This irked the people and native rulers.
They revolted against the British under the leadership of Begum Hazrat Mahal. The native rulers and people met at Chavani area of Lucknow, the capital of Awadh on 31May, 1857 and declared independence. They taught a lesson to the British troops and wiped out their power in Lucknow. Later, Begum Hazrat Mahal declared her son Birjis Khadir as the Nawab of Awadh on 7 July, 1857.
As the King’s mother, she gathered 1,80,000 troops and renovated the Lucknow fort spending huge amount of money. She established a high level committee for the good governance of the state. Hazarat Mahal ruled the state on behalf of her son for about ten months and challenged the British force by inspiring patriotism among the people and the fellow native rulers. She issued a historic statement on 31 December, 1858 challenging the proclamation issued by the Queen Victoria on November 1, 1858.
But, when Delhi, the prime center for the First War of Independence was captured, the British troops surrounded and attacked Lucknow in March 1859. There was a fierce battle between the Company troops and the Begum troops. When defeat became inevitable, Begum Hazrat Mahal retreated to the Nepal forests along with the co-revolutionary leaders like Nana Sahib Peshwa and others.
The British rulers offered her huge amount of money and luxurious facilities in order to bring her back to Lucknow. But, the Begum denied them and made it clear that nothing else was acceptable to her except Independent Awadh state. Begum Hazarath Mahal was struggling for the independence of her state till her last breath. She passed away at Khathmound of Nepal on 7 April, 1879. In 1984 Government of India released a postal stamp in her honour.
Abadi Bano Begum (1852-1924)
Abadi Bano Begum, who took active part at par with men in the Indian National Movement, was born in 1852 in Amroha village, Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh. She was married to Abdul Ali Khan of the Princely State Rampur.
Though she lost her husband at a young age, she did not remarry. She had two sons Moulana Mohammed Ali and Moulana Showkath Ali, who were famous as ‘Ali Brothers’. She nurtured her children, into becoming memorable leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. Her involvement in the freedom movement began with the Home Rule Movement, to which she rendered moral and most importantly, financial support.
When the British government detained the Ali Brothers in Chindanwad village, under the Indian Defence Regulations, she went along with them. When a police official proposed for the surrender of her sons, she bluntly refused saying, ‘If my sons agree to the proposal of the government, I will kill them by strangulation. I hope God will bestow enough energy into this old woman’s hands’. Abadi Bano met Mahatma Gandhi in 1917 for the first time.
There after Mahatma Gandhi always addressed her ‘Ammijan’, and all other freedom fighters followed Gandhi’s address. She helped Mahatma Gandhi and other Khilafath leaders financially for undertaking all India tours.
She attended the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League sessions in 1917, held at Calcutta. She spoke in those meetings emphasising that complete freedom could be achieved through unity between Hindus and Muslims.
She also played a constructive role in the Khilafat and Non[1]Cooperation Movement in 1919. She declared in several meetings that ‘it was her ambition that even the dogs and cats of her country should not be under the slavery of the British’.
The fact that the British government official records treated her as a ‘dangerous person’, which established the kind of challenge she hurled at the colonial rule.
Apart from participating in politics she also guided several women’s organisations all over India. So intensely patriotic and nationalist that Abadi Bano Begum who played an active role in national movement without caring old age, ill health and cruel atrocities of police, breathed her last on 13 November, 1924.
BIBI AMATUS SALAM (1907-1985)
Bibi Amatus Salam, who strongly believed that freedom from the slavery of British could be achieved, through the Gandhian methods only, was born in 1907 in Patiala of Punjab in Rajputhana family.
Her father was Colonel Abdul Hamid and her mother Amatur Rehaman. Amatus Salam was the younger sister of six elder brothers. Her health was very delicate since her childhood. She was inspired by her eldest brother, freedom fighter Mohammad Abdur Rashid Khan.
Following the footsteps of her brother, she decided to serve the people of the country.
Amatus Salam participated in the Khadi Movement and attended the meetings of the Indian National Movement along with her brother. She was attracted towards the Non[1]Violence theory of Mahathma Gandhi and Sevagram Ashram.
She decided to join Sevagram Ashram, and went there in 1931. She joined Ashram and followed the strict principles of the Ashram. With her selfless service she became very close to Gandhi couple.
They considered Amatus Salam as their beloved daughter. During the Indian National Movement, she went to jail along with other women in 1932 despite her illness with the permission of Gandhi.
After being released from Jail, she reached Sevagram and took over the responsibilities as Personal Assistant of Gandhi. She said that besides achieving independence, harmony between the Hindus and Muslims, Welfare of the Harijans and Women were her life ambitions. When communal riots erupted, she toured North-West Frontier, Sindh and Noukhali areas as an ambassador of Gandhi.
She held Satyagraha for 20 days to normalize the situation in those areas. After Independence, she rededicated herself to the Public Service. She published an Urdu Magazine called ‘Hindustan’ to promote national integration and communal harmony. When Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan toured in India in 1961, she travelled with him as his personal assistant. When India was at war with
China in 1962 and with Pakistan in 1965, she took all the pains in reaching the mountains or war area along with her adopted son Sunil Kumar to encourage our soldiers and to serve them. Bibi Amatus Salam, who spent all her life following the Gandhian ideology, breathed her last on 29 October, 1985.
HAJARA BEGUM (1910-2003)
Hajara Begum, who fought against the British to liberate the Nation and worked for the welfare of the toiling masses of the country, was born on 22 December, 1910 at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. She came to know about the sacrifices of the freedom fighters who were fighting against the British from her father, who was a police officer.
After the failure of her marriage, she went to London to pursue her higher education, where she got acquainted with the anti-British forces. This led her to decide to fight against the British Imperialist forces to liberate the nation. She had to face the anger of the British Government as she was criticizing their acts in several International fora.
She returned to India and joined as a lecturer in the Karamat Hussain women’s College at Lucknow in 1935.
She also worked along with famous poet Sajjad Zahir in the formation of All India Progressive Writers’ Association.
She got married to a nationalist leader Dr. Zainul Abedeen Ahmed in 1935 and in the same year both of them took membership in the Indian National Congress. Since the police were after them for their anti-British activities, they resigned their jobs and dedicated themselves totally to the Indian National Movement.
While participating in the activities of the Indian National Congress, Hajara Begum also campaigned for the Communist Party without the knowledge of the Police. She actively took part in the election campaign in those days, and as a result of this a number of Congress leaders could get elected. She attended a secret political workshop at Kotthapatnam in Andhra Pradesh in 1937.
She spoke on different subjects in the workshop as a lecturer. Hajara Begum was against the gender bias since her younger age. She fought against all types of inequalities successfully. She left the Indian National Congress in 1940 along with her husband. Since then, she played a vital role in organizing the unorganized labour sector.
She became very popular as ‘Hajara Aapa’ in the circles of toiling people and women. The Soviet Union honoured her with ‘Supreme Soviet Jubilee Award’ in 1960 in recognition of her work for the downtrodden people on the eve of the birth centenary of Lenin. Hajara Begum, who spent her entire life in the service of the country, breathed her last on 20 January, 2003.
Syed Naseer Ahamed can be contacted at Phone: +91 94402 41727
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> Featured News / by Nihad Ahmed / Input by Syed Naseer Ahmed / August 15th, 2020
.webp)
