Edavarakad Village (Vypin Island) Ernakulam District, KERALA :
Photo Courtesy: Muhammed Shahabas
Muslims of Edavanakad in Vypin island of Kerala have set a vibrant example of empowerment by building community institutions that provide education, and interest-free loans to local farmers.
Kerala :
Edavanakad is a village in Vypin Island of Ernakulam district in Kerala. Surrounded by the Arabian sea and Vembanadu lake, the main livelihoods of the people here is fishing and agriculture. Muslims, Ezhavas, Arayas, and Latin Christians constitute the major communities of the place. Traditionally engaged in fish trade and agriculture, Muslims have set examples of community empowerment through various institutions.
Empowerment through education Hidayathul Islam primary school was run by one Vadakkeveettil Muhammed Haji, where children are taught modern education and Islamic principles.
Currently, a school and a madrasa are being run from the village. “After their primary education, teenagers had to go to the outskirts of the town to obtain higher education. It was far for them. This became a big concern for the elders in the town, and they decided to do something about it,” said Mahin PM, a local activist.
Irshadul Muslimeen Sabha [IMS] was established in 1850 to administer the madrasa. Later in 1922, Hidayathul Islam Primary School also came under IMS. Thus, the school and madrasa system came under one body and devised a comprehensive syllabus to provide religious and secular education. In 1979 the school got the status of a high school, and by 2000, it became Hidayathul Islam Higher Secondary School [HIHSS].
Mahin, the editor of the school’s jubilee souvenir, believes HIHSS sets the best example in the state for an effective model of success in public education. “Students from different backward communities study here. The school has continuously maintained a 100% success rate in the examinations.” Mahin said.
He said that IMS was active during relief activities after the 2004 tsunami that hit the coastal community. “Muslim traders came forward to open the gates of institutions and competed to help the affected as much as possible. Those were days that reflected the place’s fraternity,” he recalled.
Effective redistribution of wealth Zakat, a form of almsgiving in Islam, is considered obligatory for Muslims. Muslims in Edavanakad used to give the zakat in a dispersed manner. Many didn’t participate in it because of a lack of awareness of its importance. “It was Ali Kunju Mash who changed this situation by establishing an institution to distribute the zakat,” said Mahin.
Kunju, who came to Hidayathul Islam school as its headmaster, wanted to structurize the zakat distribution system. With the help of two other people KM Abdulla and PA Muhammed, he founded Al-lajnathul Islamiyathu Li-baithulmaal [AIL] in 1983.
AIL is the state’s first centralized community wealth redistribution system. “After Ramadan, we open applications to provide support for self-employment using the remaining zakat share. We also offer monthly scholarships to students and a weekly ration for widows,” said a committee member.
Towards a moral economy The people of Edavakannad, primarily farmers and fishers, depended on loans with heavy interest rates from moneylenders. The fluctuations in produce resulted in them falling into a debt trap. Understanding the pressing need to provide an alternative, five youths Abdussamad MK, Mahin PM, Aboobacker, Illyas, Rasheed, and Umar Khayyoom decided to form an interest-free credit society. In 1999, they invited people from the community to a general body meeting and presented their Islamic microfinance scheme.
Abdussamad, one of the founders, narrated how they convinced people to pool one rupee daily. “In this way, Islamic Welfare Fund got formed, and we approved its first loan of 3000 rupees to buy a boat and fishing net,” he said.
“We don’t work like ordinary credit societies. We form our working capital by pooling small amounts from every member. There will be a collective responsibility, and it becomes everyone’s duty to ensure the repayment of loans,” Abdussamad said.
The financing schemes provided by IWF do not promote consumerism in any way. They approve loans to the needy only after conducting a detailed investigation into the case, and one of the members will have to stand as a guarantee.
IWF’s activities have grown into many areas now. “Our headquarters facilitates an entrance coaching centre for applicants from minority communities to public services (PSC), and the nodal centre of the PM Foundation provides necessary information regarding educational scholarships,” one of the board members said.
Basil Islam is an independent journalist and researcher based in South India. He tweets at @baasiie
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Basil Islam, TwoCircles.net / July 14th, 2022
A Qatar-based 11-year-old student Laiba Abdul Basit has won the Guinness World Records as the youngest female person to publish a book series.
Laiba, hailing from the southern Indian state of Kerala, has accomplished this feat after her second book was published on August 29, 2021, while she was 10 years and 164 days old.
Laiba Abdul Basit surpassed the record of Ritaj Hussain Alhazmi of Saudi Arabia, who penned three novels before the age of 12 years 295 days.
Laiba published a three-book series called “Order of the Galaxy”, a fantasy story related to children’s fiction. The first book in this series titled “The War for The Stolen Boy” was published by Amazon and later by Lulu Online. The second book “The Snowflake of Life” was published by the Rome-based Tawasul International, while India-based Lipi Publications brought out the last book in the series, “The Book of Legends”. The second edition of her first and second books was also published by Lipi Publications.
A sixth grade student at the Olive International School, Doha, Laiba has been showing interest in reading and writing since the very young age. She started to write small stories and phrases on pieces of papers and used glue on walls of her house.
An ardent reader of fiction, science, religion, and biographies of prominent personalities, Laiba’s favourite authors include Enid Blyton, J K Rowling, Ann Frank, and Roald Dahl. Laiba inherited her passion for reading from her grandfathers, KM Abdur Raheem and Mohammed Parakkadavu, who were cultural and social activists in GCC. Support from her father Abdul Basit and mother Thasneem Mohammed has encouraged Laiba’s literary skills.
source: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com / The Peninsula Qatar /Home> General / July16th, 2022
Shabnam Riyaz, a Malayali qawwali singer, enthralled audience at the World of Women event underway at Kovalam Art and Craft Village.
Kochi:
Qawwali music imbibes the essence of Sufism. The ecsatcy that audience enjoy when the qawwals sing at a gathering is unexplainable. Although the genre has been traditionally male-dominated, Malayali playback singer turned qawwal Shabnam Riyaz is quite popular among the country’s Sufi singers. Recently, she performed at a qawwali concert in the ongoing World of Women (WoW) 2022 event at the Kovalam Art and Craft Village.
Her all-woman qawwali group Layali Sufiya showcased an energy-packed performance.
Shabnam says fusion helps audience relate more with the qawwali genre. Thrilled to be back on stage after the pandemic-induced lull, Shabnam, who is an ardent fan of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, says pure rendition of qawwali music is quite rare in Kerala, though it is common in northern India.
“Though I perform qawwali fusion for my audience, I focus more on traditional pieces. Most people hear Sufi music and think ghazals. Qawwali is an ecstatic form of music infused with divinity,” she says. Qawwalis often showcase vibrant, physically exhilerating performances, that many audience find bizzare. “I have seen many trolling popular Sufi singers, the Nooran sisters. But when you devote yourself to qawaali, it is hard to control your moves,” adds Shabnam who also offers Sufi music classes. She belives Sufi music was passed down to her from her great-grandfather, Vavaasan, a bhagavatar in Kollam who excelled in qawwalis.
The Ochira native has been living in Thiruvananthapuram for over a decade now and was the trainer for Khateeja, A R Rahman’s daughter.
According to Shabnam, there are very few qawwals still, because it is a strenuous style of singing. “After a performance, we may need at least three days of voice rest. Many girls who approached me lacked the stamina for it,” adds Shabnam whose dream is to create qawwali music using Carnatic compositions. She is the voice behind popular tracks like Vennila Chandanakinnam and Shukira.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Arya U R, Express News Service / March 12th, 2022
Otta Chora (Same Blood) by Shuhaib Alanallur, a student of Madin Academy in Malappuram, is being quoted by speakers in their programmes all across Malabar.
Kozhikode :
A poem that celebrates the warmth of the relationship between Hindu and Muslim families, penned by an upcoming writer, has become an instant hit after it was published in a magazine recently. Otta Chora (Same Blood) by Shuhaib Alanallur, a student of Madin Academy in Malappuram, is being quoted by speakers in their programmes all across Malabar.
In the poem, a Hindu woman, Narayani, finds solace in Nabeesu’s Islamic prayers while enduring the labour pain, and the ‘Mollakka’ (Muslim cleric) recites a verse from Quran to help her husband Velu quit drinking. Finally, Velu refuses to take his usual quota of toddy because the ‘Mollakka’ had donated his blood when he got injured after falling in a gutter. “I will not pollute Mollakka’s blood that runs in my blood by mixing it with toddy,” declares Velu at the end of the poem.
“Such relationships were quite common in our country-sides few decades ago. We are celebrating the bonding because it is fast fading away from our midst,” said the poet.
“The poem was written during the ‘Sahithyolsavam’ conducted by the Sunni Students Federation last year,” he said. It was the patronage given by Syed Ibrahimul Khaeel Al Bukhari Thangal, chairman of the Madin Academy, that shaped the writer in Shuhaib.
“Muslim Youth League leader Shibu Meeran quoted my poem in an impassioned speech that made it a discussion point on the social media,” Shihaib said. It was the fond memories that he spent with his Hindu friends in Alanallur near Mannarkkad that inspired Shuhaib to write the poem.
“There are people who argue that such relationships are normal in our midst and they need not be highlighted. But I believe that such voices should be amplified at a time when dark forces are lurking in our society,” said Basheer Faizy Deshamangalam, Islamic scholar and the leader of Samastha Kerala Sunni Students Federation.
“Narayani didn’t refuse to take the Islamic blessing saying that it is from another faith nor did Velu say no to verses from Quran. Such innocent virtues should be underlined when there are deliberate attempts to divide us,” he said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by MP Prashantah, Express News Service / June 07th, 2022
Sahal Abdul Samad (Photo: Twitter/Indian Football Team)
New Delhi :
Legendary Indian striker IM Vijayan lauded the efforts of Sahal Abdul Samad who scored the winning goal against Afghanistan helping India secure a spot in the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
Sahal came off the bench to score during injury time in India’s 2-1 win over the Afghans in a third-round qualifier for the Asian Cup in Kolkata.
Vijayan feels Sahal’s crucial goal will provide immense aspiration for youngsters following the rise of Indian football.
“Sahal is a source of pride for the younger generation of Indians and Malayalees. Sahal scored within seconds of entering the field at the most crucial moment. This is an example of a very good reflex action which is the most necessary thing in football. He is sure to rise in a way that will make Indian football proud,” Vijayan, who hails from Kerala, said.
Sahal’s goal on Saturday was cheered on by more than 44,000 fans at the iconic Salt Lake Stadium, where India are playing this tournament on home soil for the first time in more than two years. A higher number of spectators is expected in India’s final match against Hong Kong on Tuesday.
India opened their Group D campaign with a 2-0 win over Cambodia where Sunil Chhetri scored a brace. Chhetri also scored the first goal against Afghanistan. Vijayan believes the national team skipper still has a lot to contribute despite being 37 years old.
“Sunil is a marvel. He is a personality and a player, that all players should emulate. His goal in the match against Afghanistan was of excellent quality. All youngsters need to see and learn how easily he handles open chances. I laugh when the media asks about his retirement. With such a level of fitness playing with such sincerity, he still has a lot to gain. As the Indian team coach said, he still has a lot of goals left to score. One of them could be from the World Cup,” said Vijayan.
Chhetri has 83 India goals to his name, only three behind Lionel Messi, placed third in the list of active international goal scorers. Vijayan, who played for India between 1992 and 2003 scored 29 goals.
India face Hong Kong in the final match on Tuesday. Both teams are tied on 6 points. India need a victory to finish as group toppers. If that does not happen, the Blue Tigers will qualify for a second straight Asian Cup by virtue of being one of the top five second-placed teams in the six qualification groups across the continent.
Vijayan was also impressed by defender Sandesh Jhingan’s contribution in marshalling the backline. “The team has done very well in the last two matches. Especially in defense. The performance of Sandesh is commendable. He is performing well after regaining his fitness level. His presence is an asset to the Indian team,” Vijayan concluded. (ANI)
This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> Sport / by ANI / June 14th, 2022
Allahabad, UTTAR PRADESH / Kaloor , Kochi, KERALA :
Ashad Hasim, a student of Darul Uloom VHSS at Kaloor, talks to TNIE about how he started improving his scores in Malayalam despite speaking only Hindi.
Kerala SSLC topper Ashad Hasim with sister sister Falak Bano, who scored A+ in five subjects.
Kochi :
Hard work and perseverance paid for a 16-year-old boy who triumphed over the language barrier to score A+ in all subjects in SSLC examinations. Ashad Hasim, a student of Darul Uloom VHSS at Kaloor, hails from a family that migrated to Kerala from Uttar Pradesh seeking better education prospects for the children. And their gamble paid off.
“My parents, Mohammed Hasim and Mahjabeen Bano, came to Kerala from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh after I was born. They wanted to come to a place that would provide us with ample opportunity to study and achieve our dreams,” said Ashad who wants to be a doctor.
“My achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the help provided by my teachers. Right from the start of my educational journey, my teachers have been my anchor. They went all out to help me tide over the language barrier that made it very difficult for me to learn Malayalam,” said Ashad who speaks only Hindi at home. “In the junior classes, I used to score very badly in Malayalam though my marks in all other subjects were 38-39 out of 40,” he said.
“I wanted to overcome this obstacle and decided to concentrate on scoring better in Malayalam. Gradually, my scores improved and for my model examinations in Class X, I was able to score 38 and 37 out of 40,” he added.
Ashad, whose father Mohammed earns a living as a butcher, said, “When it comes to studies, my parents never held me back. They have been encouraging both me and my sister to achieve our goals.” Ashad’s sister Falak Bano too cleared SSLC exams but couldn’t bag the perfect score of full A+. “She scored A+ in five subjects,” said Ashad who will opt for the science stream in Plus-One.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Anu Kuruvilla, Express News Service / June 16th, 2022
Perunthalmanna Thazekadu Village / Kalikavu (Malappuram District) KERALA :
An ordinary Muslim woman from a remote village in North Kerala’s Malappuram district is today one of the general secretaries of the Congress party in Kerala.
Any woman involved in public service in Kerala, or for that matter anywhere in the country, faces several difficulties and challenges. It is all the more daunting if you are an ordinary woman and a Muslim to boot. Especially in today’s ‘New India’. Let us face the facts: unlike men, the circumstances are not conducive for a woman to enter politics in Kerala.
It is after a lot of uncertainty and dithering that the Congress party in Kerala managed to recently release a list of new office-bearers of the Pradesh Congress Committee. Though the leadership has claimed that the list is a reflection of a unified Congress – remember the local Congress has been ravaged by group rivalry for decades that had once again cost the party dearly in the recent Assembly elections in the state – it has naturally come under criticism for minimal representation for women in different committees. The AICC has co-opted five women, including three general secretaries and two executive committee members, into the KPCC leadership hierarchy. The women general secretaries are K.A. Thulsi, Alippatta Jameela and Deepthi Mary Varghese. The executive committee members are Padmaja Venugopal and P.R. Sona.
It is in this backdrop that Alipatta Jameela, the only Muslim woman general secretary of the KPCC, spoke to DoolNews Malayalam about her political journey. Asked how as a Muslim woman from Perunthalmanna Thazekadu, a village situated in the hilly terrain in Malappuram, one of the most backward districts in north Kerala till not very long ago, she rose to become a KPCC general secretary, Jameela said she had represented the KSU (Kerala Students Union, student organisation of the Congress in Kerala) in the College Union when she was studying in Mannarkkad MES (Muslim Education Society) College. She said she moved to Kalikavu, where she is settled now, after her marriage. She became active in politics after being elected president of the local Kalikavu Mandalam Congress in 2000. In 2005 she became a member of the Kalikavu panchayat after winning from Eenadi ward. In 2010 she contested from another ward and became president of the Kalikavu panchayat.
In 2015 she contested the Zilla panchayat election from Vandiyur division. In 2018 she became the district secretary of the Mahila Congress. In the 2020 panchayat elections, she successfully contested from Thenjippalam division. Currently she is a member of the Thenjippalam division and chairperson of the Public Works Department (PWD) standing committee there.
Jameela said it is significant that the party chose to select her to the PCC while she is already holding the post of general secretary of the Kerala Mahila Congress. “I consider it an honour and a sign of the party’s continuing faith in me. It is a great achievement to become one of the general secretaries of the State Congress, especially for someone hailing from the hilly terrain and living in this small town of Eranadu Kalikavu. I consider it recognition of the work I have done so far and I hope to fulfil the responsibilities bestowed on me to the full extent of my abilities,” she said.
Asked if she had a long struggle to reach the level she has, Jameela admitted that it was very difficult as a woman, especially as an ordinary woman from Malappuram, to embark on a life of public service, which is full of hazards and challenges entirely different from what men face in such circumstances. “When I contested for the panchayat in 2005, my younger child was not even a year old. The elder one was just three. To go out and campaign leaving my two children at home was very tough. This is not in my case alone. A lot of women face the same problems. Many of them are forced to give up as they fail to get enough support at home,” she said.
Jameela asserted that she could reach this level purely because of the support and encouragement she got at home. Despite that as a woman she faces many difficulties which she somehow overcomes to go forward.
On whether she belonged to a traditional Congress family and how she came into the party, she confessed that her family is basically a Muslim League one, but her late brother Nalakath Yusuf was a staunch Congress supporter and introduced her to the party’s ideology. “It was he who initiated me to the basics of politics. That was how I got involved in student politics,” Jameela said.
On the criticism over the shrinking representation of women in Congress forums, Jameela said compared to the previous jumbo KPCC (over 100) the current one has been trimmed to 51. “There are three women general secretaries and two in the executive committee. So, five of us are here. I think this is a decent number. I am myself an answer to that criticism. The fact that of the three woman general secretaries one is from Malappuram (Muslim-dominated district where League roots are deep) is in itself, in my opinion, an important signal to the changes that are sure to happen,” Jameela said.
On the new Congress leadership in Kerala vowing to end group rivalry in the state unit and whether she belongs to any group, Jameela admitted that leaders in the state Congress have grown only through these groups. “All along I have worked above these groups, but it is a fact that Thenjippalam from where I am a member belongs to the I (Indira) group. So, in a way, many see or identify me as spokesperson of the I group. But I try to be above all this and consider myself a humble worker of the Indian National Congress,” she said.
(Note for those who are not familiar with Congress politics in Kerala: For years these groups – A and I – are identified as the former aligned with senior Congress leader from the state, A K Antony, whose soulmate is former chief minister Oommen Chandy. The other group consists of followers of the late K Karunakaran who had stood with Indira Gandhi at the time she split the Congress a second time. Their current leader is former leader of the opposition Ramesh Chennithala.)
Asked whether the Congress, which is not in power either in the state or at the Centre, and is passing through perhaps the worst period in its history can make a comeback, Jameela said the country is passing through a grave crisis and is heading towards total anarchy without the Congress in power. She said the BJP is destroying India’s secular democracy by the day. “Women in particular are facing many problems in the state and the country in general. We see only such news these days. If Congress was in power these things would not have happened. In such circumstances people want the Congress to return to power. The new state Congress president and the leader of the Opposition are working for that only – to bring Congress back to its glory in the state. We will emerge victorious,” she said.
Asked what advice she would give to those women wanting to come into public life, Jameela said more and more women have started joining mainstream politics. She said it is the need of the hour as the country is passing through dangerous times. She added that she will always be there to guide women, Muslim or otherwise, who come forward to play a role in shaping the destiny of the country.
source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Community News / by MG Correspondent / January 14th, 2022
Dr A Remla Beevi, director of medical education who bade adieu to a tumultuous stint on Tuesday, terms her last seven years as the most challenging in her 34-year career.
Thiruvananthapuram :
Dr A Remla Beevi, director of medical education who bade adieu to a tumultuous stint on Tuesday, terms her last seven years as the most challenging in her 34-year career. She had an arduous task as the DME during the Nipah and then the pandemic outbreak in the state.
When the Nipah virus outbreak was reported in Kozhikode district in 2018, like any other health professional, Dr Remla was also at sea. Even today, Thiruvananthapuram native Dr Remla remembers that once the diagnosis was reached, health authorities took steps to set up isolation facilities in a jiffy.
However, she is still upset that the state lost Lini Puthussery, the nurse who died in the first outbreak. Dr Remla recalls that the diagnosis had not come when Lini fell ill. Dr Remla gives credit to the entire health department, including then health minister K K Shailaja and former health secretary Rajiv Sadanandan, for working unitedly to contain the Nipah virus spread within Kozhikode district. In 2020, when she was busy with her administrative work at the directorate of medical education in Thiruvananthapuram, the first Covid case was reported in the state. Later, the Covid spread was declared a pandemic.
“The biggest challenge was that apart from Covid patients, people affected with other illnesses as well as pregnant ladies were thronging the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College and SAT hospitals. We had to set up separate labour rooms, operation theatres, ICUs and separate wards and divide our staff into three pools – Covid, non-Covid and reserve,” Dr Remla told TNIE.
Many a time, she missed her family – comprising husband Dr E Abdul Khadar, former professor and head of the cardiology department of Kottayam Medical College, engineer son Mohammed Farooq Husain and daughter Dr A Sumayya residing in Kottayam – when she returned home after a long and tiring day.
Dr Remla became the DME in 2015 after serving as the principal in Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kottayam government medical colleges. She joined the government service in 1988 as a lecturer at the Government Medical College in Kottayam.
Dr Remla who has specialised in radiology, fondly remembers the team work rendered by former health minister Shailaja who went out of the way by reading medical books and journals about Nipah and Covid so that these would help her “health army” to combat the deadly viruses.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Cynthia Chandran, Express News Service / June 02nd, 2022
Shamnad was not just an expert in intellectual property rights, but a relentless crusader who worked towards ensuring diversity and representation of marginalised communities in legal practice.
The untimely and tragic death of professor Shamnad Basheer was a bolt from the blue for many of us. As I scuttled to get more information on what initially seemed impossible to believe, I realised that apart from the loss of a friend, the country had also lost one of its finest legal minds. Globally renowned for his expertise in the field of intellectual property rights (IPR), Shamnad was found dead in his car near Bababundangiri in Chikkamagaluru of Karnataka.
As news of his death spread and tributes started pouring in all over my social media timeline, there remained no doubt that his sudden demise was a great loss to the legal fraternity and academia across the globe. Shamnad was a relentless crusader, working day in and out to ensure diversity and representation of marginalised communities in the field of law and legal practice. An alumni of the National Law University, Bangalore and Oxford University, Shamnad was a man on a mission as he championed many causes ranging from internet equality, fairness in IPR, public interest litigation, judicial accountability, to the rights of sexual minorities, visually impaired and physically disabled persons.
For me, Shamnad was more a social justice warrior than a globally-known IPR expert. He was not just the force behind Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access to Legal Education (IDIA), but also Access to Legal Education for Muslims in India (ALEM India).
I first heard of him in 2009, when he wrote a blog about remarks made by then Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju. In open court, Justice Katju equated a young Muslim sporting a beard with a Taliban militant. That year, Justice Katju had rejected an appeal of a Muslim student that he should be permitted to sport a beard in his convent school. Rejecting the plea the judge had remarked that, “We don’t want to have Talibans in the country. Tomorrow a girl student may come and say that she wants to wear a burqa. Can we allow it?”
According to Shamnad, “notwithstanding the merits of the case”, Justice Katju’s comments were “callous and insensitive” and he was “unfit to be an impartial judge”. Back then, Shamnad was the HRD ministry’s professor of intellectual property law at the National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS), Kolkata. In the conclusion of his blog, he wrote:
“The Supreme Court bench may have been right in denying admission to Salim’s SLP. However, in view of Justice Katju’s statements made in open court that equated every bearded Muslim with a Taliban, the possibility of bias against a community cannot be ruled out. And the Chief Justice must not only censure such remarks, but take immediate steps to have this case reheard before another bench. For justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done!”
Years passed by, and I kept reading his insightful articles and commentaries in various newspapers and websites. He was prolific, writing on a range of issues related to law, policy and public good. In 2015, a common friend (Tarunabh Khaitan) connected us, asking me if I would be interested in helping Shamnad’s team at IDIA to reach out to the Muslim community. Having admired Shamnad’s writings, the opportunity to work with him was like a dream come true. I readily agreed and eventually, we became good friends.
Shamnad Basheer at a panel discussion of intellectual property rights. Photo: Flickr/World Intellectual Property Organisation CC BY NC ND 2.0
Diversifying the legal field
More than anything, he was always on the lookout for ways and means to ensure that IDIA reaches the remotest parts of the country. To contextualise the need of diversity in national law schools, let me quote a study conducted by the students of NLS Bangalore in 2016. According to the study:
“While the students are somewhat evenly divided across sexes, the income, caste and religion statistics are telling of what constitutes ‘merit’ in this country. While 15% of the students reported their family’s annual income to be above Rs 36 lakh per annum, more than 50% reported an annual income of more than Rs. 12 lakh per annum. Eighty two percent were Hindus and the next largest religious group was the wealthy Jain community (5%), which constitute less than 0.5% of India’s population. On the other hand, Muslims, who constitute 14% of India’s population, make up only 0.5% of that of NLS. The NLS also has predominantly upper-caste students at 65%, with about 27% identifying as Brahmins.”
Similarly, another report found:
“In the last 15 years i.e., from 2000 onwards, only one Dalit advocate has been designated senior by the Supreme Court, and only two from the Muslim Community. The Advocates from backward States like Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand or Bihar have not been designated at all. The Advocates from rural background are totally ignored. Even with regard to a progressive State like Karnataka, only one Advocate has been designated after a gap of 25 years. It is relevant to mention that in the last round of designation, out of five advocates designated, four of them belonged to one caste.”
Despite being an extremely busy person, Shamnad believed in and practiced mentoring and coaching young minds, individually and personally. Few years ago, when I visited his flat in Bangalore, he was helping two students who were staying at his house to prepare for the CLAT exam. Both belonged to an unprivileged background, a common thread among the spectrum of students whom IDIA supported. A glance at IDIA scholars, like visually impaired Najrul Islam from Siliguri, West Bengal, who studies at the National Law University, Delhi (NLU) or Meraka Mani from Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, currently studying at IFIM Law College, Bangalore, Aparna Amnekar from Nagpur, Maharashtra, a student of Government Law College, Mumbai, Sonia Sabu of Ernakulam district in Kerala, studying at NLIU, Bhopal and Vinatoli of Dimapur (Nagaland), studying at NUJS Kolkata shows an incredible initiative founded and run by him, with diversity and representation at its core.
Learning from IDIA’s experiment and under the guidance of Shamnad, ALEM India was started last year. The initiative tries to ensure access for socio-economically disadvantaged Muslims and improve their representation in Indian law schools.
Personally coaching legal professionals
His objective was not just to coach students for national law schools or produce batches of successful lawyers and legal professionals. He wanted to prepare young minds who are competent yet socially committed. It is hardly a surprise that IDIA produced graduates like Yogendra Yadav, better known as Yogi. The son of a manual labourer (working in Alang, Gujarat) and a resident of Pitij village in Chhatra district of Jharkhand, Yogi graduated from the National University for Study and Research in Law (NUSRL), Ranchi in 2017. He is currently a lawyer in the Ranchi high court. He worked as a newspaper hawker in and around his village from a very early age and it is while distributing newspapers that he got to know about IDIA and CLAT.
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, he contested as an independent candidate. Explaining his rationale to contest the election, Yogi told Bar & Bench, “IDIA always encouraged me to take up community causes and help as best as I could, They were training me to become a CHAMP and this is all part of that.” I clearly remember Shamnad informing us of Yogi’s inspiring story with pride. “Yogendra Yadav, our IDIA Scholar makes his Political Debut!,” read the email he had sent to some of us.
Shamnad was also keen to highlight IDIA scholars to people working in different walks of life, not just those in the law and judiciary. In 2017, got in touch with me to invite the anti-manual scavenging activist and convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, Bezwada Wilson, to deliver the key note address at the IDIA conference on creativity and leadership.
Bezwada Wilson. Photo: PTI
“We share the same set of ideals in terms of empowering the marginalised and building a more inclusive India,” he had written to Bezwada, copying me in the email. Bezwada’s key note, according to Shamnad was “a provocative address”. A year later, he also wrote an article on Bandicoot, a robot to replace manual scavenging. He noted:
“Bandicoot is not just a clever idea; it is a game changer, and dare I say a life saver! Putting some teeth back into India’s constitutional promise of “equality” for Dalits and other marginalized sections who’ve had to clean our crap for years. Only a few days ago, the Delhi high court ruled on a case involving the death of two manual scavengers; making the government pay for its murderous negligence!”
His latest email to me was in July this year, a heart breaker titled: “Deeply Disappointing News: 7 IDIA Scholars Still Without Committed Donors!”. “I am deeply saddened to bring you this disheartening message. Unfortunately, of the 12 IDIA scholars that gained admission to leading law schools this year, we found donor support (covering all expenses) for only 5 of our scholars. Which means 7 of our kids are left behind and it will be a struggle to put them through law school without some promise of a committed donor (or donors),” read his email. Little did I know then that this was going to be his last email to me.
Now that Shamnad is gone and we cherish his memory, our duty is to ensure that we carry forward the work he initiated, in the same spirit that he always professed. And that, I believe, would be our real tribute to him.
source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Law> Rights / by Mahtab Alam / August 11th, 2019
Photo of Shamnad receiving the Infosys Prize (Humanities) in 2014 from Mr. Amartya Sen / pix: shamnad.com
Bengaluru :
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) professor Jayant Haritsa and Intellectual Property (IP) academic and consultant professor Shamnad Basheer, both from Bengaluru, are among six winners of the Infosys Prize for this year.
Each prize, comprising a purse of Rs.55 lakh, a 22-carat gold medallion and a citation, is awarded by Infosys Science Foundation, a not-for-profit trust, set up by the global software major and funded by a corpus of Rs.100 crore ($16 million), contributed by the IT firm, its trustees and co-founders in 2009.
“Haritsa, computer science and automation department professor at IISc, has been awarded the prize under the Engineering and Computer Science category for his contribution to the design and optimisation of database engines,” the Foundation said in a statement here Thursday.
Haritsa also heads the supercomputer education and research centre at the institute.
Basheer, founder of SpicyIP, India, bagged the prize for his contribution to the analysis of a range of legal issues, including pharmaceutical patent injunctions and enforcement in the Humanities category.
As India’s premier blog on IP and innovation law and policy, SpicyIP does accurate reporting of IP developments across the country.
Basheer is also founder and managing trustee of Increasing Diversity by Increasing Access (IDIA) in Bengaluru.
Shubha Tole, associate professor at Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), got the prize under the Life Sciences category for her contribution to studying the hippocampus and amygdale centres of learning and memory in the brain.
“Tole’s work can lead to a better understanding of human behaviour, cognition and emotions,” the statement noted.
Tole is also a principal investigator at the TIFR’s biological sciences department.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) adjunct professor Madhu Sudhan has been awarded the prize under the Mathematical Sciences category for his seminal contribution to probabilistically checkable proofs and error-correcting codes.
As a principal researcher at Microsoft Research in New England in the US, Sudan also heads the electrical engineering and computer sciences (EECS) department and computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory (CSASIL) at MIT in Boston.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) senior scientist Srivari Chandrasekhar at the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has bagged the prize under the Physical Sciences category for his contribution to the synthetic organic chemistry with special focus on the synthesis of complex molecules from natural sources.
Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT, Esther Duflo, got the prize under the Social Sciences category for her pioneering contribution to development economics, including the work related to India and Africa.
Duflo is also founder-director of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab in the US.
“The Foundation has been able to recognise some of the best researchers of our time through the prize. Their contributions are an inspiration to students and professionals and have the potential for real-time impact on individuals and society,” Infosys co-founder and Foundation president N.R. Narayana Murthy said on the occasion.
A panel of jurors, comprising renowned scientists and professors from the world over, evaluated the noted winners.
The Infosys Prize jury chairs are Pradeep Khosla, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, Inder Verma, Srinivasa S.R. Varadhan, Shrinivas Kulkarni and Kaushik Basu.
President Pranab Mukherjee will award the winners and felicitate them Jan 5 in Kolkata.–-IANS
www.shamnad.com
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Exclusive Reports> Indian Muslims> Youth / November 15th, 2014
