Category Archives: Community Involvement / Social Issues

The 4th ShoorVeer Awards Given Away at Sparkling Event

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Mumbai, MAHARASHTRA :

Veteran Bollywood actress Padmini Kolhapure with Shoor Veer Awardee Shams Alam at Dr Aneel Kahshi Murarka’s The Shoor Veer Awards 2018 in Mumbai (photo provided)

MUMBAI— Because we all have a hidden hero inside – that was the tag-line of the 4th edition of ShoorVeer awards from Dr. Aneel Kashi Murarka’s foundation AmpleMissiion. The ShoorVeer Awards is a unique initiative that honors common men and women from across the country who achieved uncommon goals.

It honors brave-heart individuals who have known no fear and have performed extraordinary acts of bravery. The event held at the Bombay Stock Exchange Aug.10 was attended by a bevy of celebrities from the corporate world, film and the television industry, and the social field.

Besides, hosts Dr. Aneel Kashi Murarka and Siddhant Murarka, Roop Kumar and Sunali Rathod, Padmini Kolhapure Sharma, Mickey Mehta, BJP members Ashish Shelar, Vinod Shelar and Shaina NC, designer Sangeeta Murarka, Vastu expert and numerologist Basannt R Rasiwasia, Sooraj Thapar, Akashdeep Saigal, audiologist-speech therapist Devangi Dalal, Gurpreet Kaur Chadha, Yogesh Lakhani, Ashok Lokhande, television’s Tenali Rama – Krishna Bharadwaj, comedian VIP and writer-director Anusha Srinivasan Iyer were among the guests or presenters.

The award ceremony was also marked by live performances by singers Meghna Mishra (of “Secret Superstar”) and Aaman Trikha among others. The awards also saw a ramp walk by transgender women, signifying gender equality.

ShoorVeer 2018 awardees

Anoop Khanna

‘Dadi ki Rasoi’ in Noida sector 29 has gained immense popularity over time. Begun by Khanna (social activist), it aims at providing quality food to poor and needy people at just Rs 5. It serves food to more than 500 people per day, and the group also collects old unwanted clothes, cleans and irons them and sells them in a special shop for a nominal price of Rs. 10.

Rekha Mishra:

Railway Protection Force Sub-Inspector Rekha Mishra (32)’s daring exploits to save children, often battling great odds, feature in the Maharashtra State Board’s Class X textbook. She is credited with rescuing hundreds of destitute, missing, kidnapped or runaway children from various railway stations in the past few years. Currently posted at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), the cop has helped 953 children till date. This correspondent was given the honor of being one of her presenters.

Insia Dariwala

Insia Dariwala is an award-winning international filmmaker and one of the founder members of Sahiyo, an organization against Female Genital Mutilation. Dariwala, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, creates awareness to help similar victims through her films and her organization. Her award-winning debut film “The Candy Man,” followed by another hard-hitting film, “Cock-Tale,” delved into topics like child sexual abuse, and sexual violence on women. Insia also started The Hands of Hope Foundation, which diligently focuses on sexual violence on women and children.

Aarefa Johari

Aarefa Johari is a journalist and an anti-FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) activist based in Mumbai. She began her career with a four-year stint as a reporter for the Hindustan Times. For the past three years, she has been working at Scroll.in, an online news publication. Johari is also a co-founder of Sahiyo along with Insia Dariwala, a non-profit organization working to end female genital mutilation among the Dawoodi Bohra and other South-Asian communities.

Saumya Chandra & Nagesh Ahir

While most children their age would panic in the face of an emergency, these two, aged 13 and nine respectively, remained calm. When their friend fell into a deep water-tank, they rushed to help him. Having learned disaster management, they caught onto his collar and saved his life.

Major D.P. Singh

Major D.P. Singh is India’s first Blade Runner, who was severely injured on the Kargil battlefield! The army surgeon declared him dead on arrival after being blown by a mortar bomb and sent his wrecked body to a makeshift mortuary. But he won over death and, today at 39, has run close to 20 marathons. He is also a motivational speaker, inspiring over 1700 amputees across India. He manages a support group called The Challenging Ones.

Aaman Trikha

For someone qualified in engineering, Aaman Trikha is the voice behind the popular BJP anthem “Acche Din Aane Wale Hain” in the run-up to the Lok Sabha Elections of 2014. He is a known playback singer.

Rajan Kumar

Rajan Kumar is an Indian actor, born and brought up in Munger in Bihar. He is the first Indian actor who has been portraying comedian Charlie Chaplin for as many as 12000 hours in 4000 shows in India and abroad. For this, he won many awards and accolades and entries into the Guinness and Limca Books.

Dr. Habib Z. Shaikh

Dr. Habib Z Shaikh has been serving the poor patients without charging them any fee since 20 yrs. The doors of his Kamili Clinic are always open to the sick and needy slum-dwellers of Hari Nagar in the western suburbs of Mumbai. He is a household name there, and his patients get the best treatment possible. He is an unsung hero who shies away from any media glare, leading by example and being true to his profession.

Salma Memon

Salma Memon’s journey motivated her to take up education of underprivileged children as a cause. Her passion and hard-work took roots two years ago when she launched her dream initiative, Project UMEED, which supports education of underprivileged and orphan children.

Annasaheb Jadhav

Annasaheb Jadhav is a young Deputy Superintendent of Police, who was posted a few years back in the Naxalite-prone area of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. During his tenure, he set up a library for the poor and underprivileged students, a counseling center for educational guidance and various other activities to help their economic growth. This year, they have come together again to help 250 students of Gadchiroli with school stationary. He has also been selected for the President’s Medal this Independence Day.

Subarna Ghosh

Delivering a baby through a C-section without any medical need is a norm these days. Still, nobody raises any questions. Today we have a voice questioning this practice, reflecting the collective agony of so many women tricked into undergoing unnecessary surgery. This is the voice of Subarna Ghosh, who has filed a petition through change.org (which received 1.5 lakh signatures till date) to urge hospitals to declare the number of C-sections conducted. Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has supported this petition, urging the health ministry to make necessary policy changes to curb C-sections in the country.

Dr. Satendra Singh

Dr. Satendra Singh is a doctor at the University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, Delhi. A physiologist by profession, he contracted poliomyelitis at the age of 9 months but went on to complete MBBS and MD (post-graduation) in Physiology. He is the first Indian to win the prestigious Henry Viscardi Achievement Awards, given to extraordinary leaders in the global disability community. He is a noted disability activist, especially for his sustained efforts in making public places accessible for disabled persons.

Meghna Mishra

Singing sensation Meghna Mishra has achieved huge success at 16 and is a star already.

Shams Alam

Mohammad Shams Alam Shaikh, a mechanical engineer by profession, was also a passionate Black Belt Karate player. But life had different plans for him. After getting diagnosed with spine tumor and undergoing multiple operations in 2010, Shaikh was left paraplegic. But he took to swimming and won the bronze in the 12th Para-Swimming Championship in Chennai. Shaikh won four gold medals at the championship that was held in Indore and was also awarded a trophy for best swimmer. He is the first Indian to have successfully finished 6 kilometers of open sea swimming organized by the Indian Navy.

Nagraj Gowda

Nagraj Gowda always dreamed of setting an example for others, and wondered how to do it. Since he had a passion for cycling, he hit upon the idea to go on a solo cycling expedition across India with a social message for people. There were many issues he strongly believed in, and he wanted to advocate to his countrymen. Gowda, a resident of Mumbai, started his all-India Cycle Yatra on Dec.3, 2017 to spread the messages of World Peace, Communal Harmony, National Integration, Save Water, et al. So far he had peddled over 6000 kilometers.

source: http://www.indiawest.com / India West / Home / by R.M. Vijaykar , Special to India West / August 18th, 2018

Mangaluru-based philanthropist Dr B Ahmed Hajee Mohiudeen dies

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mangaluru, KARNATAKA :

Dr. B. Ahmed Hajee Mohiudeen passed away on Sunday at a private hospital in Mangaluru after a brief period of illness

Dr B. Ahmed Hajee Mohiudeen, founder of the BA Group, Thumbay, was known for his philanthropic activities.

Dr B. Ahmed Hajee Mohiudeen, 86, entrepreneur, philanthropist, educationist and the founder chairman of BA Group, Thumbay, passed away on Sunday at a private hospital in Mangaluru after a brief period of illness.

According to former Karnataka minister U T Khader, the mortal remains of Dr. Ahmed Hajee will be kept at Thumbay PU College for the public to pay their tribute. Funeral will be held at Thumbay Masjid burial ground after 4pm on Sunday.

Ahmed Hajee, born in 1933 to B. Mohiudeen Hajee and Mariamma in a business family, graduated in commerce in 1954 and began his career soon after as a small scale industrialist in a village called Thumbay on the outskirts of Mangaluru.

He founded the BA Group, in 1957. From a fledgling company in the 1960s, the BA Group is now on the threshold of rapid expansion into areas such as urban housing, education, real estate, healthcare and exports and imports.

Ahmed Hajee, who was married to Bee Fathima Ahmed Hajee, is survived by three sons – Thumbay Moideen (founder president of Thumbay Group, headquartered at Ajman, UAE), B Abdul Salam (Managing Director & CEO – BA Group), B M Ashraf and his daughter Shabana Faizal (co-founder and Vice Chairperson of Kef Holdings).

Mohiudeen Educational Trust has been playing a vital role in the promotion of education by sponsoring a number of educational institutions such as BA Industrial Training and Technical Centre, a Kannada and English medium school, a pre-university college, a nursery school, and Darul Uloom Mohiudeen Arabic College.

Ahmed Hajee is also the founder president of a number of institutions and trusts in Mangalore and the surrounding areas. He is the president of the 80-year-old Badriya Educational Institutions at Mangaluru. He is also the president of Nav Bharat Night High School, which was established before India’s independence. He is one of the Trustees of Islamic Academy of Education, under Yenepoya Group.

source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> World> India / by Staff Report, Mangaluru / August 16th, 2020

Jamia Millia Islamia sets up Mushirul Hasan Endowment

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, SCHOLARSHIPS, , , , , , , ,

NEW DELHI :

Mushirul Hasan in 2009   | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

Jamia Millia Islamia on Friday announced the establishment of the “Mushirul Hasan Endowment”, through which annual post-doctoral fellowship and two post-graduate merit-cum-means scholarships would be given. An annual seminar on contemporary history, society and politics in India would also be organised.

“As a mark of respect for Professor Mushirul Hasan’s commitment to Jamia Millia Islamia and to the pursuit of academic excellence, Prof. Zoya Hasan — wife of late Prof. Mushirul Hasan, former Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, wishes to establish a Mushirul Hasan Endowment for which she proposes to donate ₹1.50 crore for the creation of this endowment,” said a university notification.

The principal sum donated would be invested by the university to earn an annual return, which would be spent on the scholarships and the seminar.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by Special Correspondent / New Delhi – August 14th, 2020

August 15: Kirti Chakra for HC Abdul Rashid Kalas, Shaurya Chakra for DIG Amit Kumar

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NEW DELHI :

On the eve of August 15, the Ministry of Home affairs, government of India has announced President’s Police Medals for distinguished service, for meritorious service and for gallantry. Ninety four Jammu and Kashmir police officers and Jawans have been honoured with these medals. The force has been honoured with the highest number of Gallantry medals this year.


Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence, Government of India has honoured Head constable Abdul Rashid Kalas with Kirti Chakra (Posthumously) and DIG Amit Kumar with Shaurya Chakra.

Director General of police, Dilbag Singh has congratulated Jammu and Kashmir police officers and personnel who have been awarded different medals by Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home affairs (Government of India). He has expressed his happiness and pleasure on this feat of officers and personnel of the Jammu and Kashmir police. “Untiring and relentless efforts of the officers and jawans of J&K police have been recognized, the DGP said adding that recognition will go a long way to boost the morale of men and officers of police force. The DGP has also congratulated the martyr and awardees families. He has said that these officers/personnel will continue to serve the nation with the same zeal and zest in future.

Among the 94 awardees, 12 have been awarded with President’s Police medal for meritorious services, one officer has been awarded with President’s Police medal for distinguished service and 81 officers and jawans have been awarded with Police medal for Gallantry.


Those who have been awarded with President’s Police medal for meritorious services are SSsP , Randeep Kumar, Tahir Saleem, Romesh Chander Kotwal, Manoj Kumar Pandit, Inspectors, Vikram Sharma, Manjeet Singh, Shashi Kumar, SIs Ghulam Ahmad, Gulzar Hussain Khan, ASI Suran Singh, HC Smt. Rukhsana Kosar, Sgct. Milap Chand.

Aijaz Rasool Ganie has been awarded with President’s Police medal for distinguished service.

Besides, 81 officers and jawans including DIG, Atul Kumar Goel and DIG V. K Birdi have been awarded with Police medal for Gallantry.

source: http://www.risingkashmir.com / Rising Kashmir / Home / by RK News / August 15th, 2020

35 Delhi Police officers conferred Police Medal for their services

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, , ,

NEW DELHI :

New Delhi: 

Thirty five Delhi Police officers have been conferred police medal for their services during Independence Day celebrations. Out of all, 16 officers were awarded police medal for gallantry, three received president’s police medal for distinguished service and 16 got police medal for meritorious service.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Manishi Chandra, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Govind Sharma, Inspector Vinay Kumar, Inspector Sanjay Gupta, Inspector Rajesh Kumar, Inspector Kailash Singh Bisht, and Dharmendra Kumar, Inspector Ravinder Joshi and Vinod Badola, ASI Shiv Yadav, SI Ajaibeer Singh, SI Devender Singh, Sub-Inspector (SI) Banay Singh and Late Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma (posthumously) have been awarded president’s police medal for gallantry.

Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Rajesh Khurana, ASI Mahesh Singh Yadav and ASI Bhupender Singh have been awarded president’s police medal for distinguished service, while the DCP Amit Roy, DCP Anil Kumar Lall, DCP Mohammad Irshad Haider, ACP Nirmala Devi, ACP kailash Chandra, ACP Rajesh Gaur, ACP Chandra Kanta, Inspector Narender Kumar, Rakesh Kumar and Pramod Kumar, ASI Manju Chauhan, SI Nirmala Devi, ASI Rakesh Kumar Sharma and ASI Sita Ram Yadav, HC Sudhir Kumar and Mukesh Kumar have been conferred police medal for meritorious service.

DCP Manishi Chandra along with Inspector Ravinder Joshi, Inspector Vinod Kumar Badola and SI Banay Singh have been awarded for their bravery while encounter with dreaded criminal Surinder Malik alias Neetu Dabodha on October 24, 2013.

Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who was killed during ‘Batla House’ encounter in 2008, has been awarded a police gallantry medal posthumously for the seventh time on the occasion of Independence Day. Inspector Sharma was conferred with Ashok Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, in 2009. He was also a part of an operation in Jammu where he and his team confronted JEM militants in 2007.

IPS Rajesh Khurana, recently posted as Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence), in Delhi, has been awarded president’s police medal for distinguished service. He joined Indian Police Service in 1994 and began his professional career as ACP in Central District, Delhi.

source: http://www.bharatdefencekavach.com / Bharat Defence Kavach / Home> Homeland Security / by IANS / August 15th, 2020

16 RPF officials get Police and President’s medals for distinguished service

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NEW DELHI :

The Railway Ministry statement said that President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service has been awarded to DB Kasar, Principal Chief Security Commissioner of South Eastern Railway.

A total of 16 officials of Railway Protection Force and Railway Protection Special Force have been awarded the Presidents Police Medal for Distinguished Service and Police Medal for Meritorious Service on the occasion of Independence Day, an official statement said Friday.

The Railway Ministry statement said that President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service has been awarded to DB Kasar, Principal Chief Security Commissioner of South Eastern Railway.

The President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service has been awarded to 15 railway officers, including Santosh N Chandran, DIG/R&T, Railway Board; Rajendra Rupnawar, Senior DSC/Northeast Frontier Railway; Sarika Mohan, Senior DSC/ Northern Railway; Shaik Karimullah, Assistant Security Commissioner/South Central Railway; Himanshu Shekhar Jha, Assistant Security Commissioner/Railway Board; and Gurjasbir Singh, Assistant Security Commissioner/ Northern Railway.

Nepal Singh Gurjar, Sub-Inspector/2BN RPSF; AB Rashid Lone, Inspector/6 BN RPSF; M Mohammed Rafi, Head Constable/South Western Railway; Shailesh Kumar, Inspector /Northern Railway; Sudhendu Biswas, Assistant Sub-Inspector/ Eastern Railway; Kawal Singh, Sub Inspector/ 2BN RPSF; K Ventateswarlu, Inspector/ South Central Railway; Ashraf Siddiqui, Inspector/ North Eastern Railway; and Surender Kumar, Assistant Sub Inspector/ Northern Railway have been awarded the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

–IANS

source: http://www.newsd.in / Newsd. / Home> India / by IANS / August 14th, 2020

A small music label that immortalised Kashmir’s music

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Srinagar, JAMMU & KASHMIR :

Photograph courtesy MTI Music. / www.thekashmirwalla.com

“Afsoos duniya, kaen’si ma loug samsaar seethi, Patau lakaan wuchte kum kum mazaar weati.”

“Alas, this world was never a companion to anyone; look at the people, the graveyards they have finally landed in.”

These lines from the poetry of Sufi poet, Rajab Hamid, are immortalised in Kashmir’s memory through the famous song Afsoos Dunya, sung in the powerful voice of the famous Ghulam Hassan Sofi. The rendition was recorded under the label, Music Tape Industry (MTI), back in the 1990s when audio cassettes were in vogue.

A small music label, the MTI has produced several songs that have made a mark in Kashmir. Allah Ti Hoo Hoo and Vaadh Sariyo by Gulzar Ahmad Ganie, Madan Waras Bah Pyaras by Abdul Rashid Hafiz, were among the songs that became an instant hit in the Valley.

As folk and sufi music became accessible–Kashmiris no longer needed to wait for these songs to be played on the radio–the demand for these records increased and MTI’s reach spread to several households across the Valley, that was simultaneously in the throes of a deadly conflict.

By the 2000s, the MTI diversified to produce music videos, updating their music styles and changing their formats to cater to the public’s taste and demands. Decades later, its journey has forayed into the online media but MTI doesn’t fail to ring in nostalgia of a bygone Kashmir.

Immortalising Kashmiri music

Zahoor Ahmad Shah started the MTI in 1988, when he was 33-years-old, after a song by sufi singer Abdul Gaffar Kanihami, recorded on a small tape recorder, became a huge success. The MTI, gauging the public response, focussed on the Sufi genre.

Their collection included traditional music forms like chakri, folklore sung by a singer with a hoarse voice and supported by a chorus, and wanvun that is traditionally sung by women at festive occasions like marriages. Over the years, the MTI added more genres and forms.

Among MTI’s songs that were popular with the older generation of Kashmiris were an album based on the poetry of Habba Khatoon, the original soundtrack for a movie of the same name, sung by Jameela Khan and songs like Lala Zula Zaliyo sung by Manzoor Shah–now part of weddings, sung by women performing folk dance for the bride or the groom. The song was also appropriated in a 2018 Bollywood movie set in Kashmir, Laila Majnu.

Over the years, MTI roped in most of Kashmir’s famous artists of the time—such as Ghulam Hassan Sofi, Rashid Hafiz, Manzoor Shah, Wahid Jeelani, Deepali Wattal, among others. “We used to work with the artists of Kashmir as well as with Jammu and Pahadi artists. “We even went to border and hilly areas to find the artists,” said Mr. Shah.

The motive was commercial but to also preserve the traditional music and language of Kashmir though its music. “When people used to listen to songs in different languages, I wanted them to listen to the songs in their own language as well,” said Mr. Shah.

Being the first music label in Kashmir, MTI filled a void and gave the artists of Kashmir a platform to record their own songs and reach a larger audience, making their songs available on-demand for the public and reducing the artist’s dependence on radio.

The devotional music MTI recorded also made Mr. Shah feel closer to divinity. “I miss the vibe of being closer to God while recording the sufi music. The vibe was magical. Also, when we started shooting the videos, we used to live in mountains and woods for days,” said Mr. Zahoor Shah.

Their audience comprised all age groups. “I would buy cassettes and listen to it on a device which would play cassettes,” said Aabid Rah, who was ten-years-old when he started listening to the plethora of MTI songs. “I still love listening to Gulzar Ganie, Rashid Hafiz, Hassan Sofi etcetera on their YouTube channel.”

Gradual downfall

With the emergence of newer technologies, MTI switched to CDs in the late 2000s. However, the emergence of flash drives also meant the label’s gradual downfall. “When we started the label, the market was audio then we had to upgrade according to trend and market demand,” said Shah Umer, son of Mr. Shah, who handles the business now.

Piracy became a global concern and the MTI was no exception. Now, it has become easier for music lovers to access music without paying for it, resulting in losses for MTI. “Our business was doing well but with new formats, it faced a sudden fall and then we decided to change our business,” said Mr. Umer Shah.

The father-son duo still remember the older times and miss the vibe of their studio. “I remember singers coming to our studios for one to two weeks and doing rehearsals for recording the audio. I have really good memories of that studio,” he said, adding that he has seen his father recording music in the studio all his childhood.

Mr. Umer Shah was always fond of music and loved being in the MTI’s studio, then located in Srinagar’s Bemina area, as a child. He started working in the studio when he was sixteen-years-old. “I used to spend all the time in the studio and go there from my school. I wanted to handle MTI so I left studies after passing class 12,” he said.

Slowly, guitar and rabab came together and created a different sound and feel but MTI, said Mr. Zahoor Shah, made music according to the taste of Kashmiris. “We never added spices to it but kept it as real as we could,” he said. “Our business was successful as people loved our content.”

However, for some long time listeners, the MTI had also begun losing its essence. According to Mr. Rah, earlier content was meaningful and “the lyrics went down the drain and MTI started producing anything and everything around 2007-2010. There were no more cassettes and the mixing and mastering was eventually replaced by auto-tune”.

Keeping the name alive

The MTI has reduced its footprint in the market and its outlet is now used to sell electronics. It also lost most of its original recordings in the devastating floods of 2014, the few that were not washed away with the water remain stacked in a corner of the electronics store. “I started a YouTube channel last year to keep the name of MTI alive,” said Mr. Umer Shah.

Besides, the MTI has also tied up with prominent music label T-Series and MTI’s collection till 2010 is available on another YouTube channel, T-series Kashmiri Music, said Mr. Umer Shah.

Their YouTube channel, called MTI Studios, has more than fifteen thousand subscribers, and continues to give Kashmiri artists a label and a platform, featuring new artists like Waseem Shafi, Kaiser Hussain, Zuhaib Bhat, Sanam Basit, and the famous Reshma among others.

On 27 May 2020, amid the lockdown prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, the MTI released, a duet by popular wedding singers Ms. Reshma and Mr. Basit, who shot to popularity after his Kashmiri rendition of Champion, “dedicated to the people depressed due to Covid-19”.

The song is a mashup of Ms. Reshma’s popular wedding song, Hay Hay Wesiyee, and other popular Kashmiri songs. The video’s aesthetic cinematography focuses on Ms. Reshma grooving to the music.

It has been more than three decades and MTI is still trying to keep their name and Kashmiri music alive. “We used to get good responses back then and the responses are still the same but I miss the old times,” said Mr. Shah Umer.

source: http://www.thekashmirwalla.com / The Kashmir Walla / Home> Culture> Music / by Gafira Qadir / July 07th, 2020

Memoirs of Madras Madrasa

Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

Behind the crumbling facade of the Government Madrasa-e-Azam Higher Secondary School, there is a rich history of academics, and tales of friendship.

The majestic doublewinding staircases that lead to the splendid balcony and upper deck; the steps to the headmaster’s office on the first floor and the huge plaque outside the room, with the history of the structure chiselled on it; the jamun trees in the backyard and the numerous other trees dotting the campus, under which I spent several afternoons — I have fond memories of my school.

Looking at the grandeur of the structure and the greenery, I often used to ponder ‘The seeds for these trees were planted over a century ago…’ It used to feel surreal, it still does. But unfortunately, these very trees are taking over the structure now,” says Sharfu Khan, an alumnus of the Government Madrasa-e-Azam Higher Secondary School, who was also the SSLC topper of the institution in 1992.

The 200-odd-year-old magnificent campus — with a Madras terrace, tiled verandahs, and semicircular arches — spread over 15 acres in the heart of Chennai, used to have over 4,000 students on its rolls. But today, barely 200 schoolboys study at the campus, which was initially owned by Colah Singanna Chetty, a dubash. Since 1816, the building has been acquired by many prominent individuals including Edward Samuel Moorat, an Armenian millionaire; Ghulam Ghouse Khan, the last of the titular Nawabs, after whose death in 1855, the property was passed on to Azim Un Nissa Begum, the nikah wife of the Nawab. According to historian Sriram V, the property, though owned by her, was rented by the principal wife of the Nawab, Khair Un Nissa and became the social epicentre of the Muslim aristocracy in Madras.

“This was where luminaries such as Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, founder of the Aligarh Muslim University, and His Exalted Highness Mir Mahbub Ali Khan Bahadur, the Nizam of Hyderabad, stayed when they visited Madras,” he writes, in When Mercy Seasons Justice, a book on jurist Habibullah Badsha, a prominent alumnus of the school. Today, the historic estate, with corporate offices, heritage buildings like the Taj Connemara and Spencer Plaza, and the buzzing traffic necklacing its perimeter, bears a deserted look, is crumbling under the thick foliage and yet, is resiliently waiting to be restored to its former glory. “Our school used to be the exam centre for schools in and around Triplicane and Mount Road.

Several hockey and sports tournaments used to take place here. It’s been over two decades since I graduated from there, but the memories are still fresh. I very recently became acquainted with an old friend, a batchmate from the Madrasa and we are hoping to pay a visit to the school or at least what’s left of it once the COVID-19 situation eases,” shares Sharfu.

A modern transformation

When the British took control of all the properties of the Nawab, Edward Balfour, an agent of the East India Company in the court of the Nawab of Carnatic, persuaded the Nawab to transform the family’s Madrasa into a modern school. He suggested it could be called the Madrasa-e-Azam, after his father Nawab Azam Jah, who had first favoured a proposal by Balfour. “As early as 1846, the first proposal was sent to the government regarding the starting of a school for the orphaned children of Carnatic territories. The proposal materialised, and the school was soon started.

At that time, there were only three teachers,” says Ashmitha Athreya of Madras Inherited, about the institution, which until 1849 was functioning at Chepauk, before moving to its current premises. Historians Kombai Anwar and Venkatesh Ramakrishnan, while sharing glimpses of the structure’s early glory, also note that much before Muslim institutions in north India took up modern education, this school introduced the study of English, Tamil and Telugu besides Arabic, Persian and Urdu. Abdul Jabbar Suhail, son of Habibullah Badsha recalling the anecdotes shared by his father about his days at the Madrasa, tells us that his father “had an enriching experience at the school.

My father studied at the Madrasa-e-Azam during the 1940s, at the time of World War II. For someone who until then had studied in an Anglo-Indian establishment, the change was stark. But, on the persuasion of his maternal grandfather, he enrolled at the Madrasa. Despite there being issues like inadequate staff members, I remember my father telling me that he had a good time there.

He did very well in school. And as far as sports was concerned, the school was a powerhouse and produced stalwarts including Muneer Sait, Abdul Jabbar, Badiuddin and Mohamed Ghouse. Muneer even went on to represent India in the Olympics in hockey. Father was in touch with most of his friends from school till his final days…he loved the place,” he shares.

Mohammud Karim, Zeeshan Bismil, Basha Shareef and several other alumni, who are now spread across the globe, tell CE that they miss the campus for all that it has given them. “A common thread of sadness has now tied us together. After the 1970s, I never visited the school. I didn’t know of its condition. Recently, I came across a few pictures and I was crushed to look at its current plight. I hope the government takes steps to preserve the building,” shares 67-year-old Karim, who currently lives in the US.

An appeal

In 2017, if the government had had its way, the collapsing building, would have perhaps hosted grand weddings at its age-old premises instead of conducting classes. But thanks to the voice of the city’s heritage enthusiasts and alumni, a division bench of the Madras High Court announced that the building shall not be demolished until further orders. But with growing apathy and neglect, its future remains uncertain. In an appeal to the government, Prince of Arcot, Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali tells CE, “The Madrasa- e-Azam was founded by my ancestors for the primary purpose of providing education to children from Muslim communities and other minority communities.

After it was handed over to the British, from being an exclusive Urdu medium school, it also included English in its curriculum. Over the decades, the quality of education and the standard has been very minimal. Several parts of the structure have collapsed and as a result, the student strength has also alarmingly dwindled. As the Prince of Arcot, the direct descendent of the founders of the Madrasa, I appeal to the government to hand over the management and administration to us.

I do not ask for the ownership but only the administration wherein, under the Prince of Arcot endowments, we can take care of the structure, and provide quality education. We will not only keep the legacy of our ancestors alive but will also be enabling the conservation of the original vision and mission of the Madrasa — to provide education,” he says.

SLICE OF HISTORY

  1. Balfour, the government agent at Chepauk, and Garstin, his predecessor, framed the rules for the administration of the school. With the establishment of the school, the Nawab also had in mind a secular education that would help the Muslims to secure employment in government service.
  2. The main aim of establishing the school was that it would be a means of encouragement to the students to educate themselves and be fully qualified and competent for getting their livelihood by being employed in public offices, after obtaining certificates of proficiency at a final public exam.
  3. The Diwan Khana of Firuz Hussain Khan Bahadur, principal-agent of the Begum Khair Un Nissa, became the residence of the school principal.
  4. A mosque was built on the campus in 1909. In the same compound, the Government Mohammedan College was set up in 1919.

Source: Madras Inherited and ‘When Mercy Seasons Justice’

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Roshne Balasubramanian / Express News Service / August 05th, 2020

‘We live as brothers, sisters’ — Muslims form human chain to save temple amid Bengaluru riots

Community Involvement / Social Issues,

Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Muslims formed the human chain to show they are ‘here for all’, but, at the same time, say they cannot tolerate insult to Prophet Mohammed and are seeking justice for it.

Muslims form human chain to save a temple from rioters in Bengaluru | Videograb | Twitter

Bengaluru:

A viral video showing Muslim youth forming a human chain to guard a temple during the violence that erupted in Bengaluru Tuesday night has emerged on social media.

The video shows young men holding hands and ensuring that rioters didn’t attack the temple located in Pulakeshinagar.

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@ANI@ANI#WATCH Karnataka:

A group of Muslim youth gathered and formed a human chain around a temple in DJ Halli police station limits of Bengaluru city late last night, to protect it from arsonists after violence erupted in the area. (Video source: DJ Halli local)

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In the video, one can hear people appealing to the protesters and saying — “For God’s sake… Please stay away from here.”

Two areas, D.J. Halli and K.G. Halli, in the Pulakeshinagar limits of Bengaluru saw widespread violence as an angry mob went on a rampage to protest against a Facebook post, allegedly put up by P. Naveen, nephew of Pulakeshinagar MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy of the Congress.

Three people were killed and as many grievously injured after the Bengaluru Police opened fire to control the riots.

“We have formed this chain to show how we are here for all, but again we do not accept those who are trying to force RSS ideologies on people,” said one of the men who formed the human chain.

“We all live as brothers and sisters. We do not have anything against any religion. We are not fighting against any individual or any caste or community. We are only seeking justice as the nephew of MLA Srinivas Murthy has insulted our Nabi (Prophet Mohammed). We can not tolerate that.

“This has happened several times earlier. We respect this temple, we respect Hindus. But we are fighting against those who have extremist views against us,” he added.

A local vendor, Yasir, whose family has been running a grocery store for three generations in the D.J. Halli area, said: “It (the post) hurt our sentiments, but we condemn those who resorted to burning vehicles and attacking others.”

Meanwhile, police said Naveen has been arrested. This apart, 160 people have been arrested for indulging in arson.

Rizwan Arshad, MLA of Shivajinagar, which is adjacent to Pulakeshinagar, told ThePrint he was proud to see such acts of kindness.

“We are so proud of our brothers, who think of such acts of kindness even during such testing times. They told me that they stand for peace and unity, and they will try and ensure such incidents do not recur,” he added.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted that the rioters should not be equated with an entire community.

“Those who incited and perpetrated the #bangaloreriots must be found, arrested & given exemplary punishment. But they are not to be equated with an entire community any more than thugs & vigilantes represent all Hindus. This also happened in Bangalore.”

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Shashi Tharoor@ShashiTharoor

Those who incited and perpetrated the #bangaloreriots must be found, arrested & given exemplary punishment. But they are not to be equated with an entire community any more than thugs & vigilantes represent all Hindus. This also happened in Bangalore:

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𝗠𝘂𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗱 𝗡𝘂𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗿 

💞

 ( نُعَمِّرْ )@iam_nuammirThat’s the beauty of India Muslims created human chain to guard a Temple in #Bengaluru during violence. Stay calm make peace #BengaluruViolence https://twitter.com/ZakiyakINC/status/1293284847687880704video/1

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source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> India / by Rohini Swamy / August 12th, 2020

Long-lost 19th-century travelogue sheds new light on Indian ruler’s historic Hajj

Amazing Feats, Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , , ,

Bhopal, MADHYA PRADESH :

Sikandar Begum with her prime minister, left, and second minister. The photo was published in “A Pilgrimage to Mecca” (1870). (The Asiatic Society of Bombay via AN)
  • One of the most interesting aspects of Sikandar Begum’s account is her open criticism of Ottoman governance in Makkah
  • Imprecise library records obscured access to the original Urdu manuscript for decades

Warsaw :

History recently came to life in a manuscript with royal stamps discovered in the archives of SOAS University of London. The historic find? A tantalizing insight into the journey of the first ruler from the Indian subcontinent to set out for Hajj.

In November 1863, the ruler of the princely state of Bhopal, Sikandar Begum, began the sacred pilgrimage many other sovereigns of her time could not make for fear of losing power — in the 19th century, sea travel from India to Makkah meant long months of absence from the throne. Unlike them, Sikandar was safe. Her Hajj included a mission to compile a travelogue for those who guaranteed her reign.

Bhopal had gained independence from the declining Mughal Empire under Dost Mohammad Khan, a Pashtun warrior who, in the early 18th century, founded the Muslim state in today’s Madhya Pradesh. Under British rule, for more than a century the country was led by four women. Sikandar, who ruled from 1844 to 1868, was the most reform-oriented of them. She reorganized the army, appointed a consultative assembly and invested in free education for girls. She was also the first Indian ruler to replace Persian with vernacular Urdu as the official language.

In late January, SOAS librarians came across a title recorded in their archives’ catalogue as “‘Journal of a trip to Mecca’ by Skandar Baigam, Ra’isah’ of Bhopal. Bound manuscript in Urdu. Written at the suggestion of Major-General Sir Henry Marion Durand, 1883.”

“I was really intrigued that such a beautifully bound-in-silk manuscript with obvious royal stamps in its colophon could be linked to such an opaque and short library record,” SOAS Special Collections curator Dominique Akhoun-Schwarb told Arab News.

“It quickly became obvious that there was a bit more story and depth behind the note ‘written at the suggestion of Major-General Sir Henry Durand,’ when the author was a queen herself, a pioneer, since she was the first Indian ruler to have performed the Hajj and authored an account of her pilgrimage.”

The imprecise note had for decades obscured access to the text for researchers. A deformed transliteration of Sikandar’s name had compounded the issue.

Until the chance discovery a few months ago, all scholarship on the Bhopal ruler’s pilgrimage had to rely on two translations of the text as the original Urdu version had been missing for some 150 years. One was the abridgment of Sikandar’s account in Persian, compiled by her daughter, Shah Jahan Begum. The other one, “A Pilgrimage to Mecca, was an English translation by Emma Laura Willoughby-Osborne, wife of a British political agent in Bhopal, which was published in 1870, two years after Sikandar’s death. The two texts are quite different.

In the English version, Sikandar quotes a letter she received from Durand, the British colonial administrator mentioned in the SOAS record, and his wife: “He was anxious to hear what my impressions of Arabia generally, and of Mecca, in particular, might be. I replied that when I returned to Bhopal from the pilgrimage, I would comply with their request, and the present narrative is the result of that promise.”

The letter is nowhere to be found in the Persian text.

A preliminary reading by Arab News of the Urdu manuscript, which has been digitized by SOAS, reveals that Durand’s letter is mentioned in the very first pages of the text. The correspondence and accuracy of other parts, however, are not immediately obvious.

In the preface to “A Pilgrimage to Mecca,” Osborne said that the Urdu manuscript consisted of “rough notes” demanding some arrangement. According to Dr. Piotr Bachtin, from the Department of Iranian Studies of the University of Warsaw, who studied female pilgrimage of the era and translated the Persian version of Sikandar’s account, the English translator’s note immediately raises questions regarding Osborne’s interference in the text.

Osborne’s assurance that the only license she had allowed herself had been the “occasional transposition of a paragraph” seems to be an understatement. It appears that the text was heavily edited. Bachtin suggested that Sikandar might have been a “reporter” entrusted with a specific task and became an “incidental informer” in the service of the British Empire.

The most interesting aspect of the travelogue, which the manuscript may verify, was Sikandar’s political involvement with and open criticism of Ottoman governance in Makkah. One of the most prominent instances of Sikandar’s criticism is the following:

“The Sultan of Turkey gives thirty lakhs of rupees a year for the expenses incurred in keeping up the holy places at Mecca and Medina. But there is neither cleanliness in the city, nor are there any good arrangements made within the precincts of the shrines,” Sikandar wrote, adding that had the money been given to her, she would have made arrangements for a state of order and cleanliness. “I, in a few days, would effect a complete reformation!”

Sikandar’s political commentary is completely missing from the Persian version of her text. “Only in the English translation did she openly criticize both the Pasha and the Sharif of Makkah, going as far as to say that she would have managed Makkah better herself!” Bachtin said, “However, we must remember that her book was commissioned by Sir Henry Marion Durand. For me, this paradoxical dynamic is particularly interesting.”

With the original manuscript now available to researchers, further study should soon reveal how much of the Hajj account was informed by the colonial circumstances Sikandar faced at home, and to what extent it was guided by her own ambitions to be a modern and reformist Muslim ruler.

source: http://www.arabnews.com /Arab News / Home> Latest News> Middle East / by Natalia Laskowska / August 02nd, 2020