India’s new ambassador to Saudi Arabia Dr. Suhel Ajaz Khan assumed office on Monday amid welcoming voices and expectations from many quarters amidst positive momentum of deepening engagement between both countries.
Dr. Khan formally assumed charge in the embassy on Monday by unfurling the national flag following presenting his credentials to the Saudi foreign affairs ministry where he was received by the Chief of Protocol at the ministry, according to the Indian Embassy.
His posting is considered important as cooperation between the two countries have assumed greater significance in the last few years. Some high profile and key official visits between both countries are expected to begin soon.
Dr. Khan, a 1997-batch IFS was Indian Ambassador to Lebanon. A medical graduate and native of Indore in Madhya Pradesh, he had two stints earlier in Saudi Arabia.
source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Middle East / by Irfan Mohammed / posted by Neha Khan / January 16th, 2023
Popularly known as Frontier Gandhi, Badshah Khan, Bacha Khan and Fakhr-e-Afghan, his indomitable political spirit has found a place in all of his names.
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (L) with Gandhi at King Edward’s College, NWFP, in 1938 | Wikimedia commons
Buried under the historical violence of Pakistan’s tribal belt is a sliver of peace—and it is because of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a lifelong pacifist who mobilised Pathans against British colonialists in India. Popularly known as ‘Frontier Gandhi’, Badshah Khan, Bacha Khan and Fakhr-e-Afghan, his indomitable political spirit has found a place in all of his names, a reminder of peace, secularism and unity even 35 years after his death in January 1988.
Born into a wealthy Sunni Pashtun family in Pakistan’s Utmanzai in 1890, Khan hailed from the landowning Mohammadzai clan. He devoted his life and resources to upending poverty and promoting education and Hindu-Muslim harmony. But his biggest contribution to the Indian subcontinent, perhaps, came with the ‘Khudai Khidmatgar’, or Servants of God, movement in 1929—the beginning of mass mobilisation against an exploitative British Raj.
Khan’s innate ability to unite the masses non-violently turned him into a ‘powerhouse Muslim leader’ from the erstwhile North West Frontier Province (NWFP). Crackdowns, custodial violence and imprisonment only hardened his anti-colonial stance, laying the foundations for a spiritual resilience which is talked about to this day.
“It is my inmost conviction that Islam is amal, yakeen, muhabat – selfless service, faith, and love,” Khan had said. He had also urged Pathans to “arise and rebuild” their “fallen house.”
Powerhouse Pathan
While Khan’s life was fraught with hurdles and clashes with the colonial government, his political fervour refused to die. For instance, in 1921, he was asked to lead the Khilafat Committee in Peshawar as its president. During his tour of the province, he delivered speeches and emphasised the need to eliminate British imperialism in South Asia. He was subsequently jailed and tortured by the British for three years.
“When Abdul Ghaffar came out of jail in 1924, he was frail and worn-out in body, but his spirit was unvanquished. His blue eyes were proud of their suffering, determined and cold. The Pathans looked at Abdul Ghaffar with admiration; they had found their leader, thanks to the British,” writes documentary filmmaker Dinanath Gopal Tendulkar, in his book Abdul Ghaffar Khan: Faith is a Battle.
Khan led the Khudai Khidmatgar movement with the call to lay down arms and use civil resistance to challenge British rule. This massive movement involved 100,000 Pathans who took an oath to join the movement: “Since God needs no service, I promise to serve humanity in the name of God. I promise to refrain from violence and from taking revenge. I promise to forgive those who oppress me or treat me with cruelty. I promise to devote at least two hours a day to social work.”
Within a short time, they established a network in the province, particularly in neglected rural areas.
The leaders of the Khudai Khidmatgar movement put great emphasis on discipline. The volunteers were organised and drilled in a military fashion, given the ranks of generals, colonels, captains, etc. They even wore identical shirts in shades of brown or dark red. This move invited extensive propaganda from the British Indian government, which equated Khidmatgars to the Bolsheviks. But Khan never left his non-violent ideals.
“There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pathan like me subscribing to the creed of non-violence. It is not a new creed,” Khan had once declared, as per his biographer Eknath Easwaran.
Friendship with Gandhi, relationship with Congress
Khan is also often remembered in history for his curious and close friendship with M.K. Gandhi. The link that connected the two has its roots in the 1919 Rowlatt Act. Khan stood up against the Act—which promoted indefinite imprisonment without a trial—and mobilised 50,000 people in Utmanzai to raise their voices in protest.
Scholars have differentiated how Khan and Gandhi approached their respective philosophies of non-violence. In popular discourse, it is often portrayed that Gandhi heavily inspired Khan’s ideals of non-violence. But J.S. Bright, a biographer of Khan, thinks differently.
Bright also said that in Gandhi’s case, his ideals received more publicity and that he should be called “Indian Khan” instead.
Khan never supported Partition
In December 1929, Ghaffar Khan and other prominent members of the Khudai Khidmatgar attended the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress to raise awareness of the volatile situation in the NWFP.
Impressed with the Congress’s support, Khan endorsed the party’s programme of complete independence and non-payment of taxes and revenues.
But when it came to the issue of Partition, Khan felt “betrayed” by the Congress Working Committee. Owing to the violence and realpolitik, most Congress leaders agreed to the Partition plan laid out by British viceroy Louis Mountbatten, with the Congress Working Committee overwhelmingly ratifying it. Only four leaders held out – Gandhi, Khan, Ram Manohar Lohia and Jayaprakash Narayan.
“You have thrown us to the wolves,” Khan said in resentment, according to an article about his death published in Los Angeles Times.
The Pashtuns were only given the choice of going with India or Pakistan; independence was out of the question. Convinced that his participation in the decision-making referendum would lead to violence and bloodshed among Pathans, Khan and the Khudai Khidmatgars left the ball in the Muslim League’s court.
The NWFP eventually voted to join Pakistan, where Khan fought for a better deal for the frontier region and advocated for the province’s autonomy. For this, he spent years in prison.
After 17 years of isolation and imprisonment in Pakistan, Khan went on to live in Kabul in the mid-1970s.
He spent his last years in the Afghan city of Jalalabad, visiting India occasionally for medical treatment, mainly for arthritis. Khan died on 20 January 1988 of complications from a stroke while under house arrest in Peshawar and was laid to rest in Jalalabad.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
source: http://www.theprint.in / The Print / Home> The Print Profile / by Shania Mathew / January 20th, 2023
An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Quran
by Carla Power
Henry Holt. 336 pp. Paperback, $19
Since Sept. 11, 2001, popular media has tended to represent Islam as monolithic and menacing, a faith whose adherents spend their time plotting to murder infidels, oppress women and instill sharia law in Western democracies. While the actions of groups like the Islamic State seem to confirm the worst stereotypes, the worldviews of extremists do not account for the belief systems of the majority of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims, who are, by journalist Carla Power’s account, “people as diverse as Pathan tribals and Kansan surgeons.”
Weary of the stereotypes and “blithe generalizations about ‘the Islamic world’ and ‘the West,’ ” Power, who holds a degree in Middle East studies from Oxford and has worked as a foreign correspondent in Muslim countries, decided to strike back. “If the Oceans Were Ink” is a unique account of the Islamic faith that focuses on the perspective of Sheikh Mohammad Akram Nadwi, a scholar and imam whom Power has known for more than 20 years. It is an unusual book, simultaneously an exploration of faith and of Islam as it is lived by those who know it most intimately.
The journalist became acquainted with the imam in the 1990s, when both were conducting research on Islamic scholars and mystics at a think tank, the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. Their paths crossed during the intervening years, as Akram achieved renown as a religious scholar and Power established herself as a successful journalist. After years of reporting on strongmen, politics and identity in Muslim societies, Power decided that she wanted “to explore the beliefs behind that identity and to see how closely they matched my own.” She asked Akram if he would take her on as a student. Over the years, Power had developed great respect for his scholarship, particularly his extensive biographical dictionaries on early Islam’s female scholars, whose lives have almost disappeared from the scholarly record. Through this work, Akram hopes to remind Muslims of the importance of women’s education and contributions to society.
Power turns what could have been a dry account of a series of interviews into a vibrant tale of a friendship and of her search for meaning through the contemplation of another religious tradition. Above all, her goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of the Koran, whose “limitless possibilities” are best represented in the words of the Sura that give her book its name: “If the oceans were ink, for (writing) the words of my Lord, the ocean would be exhausted, before the words of my Lord were exhausted.”
Akram and Power meet regularly at Akram’s office, at an Oxford coffee shop, and at the study groups and lectures he leads for the local community. She gets to know his family and his followers well, and is particularly impressed by a group of outspoken, educated Muslim women who debate Akram and even cause him to change his position on controversial issues. Inspired by their time together, Power writes that “studying with a man who saw everything from tea leaves to algebra as gifts from God, I was struck by a new seam of gratitude running through me. I’d emerge from a lesson not with faith, but with what I suppose a fashionable guru would call mindfulness.”
Power skillfully navigates multiple layers of cultural interpretation that make subjects such as veiling so controversial in the West. Akram explains to her that, in Islam, modest dress is not meant to make women invisible but rather allows them “to be present and visible, with the power of their bodies switched off.” However, geopolitics has added additional layers of complexity. From the time of Algerian colonialism until 21st-century Afghanistan, Western military occupation has often been linked to the unveiling of Muslim women. “In the months after the Taliban’s fall, the Western press would rush to capture women shedding their veils. It was as though this transition from burqaed lump to woman was a 21st-century Pygmalion myth: a breathing of life into Afghanistan’s people.”
In contrast to some of his students, Akram eschews politics. He urges his students to focus solely on taqwa, or God-consciousness. Throughout the book, Akram disdains the idea of Islam as a tool to reach political ends, believing that those Muslims with the goal of a state governed by sharia law have a “deep envy of the West’s power and geopolitical supremacy.” Not all of his students agree with him, especially those espousing the need to participate in the revolutions against dictatorships that have wracked the Middle East since 2011. Yet to Akram, the concerns of this world are insignificant compared with the importance of becoming close to the divine.
As Power wraps up her studies with the imam, she concludes that they share many values, including ethics, democracy, equality and human rights. She envies Akram the feeling that prayer “could feel like returning to ‘the arms of your mother, when you are a child.’ ” For Akram, she writes, “existence was a circle, with God at its end, beginning, and every point in between.” For the pious individual, life, from birth to death, is a cycle of return, with the words of God at the center. Yet although the year leaves her with an enhanced appreciation of the complexity of the Koran — even to call the Koran a book is to limit it; “it is a place to which the faithful return, again and again,” she writes — she is ultimately unable to embrace Akram’s sense of religious conviction.
“If the Oceans Were Ink” should be mandatory reading for the 52 percent of Americans who admit to not knowing enough about Muslims. Years of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the media are beginning to take a toll on Muslims in the United States. According to a 2011 poll by the Pew Research Center, 6 percent said they had been victimized by hate crimes in the preceding year. FBI statistics for reported hate crimes against Muslims are five times higher since 9/11. Most recently, the killing of three Muslim students in North Carolina, ostensibly over a parking dispute, has also been alleged to be a hate crime. A Zogby poll released by the Arab American Institute in 2014 showed that only 27 percent of Americans reported favorable opinions of Muslims, down eight points from a poll in 2010. Yet among those polled who reported knowing Muslims firsthand, favorability was 33 percent higher.
Akram, steeped in religion but also thoughtful and open to dialogue, emerges from these pages as a complex and likable man, and it is hard to imagine readers not being moved by Power’s humanistic, evenhanded portrayal of him. “If the Oceans Were Ink” is a welcome and nuanced look at Islam through the eyes of an individual who lives his faith with every breath. It goes a long way toward combating the dehumanizing stereotypes of Muslims that are all too common in the United States today.
By Rachel Newcomb / Rachel Newcomb is associate professor of anthropology at Rollins College, where she also directs the Program in Middle Eastern and North African Studies.
source: http://www.washingtonpost.com / Washington Post / Home> Opinion / by Rachel Newcomb / April 30th, 2015
Jamdahan Village (Jaunpur District), UTTAR PRADESH / London, U.K. :
Mohammad Akram Nadwi is a renowned Islamic scholar, theologian, author and professor of Arabic and Islamic studies. He is known for his extensive knowledge of the Quran, Hadith, and Islamic law, as well as his ability to convey complex concepts in a clear and accessible manner.
Early Life and Education
Mohammad Akram Nadwi was born in India in 1963. He comes from a family with a long tradition of Islamic scholarship, and from a young age, he showed a strong interest in Islamic studies. He began his formal education by studying the Quran and Hadith under the guidance of local scholars and his father.
In 1975, Nadwi traveled to the city of Lucknow, India to study at the famous Nadwatul Ulama, an Islamic university and seminary. He studied under some of the most renowned scholars of his time, including Maulana Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi and Maulana Sayyid Abul Hasan Ali Hasani. He earned a degree in Islamic studies and later completed his PhD in Islamic theology from the University of Lucknow. Thereafter he was sent to England as Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi’s representative, becoming a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies.
Personal Life
Mohammad Akram Nadwi is married and has children. He is known for leading a simple and humble lifestyle, and is dedicated to spreading the teachings of Islam to as many people as possible.
Career
After completing his studies in India, Nadwi began teaching at various universities and Islamic institutions in the United Kingdom, including the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and the Markfield Institute of Higher Education. He has also taught at universities in India and the United States.
In addition to his academic work, Nadwi is also a respected speaker and lecturer. He has delivered speeches and lectures at various conferences and events around the world, and is known for his ability to convey complex Islamic concepts in a clear and accessible manner.
Muhammad Akram Nadwi is also a founder of Al-Salam Institute, UK where he also serves as a principal. The Institute is dedicated to the traditional Islamic sciences and provide a platform for the authentic Islamic scholarship to be studied and transmitted.
Books
Mohammad Akram Nadwi is a prolific author, who has written several books and articles on various Islamic topics. Some of his most notable works include:
“Al-Muhaddithat: The Women Scholars in Islam” – This is a 43-volume biographical dictionary of female scholars of Hadith, and is considered one of the most comprehensive works on the subject. It is the first book of its kind in the Muslim world, and provides valuable insight into the role of women in the study and transmission of Islamic knowledge.
Madrasah Life: A Student’s Day at Nadwat al-‘Ulamā’
Al-Fiqh Al-Islāmī According to the Hanafi Madhab Rites of Purification, Prayers and Funerals Vol 1
Abū Ḥanīfah His Life, Legal Method & Legacy
Shaykh ‘Abū al-Ḥasan ‘Alī Nadwī: His Life & Works
Ibn Ḥazm on the Lawfulness of Women Attending Prayers in the Mosque
Journey to Andalus – Translated and edited by Dr. Abu Zayd.
Lessons Learned: Treasures from Nadwah’s Sages
Remembering Beautiful Days In Jerusalem
Foundation To Ḥadīth Science: A Primer on Understanding & Studying Hadith – Translated and edited by Dr. Abu Zayd.
He is also the subject of the best-selling book: If the Oceans Were Ink: An Unlikely Friendship and a Journey to the Heart of the Qur’an (2015).
Overall, Mohammad Akram Nadwi is a respected and influential Islamic scholar, known for his extensive knowledge of the Quran, Hadith, and Islamic law, as well as his ability to convey complex concepts in a clear and accessible manner. His work has helped to promote understanding and harmony within the Muslim community, and his lectures and writings continue to inspire and guide people on their spiritual journey.
source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> Famous Muslims / by The Cognate News Desk / January 12th, 2023
In a ceremony held at Chowmahalla Palace which was attended by close family members, Azmat Jah was coronated as successor to Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Bahadur.
Hyderabad:
Azmat Jah, a professional photographer and filmmaker who worked with leading Hollywood directors, has taken over as successor of his father Mukarram Jah, the eighth and last formal Nizam of Hyderabad who passed away in Turkey last week.
In a ceremony held at Chowmahalla Palace which was attended by close family members, Azmat Jah was coronated as successor to Mir Barkat Ali Khan Mukarram Jah Bahadur.
Mukarram Jah’s first wife and Azmat Jah’s mother Princess Esra, sister Shekhyar and some other family members attended the ‘Dastar Bandi’ or coronation.
It was at the same palace that Mukarram Jah was coronated at in 1967 after the death of his grandfather and seventh Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, who was the last ruler of Hyderabad State.
‘No official status’
His coronation will have no official status or title of ninth Nizam as the government of India had abolished princely titles and privileges in 1971. As per the wish of his late father, he will be the caretaker of Nizam’s properties and Nizam Trusts.
According to sources, Mukarram Jah desired that his eldest son becomes his successor. It is believed that the coronation as successor will be symbolic but significant for legal purposes.
Mir Mohammed Azmat Ali Khan, also known as Azmat Jah, was born in London on July 23, 1960. He had early education in London and later studied at the University of Southern California.
A professional photographer and filmmaker, he has worked with leading Hollywood directors such as Steven Spielberg and Richard Attenborough.
Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the titular eighth Nizam of Hyderabad who passed away in Turkey on January 14, was buried at the historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad on January 18 with full state honours.
Mukarram Jah, grandson of last Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur, passed away in Istanbul at the age of 89.
Born to Prince Azam Jah and Princess Durru Shehvar, the imperial princess of the Ottoman Empire, on October 6, 1933 in France, Mukarram Jah was coronated as Asaf Jah the Eighth on April 6, 1967, after the passing away of Mir Osman Ali Khan in February 1967.
Mukarram Jah was called Prince of Hyderabad till 1971, when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished all titles. He was also said to be India’s richest person till the 1980s. He lived most of his life in Turkey and Australia.
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> Education & Career / by IANS / January 22nd, 2023
“With the advent of modern science and technology, there has been a revolution in the world wherein changes are taking place at a very fast pace. There is no corner of life that is not affected by science and technology with the invention of Internet along with other technological sciences which have forced individuals and nations to bring about change within them, with the change of the time.
“While changing oneself is no longer optional but has become a necessity today I am reminded of the historic saying of Hazrat Maulana Shah Muhammad Abdul Rahim Sahib Naqshbandi Mujaddadi, the founder of Jamea-tul-Hidayah in Jaipur, that today the change in the curriculum of madaris and the inclusion of modern sciences is optional but tomorrow such a time will come that then it would be mandatory rather than optional”.
“Hazrat Abdul Rahim Mujaddadi felt this far-reaching vision 40 years ago, but it is a pity that the madaris did not pay attention to his voice then. However, today the management committees of all the madaris are feeling the need to change their curriculum forced by the requirements of the present day times. As such they have taken steps towards the inclusion of modern sciences in their curriculum”.
These above thoughts were expressed by Maulana Muhammad Fazl-ur-Rahim Mujaddidi, the present rector and son of the founder Jamea-tul-Hidayah, while addressing Azmat-e-Qur’an Conference which was held on 12th January 2023 at Shaghafta Ehsan Hall here. He addressed Ulema, intellectual Muslims from all over the country, and Imams of mosques and principals of the city of Jaipur.
Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahim Mujaddidi said Jamea-tul-Hidayah Jaipur in its curriculum has included Qur’an and Hadith, Islamic jurisprudence, Seerat-un-Nabi, History, Arabic language and literature as well as keeping in view the requirements of the modern times contemporary sciences such as geography, mathematics, English, Hindi language etc.
Continuing Maulana Mujaddidi said that for students to be self-sufficient in their livelihood, technical education has also been made part of the curriculum. While keeping in view the demands of the modern times, Jamea has started many new courses. One of them is a one-year online English speaking course for graduates of Madaris, wherein not only Indian but also students from abroad are benefiting from this.
He informed that in the near future an online course of Hindi language will also be started for Madaris graduates. For this Jamea-tul-Hidaya, in collaboration with Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), has decided to start a course of Hindi language & literature and the Indian society. Thereby, the Madaris graduates will get employment opportunities and they will also be able in create inter-religious harmony and clear doubts and misunderstandings amongst communities. The national language of India is Hindi, so learning Hindi and getting acquainted with India’s religious communities is a social necessity and a religious responsibility of Ulema.
Maulana Mujaddadi drawing attention of Muslims towards modern education advised them to establish institutions of professional courses including medical education. He said that the Qur’an has been revealed for humanity till the Day of Judgment. It is our responsibility to convey its message to all mankind. Today doubts, suspicions and misunderstandings against Islam and Muslims are being spread through various sources and means. “We should come forward to clear the air through our character, moral values and might of the pen. Islam does not create hurdles and stops us from acquiring modern knowledge. Moreover, our forefathers were leading the world in these scientific inventions”, he revealed.
He pointed out thatduring the dark ages of medieval Europe; incredible scientific advances were made in the Muslim world. “Our Genius ancestors in Baghdad, Cairo, Damascus and Cordoba took on the scholarly works of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Greece, India and China, developing what we would call “modern” science. Muslim mathematicians such as Al-Khwarizmi, Avicenna and Jamshīd al-Kāshī made advances in Algebra, Trigonometry, geometry and Arabic numerals as well as major advances in medicine, astronomy, engineering and agriculture. Arabic texts replaced Greek as the fonts of wisdom, helping to shape the scientific revolution of the Renaissance”, he disclosed.
‘Aalami Muzahira-e-Qirat’
Meanwhile, Maulana Mujaddadi announced on the occasion that Jamea-tul-Hidaya will be organising an “Aalami Muzahira-e-Qirat” (Global Demonstration of Qur’an Recitation) in Jaipur on 28th January, 2023. After Maghrib prayer, the international gathering of Qaris of repute will assemble to demonstrate their art. In this programme renowned Qari Shaikh Abdul Nasir Harak of Egypt along with well-known Qaris of the country will be participating.
While inviting Muslims from all over Rajasthan to participate in the grand event he said: “Qur’an the word of Allah, is the ultimate source of guidance for mankind, the creator of the universe, which is no less than a blessing in terms of its sound and beauty.
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) had said: “Embellish the Qur’an with your voices”. This is a very beautiful, inspiring and eloquent phrase that came out of the pure language of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
It is narrated from Hazrat Abu Musa Ash’ari that one day the Holy Prophet (PBUH), said to me: “I was listening to your Quran recitation at night. I said, O’ Messenger of Allah, if I had known that the Holy Prophet was listening, I would have recited it with excellence”. (Sahih Ibn Hibban: 3513)
The Holy Prophet (PBUH) taught his Companions (Sahaba) the meaning and knowledge of the Holy Qur’an as well as taught them how to recite the Holy Qur’an correctly while following the rules of Tajweed. The Holy Prophet blessed four of his companions with the knowledge of recitation, and ordered the common companions to learn the Qur’an from them. These four companions were Abdullah bin Masoud, Salim Mawla Huzaifah, Mu’adh bin Jabal and Ubi Ibn Ka’ab.
The Holy Qur’an is a book of guidance, love, connection and devotion to it is a part of Islamic faith and a sign of being a Muslim. The teaching of the Holy Qur’an, its publication, and the desire to recite it and listen to the Quran remain in the heart of every believer. He considers it as a means of his happiness and salvation in the Hereafter.
source: http://www.indiatomorrow.net / India Tomorrow / Home> Education / by Pervez Bari / January 20th, 2023
Mangaluru: The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) BIT Student chapter was inaugurated at the International Seminar Hall on Bearys Knowledge Campus on Thursday.
The inaugural ceremony commenced with the watering of plant by the dignitaries.
Dr Abdullah Gubbi, HOD-ECE, BIT-Mangalore welcomed the gathering.
Dr S I Manjur Basha, principal, BIT, who gave the introductory address, said, “The goal of the IEEE chapter is to bring technology for the betterment of humanity”.
The session began with chief guest Dr Poornalatha, associate professor, I&CT Department, MIT, and chairperson of IEEE, Mangaluru Subsection, highlighting the benefits of the new chapter to students.
Guest of honor Dr Mohit P Tahiliani, assistant professor, Department of CSE, NITK- Suratkal, spoke on industry-oriented opportunities for the student members and non-members.
Ashwini Holla, Department of ECE, Canada Engineering College, Mangaluru, shared the experiences of various student members across the world, emphasizing on the importance of networking.
Dr U C Niranjan, president of BMESI, former chairperson of IEEE- Mangalore Subsection, spoke on “Applications of Embedded System”, followed by an interactive talk with the students.
Prof Umme Najma, assistant professor, Department of CSE, proposed the vote of thanks. Salma N, student of the ECE Branch, was the master of ceremony.
Students of various Engineering branches and Bachelor of Computer Application attended the inaugural program.
An armyman Mohammad Khan receiving his Arjuna award from the then President S D Sharma (Twitter Kayamkhani samaj),
Chhoti Beri of Nagaur in Rajasthan was dotted with shanties till a few years back. Today, the village scene has changed: big and palatial houses with modern amenities inside have sprung up. People no longer wear only coarse clothes; they are donning colorful clothes made of attractive fabric.
The village is home to some 400 Kayamkhani caste people; 95 percent of them Muslims, who have preserved their traditions.
Former Sarpanch Captain Kasim Khan said that no villager drinks alcohol nor do they accept interest on money as both are considered against the tenets of Islam.
The Kayamkhani caste has a history: Kayam Singh, the son of the Chauhan king of Daderwa, was converted to Islam during the time of Emperor Firoz Shah Tughlaq in Delhi. However, while he became a Muslim, the progeny of his brothers remained Hindus with Chauhan Rajput as their caste.
Even after becoming Muslims, the Rajput culture remained intact with the family of Kayam Singh, whose successors are called Kayamkhanis.
Beri’s Kayamkhanis say that five generations ago, there was a tradition of social relations including marriages with (Hindu) Rajputs. Now the cultural ties with the Rajputs have been severed.
Milestone of Village Chooti Beri
The house of Kayamkhani in the village was called Kotdi. Like Rajputs, the celebrations of weddings will see an animal sacrifice.
A huge mosque on the west side of the village built at the cost of Rs 30 lakh has become the focal point of Chhoti Beri.
Many Kayamkhanis of the village has performed Hajj.Beri does have a fort as it came under the rulers of Fatehpur and Jhunjhunu. At the time of King Sawai Jaisingh of Jaipur, Shiv Singh Shekhawat of Sikar, Sadul Singh of Jhunjhunu abolished the Nawabi of Fatehpur, and Jhunjhunu and established their rule. In this way, the Nawabiyat of Kayamkhanis in Fatehpur, Jhunjhunu ended 300 years ago but the Beri faction is still intact.
Beri had a population of 1,223 in 1961. At that time these villagers were poor. Now this village is seeing progress and modern houses and relative affluence because of the remittances coming from the Arab countries.
The kayamkhani women still do not go out to work. They hand paint designs on fabric and it has become a household industry.
An NGO Sujangarh Ladnun Didwana Losal supplies the fabric to women for boondi design. Not a single woman in the village sits idle. The girls have started studying and going to the school that was set up with Rs 1000 donated by each Kayamkhani family. Women wear expensive salvar-kameez, ditching the traditional Rajputi dress of ghagra choli.
The Kayamkhanis are warrior people. The preferred job for most is joining the Indian Army. During the partition of India, most of the Kayamkhani families remained in India.
Each Kayamkhani family has someone in the Army. Captain Kasim Khan, Captain Faizu Khan, Captain Asghar Khan, Captain Bhanwaru Khan, Captain Taju Khan, Captain Asta Ali Khan, Captain Faiz Mohammad Khan and more than 200 soldiers are retired soldiers of the Indian army.
People remember the son of the soil Ibrahim Khan of the India Army who fought valiantly against Pakistan in the war and lost his life. His family was given a petrol pump in Moradabad, UP. Kalu Khan of Chhoti Beri was also honored by the government. Hussain Khan Captain has won the award in Moscow Olympics in Equestrian. Many people of Beri village in the 61st Cavalry have earned a name in horse riding.
Ayub Khan of Beri is pursuing medical education. Nek Mohammad here is a police inspector in Jodhpur. Aladdin Khan is a retired RI and Ghafoor Khan is a retired police station.
The community is running hostels in Jodhpur and Didwana for the student of the community studying there.
We are told that there are no quarrels and disputes among the villagers. Generally, people come across as polite and peace-loving persons.
Some families have settled in Jodhpur, Jaipur. Earlier the village used to have 500 camel carts which have been sold over a period.
(The Author is Chairman of MSO and a Community Leader)
source: http://www.awaazthevoice.in / Awaaz, The Voice / Home> India / by Shujaat Ali Quadri / by awaazthevoice.in / January 19th, 2023
The money given for cremations and burials are taken from Kaffoor’s own pockets.
Mohamed Kaffoor has helped cremate bodies of 18 people so far, none of whom were his kin | Express
Kanniyakumari:
Living is expensive; so is death. At times, mourning gets distracted by all the expenses that they are expected to bear. Even the dead are not spared the horrors of the materialistic world. With their hands and feet tied with threads of deception, nostrils blocked with tiny blobs of cotton, and the white shroud of perfection – death, at times, can appear more gentlemanly than the living. Getting ready with the assortment of items termed essentials could be painstakingly unkind.
Mohamed Kaffoor
For anybody else, it would be a weird response of judgmental stares and self-suggestive silent spells. Mohamed Kaffoor, however, is quick to answer: “Rs 4,500 for cremating Hindus and Rs 8,000 for the burial of Muslims and Christians.” The 62-year-old from Edalakudy is not a gravedigger, but his handbook is as brimming with the essentials as Liesel Meminger’s from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief.
The only difference between Kaffoor and Liesel, apart from reality, is that the former stole no book, but he is penning the afterlives of many by just giving the dead a decent send off. Kaffoor is from Nagercoil city, who has helped with the burial of two deceased and cremation of bodies of 18 people so far, none of whom were his kin of any kind. He visits crematoriums and burial grounds and sponsors the dead in their final journey.
Kaffoor’s philanthropy does not don the smiling faces of dust-clad, shabby but happy children. Only silence follows with little or no claps, let alone acknowledgment.Born to a daily-wage labourer father, Kaffoor started working as a salesman at a medical store in the city after his pre-university course (PUC). After working with a company of pens in Kerala and touring Tamil Nadu for his work, Kaffoor flew down to Uganda to work in a shop. He, along with a friend, set up his own shop in the African country.
After making some money, Kaffoor returned to India and started living in Edalakudy serving as chairman of the trust hospital UGASEWA, which was formed by people working in Uganda. Following his expertise, Kaffoor became a coordinator and continues to serve as one. While his stint with social service for the living had begun earlier, it was not until three years ago that Kaffoor got into serving the dead as well. Kaffoor was contacted by an acquaintance of his to suggest financial help for the final rites of a young man who had recently died. Kaffoor reached Kanniyakumari government medical college hospital.
“His family had no money to even perform the last rites,” he tells TNIE. After rushing to the mortuary, Kaffoor found a young woman holding a child in her arms and an aged woman. “She said that her husband sustained them by stitching and repairing umbrellas on the roadside in Nagercoil,” he says, adding that the family lost its money treating him of a sickness and had barely anything left to conduct his last rites. So, following completion of formalities, Kaffoor took the body to the crematorium at Ozhugunaseri and gave Panner, the cremator, Rs 4,500. The family members were brought as well and the last rites conducted as per their wishes.
Kaffoor says that he also got a facility constructed at his native place for Muslims to cleanse the bodies of their deceased. Even during Covid-19 pandemic, his services were available.Similarly, Kaffoor has also performed last rites for the elderly from Good Samaritan Home for the Aged at Aasaripallam in Nagercoil. S. Basil Rajan, director of the home, tells TNIE, “We admitted the sick aged inmates of our homes at nearby Kanniyakumari government medical college hospital for treatment. If they died, the bodies were kept in the mortuary and Kaffoor would be informed. He came to the mortuary and took the bodies to perform last rites.”
The money given for cremations and burials are taken from Kaffoor’s own pockets. A Shahul Hammed, a 74-year-old retired bank employee, is Kaffoor’s only companion on this road. About Kaffoor, Hammed said, “Though he was not very rich, he helped many people during the time of Covid.” In fact, Kaffoor recalls that his wife found out through an appreciation post on Facebook and has been supportive since.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by M Abdul Rabi, Express News Service / January 22nd, 2023
As digital payment applications like PhonePe, Google Pay, PayTM, etc have become easy means of transaction across India, a young man from Assam has developed an online payment system and given it the name Assam Pay Commission.
The money transfer application developed by Mustafizur Rahman of Dalgaon in the Darang district has recently received the government’s approval and recognition. The app is registered with the Government of India’s ‘Bharat Bill Payment System’ and is also available in the Google Play Store.
Mustafizur Rahman, son of Zulfikar Ali and Jyosnara Begum, is currently a B-Voc IT undergraduate student at Kharupetia College. Mustafizur has been interested in technology since his childhood.
Mustafiur Rahman working on his computer
Mustafizur spends most of the day with his mobile and computer. He has already submitted his app for registration with India Start Up. He is also planning to register his innovation with Assam Start-Up.
Speaking with Awaz-The Voice, Mustafizur Rahman said: “I was thinking about making this app for a long time. I was also facing a lot of financial problems. But, I have been able to get involved in the app over the past 3 months. Just like PhonePe, Google Pay, and PayTM, people can recharge, transfer money, pay bills etc. Our Assam Pay app has all the features of the leading apps in trend. People don’t always get cashback when they recharge on other apps. But, in our app, they get the cashback for every transaction.”
He said, “I was always interested in mobiles and computers. I always used Google Pay, PhonePe, etc. Using these, I thought that many people use these apps. But there is no profit. So, I started working on my app. Those who have used our app are very happy. We take the problems faced by the users seriously and try to fix them as soon as possible. In our app there is a help link, click on it and you can call or message. If you tell us your problem, we will fix it.”
The logo of Mustafizur Rahman’s app
He adds he plans to add more features to Assam Pay app in the future. Like the way updates keep coming on other apps, Assam Pay users will also be able to get new features through new updates.
“I am working on another big project. I cannot reveal it right now. But a very nice service will be launched soon,” Mustafizur said about his plans.
source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaaz, The Voice / Home> Youth / by awazthevoice.in / by Ariful Islam, Guwahati / January 21st, 2023
