Category Archives: Books (incl.Biographies – w.e.f.01 jan 2018 )

Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari: A Committed Nationalist, Founder and 2nd Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia

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Yusufpur- Mohammadabad (Ghazipur) , UTTAR PRADESH / NEW DELHI :

As Jamia celebrates 100 years of its foundation, we extend our gratitude to Dr Mukhtar Ansari for his contribution

Dr M A Ansari’s bust during a photo-exhibition at M.F. Husain Art Gallery, JMI on 24 Dec. 2014. (Photo Courtesy: Aniket Dikshit)

The three most important persons who, undoubtedly, not only played the most significant role in the foundation of Jamia Millia Islamia, but also shifted it from the makeshift arrangement of Aligarh to Delhi’s Karol Bagh on 7 July, 1925, are Hakim Ajmal Khan, Abdul Majeed Khwaja and Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari.

In view of upheavals faced in Aligarh, Jamia was shifted but problems existed. The problems that made many think that Jamia will not survive long. However, the trio’s efforts were no way trivial. They set the future course of Jamia as ‘an institution with a difference.’

Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari’s consistent efforts bore fruits. Not only did Jamia get its first house in Karol Bagh in 1931, it was also shifted to a much bigger plot of land of its own in 1936 in its present location in South Delhi’s Okhla, then a ‘non-descript village’ where now it has a panoramic sprawling campus.

However, the journey was not as simple as it might look to a casual viewer. Within those ten years, much sweat and blood went in to nurse the tender sapling whose seed was sown in Aligarh on 29 October, 1920. Dr Ansari’s contribution through all these years is one of the most unforgettable and astonishingly stout chapters in the history of Jamia Millia Islamia.

Born on 25 December, 1880 in Yusufpur-Mohammadabad, Ghazipur in eastern Uttar Pradesh, son of Haji Abdur Rahman and Ilahan Bibi, Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, received primary and secondary education at Ghazipur and Allahabad, then studied medicine and graduated from Madras Medical College. He went to England from where he achieved M.D. and M.S. degrees. He earned the Master of Surgery degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1910. Being a top-class student and a pioneering surgeon he worked in some well-known hospitals of England where “he had a successful medical career”.

Dr Ansari had everything – money, fame, fortune, and life that could be lived luxuriously. This brief background is provided to underscore the significance of his passion, devotion and commitment not just for Jamia but for the country’s struggle for freedom as those were the years of heightened activism for independence during which Dr Ansari – through his active involvement in and unwavering support for freedom, emerged as a committed nationalist leader.

From England, Dr Ansari returned to India in 1910 and started medical practice at Delhi. His contact with leaders like Motilal Nehru, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru rekindled in him the desire to take part in the country’s political developments.

Dr M A Ansari Health Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. (Photo: Manzar Imam)

During the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, he led a Medical Mission to Turkey to provide medical aid to the Turkish army. “The mission”, according to Dr. Burak Akçapar, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to India, “not only established two field hospitals, but also did other humanitarian and political work.”

This was among his first political works which won the hearts and minds of the Turkish public and leaders which created a deep bond between Turkey and Jamia. Many Turkish leaders and prominent literary figures visited Jamia. The series of ‘Extension Lectures’ that began was his brainchild. It was on his invitation that famous Turkish scholars Dr Husein Raouf Bey (1933) and Ms Halide Edib (1936) and Dr Behadjet Wahbi of Cairo (1934) then delivered their lectures at Jamia.

His role in the Khilafat Movement was pivotal and his presence both in the Congress and Muslim League was equally felt. His Delhi house ‘Darus-Salam’ was a meeting point for leading Congressmen. For many years he was General Secretary of Congress and remained a member of the Congress Working Committee all through his life.

Dr M A Ansari Auditorium, Jamia Millia Islamia. (Photo: Manzar Imam)

Dr Ansari was the leader of the Khilafat delegation of 1920 which went to meet the Viceroy. He was also a member of the second delegation of Khilafat which went to England and other countries of Europe under the leadership of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar. He was also president of the Delhi Khilafat Committee. During his presidential address at the Nagpur session of Muslim League in 1920 he demanded Swaraj.

When his name was proposed for the Secretary of the Foundation Committee of Jamia during its foundation, he requested not to appoint him for the post as it would require regular visits to Aligarh. Nevertheless, his interest in the activities of Jamia persisted.

Dr Ansari was among the front leaders of the Congress and was made its president in 1927. According to Prof Zafar Ahmad Nizami his name for the president of Congress was proposed at the instance of Mahatma Gandhi in 1924 who believed that “only he could make the efforts of Hindu-Muslim unity successful.”

Although Dr Ansari could not live long to see Jamia blossom into a beautiful university or see India breathing in freedom from the strangulating slavish life under the colonial rule, he had played his gigantic role both as a freedom seeker and as a founder of Jamia. He was a prominent member of the sixteen-member Foundation Committee formed on 29 October, 1920 to establish Jamia which would become a historic institution and the first one to be set up in response to call for boycott of the British Indian government-run, aided and supported academic institutions.

According to The British Medical Journal:

“As leader of the Congress movement, though at first opposed to the teaching of Gandhi on civil disobedience, he actively associated himself later with the various non-cooperative movements, and served at least one term of imprisonment.”

When it comes to Jamia as also to some other movements that were the currency of the 1920’s and 1930’s, it is very difficult to dissociate the trio of Hakim Ajmal Khan, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, the “great Muslim trio of Indian politics”, as they were quite befittingly called so. However, each person has certain unique and individual personality traits and characteristics which separate him from others.

According to Dr Hamida Riaz (1988, p.119), Dr Ansari had a great passion for education. Initially, he highly appreciated Western education and culture and would keep himself completely away from what did not interest him. However, on the call of Mohammad Ali Jauhar, he participated in the medical delegation that went to Turkey and did a tremendous service. In a way, the beginning of international politics in India was made by Dr Ansari’s delegation.

Together with Hakim Ajmal Khan, Motilal Nehru and Maulana Azad, Dr Ansari formed a non-sectarian “Indian National Union.” He had opposed the Rowlatt Bill and participated in Home Rule and Non-Cooperation movements. In 1929, Dr Ansari formed the All India Muslim Nationalist Party. Besides Jamia, he was also associated with the foundation of Kashi Vidyapith, Benaras.

Faculty of Dentistry, Jamia Millia Islamia. (Photo: Manzar Imam)

Riaz (p.121) writes that all through his life he [Dr Ansari] “stayed away from sectarian groups” and continued his efforts to forge “Hindu-Muslim unity”. His wife Shamsun Nisa Begum too, was committed to the cause of women uplift.

Dr Ansari actively participated in the Jamia’s establishment, nurtured it, and, following the demise of Hakim Ajmal Khan in December 1927, served as its second Chancellor from 1928 to 1936. The financial needs that Hakim Sahab used to carry had fallen on his shoulder which he discharged diligently.

The “Ajmal Khan Fund”, set up exclusively for the purpose, was a result of his efforts. At a critical juncture when Jamia faced great financial crisis a Board of Trustees was created. Dr Ansari was appointed its chairman. It was at Gandhiji’s indication that industrialist Jamnalal Bajaj (1889-1942) was made its treasurer. Other bodies were also formed in which he was there.

As Chancellor of Jamia, Dr Ansari could not be an employee and Life Member of the ‘Anjuman Talim-e-Milli’. However, he extended all his support to all the bodies and continued to serve Jamia all his life. Remembering the services of Hakim Ajmal Khan and Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari during a lecture in Jamia on 26 August 2014, former VC and renowned historian Prof Mushirul Hasan (d. 10 December 2018), terming the duo as the “real founders” of Jamia, had said, “Ansari raised money for Jamia and Hakim Ajmal Khan provided nobility and support.”

As mentioned earlier, Dr Ansari did not live long after Jamia was shifted to its present place in the national capital. He passed away on 10 May, 1936 and buried in the Jamia graveyard.

A radio speech which Dr Zakir Hussain had prepared for the 1936 Foundation Day of Jamia, which Dr Ansari could not hear as he passed away before it, sheds enough light both on the impact Dr Ansari had on Dr Zakir Husain and on his character and sphere of activity. It read:

[Dr Ansari] set out for a journey from which no one looks back…Dr Sahab’s personality was a fountain of blessings…a mainstay for anyone in times of need. His heart was a refuge where many would seek solace for their heartfelt grief.

As in life, in death too, he did not part ways from Jamia, writes Ghulam Haider, as he became the first among the founders of Jamia, to find his resting abode in Jamia Nagar where he was laid to rest three months before the primary madrasa of Jamia moved in.

Dr Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari, who died near Delhi on May 10th, at the age of 56, had been a member of the British Medical Association since 1909, and had gained distinction in India as a medical practitioner as well as in politics. In view of his services and to keep his memory as a prominent physician, Jamia has named its health centre and a big auditorium after him.

It was his sincerity for the national cause and his passionate commitment for Jamia that whenever Gandhiji would come to Jamia, he would definitely pay a visit to his grave. As Jamia celebrates 100 years of its foundation, we extend our gratitude to its architect for nurturing it with his consistent remedial care, unflinching commitment and great sacrifices!

[Sources: Celebrating India : Reflections on Eminent Indian Muslims 1857-2007, Meher Fatima Hussain (2009, Manak Publications, New Delhi), “Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari”, The British Medical Journal (Vol. 1, No. 3933 (May 23, 1936) p.1082, Mohammad Ali Jauhar, authored and published by Hamida Riaz (1988, Nagpur), Nuqoosh-e-Jamia (Jamia ki Kahani Jamia Walon ki Zabani or the Story of Jamia from Jamiites) by Ghulam Haider (2012, Maktaba Jamia Limited in collaboration with National Council for Promotion of Urdu Langue, New Delhi), www.jmi.ac.in.

Manzar Imam is a Ph.D. Candidate at Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia. He can be reached at manzarimam@rediffmail.com. The above article is ummid.com special series titled ‘Founders of Jamia Millia Islamia’. Read the first part here. To read the second article of the series click here. To read the 3rd article of the series, click here.]

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India / by Manzar Imam, ummid.com / October 28th, 2020

The City of Mushairas

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The life and times of Delhi’s leading poets of the Mughal era and their enrichment of a syncretic language

Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets

Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets
Saif Mahmood
Speaking Tiger
367 pages
Rs 599

Shaikh Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq, the poetry ustaad of the last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah ‘Zafar’ saw, in his lifetime, the Mughal Empire brought to its knees (though not formally ended — Zauq, perhaps mercifully, died three years before the ‘Ghadar’ of 1857, the uprising that was to so impact the fabric of Delhi’s social, cultural and literary life). But an impoverished Mughal court and an equally penurious north Indian aristocracy meant that many of Zauq’s contemporaries drifted south to Hyderabad, where there was still patronage to be sought and stipends to be earned. Zauq, however, when asked why he did not migrate to the Deccan, had famously remarked, “In dinon garche Dakan mein hai bohot qadr-e-sukhan/ Kaun jaaye Zauq par Dilli ki galiyaan chhor kar?” As Saif Mahmood translates this in his book Beloved Delhi: “Although poetry is greatly valued in the Deccan these days, Zauq, who would trade that for the lanes of Delhi?”

It is this — the connection between Delhi and her Urdu poets, an almost umbilical cord that binds the city to her greatest bards — that forms an important theme in Mahmood’s book. Beloved Delhi has, as its subtitle, A Mughal City and Her Greatest Poets, and those words describe the book perfectly: it is about the Mughal city of Delhi — not the city before or after the Mughals (though there is a fleeting mention of those as well), and about its greatest poets of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Mahmood examines the life and work of eight of Delhi’s greatest Urdu poets, against the backdrop of the city. Mirza Mohammad Rafi Sauda, Khwaja Mir Dard, Mir Taqi Mir, Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib, Momin Khan Momin, Bahadur Shah Zafar, Shaikh Mohammad Ibrahim Zauq and Nawab Mirza Khan Daagh Dehlvi are the eight poets who form the subject of Mahmood’s book. For each poet, Mahmood begins with a biography (often preceded by a description of the current state of the poet’s grave or former home). The biography is followed by an insight into the most relevant aspects of the poet’s work — Sauda’s satire, Zauq’s use of everyday language, Momin’s sensuality, Ghalib’s often cryptic verses, and so on. Finally, there are selected verses (with translations) by each poet.

There are several reasons to recommend Beloved Delhi. Firstly, it’s a well-written, readable book that manages to strike a balance between being informative on the one hand and unintimidating, entertaining, even witty on the other. Mahmood handles with commendable skill a subject that is often perceived as unapproachable by those not familiar with the Urdu script, or who are daunted by the more Persianised form of the language. But it’s also a subject that is regaining popularity and Mahmood’s translations, his occasional helpful notes, and the very fact that he takes care to bring in popular connections — Hindi film music’s use of couplets and ghazals from classical poets, for example, or ghazals rendered by popular singers — helps make this poetry more relatable.

Also playing a major role in making the poetry easier to relate to is Mahmood’s approach to the lives of the men who wrote that poetry. He uses various sources — autobiographies, reminiscences of contemporaries, memoirs, correspondence, even the poetry they penned— to bring alive the men behind the verses. Sauda, so acerbic that his satire repeatedly got him into trouble. Mir, the mad egoist, who willingly wrote poetry in exchange for groceries. Momin, a brilliant hakim as well as a great poet. Ghalib, so addicted to gambling that it brought him into repeated conflict with the law (which, Mahmood, himself a lawyer, points out as being reflected in the many legal and judicial terms — muddai, talab, hukm, faujdaari, giraftaari, etc — that Ghalib uses in his poetry). Mahmood even busts some myths, such as the authorship of popular works attributed to poets like Zafar and Ghalib.

And there is Delhi. The Delhi of mushairas. A city where fakirs and courtesans could be heard singing Ghalib’s ghazals, where a language born out of a syncretic confluence of cultures and traditions was nurtured even through the turbulence and horror of 1857 and its aftermath. As much as he brings alive the eight poets he focusses on, Mahmood brings alive the Delhi that was so beloved to them.

Madhulika Liddle is a Delhi-based writer

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Lifestyle> Books / by Madhulika Liddle / May 18th, 2019

Ishrat Firoz — A Fearless Activist Who Championed AMU’s Cause

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Azamgarh , UTTAR PRADESH :

OBITUARY

Senior Aligarian Ishrat Afroz passed away on September 30, 2020.

A senior Aligarian and one of the soldiers of the struggle of AMU’s Minority Character, Ishrat Firoz, breathed his last in JN Medical College, AMU on September 30, 2020.

He was my senior in VM Hall’s Nasrullah Hostel. For two years, I lived in Room 33 and he was in 34 and thus we were neighbours as well. Later, I moved to Room 25 with my classmate and close friend Waseem Ahmad Qadri (now a senior advocate at Supreme Court of India). Nevertheless, Ishrat Bhai and I lived in Nasrullah Hostel for nine years—1974-83.

Although much junior to Javed Habeeb, Arif Mohammad Khan (sorry to mention the name of this man who does not want to have anything to do with the community but a historical fact has to be mentioned), Akhtarul Wasey, Z.K. Faizan, Mushtaq Ahmad Khillu and several others, Ishrat Bhai and his close friend Nadeem Tarin —both PUC (Pre-University Course) students at that time—took an active part in the long struggle for the restoration of AMU’s Minority Character and went to jail for this cause.

In our student days, AMU used to be the hub of positive Milli activities. In such a lively culture and environment, our hostel, with residents like Azam Khan, Nadeem Bhai and Ishrat Bhai, was bound to be more vibrant and active. Not only was Ishrat Bhai an active student leader, he was also a cabinet member (perhaps senior cabinet, if my memory is not failing me) in the students’ union in which Azam Khan was Honorary Secretary.

In order to give young Aligarians and non-Aligarians an idea of the Aligarian spirit of those days, I feel it necessary to narrate an interesting incident. In our hostel, we had two groups: anti-Azam Khan and pro-Azam Khan. The pro-Azam Khan group was led by three seniors and very close friends:  Ishrat Bhai, Nadeem Bhai and Akhtar Zameer Bhai. Akhtar Bhai and Ishrat Bhai were roommates as well.

Akhtar Zameer, Nadeem Tarin and Ishrat Afroz in 1970

After leaving AMU Akhtar Bhai got a job in Dubai. Like any dutiful son and brother, obviously, he would have shared the joy of getting his first salary by sending money or gifts to his parents and siblings. But, along with them, he remembered his hostel mates as well and sent some money to Ishrat Bhai to arrange a dinner for the whole hostel total numbers of whose residents were around 109. Since Ramadan started only a few days after, Ishrat Bhai arranged a magnificent Iftar instead.

During the emergency, an atmosphere of fear and suffocation had gripped the country. Everyone was trying to be more loyal than the king and outdo even the most loyal Congress members by doing something extraordinary. In AMU, students’ union was dissolved and Azam Khan was arrested. As per tradition, our hostel was going to have an annual group photograph.

Even in that fear-stricken atmosphere, Ishrat Bhai, Nadeem Bhai and Akhtar Bhai showed the courage to propose that in the group photo Azam Khan’s portrait be put on one of the front chairs reserved for senior students, warden and the provost. 

Obviously, this was opposed by the anti-Azam Khan group and the warden and, as a result, that year there was no group photograph.

Born in Azamgarh in 1955, Ishrat Bhai came to Aligarh at an early age to join Minto Circle . He was a bright student and did his Ph.D. in Psychology from AMU. He was not only a good writer but was a fine orator too. He conducted cultural and social gatherings in his typically attractive Aligarian style quoting Urdu verses. But he had a passion for writing, took journalism as a career, and published a serious magazine Satoon from Delhi. But sadly, he could not pursue his journalistic career for long. He suffered from diabetic and related ailments affecting his kidneys and worsening his health rapidly forcing him to close his magazine and take leave from an active life. 

After leaving Aligarh, I lost touch with him. Whenever he happened to see my uncle (chacha), Dr Mohammad Yusuf Khan (Dept of Arabic), he told him without fail that he wanted to talk to me. But Chacha jan always forgot to give Ishrat Bhai my number or take his phone number. When Ishrat Bhai came on Facebook, I talked to him via voice mail and later by phone. On a couple of occasions when I phoned him he was not feeling well and had been hospitalised. Thinking that I might be disturbing him, I stopped calling him this way. I remained in touch on Facebook though. From his Facebook activity it was becoming clear that he was not keeping well.

In Ishrat Bhai’s demise, I have lost a good friend and the community has lost a sincere and dedicated activist. May Allah SWT grant him maghfirah (forgiveness) and bless his family the courage to bear this loss.

source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion / Home> India / by M Ghazali Khan , Clarion India / October 05th, 2020

Historian Rana Safvi gets Yamin Hazarika award

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NEW DELHI :

istorian Rana Safvi. Credit: Twitter/@iamrana

Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/national/historian-rana-safvi-gets-yamin-hazarika-award-891896.html

Historian Rana Safvi has been conferred an award instituted in memory of Yamin Hazarika, the first woman from the Northeast to join the central police service.

Safvi, who has published several books on culture, history, and monuments of India, was chosen for her “contribution to the syncretic culture of India”.

Hailing from Assam, Hazarika was selected for the NCT of Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli Police service (DANIPS) in 1977. She held the post of assistant commissioner of Police in Chanakyapuri (Delhi) and went on to become deputy commissioner of police (Crime against Women Cell) in the national capital.

In the crucial period after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Hazarika was in-charge of three key police stations. In 1998, she was posted in Bosnia as part of the UN peacekeeping force. But her life was tragically cut short by destiny as she succumbed to cancer at the age of 43 in 1999.

The ceremony was held online though Hazarika’s daughter Huma presented the silver salver to Safvi in Delhi. Assam DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta was the guest of honour. He recalled the contribution of Hazarika and also spoke about her grit and determination.

The award is given every year by a collective of women professionals since 2015. Previous winners are author Indrani Raimedhi, athlete Tayabun Nisha, actor Moloya Goswami, environmental activist Purnima Devi Barman and social activist Hasina Kharbhih.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> National / by PTI, New Delhi / September 23rd, 2020

Syed Sagheer Ahmed: Last of Committed, Principled Socialists

Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, , , , , , , , , , ,

UTTAR PRADESH :

Syed Sagheer Ahmad was not much of a public figure but he always had access to the highest echelons of power and politics.

OBITUARY

In spite of his close associations with some of the giants of Indian politics, he never became an MLC, MLA or MP. He was, in a true sense, a compassionate and dignified face of Indian politics.

IT was 10:45 in the morning yesterday when my friend and class fellow at AMU Mr Najam uz Naqvi called me to inform that Sagheer Mama had passed away at a hospital in Bareilly. The news was so unexpected that it had me shivering, too numb for any reaction. For quite some time I was stunned beyond words still trying to fully grasp the heart wrenching information perhaps very much in denial.

This was not any news of a relative’s death. It is not that unusual for us to hear about the death of someone close, but the passing away of Syed Sagheer Ahmad (Najam’s Mama) was not the death of an ordinary person. It was as if I was witnessing right before my eyes the end of an era.

Syed Sagheer Ahmad was born on the 4th of December, 1934, in the Tahseel/ Qasba Sehsawan in Badaun district. He received his education from Aligarh Muslim University, the same place from where he picked up interest in socialist politics and remained a lifetime loyalist. Janab Syed Sagheer Ahmad was not much of a public figure but he always had access to the highest echelons of power and politics. He was one of those rare young turks in Congress who had dared to revolt against the dictatorial regime of Mrs. Indira Gandhi along with Chandershekharji and Mohan Dharia.

He was an avowed socialist, a well-known and respected face among the notable socialist leaders and movements. Mrs. Gandhi personally knew him well. He was a close friend and confidant of Chandershekharji. Chandershekharji mentions him fondly in his Jail Diary.  V.P. Singh knew him personally too. The two great leaders of Congress party in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and Mr. Narayan Datt Tiwari kept him close to their hearts always consulting him on critical minority issues. He often played an important role in removing misgivings between Mrs. Gandhi and her party satraps in Uttar Pradesh. He worked under patronage of giant leaders like Jai Parkash Narayan, Acharya Kripalani, Ram Manohar Lohia. He was closely associated with renowned socialist leaders like Babu Tarloki Singh, Dr. Abdul Jalil Faridi and Narayan Datt Tiwari.

In spite of his close associations with some of the giants of Indian politics, he never became an MLC, MLA or MP. He was, in a true sense, a compassionate and dignified face of Indian politics. He belonged to Muslim aristocracy in UP. However, he never used politics for personal favours. Throughout his life, he depended on his family or personal resources for his political activities and finances. He would never speak or ask for himself but for the populace, he was a firm and assertive advocate.

There are numerous persons in UP who reached Assembly and Parliament only because of his consistent backing. He neither sought nor was he rewarded for his unfaltering selflessness, sacrifice, honesty and self-esteem. Those who know Janab Syed Sagheer Ahmad would definitely agree with me that he was the greatest victim of political injustice of his time. He was not an ordinary politician or a socialist thinker. He had closely watched all the important political developments, especially in North India. He was aware of the ins and outs of political circuits.

It wouldn’t be wrong of me to say that he was a mini encyclopedia of Indian politics in the post independent era. He new most of the ins and outs of political upheavals during sixties, seventies, eighties and nineties. He was a close watcher of Muslim politics and observed with disdain the discriminatory policies of the government against Muslim minorities.

With his advent in Indian politics, Syed Shahabuddin created many controversies around him. He was nominated as the general secretary of Janata party and Rajya Sabha member in 1979. Many a stalwarts in Janata party and later Janata Dal turned against him. This still didn’t deter Janab Syed Sagheer Ahmad sahib to stand like a rock in support of late Syed Shahabuddin. In 1991, Janata Dal had completely ignored Syed Shahabuddin in parliamentary election and denied him the party ticket from his favored constituency Kishanganj. Yet it was only the magnanimity, political stewardship and endless backstage efforts of Sagheer sahib that at the last moment Janata Dal had to concede and accommodate Syed Shahabuddin for a ticket from Kishanganj.

Sagheer sahab was an ardent admirer of Chandershekharji and considered him the bravest leader of his time. He was considered a close confidant of Chandershekharji, yet on occasions he would take a stand contrary to the wishes of his leader. One incident, I remember well. In 1986, when organisational elections for UP Janata Party was going on, Manager Singh an MLA from Ballia was candidate for district Presidentship. Chandershekharji somehow didn’t want Manager Singh to become the party president of his home constituency. But Sagheer Saheb openly went against the wishes of Chandershekharji and played an instrumental role in getting his friend Manager Singh elected as the Ballia Distict president.

I am personally aware of it that during his 60 years long political career, he helped many people achieve their political aims without seeking any return. I am sure nobody in the world of politics could ever claim that he accepted even a penny from anybody during his extensive political tenure. He used to travel much but he would never travel alone. He would usually stay in a middle class hotel. There were few exceptions who were fortunate enough to host Syed sahib. He would always strain his own pocket for all the expenses, not only for himself but for all those who accompanied him. He was a very caring person. If you were travelling with him, he would make sure to take care of every little thing – your ticket, your accommodation, your food and even your laundry.

Today even his political adversaries would agree with me that he was the gentlest and most honest politician of his time with an unmatched sense of self respect — something he never compromised upon.

I have no qualms in saying that India politics ill-treated its two great sons – Captain Abbas Ali khan who was a freedom fighter, a captain in Netaji’s Indian National Army and consequently got arrested and was awarded a death sentence but luckily India won independence before he could be executed.

After Independence, Captain Abbas Ali Khan spent his whole life in opposition and socialist politics. He was the president of UP Janata party when it was in power there. But all his sacrifices in the freedom movement and his contribution in the socialist movement was ignored. He was favoured only once with a single tenure of MLC. Second one is of course, Sagheer sahab. He shall be recorded as the most unfortunate and prejudiced victims of the discriminatory Indian political mindset.

In fact both Captain Abbas Ali Khan and Syed Sagheer Ahmad deserved a seat in Rajya Sabha or a provincial governorship.

Few days back he had penned down his autobiography named as “abhi ummeed baqi hai” “hope still remains” in Hindi and it was inaugurated in the Constitution Club of India. The event was joined by top socialist and intellectuals from across the country. The book received much appreciation and acknowledgement.

Today he is no more leaving behind a void which can never be filled for where can we find again this level of honesty, integrity, philanthropy and discipline. Those who know him must have plunged into deep sorrow and darkness. With Sagheer sahab a beacon of gentle light of Indian Politics has extinguished. May Allah rest his soul in peace.

____________

The author is ex-President of AMU Students Union. 

source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion / Home> Culture> India> Indian Muslim / by S.M. Anwar Hussain / September 28th, 2020

Jobless Kerala anthropologist goes down history lane

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Vatakara (Kozhikode District), KERALA :

Illustrated book on legendary hero Kunjali Marakkar brought out for children

The popular witticism – when the going gets tough, the tough get going – has literally set off a young anthropologist- cum- archaeologist to author a book for children on Kunjali Marakkar, the legendary hero of the 16th century.

For N.K. Ramesh, a guide at the Kunjali Marakkar Memorial Museum at Vadakara, it was an opportunity to trace the history of the four Kunjali Marakkars, when his contract was terminated after the museum was closed to the public from March.

“Certainly a difference existed between writing for children and for adults. So I put down a simple narration and included illustrations based on important events during the period of Kunjali Marakkar and also a picture of a mural painting of a sea war,” he says.

Kunjali Marakkar was a honorific title given to the Muslim naval chief of the erstwhile Zamorin of Calicut. “The four Kunjali Marakkars who were the naval commanders of Zamorin fought against the Portuguese from 1507 to 1600. In fact, the Kunjali Marakkars were maritime merchants and supporters of Arab trade who lived in the coastal regions of Kayalpattinam, Kilakarai, Thoothukudi, and Karaikal. But they shifted their trade to Kochi and then migrated to Ponnani after Portuguese trade interference,” Mr. Ramesh says.

He took about four months to pen the book with 104 pages. The book has already hit the stands although the official launch has been deferred in view of the COVID-19 protocol.

Historian M.G.S. Narayanan has given an introduction to the book on Kunjali Marakkar, whose battles against the Portuguese were portrayed as a symbolic national movement.

The book also delves into the objective of the construction of a fort by Pattu Marakkar, the third Kunjali Marakkar, at Iringal (Kottakkal) in 1571 and the political dispute between his nephew Mohammed Marakkar, who became the fourth Kunjali Marakkar, and the Zamorin.

Later, the Zamorin joined hands with the Portuguese to defeat the last Kunjali Marakkar. The fort was also demolished and Kunjali executed by the Portuguese. The decline of Kunjali Marakkar, he says, led to establishment of Dutch Dominion and later British rule in India.

Mr. Ramesh, who holds a postgraduate degree in anthropology from Kannur university and Post M.Sc. Diploma in Museology from Aligarh Muslim University, has been credited with numerous discoveries, including the unearthing of Palaeolithic tools from north Malabar.

For a living, the 34-year-old is now engaged in de-husking at farms and odd jobs at Nadapuram and adjoining areas.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Biju Govind / Kozhikode – September 15th, 2020

Memoir of India’s first woman radio newsreader to be out in October

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, , ,

Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH / NEW DELHI :

The book, co-published by Zubaan Publishers, will hit the stands on October 12

The book will hit the stands on October 12. (Source: University of Chicago Press)

The life and times of India’s first woman radio newsreader Saeeda Bano will unravel in a new book, originally written as a memoir in Urdu, Penguin Random House India announced on Monday.

The book, Off the Beaten Track, has been translated into English by Bano’s granddaughter Shahana Raza from her 1994 memoir Dagar Se Hat Kar“.

The memoir takes the reader through events of great personal impact in her life such as walking out of a suffocating marriage, witnessing the violence of the Partition, moving to Delhi from Lucknow as a single mother, eating toast with prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru , and falling in love with a married man — Nuruddin Ahmed, who would, in the course of their twenty-five-year relationship, become the Mayor of Delhi.

“Unflinching and riveting, ‘Off the Beaten Track’ offers a personal account of the Partition and the burgeoning capital city of a newly-independent India.

“A story of hope and resilience, it’s an unforgettable exploration of a fascinating woman; beckoning readers to reflect upon what it means to live and love passionately in the face of conformity and social pressure,” the publishers said in a statement.

The book, co-published by Zubaan Publishers, will hit the stands on October 12.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / Indian Express / Home> Books and Literature / by PTI, New Delhi / September 28th, 2020

Aligarh Muslim University mourns Professor Yasin Mazhar Siddiqui’s demise

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Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH :

Aligarh :

Noted Islamic scholar and author, Professor Yasin Mazhar Siddiqui (76), former Chairman, Department of Islamic Studies, Aligarh Muslim University passed away today after a prolonged illness.

Professor Yasin Mazhar Siddiqui wrote more than 40 books and 300 research articles in Urdu, Arabic and Persian. His writings on the Prophet and his teachings got wide acclaim. He wrote extensively in reputed literary journal, ‘Nuqoosh’ and got international ‘Nuqoosh Award’, ‘Seerat-e-Rasool Award’ and ‘Seerat Nigari Award’.

Professor Siddiqui, an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University worked for ten years at the department of History before joining the department of Islamic Studies as a Reader, and later he became professor and chairman of the department. He also served as the Provost of Aftab Hall.

Professor Tariq Mansoor, Vice Chancellor, expressed his deep sense of sorrow at the demise of professor Siddiqui whose profound scholarship explored new dimensions of Seerah writing. His death causes irreparable loss to the academic world.

Professor Nisar Ahmad Khan, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Professor Muhammad Ismail, Chairman, Department of Islamic Studies and Professor Obaidullah Fahad deeply mourned his death.

source: http://www.milligazette.com / The Milli Gazette / Home> News> Community News / by The Milli Gazette Online / September 15th, 2020

Remembering the freedom fighter who grafted animal testicles onto humans to help build India

Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, Freedom Fighters (under research project), Leaders, Science & Technology, World Opinion, , , , , , ,

UTTAR PRADESH / NEW DELHI :

Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was a staunch Congressman and author of a book titled ‘Regeneration in Man’. Wednesday marks his 81st death anniversary.

Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was a freedom fighter who also grafted animal testicles onto humans

India’s political leadership during the British Raj was dominated by lawyers and journalists. A noted exception was Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari (1880-1936), one of Delhi’s richest men, who dexterously balanced his busy medical practice with a deep involvement with politics.

Ansari was a close companion of Gandhi and an icon of the Khilafat movement. The few scholars who have studied his life have focused solely on his role as a Congress leader, and on his skills on the negotiating table of high politics. His exploits with the scalpel have been ignored. More than 80 years after he died, on May 10, 1936, it is remarkable that forget any serious study, there is hardly any discussion about the hundreds of operations he conducted in India in which he grafted animal testicles – from bulls, monkeys and sheep – onto human beings.

Adviser to princes

Dr Ansari studied at Queen’s Collegiate school in Benares and at the Muir Central College in Allahabad (which was later incorporated into Allahabad University). He later joined the Nizam College in Hyderabad where he was given a scholarship in 1900 to study medicine in the UK. After earning a medical degree at the University of Edinburgh, he worked in London at Charing Cross hospital, the Lock Hospital and St Peter’s Hospital. He returned to India in 1910, and set up his practice in Calcutta before shifting to Delhi.

He acted as medical adviser to the princes of Alwar, Rampur, Joara and Bhopal. His two older brothers were well-known hakims, who practised the traditional unani system of medicine. They were close to the scholars at the respected Islamic school in Deoband. His own circumstances and family background proved crucial in his positioning as a key functionary during the Khilafat movement of 1919. This movement was launched by Indian Muslims to urge the British government to preserve the authority of the Turkish Sultan as Caliph of Islam with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

A new science

Along with his political activity, Ansari turned his mind to a matter that has obsessed physicians for centuries: the quest for medical interventions to help ageing clients produce heirs. In the early 20th century, medical journals in Europe and America were increasingly documenting cases of xenotransplantation – the transplantation of living cells, tissue or organs from one species to another. It was through such articles that Ansari became interested in this field.

In his role as a medical practitioner, Ansari was also constantly faced with a large number of patients suffering from a “real or imaginary decline in their mental, physical and sexual powers”. His brothers attempted to treat such with traditional medicines. But Ansari looked to Europe for possible answers.

In 1921, 1925 and 1932 he visited Vienna, Paris, Lucerne and London and spent a considerable amount of time in laboratories, hospitals and clinics. He met and observed urologist Dr Robert Lichenstern, Eugen Steiach, Dr Serge Voronoff  – all of whom are considered pioneers in the field of grafting animal testicles onto humans. He also collected vast amounts of literature on the subject, sourcing books and journals from Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria and the US.

This procedure may now be ridiculed but in the Roaring Twenties there was quite the rush of men wanting to undergo these regenerative surgeries. Ansari offered a treatment to his clientele in India that was only available to the elite in the West.

Rejuvenating the nation

According to Ansari, there were a few key reasons why the people of India suffered from poor health. These included unhygienic surroundings, poverty and the lack of medical facilities, as well as seclusion and segregation of the sexes, and rules confining the choice of marriage partner to a limited circle.

In his 1927 presidential address to the Congress in Madras, he dwelt on the problem of healthcare in India.

He said:

“Sixty percent of the revenues of India is absorbed by the Military Department in the name of Defence of the country but the government ought to know that there can be no defence of the country when people are allowed to exist in such a state of utter physical degeneration. The real defence lies in tackling the problem of manhood and improving the general health of the nation.”

In the last decade of his life, Ansari conducted such testicle grafting operations on around 700 people. These included property agents, merchants, jewellers, bankers, provincial civil servants, sportsmen and labourers.

In a letter to Aziz Ansari, his cousin, the doctor wrote that Eugen Steinach “urged me to publish my researches (sic) and not to hide my light under the bushel”.

Ansari meticulously noted down around 440 cases of grafting that he had done. He monitored or kept in touch with these individuals for a period of three to four years after the surgery. In one case, he wrote that a wrestler whose testicles were badly damaged by an opponent and lost his “sexual power” for eight years underwent grafting and found that his sexual appetite was restored. In another case, a man in his early 50s, who was a heavy drinker and had contracted sexual diseases in his 30s, found his health to be deteriorating drastically. After Ansari grafted slices of a bull’s testicles onto the man’s gonads, he gained weight, became healthy, and started leading a normal life with a new wife. Through such case studies, Ansari emphasised that his surgeries resulted in the rejuvenation of patients, which added to the productivity of the nation.

He gave Gandhi a copy of his book Regeneration in Man, who read it with great interest in one day. Describing it as evidence of “research and great labour”, Gandhi, whose aversion to western medical practices is well known, asked his friend: “What is revival of youth worth if you cannot be sure of persistent physical existence for two consecutive seconds?”

But for the short, well-built, moustachioed doctor who played the role of Othello in a play while a student at the University of Edinburgh, these procedures were part of a larger vision for a “universal campaign against the disability of old age”.

source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home / by Danish Khan / May 10th, 2017

Book Review: Mothering A Muslim By Nazia Erum

Books (incl.Biographies - w.e.f.01 jan 2018 ), Community Involvement / Social Issues, ,

Noida, UTTAR PRADESH / NEW DELHI :

Islamophobia resides in your living room.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, a nationwide lockdown was imposed. During this time, we were exposed to a lot more information and news (both reliably and fake), than usual. 

Almost all news channels and WhatsApp groups were filled with hate and communal bullying towards Muslims. In every way possible, this pandemic was driven towards giving the situation a communal angle. It’s not something new. We all have experienced the deteriorating quality of reporting of Indian mainstream media. Recent events like the Delhi riots, Shaheen Bagh protest , and now a Pandemic, were all politically propagandised to make them communal events. 

It became overwhelming for me to watch such hateful news channels. As an educator, this made me think, how do these news affect the children? Following the guidelines for this pandemic, to change this crisis into opportunity, I ended up reading ‘Mothering A Muslim’ by Nazia Erum in this lockdown. Nazia Erum in her book decodes Islamophobia in schools.

Image Source: WordPress

Author: Nazia Erum / Publisher: Juggernaut / Genre: Non-Fiction

Nazia very eloquently writes about Islamophobia residing in our living rooms which then find its way in our children’s classrooms and playgrounds:

“This book only mirrors the world we have created for our children. In truth, it is not the words of the kids that hurt. It’s the imagined words in the speech of the parents and other adults around the kid that hurt more. What are we saying in our drawing rooms and over dinner tables which our kids translate into hatred for each other in classrooms and playgrounds? If we truly look into our hearts, and listen to our politicians and journalists with open minds, we will find the source.“

The language we use has a major impact on our children. How we talk about people who are different from us reflects our thoughts, beliefs, values, biases, and stereotypes. The way we talk has the power to include or exclude the people around us. 

She wanted to bring together the experiences of motherhood and challenges of Muslim mothers, and highlight how their worries are different from mothers from other religious backgrounds. The book is an experiential journey of how a part of someone’s identity (here, the Muslim identity), became the utmost crucial factor to be marked and held accountable for. 

The book was released in 2017, and it was a result of research conducted by the author about the experiences and anxieties of Muslim mothers. The book starts with Nazia’s dilemma to name her daughter. She shares her fear when she held her daughter for the first time; she was worried about even giving her a ‘Muslim’ name. 

“Should I choose a name that signalled her religion, like Fatima, or pick a modern and neutral-sounding name, like Myra, to avoid too much spotlight on her being Muslim? I settled for the latter.“

Holding that fear in her heart, Nazia went on a journey with some questions in her mind. Many mothers shared this common fear with her. She wanted to bring together the experiences of motherhood and challenges of Muslim mothers, and highlight how their worries are different from mothers from other religious backgrounds. The book is an experiential journey of how a part of someone’s identity (here, the Muslim identity), became the utmost crucial factor to be marked and held accountable for. 

This makes it an essential feminist book too as it is a powerful piece of writing that brings together the voices of mothers, which usually is lost in our patriarchal society. 

Nazia writes, “Hate affects not just the tormented by also the tormentor.” The difference lies in how hate affects the tormentor and the tormented. When hate becomes a free commodity, we need to teach our children love and empathy. We often talk about communal hate that is increasing every day in our social surroundings. What we forget to address is how this communal bullying has reached our children’s classrooms and playgrounds. How schools, which are considered safe spaces for learning and making friends, have become institutions of communal bullying?

Mothering A Muslim will make you understand how deep and how early the communal hate gets in the discourse of children’s lives. Children as young as those attending kindergarten to the ones attending higher education do face communal bullying. Bullying is repeated and instances of misuse of power with intent to cause harm is common. It can be verbal, physical, and online to cause humiliation and exclusion. 

Mothering A Muslim will make you understand how deep and how early the communal hate gets in the discourse of children’s lives. Children as young as those attending kindergarten to the ones attending higher education do face communal bullying. Bullying is repeated and instances of misuse of power with intent to cause harm is common. It can be verbal, physical, and online to cause humiliation and exclusion. 

‘Paki’, ‘Terrorists’, and ‘Go to Pakistan’ have become the classroom and playground discourses. What we need here to pause and think, where is it coming from?

A mother shared:

“When a Muslim student is bullied it is on pronounced religious lines. Now he is called Baghdadi, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, or simply a terrorist. Everyone’s speech is borrowed from the language used in the news [channels].”

This book provides us a mirror to reflect on what is wrong in our society and forces you to question what lessons and values you teach your children. I recommend this book to present and future, teachers and parents, and to all those who want to get an insight into what it means to be a Muslim in this country.  

Also, watch Nazia Erum interview by The Wire.

 Swati is a postgraduate in Education with a specialization in Early Childhood Care and Education, from the School of Education Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi. Her research interest lies in understanding gender issues in education. She can be reached at shukla011swati@gmail.com, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Featured Image Source: The Wire

source: http://www.feminisminindia.com / Feminism In India / Home> Culture> Books / by Guest Writer / posted by Swati Shukla / September 11th, 2020