‘Everyone is equal, whether you’re poor or rich, it doesn’t matter’, says Ashraf ‘Sherry’ Thamarassery.
Ashraf ‘Sherry’ Thamarassery, who volunteers his time helping repatriate the dead from the Emirates, has helped repatriate 4,700 bodies from the UAE and recently helped send the remains of Indian actress Sridevi back home to Mumbai. Jon Gambrell / AP Photo
Away from the camera flashes and the eyes of her millions of fans in India, the actress Sridevi’s body made its way to a simple mortuary in Ajman, where one man helped sign out her remains to return home.
Listed only as “ASHRAF” on the official paperwork in Dubai, Ashraf ‘Sherry’ Thamarassery is a 44-year-old Indian from Kerala who has become a ferryman of sorts for those who die here in the Emirates.
From indebted labourers to the moneyed elite, Thamarassery has helped repatriate 4,700 bodies to 38 countries across the world. He views it as a noble responsibility.
“For them, you or me, it’s all the same and everyone is equal. If someone dies in their room, they will take them to the hospital and then to be checked at the police mortuary,” Mr Thamarassery said.
“It’s the same process, whether Dubai or Sharjah or any emirate. Whether you’re poor or rich, it doesn’t matter.”
Sherry offered shrugs when talking about Sridevi, saying he helped repatriate five bodies on Tuesday, including the famed Bollywood star’s.
It’s hard to overstate the power Sridevi had over the imagination of many in India.
Starting out as a four-year-old child star in south Indian regional movies, she later became known for her impeccable comic timing as well as her dancing skills.
She appeared in hundreds of films, perhaps most known for her song-and-dance Hawa Hawai routine in the 1987 film Mr India, in which she joyfully prances around in an almost-elastic set of whirls, twirls and silly faces.
She smashed into the male-dominated movie industry to become her own star.
The 54-year-old Sridevi, only known by one name, which means “Goddess” in Hindi, died in Dubai while in the UAE for a wedding. Police and prosecutors say she drowned in a hotel bathtub after losing consciousness, calling her death accidental. Police officials also have said the actress had alcohol in her system at the time of her drowing.
News of her death dominated India’s newspapers and many television networks, with coverage ranging from the restrained to the lurid. One TV station aired a segment showing a reporter talking about her death while laying in a bathtub, while others had computer-generated graphics imagine the scene. Many newspapers chose not to mention she had alcohol in her system, while a hashtag #LetHerRestInPeace emerged on social media.
While Indian officials quickly cancelled her passport and prepared the other documents, Mr Thamarassery said the necessary police clearance slowed Sridevi’s repatriation. He said he has received hundreds of calls from journalists, officials and others in the interim.
When the clearance came, Mr Thamarassery travelled to a government-run mortuary in Dubai and there officials embalmed her corpse as he handled paperwork for her and three others.
On Tuesday night, Mr Thamarassery returned home to the apartment he shares with his wife and daughter in Ajman. There, he runs a mechanics shop but focuses largely on his philanthropic efforts.
Shelf upon shelf in his home bears honours and awards. A framed picture hangs on the wall showing him meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I do this to earn blessings, but also when someone dies here, people don’t know how to manage the repatriation procedures,” he said. “That’s why I do it.”
All the while, his phone never stopped ringing, some of them undoubtedly new calls for his help.
source: http://www.thenational.ae / The National / Home> UAE / by Associated Press / February 28th, 2018
Sameena Mustafa has had a successful career as a real estate broker working with nonprofits and small businesses in addition to a rising profile in the city’s comedy scene. In 2015 she cofounded Simmer Brown, a South Asian comedy collective. But the 2016 election made her take a hard look at the local political arena and decide to get involved. Now Mustafa, 47, is one of three Democratic primary challengers to incumbent Fifth District U.S. representative Mike Quigley, who’s held that office for nearly a decade. Mustafa believes he’s out of touch with the progressive values that she sees to be increasingly animating the district. If she wins, Mustafa would be the first Muslim woman in Congress and the first Indian-American woman to represent Illinois.
Here at the Reader we’re familiar with your comedy work. Have you always been doing comedy alongside your real estate career?
I started comedy in 2014, and that’s the newest venture. Real estate I started in 2003. I was still working full-time while I was performing. Comedy is a late-night venture, as it were, so it’s not something that would conflict with business meetings.
I had been creative when I was younger. I wrote poetry, and I wrote in high school. So I had that creative side of me, and it was one of those things where someone was like, “Take a class at Second City!,” and it was fine. I took another one and a friend suggested, “Hey, if you like this but you want something a little bit different, try this women-only stand-up and storytelling class,” and that was the Feminine Comique. My graduation was four years ago, my comedy graduation. I never actually performed onstage before that graduation. It was so different from anything I’ve done in terms of writing. I did debate in college, so I had no problem speaking in public, but this is very different—it was me bringing my political ideas, my creative side, and my comfort with being in front of people. Immediately I had an affinity for it. I really enjoyed it. I was nervous the first time I was onstage, but I loved it.
I can’t find any of your stand-up on YouTube. Is there a reason for that?
I see comedy as something you do. It’s something you can be doing for 20 years and still be learning and evolving—it’s like any craft. To me it was more important for people to come to shows. I didn’t want to do, like, a Facebook live. It was more about having the interaction and immediacy. We’re essentially creating an experience, a community in real time.
You’re running against an incumbent who’s held this seat for nearly a decade. Some would say that it’s not a great strategy for a first attempt at political office. Why did you decide to spend your time and money on a race that’s really stacked against you?
The electorate is looking for a different type of leader, one that’s grassroots, connected to the community, that isn’t somebody that’s been selected for them. If you look at the last ten years, Democrats have lost over 1,000 seats on every level including the White House. So it’s one of those things where all the data is pointing against your assumptions, yet you’re still holding those assumptions? To me this was a district, this was an incumbent that was important enough to challenge because we have a completely different environment than we did two years ago. And so to have someone in that seat who doesn’t advocate for the values of the voters of the Fifth District was an opportunity to bring that, to bring that leadership.
And having lived in the district as long as I have and had immediate contact with people from all walks of life and different parts of the district—you get a sense of what people value. When you’re in an environment like a comedy show, it’s a flash focus group. It’s not hard to figure out what people are thinking and feeling and what they care about. Mike Quigley refused to do a town hall following the inauguration, which was something being done by Republican lawmakers across the country. And I thought: Why is my Democratic congressman, in a very Democratic district, refusing to do them?
You’ve been living in the district for 30 years. When did you first learn anything about your congressman? And can you describe your relationship with the congressman over the years?
I knew who he was and, frankly, because he has never been challenged, I voted for him. I knew he had the baseline: he was pro-choice, he was pro-LGBT. Then when I started looking at my stack of leaders up and down the ballot and started thinking about the issues I cared about and started doing some research on some stances that Mike Quigley had taken, it occurred to me that he may be good on those two issues but there’s so many issues on which he is falling short. Or, frankly, is in opposition to the values that I hold and that the voters hold in the district. Mike Quigley is not someone who sticks his neck out on issues.
If you were elected, you’d be the first Muslim woman in Congress. What goes through your mind as you consider that prospect?
It would certainly be a milestone, but I’m optimistic that people in Democratic politics are increasingly accepting of leaders irrespective of their religion, gender, or ethnicity and are looking for candidates who stand with them on the issues and share their values. More doors are opening for candidates who have something to offer but who historically have not had opportunities to serve.
In light of the conversation that you participated in with the Reader last year, talking about feminism and intersectionality in what would be considered a nonmainstream way, how are you bringing your political consciousness as a feminist committed to intersectionality to this very mainstream political arena?
It’s in how I’ve organized my campaign, it’s in how I’ve talked about the issues. . . . I gotta tell you, we’ve talked to thousands of voters, and this is a progressive district. So when you approach them, they assume you’re agreeing on some baseline principles. Are you pro-choice? Are you pro-LGBT? Do you support the Dreamers, immigration reform? Are you going to be supporting health care access for all? This is something I’ve found is resonating with voters.
On the intersectionality piece per se, I have made it a point to have a very inclusive team. The majority of the leaders on my team are women and women of color. Those are the kinds of things that resonate with volunteers, with donors, with voters.
And are you also mentally preparing yourself to step into an electoral political space which requires compromise and working with people who have a radically different political understanding of things?
I’ve spent the last 13 years advocating for people and organizations that are founded on values—nonprofits that are working on important issues like immigration, sexual assault survivors. It’s something where I’m literally negotiating against people who don’t necessarily share those values and they are not really committed to those outcomes. And they have their own agenda, and they have their own profit motive, specifically in the space of commercial real estate.
As it relates to being a public figure and having criticism—I’ve been doing it for the last six, seven months. I have put myself out there in a way that’s public, and in some ways it was an extension of what I was doing in the arts community. Because when you’re onstage, you’re essentially saying, “I am open to anything. I’m declaring my values, I’m declaring my beliefs, and I welcome you to challenge them.” But I’m not shying away from being a public figure.
You’ve talked about how problematic gerrymandering is, how it creates this strange monoculture of an electorate in one particular district. Is there anything you’ve been either pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised by as you’ve been campaigning around the absurd contours of the Fifth District?
I know this district, this is the district I grew up in, my parents have lived here for over 40 years, and I felt confident in my knowledge of what the values were that I held and that were shared by the voters. And one thing that I keep getting positive reinforcement on is how much, despite the gerrymandering, how much the voters and the district value diversity and believe in inclusion and view it as one of our strengths. I’m getting phone calls, e-mails, and messages from people who are saying, “We want to help you, we support you, we share your values and we want to see a leader like you represent us.” It’s humbling, and it’s an honor. This has been an incredible opportunity to connect with people on values and policies that they care about.
source: http://www.chicagoreader.com / The Chicago Reader – TheReader / Home> News> Politics> The Best of Chicago / by Maya Dokmasova / February 27th, 2018
Uttarakhand’s Anu Kumar became the first double gold medallist in the competition.
Nisar Ahmed wishes to “explode the myth that Indians cannot run below 10 seconds.” Photo: Special Arrangement.
Delhi sprinter Nisar Ahmad justified his decision to postpone a training trip to Jamaica, becoming the fastest runner at the Khelo IndiaSchool Games on Friday with a 10.76 seconds finish in the 100 metres dash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Karnataka’s V. A. Shashikanth was runner-up in 10.90s and Haryana’s Govind Kumar came third in 10.95s.
Ahmed, in fact, completed in 10.77s even as the recall whistle went off; he was told that the actual race would be run after 20 minutes. Karan Hegiste of Karnataka, expected to push Ahmed, was disqualified because of another false start on resumption.
“I want to use this scholarship to explode the myth that Indians cannot run below 10 seconds. I had to delay my trip to Jamaica but will now leave tomorrow,” Ahmed, who skipped the 200m to concentrate on the sprint, said.
Avantika Narale of Maharashtra was the fastest girl in the competition, winning the 100m in 12.35 seconds.
Double gold for Anu Kumar
Uttarakhand’s Anu Kumar, meanwhile, became the first double gold medallist in the competition, adding the 800m on Day Three to the 1500m he won on the first day with a personal best timing of 1:52.08. His previous best was 1:53.59, set at the World School Games in France where Anu finished second.
Also completing her golden double was Haryana’s Pooja, adding the Discus Throw gold to her kitty with a throw of 41.01m. She had earlier won gold in Shot Put as well. Tamil Nadu’s A. Jenci Susan won silver with a throw of 40.43m while Uttar Pradesh’s Nikita Verma won bronze.
Mane equals National record
In shooting, Shahu Mane, who has qualified for the Youth Olympics later this year, shot a score of 247.7 to equal the national record in the youth category and take gold ahead of more fancied rivals in the 10m air rifle competition. While Hriday Hazarika, the country’s top-ranked youth shooter, and Yashvardhan both managed to better the existing national record with scores of 624.3 and 623.9 respectively in qualifying, they faltered in the final round to finish out of the medal bracket.
Among the girls, Chandigarh’s Zeena Khitta took gold ahead of Nandita Sul and Yana Rathore. Zeena, who would be participating in the ISSF Junior World Cup in March, took control in the finals early on and stayed in front all through to finish with 251.6, 2.3 points ahead of second-placed Nandita.
100m: Boys:1. Nisar Ahmed (10.76s), 2. Shashikanth VA (10.90s), 3. Govind Kumar (10.95s); Girls: 1. Avantika Narale (12.35s), 2. R. Giridharani (12.49s), 3. M Santra Teresa Martin (12.61s).
800m: Boys:1. Anu Kumar (1:52.08), 2. N Sree Kiran (1:54.13), 3. Vaseem Tomar (1:55.78); Girls: 1. Tai Bamhane (2:13.37), 2. Priscilla Daniel (2:13.91), 3. Sandra A S (2:15.92).
M&C Saatchi India has appointed Parveez Shaikh as their senior vice president and executive creative director.Shaikh is best known for building Contract’s creative reputation during the 11 years that he spent at the agency before he quit, in 2003. He has worked as a creative consultant with a few leading agencies for a few years after that.
M&C Saatchi India has appointed Parveez Shaikh as their senior vice president and executive creative director.
Shaikh is best known for building Contract’s creative reputation during the 11 years that he spent at the agency before he quit, in 2003.
He has worked as a creative consultant with a few leading agencies for a few years after that.
Shaikh has worked on premium, blue-chip clients such as Philips Audio, Franklin Templeton AMC, Asian Paints, Shoppers’ Stop, ICICI Bank and Cadbury India.
He has won over a hundred national and international awards, including two Cannes Lions and five finalists at the prestigious Cannes Advertising Festival, an entry in the D&AD, the One Show, the New York Festival and the ‘Copywriter of the Year’ award.
He has also featured in the Indian Copy Book as one of the 16 best Indian copywriters of all time. Shaikh will be based in Mumbai.
source: http://www.campaignindia.in / Campaign India / Home> Advertising / by Campaign India Team / May 22nd, 2008
Player Ikram Ali of Madhya Pradesh Athletics Academy exhibited an impressive performance at ‘Khelo India School Games’ and brought laurels to the State. Ikram Ali bagged a gold medal for State in discuss throw.
It is to be noted that Khelo India School Games are being played at New Delhi. Ikram Khan secured first place by throwing 51.39 meters of pistol and earned gold medal by making Madhya Pradesh proud. Punjab in second place and Karnataka player in third position.
Madhya Pradesh’s 10 athletes are participating in Khelo India School Games, of which 8 are player of Madhya Pradesh State Athletics Academy. Under the competition, Academy’s player Sarvjit Patel will perform talent in the five-kilometer walk-through competition on Saturday.
Meanwhile, in All India Civil Services Volley Ball Competition Madhya Pradesh defeated Haryana.
Notably, the All India Civil Services Volley Ball competition, which started today in the city stadium, Madhya Pradesh defeated the Haryana Secretariat 2-0. The players of Madhya Pradesh performed better, defeating Haryana by 25-18, 25-19 in two sets.
Here on Friday 9 matches were played in the first session starting from 8am. Himachal Pradesh defeated Chhattisgarh Secretariat by 2-0. Similarly, the Goa Secretariat defeated GNCT Delhi, RSB Ahmedabad defeated RSB Uttarakhand, RSB Kochi defeated RSB Hyderabad, Central Secretariat Delhi defeated Tamil Nadu secretariat, RSB Mumbai defeated RSB Chennai, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat defeated Uttar Pradesh Secretariat and Gujarat Secretariat defeated Telangana Secretariat 2-0 difference.
RSB Hyderabad defeated RSB Kanpur, RSB Jabalpur defeated RSB Patna, RSB Kochi defeated RSB Jaipur by 2-0 in competitions in the second session in the second session on Friday.
source: http://www.dailypioneer.com / The Pioneer / Home> State Editions> Bhopal / by Staff Reporter / Saturday – February 03rd, 2018
The Telangana State members who won seven medals in the sixth National Judo Championship in Lucknow
Hyderabad:
Telangana managed to bag seven medals in the recently held sixth National Judo Championship at the Babu Singh Badminton Stadium in Lucknow.
Telangana led by coach MA Aziz managed to clinch a gold, a silver, and 5 bronze medals for its outstanding performance in various categories. Participants of the 28 membered brigade also made the state proud by securing the 2nd position in the junior category of the all India championship.
While K Shiv Kumar received the gold medal under the above 70 kg category and Sujit was awarded the silver for his performance in the “50 kg above” category. Hasan Ali Bawazir,Md Sohail, Ghazansarullah Khan, G Venkatesh and Nagaraj secured bronze medals in their respective divisions.
source: http://www.thehansindia.com / The Hans India / Home> Sports / February 12th, 2018
An alumnus of SMJN post graduate college in Haridwar has written a book “Muslim Vayask aur Media” which dwells of the views of the community members regarding their presentation in the media.
Dhanesh Dwivedi says that in his study, about 80 percent of adult Muslims in parts of Rajasthan, said that they felt as if media is not playing a positive role and at times is totally indifferent to them. This is based on an analysis of data from a 2014 survey conducted by research scholar Dwivedi.
A voracious writer, Dwivedi has worked as technician and interpretor of Russian language in Indian Air Force for almost 10 years. He conducted a survey of 600 Marwar Muslims, from the areas of western Rajasthan including Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer and Uttarlai in Hindi and his research work got published by Maulana Azad foundation. His questionnaire of 50 points was distributed at various Madrasas and other Islamic institutions where adult Muslims could understand Hindi language.
“On the question if the world looks upon Muslims with a different outlook and whether propaganda was being aimed at defaming Islam, 52 per cent opined that the media was responsible for negative propaganda while 30 per cent said that media was totally indifferent with 18 per cent of the responders terming the media’s attitude as positive,” said Dwivedi.
On the question of whether Muslims were treated as votebanks by political parties, 66 per cent replied in affirmative and 15 per cent in the negative while 19 per cent said that they did not know. Drawing conclusions from the study, Dwivedi says in his work that the heat is felt by Muslim community members, which is a matter of concern. The electronic media must rethink on how they can create a positive attitude towards the Muslim community members.
He told this correspondent that the adult Muslims he questioned in his study seemed to be much contented with the print media in comparison to the electronic media. Also, the young Muslim generation appears less interested in Urdu language and the print media can come forward to generate their interest in the language in some way, he added.
The secretary of Marwar Muslim Educational and Welfare Society, Mohammad Ateek opined,”In the past four years, the neglect factor towards the Muslim community has increased. The condition has worsened than what Dhanesh Dwivedi has highlighted in his book. It is pure vote bank politics being played with us.
source: http://www.dailypioneer.com / The Pioneer / Home> State Editions> Dehradun / by Radhika Nagrath, Haridwar in Dehradun / Monday – February 05th, 2018
Ex Mayor Tahera Rasheed felicitating Roshan Jahan as her mother Ansara Khatoon, ASP Sunil Khadasne (second from right) and MLA Asif Shaikh (supplied photo)
Fighting all odds and overcoming physical and language barrier, she cracked MBBS exams and is now preparing for post-graduate entrance.
Having lost both legs in a train accident, facing acute poverty, and belonging to a conservative Muslim family. She would not have needed any other excuse to give up in life.
Yet, fighting all odds and overcoming physical and language barrier, she cracked MBBS exams and is now preparing for post-graduate entrance.
The inspiring story of Roshan Jahan, the 23-year-old Muslim girl from Mumbai who hit the headlines after passing this year’s MBBS finals, went viral on print and electronic media, Internet and social networking sites, with each minute detail, except for one thing that she also has a golden voice.
Roshan Jahan left hundreds of students who had gathered at Zaini Basheer Hall in Malegaon to hear her story, mesmerised, and teary-eyed, by reciting tunefully a poem written and composed by her.
The poem was dedicated to her mother, who Roshan said, deserved, after Allah the Almighty, all credit for her extraordinary success.
“It is because of my mother, after Allah, the Almighty and the most Merciful, that I am standing here in front of you as a role model,” she said amid applause from hundreds of students.
She said after losing her both legs in the train accident, there were times, when she would feel completely hopeless. But, it was her mother, she said, who lifted her spirits up and gave her hope in her darkest hours.
“After I survived the train accident, my mother would say think…why Allah gifted you a ‘second life’. It must be for something really big,” she recalled.
Roshan Jahan’s legs had to be amputated after she fell off a local train in October 2008 while travelling from Andheri to Jogeshwari. She has been using prosthetic legs since April 2009. She was returning home after writing her college exam papers at Anjuman-i-Islam Girl’s college, Bandra, when she lost her balance and fell onto the tracks and her legs came under the moving train.
Recounting her ordeal, she said, “Orthopedic surgeon Dr Sanjay Kantharia who operated on me took care of me like I was his daughter. Even after the accident in 2008, I did not drop out and studied at home and appeared for exams.
“I cleared the state’s medical entrance exam, MHCET, and was later asked to go for a medical test for the handicapped at JJ Hospital. The doctors there said that as per the rules, only students who had between 40% to 70% disability could be given admission in the MBBS course. I was denied admission as I had 88% disability.”
She said Kantharia then suggested she move court.
“We met senior lawyer V P Patil, who took up my case for free. During the hearing I would go to the court with my relatives. Justice Shah, after hearing my petition and seeing me visiting the court, directed the college authorities to admit me,” Roshan said.
source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com / Khaleej Times / Home> Specials> Happiness Times / by Ummid.com / April 14th, 2016
AT HOME Visitors at Ghalib’s Haveli | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
We know Mirza Ghalib as a Dilliwallah, but the bard had a strong emotional connection with Agra as well
Mirza Ghalib’s death anniversary on 15th February did not evoke the same interest as his birth anniversary two months earlier. Of course, there was a literary festival in Connaught Place and another in India International Centre, one can say the 210th birth anniversary drew greater public attention than probably that of any other Urdu (or Hindi) poet. The haveli he lived in and the Town Hall were the main venues of the functions then, along with the Subz Burj Park in Nizamuddin, now named after him. But nobody thought of holding a function at Kala Mahal in Agra, where Mirza Nausha was born on December 27, 1797 and of which he was so nostalgic because of childhood memories. Just goes to show how possessive Delhiwallahs have become of Ghalib and of Mir Taqi Mir, who was not only born in Agra but also had an affair with his cousin in the vicinity of the Taj. An enraged family then shunted off the Mir to Delhi where he attained great heights before moving to Lucknow at the invitation of the Nawabi Court of Awadh, where his outdated attire provoked him to recite his famous introduction: “Dilli jo ek Shahr tha alam mein intikhab…/Jisko falak ne loot ke bezar kar diya/Hum rehne wale hain usi ujre dayar ke” (I’m a resident of the same looted garden, Delhi, devastated by heaven).
Incidentally, it was the Mir Sahib who had predicted that the boy Ghalib (whose early recitals he had heard) would one day become a big shair. But Yours Truly spent a whole afternoon in and around Ghalib’s haveli last week and wondered at the sudden twist of destiny that has brought it into the limelight again. The area of Ballimaran, of which Gali Qasim Jan is a part, got its name (there are other versions too) from the boatmen who once inhabited it. Thereafter, it saw a sea-change with the high and mighty deciding to build their havelis there. It is after Nawab Mir Qasim Jan, an Iranian nobleman, that the gali is named. Qasim Jan at first lived in Lahore, where he was attached to the court of the Governor, Moin-ul-Mulk, in the 1750s. That was the time when Ghalib’s grandfather also migrated to India from Turkey.
Qasim Jan was an influential man and a great friend of the Governor. But when the latter fell fighting Ahmad Shah Abdali, who had invaded Punjab, Qasim Jan helped Moin-ul-Mulk’s widow, Mughlai Begum, to rule the province in the name of her infant son. He seems to have been particularly close to the begum, who admired his sagacity. But the admiration was mutual for Qasim Jan could not have been immune to the charm of the begum who continued to defy Abdali despite losing her husband.
It was during the reign of Shah Alam that Qasim Jan joined the court at Delhi. He was conferred the title of Nawab, and in order to be close to the Red Fort built his haveli in Ballimaran. After the death of Qasim Jan, his son Nawab Faizullah Beg resided in the haveli. Ghalib also lived in Ahata Kale Sahib for some time after his release from debtors’ prison and that is the time he is said to have remarked that after being an inmate in the “Gora” (white man’s) jail he had moved to Kale’s (black man’s) jail.
Ghalib subsequently moved to the haveli in Qasim Jan Street. But during the First War of Independence of 1857, he lived for some time in Sharif Manzil where Hakim Ajmal Khan’s father used to reside. The reason was that Sharif Manzil was a protected place in those days because its owner was the personal physician of the Maharaja of Patiala, who was on good terms with the British. After the upheaval, Ghalib went back to his house, where his wife Umrao Begum held sway and made it into a virtual mosque.
However, there is still a mosque next to Ghalib’s house. An old bearded man, wearing a brand new sherwani and with a stick in hand, was standing next to it. Asked if Ghalib ever visited the masjid, he shook his head and declared, “I don’t think so, unless when he became old. What else can you expect from a man who wrote: ‘Masjid ke zer say ek ghar bana liya hai/Ek banda-e-qamina hamsaye khuda hai” (I have set up abode in the vicinity of a masjid so a wretch is now God’s neighbour). As one walked away after hearing him, the first “degh” of biryani was being opened by the roadside seller and the smell was too appetising to resist the temptation of tasting it. Ghalib too must have eaten like this sometimes or sent his faithful servant Kallu to buy the stuff.
Before settling down in Gali Mir Qasim Jan, Ghalib lived in the house of his in-laws, where several mushairas were held. Why they were discontinued at the haveli is not known but one reason may have been the opposition of his puritanical wife. So the mushairas the poet attended were generally the ones held at the Red Fort and Haveli Sadr Sadur in Matia Mahal. In Agra, of course, he was too young to take part in poetry recitation and instead flew kites with the son of Raja Chet Singh at Kala Mahal, where some claim that his spectre is still seen on moonlit nights. He, no doubt, missed Kala Mahal and the Redstone Horse at Sikandra, Agra, to which he always sent greetings through his friend Mirza Tafta Secundrabadi. The Ballimaran haveli somehow did not evoke the same nostalgia in him, probably because most of his children died in it in infancy. Wonder if he would have approved of the museum set up there! But at Kala Mahal fateha is still offered for his repose.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture> Down Memory Lane / by R.V. Smith / February 26th, 2018
Over a dozen students, all clad in burqas, are in a small classroom.Their teacher, dressed identically, keeps a close watch.Everyone is on the floor while books on Hadith (traditions of the Prophet), commentaries on the Quran and tomes on fatwas line the walls.
This is the Madrassa Jamiatul Mominath in Moghalpura, which is the city’s first and only institute that trains women to become muftias. Instruction is imparted in the Darul Ifta, or fatwa department.
Fatwa is an opinion that Muslims seek on a range of subjects, including marriage, menstruation, divorce, adoption, property issues, and rituals like namaz and roza.Countless madrassas in the country–such as UP’s Darul Uloom Deoband–run training courses, but most of them are for men.
“There are several questions that women hesitate to ask muftis. We thought women would be more comfortable discussing their issues with muftias. That’s why we introduced this one-year course 12 years ago,” said Hafiz Mastan Ali, Jamiatul Mominath’s founder.
Set up in 1991, the madrassa has 2,500 students today , of whom 400 are hostellers. The muftia course began with only five girls, but this year, the department is training 15.So far, the madrassa has produced 318 muftias.
The fatwa department’s head, Nazima Aziz, said making girls muftias is empowerment. “Once an alima (female graduate) completes fazila (post-graduation), she is eligible for the fatwa course.”
Aziz explained that the course is divided into five segments: prayers, women’s personal issues, limitations (what women can and can’t do), property issues and current issues. ” A fatwa is given in the light of Quran commandments and the Prophet’s traditions. Muftis try their best to be neutral while giving judgments on disputes. If someone is not satisfied with the decision, he or she can consult another mufti or muftia,” she said.
The girls share Aziz’s opinion on the importance of their role. A muftia in the making, Suraiya Shakeel Khan wants to help women. “I can guide people on religion.” Khadeeja Fatima feels she would get more respect in the community once she becomes a muftia. Most of them, like Aziz, are in favour of setting up more Darul Iftas for women across the country .
Interestingly, Aziz and her students backed the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB)’s stand on triple talaq. “Talaq in one sitting should be discouraged, but it cannot be banned as that will be tantamount to interference in sharia laws,” said Mohammed Hasnuddin, head of Mominath’s fatwa department for men. “We don’t agree that talaq is a sword dangling over the heads of women. It’s an option to end an oppressive marriage and should be used as last resort.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News / by Mohammed Wajihuddin / TNN / January 09th, 2017
