Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

HISTORY: Yesterdate: This day from Kolkata’s past, September 4, 1911

BENGAL, BRITISH INDIA:

Bangiya Mussalman Sahitya Samiti, a literary society of Bengali Muslims, was founded on this day.

Bangiya Sahitya Parishat / Sourced by the Telegraph

Bangiya Mussalman Sahitya Samiti, a literary society of Bengali Muslims, was founded on this day.

Several young Muslim writers, such as Mohammad Maniruzzaman Islamabadi, Mohammad Mozammel and Muhammad Shahidullah were part of it.

Muhammad Shahidullah was appointed secretary.

The society was inspired by Bangiya Sahitya Parishat.

The main objectives of the society were the cultivation of Bengali writing, writing lives of pirs and encouraging Bengali Muslim writers.

Several conferences of the society were held in Kolkata, Two others were held in Chittagong and Basirhat, The society continued till the 1940s.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> My Kolkata / by Chandrima S Bhattacharya / September 04th, 2023

City Girl Falkia Khan ‘Brand Ambassador’ Of Swachh Survekshan-2023

Mysuru, KARNATAKA:

Mysore/Mysuru:

Falkia Khan, a teenager of the city, has been appointed as Brand Ambassador of Swachh Survekshan-2023.

Swachh Survekshan is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey.

The primary goal of Swachh Survekshan-2023 is to encourage large scale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to reside in.

A resident of Rajivnagar 2nd Stage, Falkia was handed over the appointment letter by Mayor Shivakumar at her house yesterday.

Falkia Khan is a 1st PU student at St. Joseph’s College in Sathagalli. She is the daughter of marble and granite businessman Ajajulla Khan and Farheen Khan couple.

Falkia, who passed SSLC in distinction, has taken PCMB as subjects in PUC. She is aspiring to become an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) Officer, according to her mother Farheen Khan, who spoke to Star of Mysore this noon.

Falkia, who is also a National Muay Thai Boxer, has won Gold in National Championship and many gold medals in boxing and kickboxing, apart from winning gold in Spellbee competitions.

She also holds ‘India Book of Records’ for delivering maximum public speeches.

Mayor Shivakumar told Star of Mysore that “Falkia Khan had been appointed as Brand Ambassador during the tenure of previous BJP led State Government. However, the process of issuing letter of appointment was pending, which was completed yesterday. Falkia is scheduled to visit every wards in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) limits to create awareness among the people to make Mysuru the No. 1 Cleanest City in the country, in the forthcoming Clean City rankings.”

Chairperson of MCC Public Health, Education and Social Justice Standing Committee Savitha Suresh, Chairman of Finance Standing Committee R. Nagaraj, former Mayor and sitting Corporator Ayub Khan, Corporator Syed Hasarathulla, MCC Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman-Shariff, Senior Health Officer of MCC Dr. D.G. Nagaraj, Environment Engineers and Health Inspectors were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / August 18th, 2023

Mysuru’s City Girl Falkia Khan Enters India Book Of Records

Mysuru, KARNATAKA:

Mysuru’s Falkia Khan (10th standard) has entered India Book of Records to deliver maximum public speakings by a teen.

She is the daughter of Ajajulla Khan, businessman and Farheen Khan, a housewife, residents of Rajivnagar, in city.

She is also a National Muay Thai Boxer who has won Gold in National Championship and many gold medals in boxing and kickboxing apart from winning gold in spellbee competitions.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / June 11th, 2023

Mysuru’s Falkia Khan Wins First Place In State-Level Elocution Competition

Mysuru, KARNATAKA:

Falkia Khan, Brand Ambassador of Mysuru City Corporation’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, has  won first place and cash prize of Rs. 5,000 in the State-level Elocution Competition organised by Rashtrabharathi Charitable Trust, Mysuru, on account of Digvijay Divas at Gopalaswamy Shishu Vihara near Nanjumalige Circle in city on Sept. 10.

PU, Degree and PG students from several Colleges across the State participated in the contest.

Every year Sept. 11 is celebrated as Digvijay Divas as that was the day Swami Vivekananda gave the world-famous speech in 1893 at Chicago in the World’s Parliament of Religions.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Photo News / / headline edited / September 13th, 2023

PULITZER CENTER UPDATE: Independent Multimedia Journalist Wins Pulitzer Center Award for Innovative Gender, Climate Storytelling

NEW DELHI:

The Pulitzer Center is pleased to announce freelance multimedia journalist Sidrah Fatma Ahmed has been selected as the 2023 winner of the Pulitzer Center’s annual Breakthrough Journalism Award . The runner-up award goes to freelance journalist Emily Fishbein.

The $12,000 Breakthrough Award, inaugurated in 2020, is made possible through the generous support of Eva Lohrer. The award seeks to recognize and celebrate the achievements of Pulitzer Center-affiliated freelance journalists who report on the underreported issues. The runner-up is awarded $5,000.

Ahmed, a Delhi-based freelancer, is recognized not only for her dedication to producing and directing high-caliber video projects on underreported topics, but also for enriching projects with nuanced and layered storytelling.

Ahmed’s reaction to winning the award was a nod to all those she has reported on.

“It’s a moment to celebrate the people represented in my stories. There are so many stories to be told in India. I hope to use this support to do more in-depth video reporting in the areas of climate justice, gender, and health,” Ahmed said in a recent interview with Pulitzer Center Editorial Intern Alexandra Byrne.

Ahmed, who began her career in India with a legacy news outlet, felt increasingly drawn to underreported topics and people, so she struck out on her own. Ahmed told Byrne she was “a bit restless because I was spending a lot of time in the office. The whole reason I got into journalism was so that I could be in the field and I could talk to different kinds of people, and I could really explore and engage and dig and be curious.”

Her dynamic video production and in-depth reporting skills have captured the attention of numerous international news outlets, including the Financial Times, for which she directed the Pulitzer Center-supported film Can India Adapt to Extreme Heat? alongside grantee Juliet Riddell. For this project, Ahmed and Riddell succeeded in blending macroeconomic insights with personal stories from a diverse range of Indians, including farmers, scientists, vendors, and children.

Ahmed says she wants to continue to tackle relevant topics that are in the news, but she also hopes one day to produce and direct longer-format documentaries.

The 2023 Breakthrough Award runner-up is freelance journalist Emily Fishbein for her relentless focus on exposing wrongs in Myanmar over the past few years, as well as for her collaborative approach to working with local reporting partners.

Fishbein said she was “honored to receive this award. It really validates everything I have been working for as a journalist and gives me so much motivation.”

With regard to her collaborative approach, she says she seeks “to pay forward the opportunities afforded to me as an international journalist and to encourage and support rising local talent who have a passion for the issues they cover.”

Past recipients of the annual Breakthrough Award include former grantees Neha Wadekar, Mariana Palau, and Victoria McKenzie. Read more about the Breakthrough Journalism Award here.

We celebrate freelancers’ adaptability and their dogged pursuit of the truth, work that is essential in today’s news environment. These journalists provide diverse perspectives and in-depth coverage of issues often overlooked by traditional media outlets. They often work alone, with little or no safety net, and with thin profit margins. We’re proud to amplify their work and contribute to their development.

source: http://www.pulitzercenter.org / Pulitzer Center / Home> Updates / by Steve Sapeinza, Pulitzer Center Staff / August 17th, 2023

Dr Makhmoor Kakorvi: On the mission to collect all the ‘chronograms’ on epitaphs

Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH:

Chronogram is an ancient art. On the tombstone, along with the person’s information, the poetry is inscribed and the last couplet or line has a numerical value as per the ‘Abjad’ system that represents the date or year of death. Poets like Dr. Makhmoor, who can compose chronograms or write ‘Qita-e-Tareekh’ are few.

Dr Makhmoor Kakorvi and Chronogram: The poet of Kakori, who keeps alive the ancient art

Lucknow: 

One would be surprised to see the passion of poet Makhmoor Kakorvi, who has several books to his credit, is quite often seen visiting graveyards and hospices, dargahs and mazaars.

He started the mission to collect all the ‘chronograms’ on epitaphs in Kakori, one of the most important towns of North India that is known for its litterateurs and writers apart from Sufis.

The master poets who have absolute command over language are able to write poetry in the manner that their numerical value, either of the stanza or a phrase, comes out as the year of a person’s demise. This art is termed ‘Tareekh-Goi.’

It’s an ancient art and such skilled poets who can compose chronograms or write ‘Qita-e-Tareekh’ are few. On the tombstone, along with the person’s information, the poetry is inscribed and the last couplet or line has a numerical value as per the ‘Abjad’ system that represents the date or year of death.

And, this mathematical equation is also engraved, often, on the tombstone’s plaque. In an era when people are no longer able to compose poetry in meters and as per traditional and hard standards of prosody, it is even more difficult to find someone who writes chronograms.

But till a few decades ago, it was common. When Makhmoor began registering the long verses and couplets carrying the chronogram on the epitaphs, he found that there were not a few but dozens of senior poets who had composed them over the last three centuries in Kakori.

In a town that has a population of barely 22,000 but has a history of producing one of the biggest Urdu dictionaries—Noor-ul-Lughaat, as well as being home to writers and poets of the calibre of Shah Turab Ali Qalandar, Mohsin Kakorvi, Furqat Kakorvi and scores of others, Makhmoor found that poets with the ability to write chronograms were exceptional, in fact, too many poets who were perfect in this art in Kakori in the past.

“I would go to the graves, clean the plaque and then try to decipher the verses. The last line or stanza or phrase is the poetic chronogram. I found more than 60 different poets who had written chronograms in Kakori alone. Many of them were poets of such stature and command over language that is not seen anymore.

Some of them wrote many chronograms and the terms used are fascinating as well as a reflection of their mastery over Urdu poetry”, says Makhmoor Kakorvi, who is also a poet and has also written chronograms. He is, perhaps, the only person who can pen it, in the town now. However, he hopes to compile all these couplets and information about these poets of yore in the form of a book.

source: http://www.enewsroom.in / eNewsRoom / Home> Audio-Video> Top Stories / by Shams Ur Rehman Alavi / December 07th, 2022

Naseem Arifi, the Veteran Journalist Who Reinvented Hyderabad’s Urdu Press

Bhongir aka Bhuvanagiri (Hyderabad Metropolitan Region), TELANGANA:

Naseem Arifi, the Veteran Journalist Who Reinvented ...

Arifi came from a village near Hyderabad, Bhongir. Somewhere in 1970, he joined Bharat News, a news agency started by Ejaz Quraishi. After hopping around for some time he joined Siasat Urdu where he worked for several years and gave the newspaper a new dynamic.

A TRAGIC dimension has tagged along to Hyderabad this year. Two stalwarts in the field of Urdu journalism — Zaheeruddin Ali Khan and Naseem Arifi — have passed away within a span of two weeks.  

Zaheeruddin Ali Khan reportedly died of cardiac arrest during the funeral of poet and political activist Gaddar on 7th August.

On the other hand, Naseem Arifi succumbed to a long battle with dementia that was followed by several other ailments. He passed away on Saturday, 19 August. He was 81.  

Arifi was a thoroughbred journalist who successfully explored new vistas in Urdu journalism in India.

On the other hand, Zaheer who was about two decades junior to Arifi, had a multi-faceted personality. He left an indelible mark in the field of journalism, marketing and above all philanthropy, social and political work.

I will write about Zaheer some other time. There is a lot to tell about him —his childhood, his growing up under the guardianship of veteran journalist Abid Ali Khan and his family, his commitment to the memory of Abid Ali Khan, his legacy as the Managing Editor of Siasat Urdu, and his own initiatives as a dynamic conscientious citizen committed to the causes of the deprived sections of the society. He also tried his hands with online journalism by launching Siasat.com in English a few years ago. Surprisingly, Siasat.com is rising like a meteor.

Now, I would like to focus on Arifi.

Arifi came from a village near Hyderabad, Bhongir. Somewhere in 1970, he joined Bharat News, a news agency started by Ejaz Quraishi. After hopping around for some time he joined Siasat Urdu where he worked for several years and gave the newspaper a new dynamic. But over the years, he developed differences with the management of Siasat and quit it.  

In the meantime, there were reports that Khan Lateef Khan has bought Munsif Urdu daily and was trying to re-launch it with new vigour. Khan was very ambitious and said to have mounds of money to spend on the newspaper project.

His eyes were fixed on Arifi to lead the Munsif editorial team. He had sent the word around but was still undecided. One day, Arifi told me and Jamal Uddin Ali Khan, Bureau Chief of PTI, to join Lateef Khan over dinner at his residence in Banjara Hills. It was 1996. I was working with Saudi Gazette, Jeddah then. Over the dinner Lateef Khan asked several questions about the state of Urdu journalism in Hyderabad and what should be the face of Munsif. We gave him our understanding. A few days later it was announced that Arifi has been selected to head the editorial team that would start Munsif soon.

The launch of Munsif was theatrical. It was aiming to cut into the readership of Siasat which did not happen. But over the years, Munsif created its own niche and readership.

In the meantime, Munsif became stridently anti-Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. It went to the level of carrying the caricatures of Asaduddin Owaisi, as Bhaijaan, and Akbaruddin Owaisi as Bi Pasha. That, of course, did not go well with a lot of people. The followers of the two brothers and their party Majlis became angry. The rivalry turned bitter and ugly.  

One of those people who did not agree with the abusive policy of Munsif against the Majlis was Naseem Arifi. He took up the matter with Khan who said he would continue his anti-Majlis policy.

In the meantime, MIM fed up with the policies of Munsif, decided to begin its own Urdu newspaper. Arifi was roped in to introduce Etemad. That was somewhere in 2002. However, Burhan Uddin Owaisi, the youngest of the three Owaisi brothers, was named the Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper.

Again, Arifi and his team demonstrated that there is more to show to the world what Urdu journalism can offer. He and his team did what they could but there was a limit. The newspaper had to follow the MIM political agenda. Arifi demonstrated that, despite some restrictions, Urdu journalism could stand on its own against all odds.

Meanwhile, there were reports that Eenadu proprietor Ramoji Rao was launching multiple TV channels. Among his initiatives was ETV Urdu. Arifi became an advisor to the group and helped in selecting the team and themes for the new channel. But for unknown reasons, he did not stay for long with the ETV Urdu.  

Besides meeting him occasionally and discussing various issues, I met Arifi with Omar Farooque, a senior bilingual journalist, and Arifi’s son Muneeb at Banjara Hills. There he told us that he was not comfortable with the Etemad anymore and would like to quit and try his hands at other things. I realised that Arifi’s memory was lapsing. I advised him to take it easy. Omar supported me. After the meeting, I told his son to take more care of his father and also revealed my suspicion that he was suffering from irreversible dementia. That unfortunately turned out to be true.

The young man agreed and remained devoted to his father along with his two younger brothers till his father turned into a new person who had no past, no future, only a blurred view of the present. The present was represented by his breath and a few gestures which only the family could understand.

Following this phase which was accompanied by a few regular age-related ailments, he breathed his last at the nearby Owaisi Hospital on Saturday afternoon.

Inna lillahi wa Inna ilaihi rajioon (We surely belong to Allah and to Him we shall return).

_________

The obituary is taken from Mir Ayoob Ali Khan’s Facebook page. He is a veteran and highly credible Indian journalist and editor. He is based in Hyderabad. 

Photo: Zaheeruddin Ali Khan and Naseem Arifi

source: http://wwwclarionindia.net / Clarion India / Home / by Mir Ayoob Ali Khan / August 22nd, 2023

Bhatkal Boy Shines At The King Abdulaziz International Competition Of Holy Quran

Bhatkal, KARNATAKA:

Ibrahim Shahbandari, hailing from Bhatkal, Karnataka, achieved an outstanding second place in the fifth category of the 43rd King Abdulaziz International Competition for Memorization, Recitation, and Interpretation of the Holy Qur’an.

The event, held at the Grand Mosque in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, featured 166 contestants representing 117 countries across all five categories, with a total prize pool of SAR4,000,000.

In the first category, Ayoub bin Abdulaziz Al-Wahibi from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia secured first place and received a prize of SAR500,000. Saad bin Saadi Sleim from Algeria came in second place, earning SAR450,000, while Abu Al-Hasan Hassan Najm from Chad achieved the third position, receiving a prize of SAR400,000.

In the second category, Ammar bin Salem Al-Shahri from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia claimed the first position and was awarded a prize of SAR300,000. Mohammed bin Adnan Al-Omari from Bahrain secured second place, receiving a prize of SAR275,000. The third position went to Abdulaziz bin Malik Atli from Syria, who received a prize of SAR250,000.

In the third category, the winners include Mohammed bin Ibrahim Mohammed from Somalia, who clinched first place and received a prize of SAR200,000. Second place went to Shuaib bin Mohammed Hassan from Sweden, who was awarded SAR190,000 while Faisal Ahmed from Bangladesh secured the third position, earning SAR180,000 Saudi Riyals, and Mohammed Mufid Al-Azza from Indonesia claimed the fourth spot and received SAR170,000. Siraj Al-Din Muammar Kandi from Libya rounded off the top five, receiving a prize of SAR160,000.

Regarding the fourth category, the winners are as follows: Mohammed Ghai from Senegal secured the top position, earning a prize of SAR150,000. Hatem Abdulhamid Falah from Libya claimed the second spot, receiving an award of SAR140,000, and Yassin Abdulrahman from Uganda achieved the third position, with a prize of SAR130,000. Mashfiqur Rahman from Bangladesh attained the fourth position and was granted SAR120,000 while rounding off the top five, Abdulkader Yousef Mohammed from Somalia received a prize of SAR110,000.

As for the fifth category, Elias Abdou from the country of Larionion secured the first position, earning a prize of SAR65,000 while the second place went to Ibrahim Shahbandari from India who was awarded SAR60,000. Marwan bin Shalal from the Netherlands achieved the third position, receiving SAR55,000, and Mustafa Sinnanovic from Bosnia and Herzegovina attained the fourth position and received SAR50,000. Lastly, Hassib Amrullah from North Macedonia took fifth place, earning a prize of SAR45,000.

Before earning recognition at the 43rd King Abdulaziz International Competition of Holy Quran, Ibrahim Shahbandri showcased his remarkable talents on a global stage in July 2016. At just eight years old, Ibrahim was awarded the prestigious title of “Preacher of the Nation” in an Arabic religious sermon contest held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Ibrahim’s astonishing oratory skills astounded both the predominantly Arabic-speaking audience and judges as he outshone more than 70 contestants to clinch this coveted title. The contest was an integral part of the 13th annual Ramadan Forum, hosted by Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, chairman of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation.

source:http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> News / by The Cognate News Desk / September 07th, 2023

Saudi Arabia’s Global NRIs Youth Club fetes Indian expat, Hyderabad’s Hafiz Abdullah Abdul Mateen Usmani, the First Prize Winner of Annual Qur’an contest

Hyderabad, TELANGANA / SAUDI ARABIA :

Global NRI Official presenting a memento to Hafiz Abdullah Abdul Mateen Usmani, presented by Azmat Ali Emran and Syed Abdul Hadi / SG Photo by Abdul Rahman M Baig

Jeddah:

Hafiz Abdullah Abdul Mateen Usmani, winner of the annual Qur’an memorization contest organized by Jamiat Khairokum Li Tahfizul Qur’an Kareem (Khairokum Qur’an Memorization Society) for Makkah region, was recently felicitated by the Global NRIs Youth Club here.

Abdullah Usmani won the first prize from among 1,000 participants out of which 13 candidates were bracketed in the category of those securing between 95 and 99 marks. In the ensuing round involving the 13 finalists of the competition, he was declared the winner.

Abdullah Usmani was presented a car by Jeddah Governor Prince Mishaal Bin Majed.

Jamia Al Khairiya Li Tahfiz-ul-Qur’an Kareem is a semi government institution and center established for the students to memorize and recite the Holy Qur’an. It holds the competition every year to encourage students and other participants.

Hafiz Abdullah Usmani is an Indian and belongs to the city of Hyderabad in Telangana state.

Syed Abdul Hadi, vice president of Global NRIs Youth Club, presented a Mishla’h (an adornment cloak wore by men) to Hafiz Abdullah Usmani as a token of appreciation. It was followed by a memento presented by Azmat Ali Emran, president of the club. Bouquets were presented to the contest winner by Fysal Ali, Farhan Baig and Syed Khaja Viqaruddin.

Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Hafiz Abdullah Usmani said: “It took me four years to memorize the Holy Qur’an. I was 11 years old when I started the memorization.”

He is also the alumnus of IISJ from the batch of 2017. Initially he was admitted to Muaz Bin Jabal School where he memorized about one/sixth of the Qur’an. Later he got enrolled in Dar Ul Furqan School from where he completed his memorization of the Holy Qur’an while learning Tajweed. He completed the memorization of the Qur’an four years back. It was last year when the Masjid Al-Aziziyah officials advised him to appear for the Qur’an memorization contest.

Hafiz Abdullah Usmani took the opportunity and appeared from Masjid Al-Aziziyah under the supervision of Sheikh Hamza Rayyan, imam and khateeb of the mosque.

Abdullah Usmani continued with his worldly pursuits along with his Qur’an memorization and took an open school examination from 6th to 8th standard from IISJ. He became a regular student of IISJ from 9th standard after completing his Qur’an memorization.

Initially, he started memorizing of Holy Qur’an on the instructions of his mother. Later after getting admitted in Muaz Bin Jabal School he gained interest in memorizing and was very much motivated by seeing his peers doing so.

While memorizing the Qur’an, he got a chance to meet Sheikh Ayman Rushdi Suwaid, and learned Tajweed from him. He is known to be the Sheikh Ul Tajweed in Jeddah. In his early days of memorizing Qur’an, he used to listen to the Qirat of Sheikh Abdurrehman Al-Sudais and learned the ayats (verses) of the Qur’an that made him memorize the Qur’an faster.

Talking about his future plans, Abdullah Usmani said he would like to learn more Arabic, Islamic history and Qur’an. He said he was interested in pursuing advance accounting courses and build his career. He also has plans to lead Taraweeh prayers during Ramadan in any of the mosques of Jeddah.

Listening to the recitation of Sheikh Meshary Alafasy, Sheikh Mohammed Ayub and Sheikh Al-Sudais helped him learn the correct pronunciation and also helped him in the memorization process.

Speaking to Saudi Gazette, the award winner’s father, Abdul Mateen Usmani, said: “I would first thank and express my gratitude to Almighty Allah for the honor bestowed on my son.”

In this context, he said, efforts of Jamia Tahfiz-ul-Quran was exceptional. “This prize is more than a hundred billion dollar for me. I have not even dreamt that my son Abdullah will be winning the first prize.”

He said all his children initially received their early education having British curriculum. “Me and my wife decided that we will invest money on good education for our children. All my children were enrolled in Al-Waha International School for their primary education. It was my wife’s plan that we will encourage Abdullah to be a Hafiz. So after completing 5th standard, we removed Abdullah from the school and admitted him in the institute for Qur’an memorization. I was a little reluctant but my wife played a major role in making my son Hafiz.

“I advise all unmarried as well as married people not to waste or kill their time by watching movies and TV serials and spoil their future but instead focus on their education both for the deen (religion) and duniya (world). Even the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that one should give priority to the Seerah of anbiya (prophets).”

He said his wife started attending religious classes with other women in our neighborhood soon after she landed in Jeddah. She sacrificed her sleeping hours during daytime to attend these classes.

“It’s the parents responsibility to mold their children as they want. One can lay the right foundation from the word go,” he said.

Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Azmat Ali Emran, president of Global NRIs Youth Club said: “It’s an honor for our club to be the first to felicitate Hafiz Abdullah Abdul Mateen Usmani.”

Syed Abdul Hadi, vice president, said: “Abdullah made the Indians and specially the people of Hyderabad very proud by winning this award. I would like to thank Allah the Almighty and also congratulate his parents on behalf of Global NRIs Youth Club.”

source: http://www.saudigazette.com.sa / Saudi Gazette / Home / by Abdul Rahiman M Baig, Saudi Gazette / Headline edited / September 18th, 2018

‘Muslim women fly planes, serve in police and armed forces, write books and create art’

Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH:

Lucknow :

Muslim women are not a monolith, says Dr Farah Usmani, the founder and honorary editor of the “Rising Beyond The Ceiling” (RBTC), an initiative born out of frustration with the stereotypical narrative surrounding Muslim women in India. RBTC is preparing a directory of Muslim women who have excelled in different fields.

However, millions of Indian women, who identify themselves as Muslim, reach across spectra of ethnicities and languages, states and union territories, do not look the same or sound the same and contribute towards nation building in a variety of ways, says Dr Usmani adding that the compendium is under finalisation.

Member, UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, Sabiha Ahmad, who is busy preparing the list of prominent Muslim women in Uttar Pradesh, said, “The organisation is in the process of preparing a directory of such Muslim women who hold certain positions in social, corporate and professional workspace.”

She says the women spotlighted here from Uttar Pradesh do many things—they fly planes, serve in police and armed forces, they are skeet shooters and bike riders, write books and poetry, create art, play snooker and tennis, administer and govern, espouse social issues, serve as lawyers, scientists and doctors, are entrepreneurs and corporate professionals and are substantive contributors to the progress of the country.

Recently an online international meeting was organised in which the issue was discussed at length.

Veteran politician Mohsina Kidwai; vice chancellor, Era University, Lucknow, prof Farzana Mahdi; writer Sabeeha Anwar; artist Dr Farzana Shahabuddin and Samreen Ahmad were prominent among those who attended the virtual event.

Ahmad further says there is a myth surrounding Muslim women in India that they are highly conservative, prefer to stay home, not at par in education with women of other communities.

“Rising Beyond the Ceiling (RBTC), a non-profit organisation focused on supporting and promoting Indian Muslim women and their leadership and contributions in their respective fields, is working to bust this myth,” says Ahmad, who is also incharge, RBTC UP 100 .

RBTC UP 100 is a congregation of 100 women representing 22 million (2.2 crore) Muslim women from UP.

It is working under the leadership of Dr Farah Usmani, the founder and honorary editor of RBTC initiative who is also serving at United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) headquarters in New York as director-1 level.

“The stories of these Indian Muslim women are for all women and girls to draw inspiration, role model them and thus become mentors in their own districts and neighbourhoods thereby become inspirations themselves for future generations,” Ahmad adds.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home / by HT Correspondent, Lucknow / September 22nd, 2021