K.V.G. Medical College Sullia duo team comprising of Akshitha Anand and Ankitha Anand emerged as winners and clinched the glittering Medi Quiz – 2021 Trophy. The competition witnessed a very exciting close finish as they faced stiff competition from the rival team Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences comprising of Nusaiba Farheen and Nithya G.S. who had to settle for Second Place.
The Dept. of General Medicine Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences conducted their Annual State level Inter Medical Collegiate Quiz Contest “Mediquiz – 2021” exclusively for the M.B.B.S undergraduate Students on Dec 4 in their conference hall. The Quiz was exclusively on Medical subjects.
College President Haji U.K. Monu graced the occasion as Chief Guest and awarded the glittering Trophy, Merit Certificates to the Winners and Runners up and congratulated them on their exemplary achievements.
Medical Superintendent Dr Devidas Shetty, Vice Principal K.G. Kiran, Chief Administrative Officer Dr Rohan Monis were the guests of honour. HOD of Medicine Dr Devdas Rai was the Quiz Master.
The contest drew participants from different Medical Colleges comprising 37 teams.
Dr Preethika Welcomed, Dr Narashimha Murthy proposed a vote of thanks, Dr Pooja Shekar compeered the program.
source: http://www.newskarnataka.com / News Karnataka / Home> Features / December 04th, 2021
The book is a harrowing tale of a doctor’s ordeal and gives a compelling account of the tragic deaths of several children and the disturbing events that ensued.
Dr Kafeel Khan at a medical camp. Photo: Facebook/drkafeelkhanofficial
Gorakhpur:
The 2017 oxygen shortage tragedy at Gorakhpur’s BRD Medical College that led to the deaths of more than a hundred children was not a random accident but the outcome of the administration’s apathetic and insensitive attitude towards government hospitals. The aftermath of the incident also exposed how the government machinery, instead of learning from such horrific accidents, works to suppress the truth, protect the culprits and punish those who try to expose the reality.
The reportage on the oxygen fiasco meanwhile rendered it synonymous with the identity of Dr Kafeel Khan, who was then an assistant professor in the hospital’s Department of Paediatrics. The incident and the ensuing fate of Khan was widely reported in the media.
But what actually happened and who were the real culprits? Were they shielded by the powers that be? Those who knew the truth have either kept mum on the issue or have sided with the government’s narrative. The government has made claims like, “The hospital did have an oxygen crisis but that’s not what killed the children”, “The children died because they were gravely ill”, “Children die of encephalitis in July and August every year” and that the government and its ministers or senior officials cannot to be blamed for the deaths as the college administration was negligent. Khan, the government said, was solely responsible because he failed to inform his seniors about the oxygen crisis and had committed medical negligence and used to practice privately.
Khan was sacked last month , four years following the incident. Two doctors and four employees of BRD Medical College, who were also accused of negligence, have been reinstated. R.K. Mishra, who was the principal of the college at the time of the deaths, and Ppharmacist Gajanand Jaiswal have retired after being reinstated. Little is known of the whereabouts of Manish Bhandari, the owner of Pushpa Sales, the oxygen supplier, ever since he was released from jail.
The government did not compensate the families of the children who died in the tragedy, claiming that their deaths were not caused by oxygen shortage.
The terrible incident is no longer talked about, except when it is brought up in conjunction with news related to Dr Kafeel Khan.
Kafeel Khan The Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy: A Doctor’s Memoir of a Deadly Medical Crisis Pan Macmillan (December 2021)
Recently, Khan’s 300-page book titled The Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy: A Doctor’s Memoir of a Deadly Medical Crisis was published by Pan Macmillan India, reinvigatoring a discussion on the deaths.
In the book, Khan describes a series of incidents beginning on the dreadful night when the hospital ran out of oxygen to the day of his arrest, subsequent imprisonment and his dismissal from service more than four years later. The book not only weaves together the scattered strands of information surrounding the oxygen shortage tragedy of the BRD Medical College on August 10, 2017 but also brings to the fore many new facts which remained unknown till now.
The oxygen fiasco was reported in both national and international media. While it is true that the incident remained in the news a long time afterwards, most of these speculations only went on to further mystify and blur the facts instead of providing clarity. The book tries to blow the lid off the attempts to conceal the truth behind the incident in a ‘calculated manner’ and uncovers the system’s attempts to make a doctor the scapegoat to cover up its failure.
The book also highlights various aspects of Khan’s personal life. We come to know that his father was an engineer in the irrigation department. Kafeel Khan was brought up in an open-minded atmosphere and spent his early days in a locality where residents hailed from different religious backgrounds. They celebrated Holi as zealously as Eid. On Diwali, he narrates, his family received many sweets from their Hindu neighbours which he would carry in his school tiffin for an entire week.
From his family, the story quickly progresses to the events of August 10, 2017. On the fateful night, Khan received a WhatsApp message on his mobile about depleting oxygen levels in the encephalitis ward. He was on leave that day as his sister was visiting the family from Oman and he wanted to spend time with her. But when he received the message, he decided to immediately go to the hospital. On his way, he kept calling his superiors at the medical college. While most of his calls went unanswered, those who did pick up failed to grasp the gravity of the situation and tried to pass the buck.
In his book, Khan gives telling details of the situation he witnessed in the ward that night and how he handled it. He describes the wailing and pleading parents while their children battled for life and the utter helplessness of the doctors, nurses and ward boys. There were 313 children admitted in the hospital’s pediatric and neonatal intensive care units that night. At 7:30 pm, the oxygen plant had run out of oxygen and the ventilators began sounding the warning beeps. As a contingency arrangement, 52 jumbo cylinders kept in the hospital reserve were installed, which were exhausted within four hours and the oxygen supply was completely cut off to the wards, including the encephalitis ward. By the time Khan reached the hospital, eight children had already died.
He and his colleagues immediately started giving oxygen from Ambu bags to the children on ventilator support. The condition of all the children in the ward was assessed and oxygen from Ambu bags was given to those who needed oxygen the most. A three-year-old girl’s condition deteriorated and despite the staff’s best efforts, could not be saved. The NICU witnessed similar chaotic scenes. The relatives of the patients, who had been informed about the lack of oxygen, were either yelling at the hospital staff or begging them to save their children.
Meanwhile Khan was faced with the dual challenge of treating the deteriorating condition of the children, on one hand, and arranging for oxygen cylinders on the other. A truck carrying a jumbo cylinder was on its way from Imperial Gas Limited in Faizabad but there was no sign of it until 1 am. Till then, no senior officer of the BRD Medical College had reached the hospital. In their absence, Khan decided to fetch three jumbo cylinders from a nearby hospital in his private vehicle. He then approached eight more hospitals for help, ferried as many cylinders as he could arrange and tried to replenish the oxygen supply. But it was not enough. The encephalitis ward was consuming 16 jumbo cylinders every 45 minutes. The truck that arrived from IGL Faizabad at 2 am brought only 50 cylinders. Kafeel arranged for a truck with the help of central oxygen operator Balwant, and sent an outsourced worker to the Khalilabad plant paying Rs 20,000 from his own pocket. The oxygen plant had agreed to supply jumbo cylinders at Rs 350 per cylinder.
Despite being informed of the urgent need for oxygen, a plant in Gida refused to supply oxygen saying that its contract with the college had been terminated and handed over to IGL Faizabad. It would supply oxygen only after the contract has been renewed, the plant said.
Despite Khan and his team’s night-long efforts to save the children and arrange cylinders, 23 children in the PICU and NICU and 18 adult patients in the medicine ward had succumbed by 10 am the next day.
A room containing oxygen tanks is seen in the BRD Medical College and Hospital in Gorakhpur. Photo: Reuters
When there was a shortage of vehicles to cart the jumbo cylinders, Khan reached out to the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) stationed in the Fertilizer Campus on the morning of August 11 and contacted the DIG to provide a truck and cylinders. The SSB did not have jumbo cylinders, but they provided a truck and 12 jawans so that cylinders could be swiftly transported from the plant to the medical college.
According to the details in the book, on the afternoon of August 11, the then district magistrate Rajiv Rautela contacted Khan and after being apprised of the whole situation assured that oxygen would be provided. He asked the Gida plant, which had earlier refused to entertain Kafeel’s request, to supply oxygen. Later, 50 jumbo cylinders arrived from IGL Faizabad in two trips. Kafeel also contacted the chief medical officer and the additional director (health), urging them to help solve the crisis. One said he was in a meeting and the other asked Khan to contact the chief medical superintendent regarding the arrangement of cylinders. One of these officers later became part of the committee that was formed to investigate the tragedy.
In the afternoon, a professor from the Department of Paediatrics reached the ward followed by the head of the department and the chief medical superintendent of the Nehru Hospital. Together, they wrote a letter to the principal of the BRD Medical College, urging him to arrange medical oxygen.
By the evening of August 11, the news of children dying due to oxygen shortage had spread like wildfire and media persons began pouring in at the BRD Medical College. By then, a few local journalists and photographers had already reached the College and began reporting on the crisis. The district magistrate issued the first official statement about the incident in a press conference at 7:30 pm that day and announced the formation of a committee to investigate the deaths. This committee was asked to submit its report within 24 hours.
Initially, the reports in media and on social media hailed Kafeel as a hero for his efforts to muster up oxygen cylinders using his personal resources and save the lives of children. On August 12, the state health minister Siddharth Nath Singh and medical education minister Ashutosh Tandon reached the college. Singh, in a press conference, denied the death of any child due to lack of oxygen and made the insensitive ‘children die every year in August‘ remark. The statement was widely condemned.
On August 13, a tanker of liquid oxygen arrived at the hospital at 1 am and the supply was restored. Kafeel, who had tirelessly spent 48 hours on rigorous duty since August 10, finally returned home only to wake up to a fresh twist the next morning. A new tale had been spun and a fresh narrative was played out in the media.
In the morning, J.P. Nadda and chief minister Yogi Adityanath arrived at the BRD Medical College and Khan was summoned. He reached the hospital hoping to receive a pat on the back for his efforts but he was in for a rude shock and suddenly found himself in the crosshairs.
According to Khan, the moment he appeared before the chief minister, he said in a reprimanding tone, “Tu hai Dr Kafeel Khan?” (So, you are Dr Kafeel Khan?)
“Yes, Sir.”
“Tune cylinder ka arrangement kiya tha?” (Are you the one who arranged cylinders?)
“Yes, Sir.”
“Ye 4-5 cylinder la kar tu ne kitni jaan bacha li? Tu sochta hai cylinders ki vyvastha kar ke tu bohot bara hero ban gaya; dekhta hoon tujhe.” (How many lives did you save with a few cylinders? Do you think by arranging cylinders you became a hero? I will take care of you.)”
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Photo: PTI
Khan was suddenly the villain, accused of leaking the news of oxygen shortage to the media. However, when he tried to speak up and provide a clarification, senior officers stopped him from doing so.
In the press conference, the chief minister dismissed the claim that the children died owing to a dearth of oxygen. He announced the formation of a committee headed by the chief secretary to probe the incident and said that its report would be submitted in a week.
As soon as the press conference was over, media persons flocked the hospital of Khan’s wife. A mob also attacked the hospital and a showroom owned by Khan’s brother, pelting stones and vandalising them. On social media, Khan was vilified as an ‘oxygen thief’, and a ‘pawn of the opposition leaders’. The TV news channels began referring to him as the head of the paediatric department, the deputy principal, the superintendent of the hospital, blaming him entirely for the disaster.
Khan was advised to take leave until the turmoil subsided. On August 16, the report of the committee constituted by the DM was submitted, which did not fix the responsibility on Khan but also failed to mention, let alone laud Khan’s efforts to arrange oxygen cylinders at such a critical time.
Finally, on August 21, the report of the committee headed by the chief secretary came out and an FIR was lodged against nine people, including Khan and everyone was gradually arrested.
The police began raiding his house daily, making searches and harassing the family members. His sister’s house in Lucknow was also raided and his brother was taken into custody. He decided to surrender and finally did so at the Special Task Force office in Lucknow. The STF brought him to Gorakhpur and handed him over to the Gorakhpur police, who put him in jail.
The next few pages of the book record a horrendous account of Khan’s seven-month long stay in jail – an 800-prisoner facility with 1,897 prisoners in it.
In jail, he met several high-profile prisoners – Kaka, D. Ram, V. Singh, Shailesh, Vishwa and also ‘Mantriji’ who is serving a life sentence for the murder of a poetess. Most of them showed Khan kindness. Despite all the media propaganda, they treated him with respect for being a good Samaritan and responsible doctor who tried to save the lives of children. Khan writes that most of the undertrial prisoners spend long periods in jail in the hope of being freed or granted bail but 99% of them are met with disappointment as cases remain in limbo for years.
Khan also details a first-hand account of corruption inside the prison walls. Any prisoner can avail the facilities that he can afford. Under this covert system, rates are fixed for kachchi baithki and pakki baithki – levels of evading laborious chores in jail. Then there are rates of bidi, cigarette, vegetables, eggs, bottled water as well as meeting with relatives. To avail such luxuries, one has to keep one’s mouth shut – besides abiding by the other rules. Based on hierarchy of caste, religion, connections and nature of crime, the dark underbelly of the prison is governed by a handful prisoners.
While awaiting bail, Khan tried to piece together the episodes of the oxygen tragedy. From jail, he contacted everyone including Manish Bhandari, the director of Pushpa Sales, the college principal Mishra, and Dr Satish. Finally, he saw the whole picture. He learnt that both the Gida gas plant, which had refused to supply oxygen to the hospital despite being aware of the deaths of children, as well as IGL Faizabad with which the hospital had signed a contract in 2017, had close relations with the ruling party leaders. Also, Khan claims, Pushpa Sales had not only failed to pay the dues to the top officials of health and administration but also to line the pockets of various ministers, a matter which was brought up in several official meetings. Hence, the authorities behaved in a lackadaisical manner while the children were gasping for breath. Later, a hunt was launched for ‘a neck to fit the noose’ and a communal government found Khan as the perfect scapegoat, he says.
Dr Kafeel Khan, after his release from jail. Photo: @Saurabhsherry/Irfan Ghazi.
The final section of the book describes Khan’s ordeal after his release from jail, various charges levelled against him and his re-arrest. He was arrested from the Bahraich district hospital, where he had gone to investigate the death of children admitted for encephalitis. Later, charges under the National Security Act were slapped on him for a speech he had delivered during an anti-CAA-NRC protest at the Aligarh Muslim University. He was released after the Allahabad high court quashed the NSA charges.
However, despite getting a clean chit on two key charges in the departmental inquiry of the oxygen shortage incident, he was sacked. The book has several more details. An entire chapter is dedicated to his rural health campaign, under which he organised medical camps, especially creating awareness about encephalitis, locally known as chamki fever, in various flood-affected parts of Bihar and Assam.
source: http://www.thewire.in / The Wire / Home> Book> Rights / by Manoj Singh / December 19th, 2021
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Wednesday presented the annual ‘RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism’, instituted by the Mumbai Press Club, in a virtual event.
Reuters Chief photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed in clashes in Spin Boldak district in Kandahar, Afghanistan. (Photo | Twitter)
Mumbai :
Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who died during an assignment in Afghanistan, has been posthumously awarded as the ‘Journalist of the Year’ for 2020 by the Mumbai Press Club.
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana on Wednesday presented the annual ‘RedInk Awards for Excellence in Journalism’, instituted by the Mumbai Press Club, in a virtual event.
He presented the prestigious award to Siddiqui “for his spectrum of investigative and impactful news photography”.
Danish Siddiqui’s wife Frederike Siddiqui received the award.
“He was a man with a magical eye and was rightly regarded as one of the foremost photojournalists of this era.
If a picture can tell a thousand words, his photos were novels,” Chief Justice Ramana said while paying tributes to the scribe.
Senior journalist Prem Shankar Jha, 83, was bestowed with the lifetime achievement award “for his long and distinguished career of incisive and analytical writing”.
“His reputation for hard work, the highest ethical standards, and intellectual rigour are unparalleled in the field,” CJ Ramana said while congratulating Jha.
The Mumbai Press Club instituted The RedInk Awards a decade ago to recognise good investigative and feature writing and raise the bar of journalism in the country.
Apart from Siddiqui and Jha, variour other journalists were awarded in 12 categories as part of the 10th edition of the award event.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Nation / by PTI / December 30th, 2021
Khan achieved the rare feat recently by qualifying for the his second event — giant slalom — a month after booking his first Winter Olympics ticket in alpine skiing slalom category in an Olympic qualifier in Dubai.
Alpine skier Arif Mohammed Khan. (Twitter/jswsports)
Jammu and Kashmir-based alpine skier Arif Mohammed Khan has become the first Indian athlete to qualify for two different events of the Winter Olympics, set to be held in Beijing from February 4, next year.
Khan achieved the rare feat recently by qualifying for his second event — giant slalom — a month after booking his first Winter Olympics ticket in alpine skiing slalom category in an Olympic qualifier in Dubai.
The news was confirmed by his promoter JSW Sports.
JSW-supported Alpine skier Arif Khan, who had earlier earned a provisional quota for the Slalom event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, has now qualified for the Giant Slalom event as well. ??#BetterEveryday ???? #Beijing2022pic.twitter.com/Ua6EfIRJ65
— JSW Sports (@jswsports) December 29, 2021
“JSW-supported Alpine skier Arif Khan who had earlier earned a provisional quota for the slalom event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, has now qualified for the giant slalom event as well.
“For the first time in history, an Indian will be competing in two different events at the Winter Olympics,” JSW Sports wrote in a facebook post on Wednesday night.
While India was represented by two athletes — Jagdish Singh (cross country skiing) and Shiva Keshavan (luge) — in the 2018 Winter Games, Khan is the only person to have qualified for the 2022 Winter Games so far.
Khan is a professional alpine skier from north Kashmir’s Tangmarg and has qualified for giant slalom event at Kolasin, Montenegro recently. He has represented India in more than 100 ski events held across the world and has been undergoing training in Europe for the most part of this year.
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Sports / December 30th, 2021
Peter Gottschalk in his book Beyond Hindu and Muslim: Multiple identity in Narratives from Village India (2000) took a methodological leap to understand the multiple identities people carry in everyday lives. He carefully listened to the people talking about their local narratives regarding a fort; a temple dedicated to the ghost of a local Brahmin and a tomb that was probably associated with Bakhtiyar Khilji. While gathering the narratives of villagers of former Shahabad district of Western Bihar (during his fieldwork conducted in 1994-95) he tried to understand the significance of temporality and contextuality in assertion of identities.
Far beyond the monolithic religious binary of Hindus and Muslims, the identities get complicated with the presence of intertwined factors like class, caste, language, region, gender and nation. Not only that, the memory, context and existing narratives also shape the contemporary identities. For example, Gottschalk found lower caste Chamars claiming Hindu identity to establish their indigeneity against the Muslims, mostly considered as outsiders. But, similarly in the context of their exclusion from the upper caste village rituals, they assert their Chamar identity as opposed to both the religious groups.
Such assertion of identity becomes politically loaded through different means- mostly with the struggles for legitimate rights and in a few instances for establishing empathetic connection with the broader community. While working on Muslims’ presence in Jharkhand Andolon, what we encountered with is the assertion of a separate ‘Jharkhandi Muslim’ identity- sometimes it came as ‘Adivasi Muslim’, sometimes as ‘Moolvasi Muslims’. Whatever the lingual expressions be, the base of this identity assertion veers around their claims of being different from their North Indian coreligionists. Through the narratives and life sketch of different Andolonkaris, we learnt how this identity has shaped the presence of Muslims in Jharkhand Andolon. Jharkhandi Muslims in this context becomes both a constitutive and a derivative component of the broader statehood movement. To look into one without the other amounts to deliberate silencing of a politically effective assertion that had set forth the routes of the movement. This essay is thus an effort to find out the impact of this identity assertion in the Jharkhand statehood movement.
Muslims Kahan hai Jharkhand pe? – Story of A Composite Identity
Jharkhand Muslim Hotel, Simlia village, near Ranchi
Around 20 kms west from Ranchi, as we reached Simalia to meet Padmashree awardee folk singer and poet Madhu Mansoori Hasmukh, we found a place named, “Jharkhandi Muslim Hotel”. Though it didn’t come as a surprise as the complexities of Muslim identities in Jharkhand have been our companion throughout, what unfolded gradually made us literally silent. Barely we entered Madhu Mansoori’s house, we met Masi Zama, a social activist who use to come to his place for mundane cordial visits. On being asked what my research focuses on, I casually said, “It’s mostly on the Muslims in Ranchi, their silencing… participation…and…”. I was immediately stopped. His displeasure was though not reflected through his voice, the words he chose were enough to make us understand that we made a statement that we were ought not to. “Muslims? Muslims kahan hai Jharkhand pe? (Where are Muslims in Jharkhand?)”- for a moment I felt my whole research purpose, its objectives are dismantled to the core. “Ye aap logo ke tarah jo log hai uske liye yahan pe Muslims ka aaj ye haal hai (It is the people like you who are responsible for the conditions of Muslims in Jharkhand). When constituent assembly debates were going on why nobody spoke of giving Adivasi status to the Muslims of this region? Yahan pe Muslims nahi hai (There is no Muslim in this region) We are Jharkhandi Muslims, Adivasi Muslims… Moolvasi Muslims”, we were told.
Understanding the gravity of the mistake as we were about to apologize, Madhu Mansoori, in his mid-70s entered the room. Without any ‘Salam-dua’ (Islamic ways of greetings like Assalam Aleikum Wa Rahamatullahi Wa Berakatahu) what he welcomed us with was a humble ‘Namaskar’. Already ashamed enough of our misconceptions, we greeted him back with a ‘Namaste’ and our conversation started. Madhu Mansoori claims himself as an Oraon Muslim. His ancestors, as he says perhaps got converted generations back. But it is the Oraon culture that drives his everyday lives. Throughout the interview whenever he referred to Muslims, he spoke off how the Munda-Oraon culture is intact within them. Islam has no conflict and doesn’t contradict their existing way of lives- rather it is a spiritual addition to the everyday beliefs and faiths.
These fundamental similarities rather embeddedness of faiths and practices into one another were explained to us later by Dr. Eliyas Majid, a Professor of History in Maulana Azad College, Ranchi. Explaining the Jharkhandi culture, he told us, “We have a ritual namely Madeikki Byebastha. It means helping one another in different things.” While in a capitalist set up, hiring laborers for mundane works is the norm, in Jharkhandi culture, as Dr. Majid said people come together to do neighbors’ works – whatever the nature of the work may be.
Another significant concept that Jharkhandi culture entails is of ‘Sahiya’ (friendship between any being or thing). “Koi bhi kisika Sahiya ho sakta hai. Ye zaroori nahi ke usko Insaan hona hai. Bachpan se jo aam, jamun ke paer pe hum khelte the wo bhi humara sahiya ho sakta hai. Hum logo me bahut sara ladki paer ke niche ghanto beithe rehte hai aur pooche to bolte hai Sahiya pass thi. (Anybody can become friend in our culture. It needs not to be human being. The mango, Jamun trees that we played underneath in our childhood could be our Sahiya. In our culture, women sometimes are found sitting beneath the tree for hours and on being asked where they have been- they respond- I was with my Sahiya)”, Dr. Majid continued.
The third and most interesting cultural attribute that he told us is called Gotiya’ (means brotherhood). For being brother in Jharkhandi culture, people need not to have blood relations. Any Oraon, Munda, Santhal can be Gotiya of a Muslim. All these three ideas explained to us by Dr. Majid significantly goes with the fundamentals of Islam. Helping others whereas is considered as Sunnat (Prophet’s (SWAS) way of life), the idea of recognizing every living being is in consonance with the belief of Islam that each and every being is created by Allah (SWT) and humans must behave with them in compassionate and empathetic manner. The idea of universal brotherhood (Gotiya) is also part and parcel of Islamic scriptures and commands. This comparison though is not intended to portray the similarities between Jharkhandi culture and Islamic fundamentals, rather it is just to show how Islamic fundamentals got melted into the Jharkhandi culture and paved the way for the construction of the identity known as ‘Jharkhandi Muslims’.
The cultural assertion of Jharkhandi Muslim identity whereas is rooted into the cultures of the land, the political assertion got its shape and voice through Jharkhand Andolon. Our encounter with Mohd. Faizi, a readymade garment seller near Upper Baazar took us through the terrains of this identity formation. Faizi made us walk in the roads where ‘Jharkhandi Manasikata (Jharkhandi Mentality)’ of Muslim foot-soldiers had to cross the paths of external political efforts and influences that were gathered to dismantle the ‘ekta’ (unity) of Jharkhandi Muslims.
Asghar Ali Engineer in his 1991 EPW paper ‘Remaking Indian Muslim Identity’ pointed out how ‘the assertion of religious identity’ could be a method for the ‘deprived communities in a backward society to obtain a greater share of power, government jobs and economic resources’. Similarly, assertion of Jharkhandi Muslim identity in the context of Jharkhand Andolon became a path to achieve the desired goals of statehood, to secure the rights of Minorities in the newly formed state and to ensure that ‘pehchan’ (recognition) of Jharkhandi Muslims remain intact without the imposition of homogenizing laws and regulations.
Personal is Political- Jharkhandi Manashikata & Instilled Mijaj
Mohd. Faizi looking back through the pages of own Archives
Mohd. Faizi was born in March, 1966 at Rain Mohalla, Tewari Street near Ranchi Main Road. Since childhood besides poverty another constant feature of Faizi’s life has been instilled ‘Jharkhandi Manasikta’ (Jharkhandi Mentality). Faizi’s father had a small (5ft/10ft) ‘Kapde ka gumti’ (an apparel stall) at footpath near Urdu Library. His childhood was filled with the stories of Jharkhand Andolon. Shared by his uncles, these stories instilled the dreams of separate Jharkhand in little Faizi’s mind. One of the stories was of an old woman who used to stay behind the Gel church (Evangelical) during the British Raj. Every day, ignoring the scorching heat, unbearable rain and all other obstacles she marched through the main road alone with a flag raising the slogan of ‘Jai Jharkhand, Jharkhand Prant Alag Karo’. The flag was nothing but a stick wrapped in a green cloth that became the bearer of Jharkhandi identity. She marched up to the Commissioner’s office and spending some time used to come back. Though there was no crowd behind her, the visual of her intermittent desire to have a separate state got reverberated through all those like Faizi’s uncles who later joined the movement in numbers.As people mocked at her, Faizi’s grandfather told them- “Yaad rakho ye mang jayes hai, aur ye aaj akeli nazar aarahai hai lekin ek waqt ayega jab iske peeche jan sailab hoge” (Keep it in mind that her claims her legit. Today, she is alone but day will come when hundreds will join her for the demands). Faizi not only witnessed the ‘Jan Sailab’ (Public uprising), rather he led it from the front and embraced it as a ‘farz’ (duty, mostly used for religious obligations) against all the odds coming in between him and his pledge to the separate state.
Mohd. Faizi with his uncle and undisputed Muslim leader of Jharkhand Andolon Tako Ansari (Sitting on the Chair)
In his early age only, Faizi saw his uncles Tako Ansari, Mohd. Farooq joining the statehood struggle through N E Horo’s Jharkhand Party. In Faizi’s words, ‘Mijaj to thaa hi (Mood was always there). Along with that the devotion of family members to the cause of Jharkhand made these aspirations grow”.
Faizi had few friends like Shamim and Saajid with whom he started attending the meetings of Sadan Vikas Parishad (SVP). At that time, Prof. Shahid Hasan was the general secretary of SVP. It was very early stage of his engagement into the movement. However, two specific incidents changed the way he looked into the world thereafter. Due to his father’s deteriorating health condition he had to leave his education at an early stage. Still, in 1985, he appeared for the board exam. Though he scored good numbers in subjects like English, Arabi and Farsi, his marks in science and mathematics didn’t let him qualify the boards. He got only 2 marks less than required to pass the exams. There were other students as well with whom similar things happened and they decided to go to Patna Examination Board office.
The reality of blatant discrimination had hit him in an inexplicable way. While he and his ‘Jharkhandi saathis’ (friends from Jharkhand) were told that nothing could be done and they started preparing for the next year, students from Bihar started filling the forms of colleges. Faizi then got to know that his ‘Bihari Saathis’ (Friends from Bihar) were told by the officials to apply for reviewing their copies and got the required grace marks whereas they were told, “Yahan pe kuch nahi ho sakta (Nothing can be done here)’. This instance not only made huge impact on Faizi’s mind rather it made him further believe that ‘Ye maang Jaees hai, aur inse in Bihario se chutkara milna chahiye’ (The claims of statehood are legitimate and we must get rid of Bihari officials).
While referring to the second incident Faizi was red in rage. Sipping a bit of water from the glass that was kept near his bed, he continued- “It was 1987. For the first time, anti-encroachment drive was going on in Ranchi. Police forces and officers came to our small Gumti and asked us to immediately vacate it. They threatened us that if we don’t move, they would trample it on and would even charge fine. We didn’t have money- so we started dismantling out only source of earning. And as I was putting down the asbestos, a small piece of brick fell near an Officer’s feet. It didn’t touch him at all but he started abusing me with ‘Maa ki gaali’ (Slangs referring to mother). I felt like immediately hitting them. But no, I couldn’t. My ailing father was standing there along with my little brothers. I silently listened to them but pledged that I would take revenge. If not from them at least from their viradari (their kind). It was our time to get rid of all these brutal Bihari officers and polices- We had to achieve statehood- We must- for the sake of our existence- for the sake of having a dignified life”- Faizi was trembling- silence clouded the moment- tears were visible with the determination that led him to become one of the most committed soldiers of Jharkhand Andolon.
During this phase, he led a group of 10-15 youths who participated in different social works. Meanwhile All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) had already been formed and movement got its required momentum. One day, when they were sitting near Urdu library, Ranchi Main Road, Zubair Ahmed (then the Ranchi town secretary of AJSU) came and asked them to join AJSU. Zubair even brought the founder president Prabhakar Tirkey and arranged a meeting with Faizi and his friends.
Within days, for his oratory skills and determination, he became very close to Tirkey and other CC members of the party. “Kyun ki itne sare adviasio me ek Muslim chehra, upar se accha bakta (Among so many Adivasis, a Muslim figure with good oratory skills)” made people like him and Zubair stand apart. Along with Zubair and other Muslim leaders/members they started gathering Muslim support for the movement. Though Muslims’ presence had always been there since the very early days of Jharkhand Andolon, its further expansion and visibility became their objective.
Political Assertion of Identity- Jharkhandi Muslims and Foundation of JMC
Since then, what drive Faizi throughout was his desire to achieve statehood and the recognition of ‘Jharkhandi Muslim’ identity. The assertion of this ‘Jharkhandi Muslim Identity’ led people like Faizi or Zubair to invest their lives for the cause of separate statehood where they would be considered in same manner as their ‘Adivasi saathis’, instead of their religious brethren of the other states.
The JMM Visiting card of Faizi and News Cutout of Faizi inducted as Town Secretary, JMM
As soon as Faizi joined Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) in 1992 after a meeting with Prabhakar Tirkey and other leaders of AJSU (Tirkey faction) at Suleiman hotel, Lake Road, Ranchi, he got the chance to further work both for the statehood movement and the cause of separate Jharkhandi Muslim identity. The very next year in 1993, with the objectives of working for the social causes he founded Muslim Youth Forum. The organization though was not politically active, it could be called a social reform wing of the broader struggles for the Muslims in the state.Already Jharkhand Minority Front of Jharkhand Party was formed in 1988 and consequently in the next year Jharkhand Quami Tehrique (JQT) was founded. The founder president of All Jharkhand Students’ Union Prabhakar Tirkey in one of his articles in Prabhat Khabar titled ‘Jharkhandi Pehchan KeL iye Sanjida Rahe Musalman’ talked about the enormous participations of Muslims in the statehood struggle. His article even reflects what Mohd. Faizi has to say- “Jaise aapko pata hai Musalman bahut pehle se ye andolon me hai. lekin Musalman jo jude, kisi na kisi party se jude, aapna identity le kar ken ahi aye…Ab musalman ye tahriue ko aapne haat me bhi lenge aur tehrique chalayenge. (As you know Muslims have been part of this movement since very initial days. However, Muslims joined different parties and never came with their own identity. Now, it was the time for Muslims to lead the movement, to play the role of leaders not only the participants).On being questioned that why the Muslim identity became important at that stage, Faizi was more clear and vocal- “We have seen what has been the role of Muslims in Indian Independence. Even after that today Muslims are called ‘Gaddar’. Our histories have been deliberately eliminated. If we don’t create our own identity in this statehood struggle, people in coming days would definitely say that we had no role in the movement. We apprehended that in very early stage”. This was the reason why they not only fought rather as Faizi said, “We kept the documents as the evidence to prove that Muslims were no less in this movement and we made ‘barabar ki qurbani’ (equivalent sacrifices) like other communities”. Referring to ‘shahadat’ (martyrdom) of several Muslim leaders who died for the movement including Abdul Wahab Ansari, Qutubuddin Ansari, Murtuza Ansari, Mohd Zubair, Mohd Sayeed and Ashraf Khan, he implied, “Ye cheese Tarikh me jaana chahiye. Logo ko pata hona chahiye ki Musalman ye alag rajya ke liye kya kiye hai (It must be written in pages of histories. People must know what Muslims have done for the separate state).A Dr. Eliyas Majid had even mentioned in his book “Jharkhand Andolon aur Jharkhand Gomke Horo Saheb” that Muslims in the late 80’s needed their identities to be reflected on the grounds of the movements. On May 25, 1988 while presenting the working paper in the foundational Conference of Jharkhand Muslim Front (JMF), Dr. Majid said despite their participation and martyrdom, “Muslims utna hi cchipa hua hai, jitna Jharkhand Andolon ubhra hua hai” (Muslims are as much silenced as much the movement is vocal). His address majorly focused on two parts- firstly, the individual identity of Muslims and the political indifference toward their demands and secondly, the separate identity of Jharkhandi Muslims that share more cultural values with the Adivasi ‘saathis’ than their North Indian coreligionists. In words of Dr. Majid, “Jharkhand humara andolon hai, Jharkhand humare wajood se jura sawala hai” (Jharkhand is our movement, it is connected to our Entirety- our Entity).Even after this eternal connection with the movement, as Faizi says that Muslims were denied proper position in the histories of the struggle. “While writing the history of AJSU, people would talk about Suraj Singh Besra, Prabhakar Tirkey, Lalit Mahato, Mangal Singh Bobonga but nobody would mention Nazm Ansari, Farooq Azam, Zubair Ahmed or Mohd. Faizi. When JMM’s history would be drafted people would remember Shibu Soren, Suraj Mandal and Sailander Mahato but Prof. Abu Talib Ansari or Hazi Hussain Ansari would not be named”. His concerns later proved to be right as most of the accounts of Jharkhand movement hardly spoke of Muslim participation. They understood the fact that if only they would come up with separate organizations for Jharkhandi Muslims, it would be recorded in the pages of history.It was in early 1995 that the decision regarding the formation of Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC) was taken. On the eve of it, Muslims of different Jharkhand ‘naamdhari’ (Jharkhand-named) parties came together to plan the formation of a specifically Jharkhandi Muslim platform that would talk about the condition of Muslims- that would ensure the constitutional rights of the community in the newly proposed state. During this period Qazi Mujahidul Islam of Imrat-e-Shariya was about to come to Ranchi. Hussain Qasim Kacchi, who used to be a keen patron of the movement asked Mohd. Faizi and his friends to meet Mujahidul Sahab. They planned a seminar on June 11, 1995 at Anjuman Plaza Hall, Ranchi Main Road to welcome Qazi Sahab. As there was no properly functioning Muslim front, they decided to use the banner of Qazi Sahab’s organization All India Milli Council.In Faizi’s words, “Banner didn’t matter to us, we had to do something to bring Jharkhandi Muslims together”. The title of the seminar was ‘Jharkhand Andolon aur Musalman’ (Jharkhand Movement and Muslims). Qazi Sahab while was the chief guest of the seminar, Prof. Abu Talib Ansari had presided over it. It was for the first time in the history of Jharkhand andolon that discussions happened in a public forum on participation of Muslims. Qazi Mujahidul Islam referred to the anti-racial movement in South Africa where Muslims stood by the colored people. This anecdote further worked as a spark as it not only echoes the ideals of Jharkhandi Muslims, rather it speaks directly to the fundamental tenets of Islam that commands its followers to join hands with the oppressed people of the world. He also called for an ‘umbrella’ organization that would accommodate all Jharkhandi Muslims.
Seminar at Anjuman Hall Plaza on Jharkhand Andolon aur Musalman
Following Qazi Sahab’s advice Muslim leaders of different Jharkhandi Parties called for a meeting on June 27, 1995 at Mohd. Faizi’s place. Around 252 representatives of different panchayats, social organizations and political parties attended the meeting and formed the Jharkhand Milli Council (JMC). As per the reports of Prabhat Khabar June 28, 1995, most of the leaders agreed to the contention that despite huge presence of Muslims in different Jharkhandi parties, they were not given due importance in decision making amounting to political silencing of Jharkhandi Muslims. So, the major objectives of JMC were to gain the recognition of Jharkhandi Muslim Identity (Moolvasi Muslim) along with claiming the legitimate political, economic, social and educational rights. To avoid the risk of catapulting another cult figure that the Jharkhandi parties had been the overwhelmed with, JMC decided to form a presidential council. Prof. Abu Talib Ansari whereas was declared the chief of the council, Farooq Alam, Mumtaz Khan, Prof. Khalik Ahmed and Salik Ahmed were the elected members. Nazm Ansari was projected as the Chief Secretary of the party and Mohd. Faizi, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Rafat Hussain, Abdul Moin Rizvi, Jameel Khan, Samnur Ansari, Mustaq Alam and Prof. Amin Ahmed became members of the secretariat. JMC pledged to not have any relation with the All India Milli Council, rather it decided to become a frontal organization for the Jharkhandi Muslims. Formation of JAAC- ‘Yahan Pe Muslim naam ka janwaar ka koi zikr nahi hai’Meanwhile, on July 30, 1995, Jharkhand Area Autonomous Council (JAAC) was formed and Shibu Soren became the chairman of the council. As anticipated earlier, almost negligible representations of Muslims in JAAC clearly made the fears of elimination legitimate. Protesting against the deliberate omissions of both Muslims and their causes Prof. Abu Talib Ansari wrote a press release on August 9, 1995. The release, however, could not see the light of the publication as Mohd. Faizi and other comrades restrained him from sending it to the press. As per Faizi, this declaration would have been considered as resignation of Prof. Ansari from JAAC leaving not even a single member in the council to voice the concerns of the Muslims. In the press release (collected from Mohd. Faizi) what we found was acute disgruntlement of Jharkhandi Muslims regarding the formation of JAAC. Prof. Ansari (then the Central Committee Secretary, JMM & Chief of Presidential Council, JMC) in the release said, “JAAC has played with the emotions of Jharkhandi Muslims by not giving them proportionate representations. There are few people in the council who didn’t even hold the party flag ever”.
Unpublished Press release of Prof. Abu Talib Ansari after the formation of JAAC in 1995
Mentioning that the Muslim leaders of JMM are not ‘kisi ka bandhua mazdoor’ (bonded laborers), he continued, “Jharkhand is nobody’s paternal property. There are leaders in JMM who have used the slogans of secularism to undermine the cause of Muslims. JAAC is the by-products of martyrdoms of leaders like Ashraf Khan, Wahab Ansari, Zubair Ahmed, Mohd. Sayeed and Qutubuddin. These ‘shahadat’ should not be forgotten if an inclusive Jharkhand state is to be imagined.
Though there were references to Silk, Animal Husbandry and other departments in the JAAC bill, there was no mention of Muslims (Yahan pe Muslim naam ka janwaar ka koi zikr nahi hai). Prof. Ansari categorically warned that if Minority Welfare & Development Council, Minority Commission, Waqf Board, Haj Committee, Madrassa Board, Urdu Academy and implementation of 15 points program are not considered in the council, there would be parallel movement of Jharkhandi Muslims across the territories of JAAC.
Claiming Adivasi Status- Kohl Jolha Bhai Bhai
While JMC’s movements, processions and meetings across the territory of the proposed state continued with vigor, the major step of claiming their separate identity of Jharkhandi Muslims came on October 24, 1998 when the party leaders reached Delhi to submit petition to the then Prime Minister Atal Vihari Bajpayee. At Tal Katora stadium, New Delhi, JMC gave a protest call and was presided by Prof. Abu Talib Ansari. After the demonstrations, they submitted the petition containing the following key points-
First Draft of JMC Petition submitted to then the Prime Minister Atal Behari Bajpayee in 1998
1. The Moolvasi Muslims of Jharkhand must be given the Adivasi status and rights as available in Lakshadweep (As per Article 342 of Indian Constitution)
2. Like the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes, Pasmanda Jharkhandi Muslims must be given Economic and Political Rights
3. Jharkhandi/ Moolvasi Muslims and specifically those who have been part of Jharkhand Andolon must be given priorities in Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayats and any other developmental commissions and boards
4. Urdu must be retained as the second language and all of the educational institutions must have Urdu in its curriculum
5. In villages and towns Urdu schools must be opened for the development and retention of the language
6. Minority Welfare Commission, Waqf Board, Madrassa board, Haj committee, Urdu Academy need to be formed and Andolonkaris should be prioritized in these committees
7. Jharkhand should be free from the coercion of Non-Jharkhandis
8. A University under the name of revolutionary Sheikh Bhikhari must be founded in Ranchi. Jharkhand Legislative assembly also must have memorials of Bhikhari
9. In school curriculum, the lives and sacrifices of Jharkhand Andolonaris must be included
10. The trials of Muslim youths in the name of terrorism must be stopped
11. Places where the Muslim families had to resettle due to communal disturbances and riots must be given residential legitimacy
12. All the Government offices must recruit Urdu translators
13. Jharkhandi Muslims must be recruited in Security and Police forces without any discrimination
14. All the poor Jharkhandi Muslims should be given residential facilities through Indira Awas Yojana.
These claims clearly indicate the significance of ‘Moolvasi Muslim identity’. On one hand, it claims the status of Adivasis, on the other it demands to secure the rights of Minorities enshrined in the constitution. During our conversation, several times we found Faizi referring to incidents that show how Jharkhandi Muslims had been treated by Muslims of the other states. While being asked what was the positions of Muslims of other states (Northern India) vis-à-vis their struggles, Faizi lamented, “Koi samarthan nahi- birodh, birodh. Ye log nafrat kiya karte thee. Ye log yehi bat failaya karte the ki sara jo ye log Kohl ho geya hai. Ye log bolte the ki ye julus jalsa karke hariya daru kha ke so jaya karte hai. In logo ka hukumat karne ka mijaj ban gaya thaa. Aaj bhi ye log Jahan pe basenge chahenge ki wahan ki hakim hum ban jaye. (They never supported us. They told us that we have become Kohls. They have the perception that after Processions and meetings, we take hariya [a specific form of alcoholic drink made out of rice] and sleep. They got used to rule over us. Even now wherever they settle in, they want to become the owner of the place)”.
‘Arab ke sarjameen pe jaye toh hum jaye humari Jharkhandi Pehchan se’
Such emotion was reflected in actions of JMC even after the state of Jharkhand was formed. The demand of separate Haj Committee as mentioned earlier though was there since the formation of different Muslim Forums during Jharkhand Andolon, several Ulemas from Bihar said that for the first year (i.e. 2001) let the Jharkhandis be sent through Bihar Haj committee. Faizi and his comrades were not ready under any circumstances to have some compromises. “Itne jaddo-jehad ke baad jab alag rajya mila tabhi bhi hum jaye Haj karne Bihari pehchan se? Nahi! Hum chahte hai ki hum jab Arab ke sarjameen pe jaye toh hum jaye humara Jharkhandi Pehchan se (After so many struggles and fights we have got the separate state and still are we expected to go for Haj with Bihari identity? No! Never! We want when we will touch the land of Arab, we will have our Jharkhandi identity)”, Faizi’s words were reverberating in the room- the only thing that we could hear was the aspiration for separate Jharkhandi Muslim identity- even in the holy land of Islam where all other identities are subsumed by the broader identity of ‘ummat’.
On April 28, 2001, JMC submitted memorandum to then Minority Welfare Minister of Jharkhand Arjun Munda and asked him to form separate Haj Committee immediately. Under pressure the newly formed Jharkhand Government on July 2 declared the formation of separate Haj Committee in Jharkhand and Arjun Munda was made the president of 14 members’ council.
Faizi referred to another meeting of Momin Conference in late 90s in Irba where he further understood how Muslims of other states looked down upon them. The chief guest was from Bihar who not only continued comparing Jharkhandi Muslims with Kohl tribes rather he continued saying that Muslims in this state didn’t have manners of clothing and speaking. Only after the ‘Yalgar’ (attack) from the people of Bihar that they started learning the Islamic ethos. This savior complex of North Indian Muslims is what the Jharkhandi Muslims fought against.
Their opposition to the Ulemas from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh got reflected in the meeting of JMC on October 11, 2001. Under the chairmanship of Haji Akhtar Ansari, district president, JMC, this meeting unanimously took the decision of not letting the Muslim leaders of North to divide the unified Jharkhandi Muslim community. Such idea of united Jharkhandi Muslim identity though stands in contrast to the caste panchayats working at the mohalla level, it came several times in the words of Mohd. Faizi, Zubair Ahmed and other leaders as well that without the external interventions such ‘firqahs (sects and divisions)’ wouldn’t have much fodder to grow.
JMC continued its struggle for the rights of Jharkhandi Muslims and emphasized on the proper upholding of Article 29 & 30 of the Indian constitution. On one hand, the fight was against any sort of discrimination, on the other it was for gaining the recognition of a separate identity. Considering the backwardness of Muslims in terms of economic and educational qualifications, JMC submitted its petition to Arjun Munda, then the Minority Welfare Commission, on June 5, 2001 to provide the Jharkhandi Muslims with 20% reservation. JMC used the analogy of Karnataka’s Muslims as in late 90s they used to have 6% reservation within the cap of OBCs. However, the reservation of Muslims in Karnataka has different historical trajectories. Qazi Arshad Ali in his book ‘Karnataka Muslims & Electoral Politics’ mentioned that Muslims were given reservation as backward class back in 1921, according to the recommendations of Justice Miller committee that was appointed by Maharaja of Mysore. The context of Jharkhand was though totally different, the analogy of Karnataka was a point for them to show the possibility of using Other Backward Classes quota for overall development of Jharkhandi Muslims.
Against the Grains of Homogeneity
Till the date, though in an overwhelmingly communally polarizing situation, JMC is still working for the rights of the Jharkhandi Muslims. The lynching of Tabrez Ansari was the latest that made them sit together further to contemplate for what actually they devoted their lives- Is it the Jharkhand they hoped for? While we were about to wrap up the interview, Faizi asked his daughters to meet us. At a glance, we recognized Shireen Faizi who was one of the leading women faces during Anti-CAA movement in Ranchi. Faizi smiled at us- “Humara pura khandan hi Andolon se juda hua hai… Abhi bhi Jharkhandi Muslims ka koi bhi issue me pehla insaan jo raste pe ayega wo mere ghar se hi niklega…(My whole family is connected to movements. Still now, whenever Jharkhandi Muslims will fight for anything, the first person to come out of the house will be from our place)”- there was reflection of just pride that still helps him to sustain the struggles for existence.
At a time when Hinduization of Adivasis has become one of the major propagandas of the ruling Hindu rights, the nuanced ‘Adivasi Muslim’ identity must be further interrogated. Against the grain of religious homogenization where Muslims and Hindus, Muslims and Adivasis, Muslims and Dalits are pitted against each other as singular blocks, the assertion of ‘Jharkhandi Muslim’ identity becomes imperative at least to reclaim the Adivasi-Muslim unity in Jharkhand. For the survival of Indian democracy perhaps what we need the most is the recognition of heterogenous identities that have not been products of some decade-old propagated conflicts, rather have history of century old collaborations and bonhomie.
Authors:
Abhik Bhattacharya is a Doctoral Research Fellow, School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University, Delhi. He works on Silencing and Spatial segregation of Muslims in Ranchi
Arshad Raza Khan is the admin of Facebook page Muslims of Ranchi. He is also currently pursuing his M. Tech from Central University of Jharkhand
Ayan Tanweer is a Freelance photographer based in Ranchi. He is pursuing his M.B.A from ISB&M, Pune
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Must Read / by Abhik Bhattacharya, Arshad Raza Khan & Ayan Tasveer / October 28th, 2021
While the origin of Mygurudu is unknown, it is believed that the word originated from ‘Mozhi Kurudu’, which means misleading with words.
The 1921 revolt grew as an agitation against the feudal lords who aided the British. (Photo | Special Arrangement)
Kozhikode :
The centenary observations of the Malabar rebellion of 1921 are also becoming an occasion to retrieve many forgotten things part of local history. Mygurudu, the secret language that was prevalent in some parts of Malabar, is among them. For the coded language was used widely by the rebels to hoodwink the British during the rebellion.
While the origin of Mygurudu is unknown, it is believed that the word originated from ‘Mozhi Kurudu’, which means misleading with words. The language was developed by swapping Malayalam alphabets. For example, Malayalam alphabet ‘Aa’ is replaced by ‘Sa’ and ‘Eee’ by ‘See’.
In his book ‘Anglo-Mappila War 1921’, historian A K Kodoor recorded that the rebel leaders had instructed that all messages should be communicated through Mygurudu. He added that rebels’ meeting at Vellinezhi had decided to teach all group members the language, and that the Mappilas of Malabar used the secret language from 15th century AD when they were battling the Portuguese.
The Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) recently organised an exhibition ‘Al Jamia Mygurudu’ at the Al Jamia Al Islamia at Santhapuram near here. “The exhibition was part of a protest against the move from the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to delete the name of those who participated in the 1921 rebellion from the list of freedom fighters,” said Ayman M A, convener of the exhibition.
Dr Pramod Irumbuzhi, who has done extensive research on the language, said he first came to know about it when he was studying at the Calicut University. “I realised that some people can still speak the language. There will be around 500 people who can fluently speak Mygurudu in the seven districts of Malabar,” said Pramod, whose book on the subject has run into the fourth edition.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / October 24th, 2021
Sabu Dastagir, or Selar Sabu, might be an overlooked name in Indian Cinema’s vibrant history but many wouldn’t be aware that he was perhaps the first actor to find bonafide success in Hollywood. These are the early 1930s that we refer to, much before the likes of Om Puri, Saeed Jaffrey, Irffan Khan or even Priyanka Chopra made their mark on the foreign shores.
Born in the Mysuru kingdom of the pre-independent India to the then king’s official mahout, Sabu was spotted at the age of 13 by director Robert Flaherty (or his wife, some sources claim) who would later cast him in the screen adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s Toomai and the Elephants (from the Jungle Book). While portions of the film were shot in Mysuru, the rest of the film was shot in London which meant that Sabu was flown over, along with his brother, to England where he is said to have attended school for a brief period.
But this was only the beginning for Sabu Dastagir as he chanced upon more such golden opportunities with projects like ‘The Drum (1938), wherein he played prince Azim, or Zoltan Korda’s ‘The Thief of Baghdad’ in 1940 in which he played Abu, the outwitter who ultimately saves the princess. ‘The Thief of Baghdad’ won the Oscars for Cinematography, Art, and Special Effects while ‘The Drum’ ended up causing riots in Mumbai for its subservient attitude towards the British in the film.
Around the time of ‘The Thief of Baghdad’s release, the second World War was looming large over the entire world, and Sabu, during its peak, had just completed shooting for ‘Jungle Book’ in Hollywood.
He would go on to serve the American military and become an integral member of more than 40 air missions across the pacific as their tail or machine gunner. Along with the acting accolades he had received till then, Sabu also became a decorated military officer after being awarded the Flying Cross.
Sabu would then continue residing in the United States of American and become the face of the “Empire Movies” with several hits like ‘White Savage (1942)’, ‘Cobra Woman (1944)’, ‘Man-Eater of Kumaon (1948), and many more to his name.
It was on the sets of ‘Song of India’ in 1949 that he met actor and future wife Marilyn Cooper for the first time.
Sabu Dastagir breathed his last on 2nd December, 1963 in California, despite being in the pink of his health at the time.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / TimesofIndia.com / Home> Entertainment> Kannada> Movies / by Swaroop Kodur / September 07th, 2021
It is a matter of great pride for the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) that Ms Rubina, a PhD research scholar from the Department of Electrical Engineering has been selected for the coveted Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) under the Direct Entry category for May-2021 drive.
JMI Vice Chancellor Prof. Najma Akhtar congratulated the scholar for this award and hoped she will justify the fellowship with quality research outcome.
Prof. Munna Khan, HOD, Department of Electrical Engineering said that she will receive a monthly fellowship of Rs 70, 000 for first two years, Rs 75,000 for 3rd year, Rs.80,000 for the 4th year and the 5th year respectively. In addition to this, the scholar is also eligible for a research grant of Rs. 2 lakhs per year (Rs 10 Lakhs for five years) under the scheme.
Ms Rubina’s research will be based on “Development of Smart Capacitive Sensors for Condition Monitoring of Electrical Apparatus in Smart Grids”.
The main objective is to fabricate capacitive sensors with superior static and dynamic characteristics for real time online health monitoring of key electrical apparatus such as transformers, and gas insulated switchgears (GIS). The capacitive sensors are extensively used for sensing applications but mostly parallel plate and planar interdigital capacitive sensors with nanostructure sensing films. Although nanostructure materials are nowadays widely used for sensing applications and the stability of the nanomaterials is an important issue for real time applications.
Researchers mostly pay attention to the sensitivity which can be easily addressed with modern advanced IC devices but degradation of sensor performance due to stability is difficult to address by the ICs.
Ms Rubina, is pursuing PhD under the supervision of Prof. Tariqul Islam in the Electrical Engineering Department, JMI.
She will work on “Design, Modelling and Fabrication of High Performance Capacitive Sensors for Non-contact Measurement of Some Important Parameters in Smart Grids”. The sensors for smart grids need to face adverse conditions such as high temperature corrosive environment with electromagnetic noise interference.
The research work will pave a way for the development of novel capacitive sensors which will be cost effective, easy to install and fulfil the application needs.
Rubina thanked Prof. A. Q. Ansari, the coordinator PMRF scheme, HOD, Dean F/O Engg. & Technology, the supervisor and other members of the department who supported her for this achievement.
It is worth mentioning that under the Lateral Entry Scheme of the December 2020 drive, six research scholars of JMI were selected for PMRF. Five out of six are girl students.
The main motivation for this attractive fellowship scheme is to attract the best talent into research thereby realizing the vision of development through innovation. The scheme was announced in the Budget 2018-19.
source: http://www.jim.ac.in / JMI / by Public Relations Office, JMI / December 04th, 2021
Rasheed Artist is one among these people in Malegaon, who despite all odds went on to achieve such a position, which is difficult for many even under most favourable conditions
Rasheed Artist – renowned artist of Malegaon
The powerloom factories in Malegaon might have been the only available option for the Malegaonians, the deprived people of the Muslim dominated textile town in North Maharashtra. Yet the amount earned after working in these factories was sufficient till a few decades ago to make one’s end meet easily. This perhaps is the reason why the town has surprising number of poets, laureates, scholars and artists who would work in these factories like petty labourers during the day and then indulge themselves in creative activities till late in the evening.
Rasheed Artist is one among these people in Malegaon, who despite all odds went on to achieve such a position, which is difficult for many even under most favourable conditions. Hanging against the walls of the main halls inside the plush bungalows owned by the dignitaries in India as well as in various other countries in the world, Rasheed Artist’s paintings are point of attraction for visitors since many years. Fabulous achievement indeed! However the journey that led to these walls was not easy, and for Rasheed Artist, it needed a matchless and unprecedented effort since childhood.
Malegaon in the sixties though had quite a good number of schools, managements could hardly find a good drawing teacher during those difficult days. Under these circumstances having a professional artist to teach the art of painting to students using watercolor was beyond one’s imaginations. However Rasheed Artist was resolute. He was just 15 but when he failed in fulfilling his strong desire for commercial art in the corridors of the education campus, he decided to quit schooling.
“It was my craze for paintings that forced me to drop out of the school in the early age”, he recalled.
Holding brush in one hand and color box in the other, he began roaming here and there to satisfy his lust for Art. It was then that Wad Saheb, a Director at Camel, the stationary giant famous for manufacturing pencils, watercolor and other stationary items till recently, came to Malegaon. Wad Saheb, as Rasheed Artist described the renowned artist from Shimla, visited Malegaon as part of his nation-wide talent-search program.
“He visited Malegaon for consecutive years in the seventies, shared valuable tips with the students like us and organised painting and drawing competitions to encourage us”, Rasheed Artist said adding:
“In his second visit to Malegaon in 1968, I won the competition. Wad Saheb was thrilled watching the improvement I had attained in one year.”
In Wad Saheb, Rashid Artist found a mentor. But he was not a lord and any further continuation from now had become unbearable for his parents. To bear the expenses hence Rasheed Artist began working in a local powerloom factory along with his father – without of course sharing hardly any money with him for regular household needs. Rasheed Artist would work for three to four days in a week and the moment he would get some cash would rush to Mumbai and wander around the city’s art galleries in his humble and simple attire which is part of his persona even now.
“Jahangir and Taj Art Galleries in Mumbai were my favorite hunting grounds”, he recalled.
His encounter with the masters of the time – including the legendaries Jahangir Sabhawala and Sarvayya at these galleries are still the precious moments of his life.
“My comments and discussions would make them dumb. They could not believe a humble looking person like me had such a sound knowledge of canvas paintings.”, he said.
Rasheed Artist
In 1970, Rasheed Artist permanently moved to Mumbai,and started working on banners, sketches and art works for the upcoming films at V. Shantaram’s Mumbai Central Film Department. He was earning reasonably well now. But to earn was never in his priority list. Therefore he decided to leave Mumbai and return back to Malegaon where his talent soon witnessed a surprising turnaround.
“Innovation and creativity have always been my passions. Back in Malegaon, I began working on popular couplets of Urdu poets and tried to portray them in my paintings”, he recalled.
There was no looking back after that. He soon acquired perfection in transferring Urdi couplets over the canvas with amazing interpretational skills. Hundreds of canvas paintings portraying Urdu couplets by the poets like Mirza Ghalib, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Meer Taqi Meer, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Rahat Indori, Shabina Adeeb, Parvin Shakir and others were ready in quick succession. Subsequently, it became customary for the Malegaonians to gift Rasheed Artist’s paintings to the dignitaries who would visit the town.
While the one gifted to veteran musician Naushad painted on the famous couplet Aabadiyon main dasht ka manzar bhi ayega; Guzroge shaher se to mera ghar bhi ayega is still greeting the visitors in his hall, Shabana Azmi has put the one presented to her father Kaifi Azmi portrayed on Aik woh keh jinko fikre nashaib o faraz hai; Aik hum keh chal pade toh behr haal chal pade in her office.
Rashid Artist with his paintings.
Majrooh Sulatnpuri was lucky to get two paintings. Of these two, the one on Sutoone daar pe rakhte chalo saron ke charaag; Jahan talak yeh sitam ki siyah raat chale is in Canada and the other on Phir koi masloob hua sare rahe tamnna; Aawaze jaras pichle pahar taiz bahut hai is part of the splendid collection at Dubai Urdu Library.
Simultaneously, Rasheed Artist also perfectly worked on portraits of the people he loved the most. They included freedom fighters, world leaders, artists and poets. When Dilip Kumar visited Malegaon in 1980, he was thrilled to see his portrait. The portrait presented to him is now greeting the people at his Bandra residence. The portraits of Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini and Mirza Ghalib presented to Ferhad Parizaad of the Iranian Cultural Centre in Mumbai in 1985 are in Iran.
Today Rasheed Artist is the ultimate and globally recognized name when it comes to canvas paintings. In fact, he is perhaps the only artist in the Indian sub continent who portrays Urdu couplets over the canvas with such a sound interpretational skills. Yet Rasheed Artist has few more dreams in his life.
“Apart from writing a book on Sketching and Painting, it’s my dream to transfer the history of Urdu Ghazals from Ameer Khusroo till date over the canvas”, he said in a determined tone.
Rasheed Artist at this stage of his life is finding it easier to run the expenses of his family. However to run his dream project is of course an expensive affair. Moreover, looking at him who resolutely turned down the offers by popular art galleries in London and Australia to auction his paintings, it seems impossible for him to make any compromises merely for the sake of arranging funds needed to work on these projects. Yet one thing is certain. The stubborn in him would not let him sit idle. It would be really interesting to see how he achieves these targets.
[An abridged version of this article was published by The Times of India, on August 25, 2010 in its Nashik edition.]
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India> Life & Style / by Aleem Faizee, ummid.com / June 13th, 2009
Kolkata Municipal Corporation has a total of 144 seats. Registering a landslide victory, Trinamool Congress won 134 seats.
Firhad Hakim, first Muslim Mayor of Kolkata.
Kolkata:
The newly elected Kolkata Municipal Corporation )KMC) body will have a total of 21 Muslims members, as per the election result announced by the West Bengal Election Commission after counting of votes Tuesday.
Of the total 21 Muslim members who have won the 2021 Kolkata Civic Body elections polling for which was held on December 19, 18 are from Trinamool Congress Party (TMC), 02 Independents and 01 from the Congress Party.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation has a total of 144 seats. Registering a landslide victory, Trinamool Congress won 134 seats. The BJP won 03 seats, Congress and Left won 02 seats each and the remaining 03 seats went to the Independent candidates.
Among the 02 Congress candidates who won the 2021 local body election and will become corporator, 01 (Wasim Ansari) is a Muslim. Wasim won from Ward No 137.
Similarly, among the 03 Independent Candidates who have won the 2021 KMC election, 02 – (Kaniz Ayesha and Rubina Naz) are Muslims.
Rest 18 corporators have won the election on Trinamool Congress Party ticket. Among them is also Firhad Hakim – a minister in Mamata Banerji cabinet who was also the first Muslim Mayor of Kolkata.
Following is the complete list of Muslims (ward and party wise) who have won the 2021 Kolkata Municipal Election result of which was declared today.
1. Iqbal Ahmed (TMC/Ward No 29)
2. Mohammed Jasimuddin (TMC/Ward No 39)
3. Kaniz Ayesha (Independent/Ward No. 43)
4. Rehana Khatun (TMC/Ward No 44)
5. Amiurddin (TMC/Ward No 54)
6. Kisar Jamil (TMC/Ward No 60)
7. Manzar Iqbal (TMC/Ward No 61)
8. Sana Ahmed (TMC/Ward No 62)
9. Sammi Jahan Begum (TMC/Ward No 64)
10. Faiz Ahmed Khan (TMC/Ward No 66)
11. Nezamuddin Shams (TMC/Ward No 75)
12. Shamima Rehan Khan (TMC/Ward No 77)
13. Md Anwar Khan (TMC/Ward No 80)
14. Firhad Hakim (TMC/Ward No 82)
15. Shams Iqbal (TMC/Ward No 134)
16. Rubina Naz (Independent/Ward No. 135)
17. Shamsuzzaman Ansari (TMC/Ward No 136)
18. Wasim Ansari (Congress/Ward No 137)
19. Farida Parvin (TMC/Ward No 138)
20. Sk Mushtaq Ahmed (TMC/Ward No 139)
21. Abu Mohammed Tarik (TMC/Ward No 140)
Meanwhile, Outgoing mayor Firhad Hakim , who went to meet chief minister Mamata Banerjee after the results fuelling the speculation of becoming the mayor for the second time, told the reporters:
“We should accept the mandate of the people. We also did opposition politics for 34 years but we never questioned the people. They defeated us and we accepted it with a whole heart”
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> India / by ummid.com News Network / December 21st, 2021
