The historical accounts of Malappuram were written by outside people
Release of the book on Malappuram Photo / Express
Kozhikode :
Why does Malappuram continue to appear as a trouble spot and the hub of religious fundamentalism in popular imagination and in some political utterances? A book on the history of the geographical area, which is part of the multi-volume project on different aspects of the district, asserts that the notion that Malappuram is a ‘fanatic zone’ was the creation of colonialists, which continues to linger in popular discourses even after the country became independent.
“People of this area fought against the British invasion and boycotted their language as a token of protest. Naturally, the colonialists had an antagonism towards the people.
But the tragedy is that there are people who still nurture the colonial mindset,” said Minister for Industries and IUML national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty, while launching the 10-volume book ‘Malappuram: Geography, People, Culture’ in Malappuram on October 4.
“The areas under the present Malappuram came under British rule in 1792. Since then, there were resistances against the British and the colonialists brought a number of black laws like the Mappila Outrages Act to contain the agitations.
There were a number of British reports like that of T L Strange, which depicted Malappuram as an unmanageable spot,” said Moyin Hudavi Malayamma, one of the general editors of the volume.
“The historical accounts of Malappuram were written by outside people. The people of Malappuram seldom got a chance to express what they actually are. Our project, in a way, is people writing their own history,” he added.
“Colonial records were the only available materials for those who studied the history of Malappuram. Naturally, those who wrote about Malappuram later were heavily influenced by these records.
The Hindutva narrative on Malappuram was built on this notion. Curiously, the Left is also parroting the narrative,” said Ashraf Valoor, one of the editors of the volume.
“Ours is an academic response to stereotyping. This is an alternative to the colonial and Hindutva narratives on Malappuram,” Valoor said. “It is true that early writers like EMS Namboodirippad viewed the 1921 agitation from the correct perspective. But later we see that the Left also internalised the colonial notion and that is why anti-Malappuram remarks are coming from some CPM leaders at regular intervals,” he added.
Valoor believes that the fact that the IUML is on the other side of the political spectrum also compelled the CPM to take an antagonistic stand towards the people of Malappuram. “Political enmity of some CPM leaders sometimes crosses the border and descends to communal level,” he said.
The volume contains academic articles on the process of ‘otherisation’ of Malappuram, the hate campaign during the formation of the district, the stories on the ‘aggression’ by Tipu Sultan and the communal amity in Malappuram. The project was envisaged by the Malappuram district committee of the Muslim Youth League and financially supported by the Saudi unit of Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre (KMCC), a feeder organisation of the IUML.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Kerala / by MP Prashanth / October 17th, 2026
Prof. Orus Ilyas of the Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), and research scholar Umrah Viqar presented their research at the 36th European Mustelid Colloquium, held alongside the Białowieża Ecology Conference in Białowieża, Poland.
Prof. Ilyas presented a paper titled “The Underappreciated Apex: Reviewing the Ecological Role and Conservation Status of the Yellow-throated Marten (Martes flavigula) Across the Himalayan and East Asian Bioregions”, examining the species’ ecological significance and conservation status across the Himalayan and East Asian regions.
Umrah Viqar presented her research on “Ecological Insight into the Yellow-throated Martens, Martes flavigula: Habitat Use and Dietary Pattern in the Reserved Forest of Ranikhet Kumaon, Himalayas”, focusing on the species’ habitat use and dietary patterns in the Himalayan region.
The presentations highlighted the ecological importance of the yellow-throated marten and the need for a better understanding of its ecology, distribution and conservation challenges.
Prof. Ilyas received financial assistance from the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), Government of India, and the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) to participate in the conference, while Umrah Viqar received support from the organisers.
source: http://www.indiaeducationdiary.in / India Education Diary / Home> Educational News> University News / by iednewsdesk /October 16th, 2026
Atif Syed tells Booked how his new book recovers Aligarh’s overlooked past. The account places AMU within a longer history of battles, migration and heritage.
Aligarh Beyond AMU: Atif Syed on the Forgotten History of a City That Outlasted Empires
For many people, Aligarh is inseparable from Aligarh Muslim University and the Aligarh movement led by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. But the city’s history stretches across centuries, encompassing successive rulers, military campaigns, French families, forgotten neighbourhoods and monuments that remain largely outside the public imagination.
In a conversation with Marya on Booked, Atif Syed, author of Aligarh: The City That Outlasted Empires, discusses his attempt to recover these overlooked narratives and place them within a larger account of the city.
The project began as a personal curiosity. Born in Aligarh but having left relatively early, Syed wanted to understand more about the city beyond its familiar identity. As he researched, he found that much of the existing narrative concentrated on the more recent past, leaving earlier chapters comparatively unexplored.
Among the discoveries that surprised him were the French families who lived in Aligarh for generations. One of them, George Peche, learnt Persian and Urdu and became an Urdu poet. Syed also describes the historical accounts of visitors, residences, gardens and neighbourhoods that reveal a more cosmopolitan and layered past than is commonly associated with the city.
The story reaches back much further. Syed discusses the settlement’s earlier identity as Koil or Kol, the conquest associated with Qutb al-Din Aibak, and the detailed accounts preserved by Persian historians. He also examines the 1857 uprising in Aligarh and the Battle of 1803, when British forces fought the Marathas and their French allies.
For Syed, the city’s geography is central to understanding its history. Located along routes connecting larger centres such as Agra and Delhi, Aligarh repeatedly became entangled in wider struggles for power. Its older town played a significant role long before the development of the Civil Lines area and the expansion of the institution that would become Aligarh Muslim University.
This does not mean diminishing the university’s importance. Syed describes the Aligarh movement as transformative, but argues that focusing exclusively on it risks losing the centuries of people, personalities and events that came before. He compares the movement to the finale of a story: the ending makes more sense when the audience knows the entire plot.
The author also explains his approach to historical research. He says he relied on primary accounts, academic sources, historical journals and documentation, distinguishing traditional accounts from claims grounded in historical evidence. His aim was to make the book readable as a narrative while remaining careful about the sources behind it.
Preserving the city’s physical heritage is another part of the project. Syed says that some historical sites, including tombs and monuments hidden in narrow lanes, are difficult to locate. His book therefore includes a map linked to QR codes that direct readers to the sites. He hopes greater awareness will encourage efforts to conserve monuments that are in poor condition.
Aligarh: The City That Outlasted Empires is thus both a historical exploration and a tribute to the author’s birthplace. Its central proposition is that a city cannot be understood through a single institution, period or identity. To see Aligarh more fully, its lesser-known stories must be brought back into view.
source: http://www.indiatoday.in / India Today / Home> Books / by India Today Web Desk / October 16th, 2026
Saba recalled her father’s lessons in composure, fairness and thoughtful speech.
Saif Ali Khan and Saba share a bond rooted in family and memories. IANS
Dubai:
Saba Pataudi, sister of Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan, has opened up about her responsibility for managing the Pataudi family’s legacy, revealing that her late father, former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, entrusted her with the role.
Saba, the daughter of actor Sharmila Tagore and the late Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, oversees responsibilities connected to the family’s Bhopal estate and the Auqaf-e-Shahi trust. The family’s legacy has been estimated at more than Rs 10 billion.
In an interview, Saba explained that her father played a defining role in preparing her for the responsibility.
“Abba left that to me,” she said, reflecting on the trust her father placed in her and the lessons she continues to draw from him.
Lessons from her father
Saba recalled how her father taught her to remain composed, treat people fairly and choose her words carefully. She said those principles continue to guide her approach to managing the family’s affairs.
She also described her father as someone she continues to turn to spiritually, even after his death. His guidance, she said, helped her understand the responsibilities associated with the family’s heritage.
Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, popularly known as Tiger Pataudi, was one of India’s prominent cricketers and captained the national team. His marriage to Sharmila Tagore brought together two well-known families from Indian sport and cinema.
What does the family legacy involve?
Saba’s responsibilities extend beyond the management of a family estate. As the mutawalli of the Auqaf-e-Shahi trust, she oversees the trust’s properties and charitable responsibilities.
These include mosques and other properties linked to the family’s historical ties to Bhopal, as well as facilities for pilgrims visiting Makkah and Medina.
The reported valuation of more than Rs 10 billion relates to the wider family legacy and should not be interpreted as Saba’s personal wealth. Her role involves stewardship and management of the trust’s assets and responsibilities.
Saba has also discussed plans for initiatives benefiting women and girls, including a girls’ school and a hospital for women, subject to the resolution of pending legal matters involving family property.
A responsibility entrusted by her father
Saba’s reflections offer a glimpse into a side of the Pataudi family that extends beyond celebrity and cricket. While Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan are widely recognised for their careers in the entertainment industry, Saba has taken on responsibilities associated with preserving the family’s historical and charitable legacy.
For her, the role is closely tied to her father’s confidence in her abilities and the values he instilled in her. She continues to regard those lessons as central to carrying forward the responsibilities he entrusted to her.
source: http://www.gulfnews.com / Gulf News / Home> Entertainment> Bollywood / by Devadasan K P, Chief Visual Editor / October 14th, 2026
During extensive field surveys across the Jammu and Kashmir region, researchers identified three previously unknown species of the genus Conocephalus, more commonly known as meadow katydids or long-ho…
During extensive field surveys across the Jammu and Kashmir region, researchers identified three previously unknown species of the genus Conocephalus, more commonly known as meadow katydids or long-horned grasshoppers. The discovery was led by Muzamil Syed Shah and a team of entomologists from Aligarh Muslim University. The new species have been named Conocephalus usmanii, Conocephalus nagariensis, and Conocephalus ganderbali.
Prior to this study, the mountainous region of Kashmir was thought to host only a single species of this genus. The team’s findings suggest that the area’s complex topography, which includes the Western Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range, has fostered a much richer variety of insect life than previously recorded. To find these elusive insects, the researchers trekked through various habitats, including tall meadow grasses, bushes, and deciduous forests, collecting adult specimens during the day.
The researchers used Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to distinguish the new species from their known relatives. This allowed them to capture high-resolution images of the stridulatory files, a microscopic row of teeth on the male insect’s wings that acts like a musical comb to produce their characteristic chirping sound. By counting these teeth and measuring the shape of the insects’ body parts, the team was able to prove they had found entirely new branches of the tree of life.
Each of the three new species possesses unique physical blueprints that set them apart. Conocephalus nagariensis, found in the Budgam district, is distinguished by its spindle-shaped appendages (cerci) and a stridulatory file containing exactly 34 teeth. It is dedicated to Dr. Rajendra Nagar, a researcher credited with discovering several other species of katydids across the country, and bears his name.
In contrast, Conocephalus ganderbali, discovered in the Ganderbal region, is notably small and slender, with a musical file of only 28 teeth and a unique V-shaped incision on its underbelly. Its name is derived from the Ganderbal district in Kashmir, the specific locality where the researchers first collected the specimens.
The third species, Conocephalus usmanii, features a flat, elongated plate on its abdomen and a musical file with 36 teeth. It was named in honour of Professor Mohd Kamil Usmani, a scholar who has made significant contributions to the study of Orthoptera (the group of insects including grasshoppers and katydids) in India.
Beyond the three new species, the study also provided new records for other katydids in the region, such as Conocephalus longipennis and C. kwasiphaiensis, which were previously known only in other parts of India. This suggests that Kashmir serves as a vital corridor for insect migration and evolution.
The discovery highlights how much of the natural world remains unexplored, even in well-known geographical areas. The researchers noted that because Kashmir is so biologically diverse yet understudied, many more species likely remain hidden in plain sight within its mountain valleys. The physical type specimens used to describe these new insects have been deposited in the Museum of Zoology at Aligarh Muslim University, where they will serve as a permanent reference for future generations of scientists.
This article was written with the help of generative AI and edited by an editor at Research Matters.
Wani, historically known as Wun, is an old town of the Vidarbha region whose history reflects the changing political boundaries of central India. At different times, the Wani area was connected with the Nizam’s dominions, while the neighbouring Chandrapur region was historically associated with the Gond rulers. To the east and south lay territories of the erstwhile Hyderabad State, including the area that subsequently became Adilabad district and is today part of Telangana.
Wani’s political identity changed with successive territorial reorganisations. The area was once associated with the Nizam of Hyderabad. After independence, it came under the larger Central Provinces and Berar/Madhya Pradesh administrative framework before becoming part of Maharashtra when the state was formed in 1960.
This layered history is important in understanding the social background of Dr Abdul Razzaq Ahmed, a prominent Muslim of Wani. His family belonged to an established local community whose standing was associated with both landholding and professional achievement. Dr Abdul Razzaq Ahmed was a dermatologist, while later generations entered administration, medicine, and law.
Today, Dr A. Razzaque Ahmed, MD, DSc, is internationally recognised as a dermatologist, immunologist and academic physician, and as a pioneer in autoimmune blistering diseases. He has served as Professor of Dermatology and Director of the Centre for Blistering Diseases at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He is associated with the Ibn Sina Professorship. His career has brought together clinical medicine, molecular immunology, laboratory research, therapeutic innovation, teaching and philanthropy.
Yet his significance lies not simply in professional distinction. His life represents the transformation of education into knowledge, knowledge into healing, and achievement into service.
Roots, Education and the Making of a Cosmopolitan Mind
Dr Ahmad spent his early childhood in Wani in a house built by his great-grandfather around 1875. He was the son of Salam Ahmed and Begum Noor Jehan and grew up in a family that regarded education and social advancement as important instruments of human development.
That ethos subsequently found institutional expression through the Begum Noor Jehan Salam Ahmed Trust in Yavatmal district. Under Begum Noor Jehan’s leadership, the Trust established educational institutions including the Sunrise English Medium Convent, Wani; the Noor Jahan Begum Salam Ahmed Arts and Commerce College, Wani; and the Noor Jahan Begum Salam Ahmed Women’s College of Law.
The women’s law college was particularly significant, reflecting a deliberate commitment to giving women access to professional education, legal knowledge and greater independence. The family tradition therefore gave education a meaning larger than individual advancement: it expanded opportunity and enabled others to participate more fully in society. That principle would later find expression in Dr Ahmad’s own teaching and philanthropy.
His early education exposed him to unusually diverse intellectual and cultural environments. Until the age of seven, he studied at a convent run by French nuns and later attended a Jesuit Catholic boarding school in Nagpur.
At fifteen, an American Field Service International Scholarship took him to Le Mars, Iowa, where he lived with the Thompson family, attended the local high school and studied at Westmar College. The experience gave a young student from central India an early encounter with American society and education, broadening his intellectual horizons.
Returning to India, he pursued pre-medical studies at Nagpur University before entering the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. At AIIMS, he distinguished himself academically, standing first in many classes and receiving the Gold Medal as the outstanding graduate of his cohort. The movement from Wani to Nagpur and from Nagpur to AIIMS marked the first major stage in a life that would repeatedly cross geographical and intellectual boundaries.
After completing his medical education, Dr Ahmad moved to the United States for specialist training. He trained in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh, Dermatology at the University at Buffalo and Clinical Immunology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he subsequently joined the faculty.
His growing interest in the molecular basis of disease led him to Harvard, where he pursued advanced research in molecular immunology and earned a Doctor of Science degree. His investigations attracted National Institutes of Health support and developed into the Ahmed Laboratory, which remained NIH-funded for more than two decades.
A defining feature of his career was integrating laboratory science with clinical medicine. Disease encountered in the clinic generated scientific questions; laboratory research sought their answers; and those discoveries returned to patients through improved diagnosis and treatment.
From Molecular Discovery to a New Paradigm of Care
Dr Ahmad became an international authority on autoimmune blistering diseases, particularly pemphigus and mucous membrane pemphigoid. These rare disorders can be debilitating, disfiguring and, in severe cases, life-threatening.
His research examined the immunological and genetic mechanisms underlying these diseases. Among his key contributions was identifying associations between specific HLA-DQB1 genes and pemphigus in different populations. He reported the association of HLA-DQB10402 with Jewish pemphigus patients and HLA-DQB10501 with non-Jewish patients. Studies of relatives helped demonstrate that low titres of pemphigus autoantibodies could occur without full clinical disease. He also distinguished pathogenic from non-pathogenic autoantibodies, demonstrating the pathogenic significance of IgG4 and the non-pathogenic character of IgG1 in pemphigus.
His investigations involving patients from Northwestern Iran and comparisons with Ashkenazi Jewish patients in the United States and Israel revealed striking genetic homology. They contributed to wider research concerning the population history of Ashkenazi Jews.
His molecular research extended to mucous membrane pemphigoid. He identified alpha-6 integrin as a putative antigen in oral pemphigoid and beta-4 integrin in disease involving other mucosal sites, identified epitopes on these molecules and investigated their role experimentally in animal models and tissue cultures. These studies helped shift the field from clinical description towards molecular understanding.
But Dr Ahmad’s contribution did not end with discovery. He sought to create a system that could translate scientific knowledge directly into comprehensive patient care. In Boston, he established the Centre for Blistering Diseases, bringing together specialists in oral medicine, ophthalmology, ENT, gastroenterology, urology, gynaecology, proctology, internal medicine, nutrition and clinical psychology.
The multidisciplinary model reflected the nature of the diseases themselves, which can affect several organs and mucosal surfaces. Rather than leaving patients to navigate separate specialities, the Centre organised care around the patient’s complexity.
His commitment to patients extended beyond medical treatment. In 1993, he established the Boston Blistering Diseases Support Group, recognising that people living with rare and potentially life-threatening disorders also require emotional support, information and a community of shared experience. The model was subsequently emulated elsewhere, including by the International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation.
Transforming Treatment and Restoring Lives
One of Dr Ahmad’s most consequential contributions was his pioneering work with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) in autoimmune blistering diseases.
Severe disease had traditionally been treated with corticosteroids and other immunosuppressive drugs, which could themselves produce serious complications. Dr Ahmad developed and refined IVIg protocols that enabled some patients to achieve prolonged remission and, in certain cases, discontinue conventional therapy.
He also addressed access. Because IVIg is expensive, he presented clinical and pharmacoeconomic evidence involving 160 patients to Medicare authorities. The resulting policy permitting Medicare coverage for IVIg in blistering diseases helped broaden access, and private insurers later adopted similar policies.
His work with rituximab marked another major therapeutic advance. In collaboration with Harvard oncologists, he developed a protocol combining rituximab and IVIg that targeted the B-cell mechanisms involved in autoimmune disease. The results were reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, with subsequent long-term follow-up demonstrating sustained disease control in treated patients.
Some patients achieved exceptionally prolonged remission without continuing therapy, in some cases for more than 20 years. His continuing research has examined whether successful treatment can restore immune balance rather than merely suppress disease. Long-term follow-up of patients with pemphigus treated with IVIg contributed to this emerging understanding, with findings reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2024.
His work has also addressed ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, a rare autoimmune disease capable of causing progressive scarring and irreversible blindness. Research into its mechanisms helped establish therapeutic approaches involving IVIg and subsequently rituximab combined with IVIg.
The significance of such work extends beyond disease control. Preventing blindness preserves independence, employment, family life and human dignity. It exemplifies a broader principle in Dr Ahmad’s career: the ultimate measure of medical success is not simply suppressing disease but restoring a patient’s capacity to live a meaningful life.
This philosophy also shaped the institutions he built. He developed an outpatient infusion model that enabled patients to receive sophisticated intravenous therapies without prolonged conventional hospitalisation, attracting patients from across the United States and other countries.
As a teacher and mentor, he has influenced generations of medical and dental students, residents and researchers. Many former trainees subsequently became professors and departmental leaders. He has lectured internationally for decades and served as a visiting professor at universities worldwide. His influence has therefore travelled not only through publications and therapies but through the people he taught.
The breadth of his contribution has been recognised through numerous professional honours, including the William Gies Award, the Walter F. Lever Award, lifetime achievement and research contribution awards, and international awards for excellence. The International Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Foundation honoured him as Physician of the Year, and he has also received India’s Charaka Award. In 1999, the Governor of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts House of Representatives separately recognised his contribution to the Commonwealth’s citizens.
Science, Faith and the Larger Meaning of Service
Another dimension of Dr Ahmad’s life is his religious commitment. During his extensive international travels, he has repeatedly visited Makkah and performed more than one hundred Umrahs. His scientific and spiritual commitments have existed alongside one another. Scientific inquiry seeks to understand disease; faith provides a framework of gratitude, humility and responsibility.
That sense of responsibility has also shaped his philanthropy. In addition to the educational legacy of the Begum Noor Jehan Salam Ahmed Trust, Dr Ahmad has devoted substantial resources to educating disadvantaged young people, particularly women, supporting higher education, professional training, books, computers, transport and leadership development.
The results have reportedly reached thousands of students, with women beneficiaries entering the judiciary, public prosecution and legal practice. The objective is therefore not simply charitable relief but the creation of durable opportunities through education.
Dr Abdul Razzaque Ahmad’s life is not merely a story of migration from India to America or advancement from a small town to elite academic institutions. It is a story of continuity through transformation.
Wani provided the beginning; Nagpur broadened the horizon; AIIMS supplied an exceptional medical foundation; Pittsburgh, Buffalo and UCLA provided specialist training; Harvard deepened his scientific inquiry; and Boston became the centre from which his clinical and research contributions reached the wider world.
The ancestral house in Wani and the laboratories, clinics and lecture halls of Boston may appear to belong to different worlds. In his life they form a single continuum. The family gave him an inheritance of education and responsibility. He transformed that inheritance into scientific discovery and clinical innovation, and then extended its benefits through teaching, patient care and philanthropy.
His legacy is therefore measured not only by publications, professorships and awards, but by what those achievements enabled: patients who obtained relief, individuals protected from irreversible disability, students who gained educational opportunities, physicians shaped by his mentorship, and a field of medicine advanced by his research.
The distance from Wani to Boston is considerable. The distance his ideas travelled is greater still. A journey that began in the hinterland of India entered the global corridors of academia. Its deepest destination, however, was neither fame nor distinction, but service—to the patient seeking relief, the student seeking opportunity, the scientist seeking truth, and society seeking a more humane future.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror /Home>Personalities> Positive Story / by Moin Qazi / October 10th, 2026
Parvez Parwaz, a 72-year-old former journalist and social activist, died in Gorakhpur District Jail on Sunday while serving a life sentence in a gangrape case. Jail officials said he suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes. He developed breathing difficulties late Saturday night and was taken to the district hospital, where he died around 2:50 am during treatment.
Parwaz had been in custody since September 2018 after a woman accused him and another man of gangrape. A district court sentenced him to life imprisonment in July 2020.
His death has revived attention on his prolonged legal challenge against a 2007 speech by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, then a BJP MP from Gorakhpur. On 27 January 2007, Parwaz recorded Adityanath addressing a gathering near Gorakhpur railway station amid communal tension following a clash during a Muharram procession. Adityanath was quoted saying that for the blood of one Hindu, “we will not get an FIR registered against the administration, but will instead have at least 10 such people killed.”
Violence followed in parts of the city, with reports of at least two deaths and extensive property damage. Parwaz sought an investigation into alleged incitement. A local court rejected his plea, and later efforts, including before the Supreme Court, did not yield the proceedings he sought before his own criminal case led to imprisonment.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim> Media / by Muslim Mirror Desk / October 13th, 2026
The appointment of a Muslim leader, Abdul Mateen Siddiqui, as the new president of Samajwadi Party state unit in Uttarakhand has sprung surprise in the political circles and indicated the emergence of new political equations less than five months ahead of high-stakes Assembly elections in the state as well as in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
Sixty-six-year-old Siddiqui hails from the Nainital district and has previously served as Samajwadi Party’s general secretary and state in-charge in Uttarakhand. He previously contested the Haldwani Assembly seat on the party ticket in 2007 and 2012, but lost both the times.
Following his appointment, Siddiqui announced the dissolution of all existing state executive committees, district units, and frontal organisations to rebuild the party structure from the ground up ahead of the Assembly elections. Alongside Siddiqui, Sonam Bagwadi and Abha Barthwal were named as state in-charges/observers for the Uttarakhand unit of Samajwadi Party.
Siddiqui, a businessman, has replaced a mahant, Shubham Giri, who was named Samajwadi Party’s working president over eight months ago. This is the first time that the party, which was once a force to be reckoned with in Uttar Pradesh, has appointed a Muslim face as the Uttarakhand unit president.
Alongside forming a new state executive committee, Siddiqui has been asked to focus on nearly 20 seats with significant Muslim populations across Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar, Dehradun and Nainital districts, and to also work in bordering Muslim-dominated districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Uttarakhand is scheduled to go to the polls along with Uttar Pradesh in February 2027.
Muslim voters have largely supported the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party in these seats in several elections in the past. Rajendra Chaudhary, Samajwai Party spokesperson and in- charge of Uttarakhand, was quoted as saying by media outlets that Siddiqui has been appointed because Muslims are a major constituent of the electorate in the districts located in the plains of Uttarakhand.
Evidently, the move to appoint Siddiqui forms part of Samajwadi Party’s strategy to consolidate support in Muslim-dominated Assembly seats across several districts in Uttarakhand as well as the bordering regions in western Uttar Pradesh. The decision is also set to create new political equations in the region, as the Muslim community will be playing a crucial role in the 2027 Assembly elections with its capacity to determine the poll outcome.
Samajwadi Party had appointed Shubham Giri, 34, as the Uttarakhand unit working president in January this year, when the Magh Mela in Prayagraj had turned into a political battlefield as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party and Congress took on each other over the alleged high-handedness of the Uttar Pradesh administration towards Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of the Jyotirmath in Uttarakhand.
Jyotirmath, also known as Joshimath, is a sacred town and municipal board in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. It is one of the four cardinal monasteries established in the 8th century by Adi Shankaracharya. It also serves as the winter home of Lord Badrinath, as the deity is moved from the Badrinath Temple to the ancient Narasimha Temple in Jyotirmath during the winter months.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand had staged a sit-in protest after the Uttar Pradesh police allegedly prevented him from taking a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya on January 18 this year. The Prayagraj administration denied these allegations. Akhilesh and the Congress had extended support to the seer, attacking the ruling BJP for disrespecting the religion.
On Giri’s appointment then, the Samajwadi Party camp had said it was done because the party respected all mahants, seers and saints. His selection was also seen as an attempt to counter the BJP’s allegation against the Samajwadi Party for indulging in so-called Muslim appeasement.
Samajwadi Party has maintained that Giri’s performance as the Uttarakhand unit chief was not satisfactory. Despite this, he has now been appointed as the state unit’s co-incharge. Giri, on the other hand, has stated that he had tried to strengthen Samajwai Party in the state and organised various programmes to connect with people.
“But some people in the party got upset with me. Also, I am preparing to contest election from Pirankaliyar seat in Haridwar district. So, I requested the party leadership to free me from the responsibility of the state working president, so that I can focus on my seat,” Giri was quoted as saying. Being a mahant, Giri wears saffron and lives in an ashram in Haridwar. He has been engaged in various religious activities.
Siddiqui has announced that since the Assembly elections are round the corner in both Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, he will work to boost the party’s prospects in both states. He says he will focus on about 20 seats in Uttarakhand which have significant Muslim population, and affirms that the party will contest with full strength there.
“I will work also in several seats in bordering western Uttar Pradesh districts like Bareilly, Rampur, Moradabad, Bijnor, Saharanpur, etc., where Muslims are in large numbers. Our first priority is to ensure the formation of the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh,” Siddiqui said.
Both the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, which are currently allies in the Opposition INDIA bloc, vie with each other for Muslim votes in these districts of western Uttar Pradesh. While the two parties are preparing to forge an alliance to fight the elections in Uttar Pradesh, no such alignment between them is expected in Uttarakhand.
Muslims make up about 14% of Uttarakhand’s population. The districts with the highest proportion of Muslims in the state are Haridwar (34.28%), Udham Singh Nagar (22.58%), Nainital (12.65%) and Dehradun (11.91%). In the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party had contested 55 of the state’s 70 seats, failing to open its account.
The BJP won 47 seats to return to power, with the Congress winning 19. The BSP won two seats, Manglaur and Laksar in Haridwar, with both its winning candidates being Muslim. In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh elections, the BJP returned to power by winning 255 of the state’s 403 seats as against Samajwadi Party’s 111. In western Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for 74 seats, Samajwadi Party got 23 and its then ally Rashtiya Lok Dal eight, with the BJP bagging 43 seats.
source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow / Home> Politics / by India Tomorrow, Correspondent / October 14th, 2026
In a workspace near the Budhi Jagulai temple in Odisha’s Kendrapara district, 26 women divide tasks with quiet efficiency. One stitches the body of a shopping bag, another attaches the handles and a third applies the finishing touches. Bringing them all together is Israt Jahan, a 50-year-old woman whose path into earning a livelihood began with loss.
After the death of her husband Zakir Hussain Khan, a well-known local sportsman and journalist, Israt stepped outside her home to support her family. She drew on sewing skills that dated back to 1985, took up wool craft, embroidery and stitching, and eventually built something larger than she had imagined.
In 2019, she formed the Swadhin Producer Group. The COVID-19 pandemic halted work for two years, but when the women decided to resume, they pooled their personal savings and collected Rs 18,000 to restart without any initial government assistance. They shifted to jute work in 2022, drawn to the material’s biodegradable nature and the growing demand for plastic-free alternatives in a district already known for jute cultivation.
“We chose jute because it is environment-friendly,” said group secretary Rajida Khanam.
The group’s product range now includes handbags, shopping bags, bottle carriers, office and laptop bags, lunch bags, files, folders, sitting mats and letter holders. Fabric is sourced from Cuttack and, when demand rises, from Kolkata. Priced from Rs 150 per bag, each piece takes a skilled member around 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Members earn between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 a month. The group’s annual income stands at Rs 5 lakh to Rs 7 lakh. A one-time government startup grant of Rs 2.04 lakh helped them purchase eight machines, including an embroidery machine and electronic sewing units. No further financial grant has followed.
The group also receives bulk orders for files and folders used in agriculture, horticulture and block-level training programmes, sometimes running into thousands of pieces. Most retail sales take place at fairs.
For member Subhasini Swain, the venture offers something beyond income. “Besides learning and earning happening together, the Hindu-Muslim companionship here is the best part,” she said.
Kendrapara Collector Raghuram R. Iyer said the administration would ask Mission Shakti’s district programme manager to examine the group’s marketing needs and arrange additional credit support if required.
Israt’s own hope is straightforward. “The women want to contribute to their children’s education and support their families. If our message reaches the government, we would like some additional help,” she said.
source: http://www.radiancenews.com / Radiance News / Home> Latest News> Markers of Excellence> Social Service> Personality / by Radiance News Bureau / October 06th, 2026
Hyderabad, TELANGANA / Birmingham, UNITED KINGDOM :
The Hyderabad-origin doctor’s three-decade pursuit of better diabetes care and fairer health outcomes earns him an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)
Hyderabad :
The news arrived with all the ceremony one would expect of a royal honour. For Prof Wasim Hanif, however, it also prompted a journey in the opposite direction — back to Hyderabad.
Back to St. George’s Grammar School. Back to Gandhi Medical College. Back to the city where medicine first became more than a profession and where a young student began imagining a life in healthcare.
This month, Prof Hanif was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List 2026 for services to diabetes care and tackling health inequalities. In Britain, the award recognises a career spent shaping policy, advancing research and advocating for patients often overlooked by healthcare systems.
In Hyderabad, the news was received somewhat differently. Here, the honour belongs as much to memory as achievement.
Hanif grew up in a Hyderabad that was very different from the technology hub it would later become. His father served as General Manager of the Azam Jahi Mills at Gunfoundry, one of the institutions that formed part of the city’s industrial landscape. Education was valued, ambition was encouraged and, like many Hyderabadi families of the period, the expectation was simple: work hard, study harder.
Medicine became his path, first in Hyderabad’s classrooms and later in hospitals thousands of miles away. At Gandhi Medical College, Hanif belonged to a generation of students who viewed medicine not merely as a profession but as a public service. The crowded wards, demanding schedules, and constant interaction with patients offered lessons that would remain with him long after he left the city.
When he moved to the United Kingdom in 1995, he joined a long line of Indian doctors seeking advanced training and professional opportunities abroad. Over time, one question increasingly shaped his career: why do some communities experience significantly poorer health outcomes than others?
For Prof Hanif, diabetes was never simply a disease measured through blood sugar levels or laboratory reports. It was also a lens through which broader questions about society could be examined. Why were certain ethnic groups more vulnerable? Why did some communities have less access to healthcare? Why did outcomes differ so sharply between populations living in the same country?
These questions would come to define much of his professional life.
Today, he serves as a professor of diabetes and endocrinology at University Hospitals Birmingham and Clinical Advisor to Diabetes UK. His expertise has taken him far beyond hospital clinics and lecture halls. He has advised the World Health Organisation (WHO), the European Union and the UK Parliament on issues relating to diabetes, obesity, ethnicity and public health.
Yet colleagues often describe him as someone who has remained grounded in the realities of patient care. Behind the research papers, policy recommendations and leadership positions lies the daily work of listening to patients and understanding the circumstances that shape their health.
His work has been particularly influential in drawing attention to the disproportionate burden of diabetes among South Asian and minority ethnic communities. Long before health inequality became a widely discussed public issue, Hanif was highlighting the social, cultural and economic factors that influence health outcomes.
Reflecting on the honour, Prof Hanif responded with characteristic humility.
“I am deeply honoured to receive this award. Throughout my career, I have been driven by a desire to improve the lives of people living with diabetes and to address the inequalities that continue to affect health outcomes across our society.”
The award, he emphasised, belongs to many others as well.
“This recognition reflects the dedication and support of the many colleagues, students, researchers and healthcare professionals I have had the privilege to work with. While this is a tremendous personal honour to my family and me, it is also recognition of the importance of continuing our efforts to deliver fairer, more inclusive healthcare.”
Today, Prof Hanif’s influence extends across some of Britain’s most respected medical institutions. He is President-elect of the British Medical Association, Trustee of Diabetes UK, Non-Executive Director of the BMJ, Chair of the Association for the Study of Obesity UK and Trustee of the South Asian Health Foundation.
Taken together, the appointments speak to the esteem in which he is held within British medicine. Yet honours and titles tell only part of the story. The larger story is about persistence — about a doctor who spent three decades asking difficult questions about fairness in healthcare and working to find practical answers.
For Hyderabad, the recognition carries a special resonance. The city has produced generations of doctors who have built distinguished careers across the world. Prof Wasim Hanif now joins a long list of Hyderabadis whose contributions have transcended national boundaries while remaining rooted in the values and education that shaped their early lives.
The OBE marks a significant milestone. But perhaps its deeper significance lies elsewhere.
It recognises the idea that medicine is not only about treating disease. At its best, it is also about reducing barriers, widening access and ensuring that those most vulnerable are not left behind.
That conviction has guided Wasim Hanif from the classrooms of Hyderabad to the highest levels of British healthcare. The honour may have been announced in London, but its roots lie elsewhere – in the classrooms of St George’s Grammar School, the wards of Gandhi Medical College and a Hyderabad upbringing that first shaped a young doctor’s understanding of service.
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Syed Khaled Shahbaaz is a Hyderabad-based journalist and author of the best-selling coffee-table book ‘The Kohinoors: Distinguished Personalities of Hyderabad.’ He may be reached at syedkhaledshahbaaz@gmail.com.
source: http://www.clarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home> Editor’s Pick>India> Indian Muslim / by Syed Khalid Shahbaaz / June 18th, 2026
