Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami giving away the Anna Medal for Gallantry P. Mullai, a teacher in Pulivalam Government High School in Sholinghur in Ranipet district | Photo Credit: Raghunathan SR
TN Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami gave away the medals at the Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday
A school teacher who risked her life to save her students from an explosion, a veterinary surgeon who rescued an elephant that plunged into a 60-feet deep well, a loco pilot who noticed boulders on railway tracks and saved his passengers and a cab driver who acted swiftly to save the life of an injured policeman were awarded the prestigious Anna Medal for Gallantry during the Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami handed over the medals to the recipients, in the presence of Governor Banwarilal Purohit, Madras High Court Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and other dignitaries. The Anna Medal for Gallantry (given to government servants and general public categories) carries a cheque of ₹1 lakh, a medal worth ₹9,000 and a certificate.
On January 29, 2020, P. Mullai, a teacher in Pulivalam Government High School in Sholinghur in Ranipet district, smelled the strong odour of LPG in the neighbourhood. Disregarding her personal safety, she guided her students to safety. “But her selflessness ended in misfortune as the LPG exploded in the neighbourhood, collapsing the house wall adjacent to the school, leaving her injured,” read her citation. She saved her 26 students but had to be admitted to hospital in a highly critical stage. She has recovered eventually.
Forest Veterinary Assistant Surgeon A. Prakash was involved in the rescue of an elephant that fell into a 60-feet deep well on November 19, 2020 and was actively involved in the rescue that lasted over 18 hours. When the rescued elephant charged at the gathering of the people unexpectedly, Mr. Prakash followed the animal and gave it an anaesthetic drug with his bare hands, after realising there was no time left for loading the tranquilliser gun.
Loco Pilot J. Suresh of Vaigai Express noticed his train was approaching boulders on the tracks due to a landslide on November 18, 2020. Despite inclement weather and poor visibility, he stopped the train immediately and thereby saved the lives of over 1,500 passengers on board the train.
R. Pugazendiran of The Nilgiris district saved the life of an injured policeman after a tree fell on the latter on August 5, 2020. Mr. Pugazendiran “reached the spot quickly with his vehicle and rushed the injured police constable to the nearest hospital. The police constable was saved.”
Inspector of Police T. Magudeeswari of the Prohibition Enforcement Wing in St. Thomas Mount, Sub-Inspector of Police N. Selvaraju of the Central Investigation Unit in Salem, Head Constable S. Shunmuganathan of Srivilliputhur Taluk Police Station in Virudhunagar district and Head Constable S. Rajasekaran of Kilkodungalur Police Station in Tiruvannamalai district received the Gandhi Adigal Police Medal. The Gandhi Adigal Police Medal is awarded to personnel of the Tamil Nadu Police, who have undertaken outstanding work in curtailing illicit liquor. The Award carries a sum of ₹40,000.
The police stations in Salem Town, Tiruvannamalai Town and Kotturpuram in Chennai received the top three ranking stations across the State. Mr. K.A. Abdul Jabbar from Coimbatore district received the Kottai Ameer Communal Harmony Award for 2021.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – January 26th, 2021
A Hindu woman (in yellow sari) prays at the pond in Ghutiari Sharif compound with Muslim women / pix: Gautam Bose
A BJP rally kept raising high-pitched “Jai Shri Ram” cries as it marched along the Baruipur-Canning Road in South 24-Parganas on Friday afternoon.
Slogans in support of the incumbent regime in Delhi were belted thick and fast and scorn was heaped on “infiltrators and termites”. It was around 12.30pm and the road was not busy. But some cars were stalled by the rally.
One of them was headed to a shrine dedicated to a Muslim saint, 35km from the heart of Calcutta and two stops before Canning, the gateway to the Sunderbans. All the occupants of the car were Hindus.
Debi Majumder (left) and Umme Habiba Laskar at the Ghutiari Sharif shrine on March 26. Majumder is a Lake Market resident . Laskar is an ayah employed by a neighbour of Majumder. The picture was taken minutes after the two dipped their palms into the pond together / pic: Gautam Bose
“I am going to Ghutiari Sharif for the first time. I have heard that if you pray sincerely, Ghazi baba answers your prayers,” said Suparna Dutta, 22, part of the group from Garia.
A suburb in South 24-Parganas, Ghutiari Sharif is known for the mazaar (resting place) of Pir Ghazi Mubarak Ali, a revered 17th century figure.
It is also a testament to the secular character of the popular devotional culture of Bengal at a time religious polarisation is the dominant narrative everywhere from political rallies to election manifestos.
Salim Dewan, 65, who owns a store selling incense sticks, flowers, chadars and other objects offered to the Pir’s resting place / pix: Gautam Bose
Legends and folklore in Bengal are often a part of everyday life, transcending barriers of religion and caste. When this reporter visited the shrine on Friday, scores of women with sindoor-smeared foreheads were seen dipping their palms into a pond in the shrine compound, praying silently to have their wishes (manat) fulfilled.
The shrine embodied the deep-rooted syncretism in Bengal’s culture, something that social scientists said would pose a formidable challenge to any political party seeking to polarise voters.
That syncretism was perhaps best represented by an image of two women — Debi Majumder and Umme Habiba Laskar — dipping their palms together in the pond.
Majumder, a first-timer at Ghutiari Sharif, had come from her home in Lake Market. She came to know of the place from Laskar, an ayah who looks after one of Majumder’s neighbours. Laskar is a resident of Champahati, another suburb not far from Ghutiari Sharif, and has been there several times.
They had boarded a train from Ballygunge to reach the Ghutiari Sharif station on Friday. The shrine is a less than five-minute walk from the station. Around 1.30pm on Friday, the two dipped their palms into the pond together.
“I prayed at the mazaar and then made my wish at the pond. I have skipped breakfast, in keeping with the ritual,” said Majumder. Many visitors fast till they pray at the mazaar.
Suparna Naskar, who lives in Baruipur, had accompanied a Muslim friend who had come with her newborn. “She had wished for a child. Today, we have come to thank Ghazi baba for granting the wish,” said Naskar.
The shrine is a five-minute walk from the Ghutiari Sharif railway station in the Sealdah-Canning suburban section. The narrow road is dotted with shops. The resting place of the pir is at the centre of the compound. The top of the shrine has a mosaic dome with four towers.
Legend has it that the area, then part of the Sunderbans, was hit by a severe drought four centuries ago. Pir Ghazi Mubarak Ali is said to have brought rainfall to the area. He is also said to have cured a Hindu king, Madan Roy, from a severe bout of illness, after which Roy gifted him swathes of land. The mazaar stands on that land.
“Baba’s spirit still endures, taking care of this place. He did not discriminate between people. We have maintained that tradition. Around one-third of my customers are Hindus,” said Salim Dewan, 65, who owns a store selling incense sticks, flowers, chadars and other objects offered to the pir’s resting place. Dewan is a common title given to the future generations of the pir, some of whom are also part of the managing committee of the shrine.
“Many such mazaars and dargahs in Bengal are entrenched in a syncretic culture. The devotees come from all faiths, light incense sticks and offer sinni (a sweet concoction of milk, flour, bananas, raisins and other fruits, usually made during pujas in Bengali homes) and other homely food to the presiding saint,” said Epsita Halder, who teaches comparative literature at Jadavpur University and has researched on the scriptural understanding and popular devotionalism of vernacular Islam in Bengal.
“In medieval Bengal, many Islamic preachers became popular among the common people because they spoke in a simple language that everyone could connect with. They were not heavy on scriptural understanding of a religion but talked about devotion as a way of life,” Halder said.
Ghutiari Sharif falls under Canning West Assembly seat, won by Trinamul’s Shyamal Mondal in 2016. This time, the ruling party has fielded Paresh Ram Das. His main contender is Arnab Roy of the BJP.
Roy switched sides from the TMC to the saffron camp recently and his candidature has triggered protests from local BJP workers, like at so many other places of the state.
The influence of the shrine goes far beyond one constituency.
Ghutiari Sharif hosts two major fairs in a year. One is in the first week of August, commemorating the death anniversary of the pir. The other is in June, which coincides with the famous Ambubachi Mela at the Kamakhya temple in Assam. According to the local legend, King Madan Roy, a regular at the Kamakhya temple during the fair, started a similar fair near his home after being impressed by the pir.
Special trains are run during the fairs and lakhs of people, Hindus and Muslims, throng the shrine, apart from tens of thousands every week.
Those at the helm of the shrine said they kept off politics.
“We have always practised an inclusive culture and will continue doing so, irrespective of which party comes to power,” said Siraj Dewan, caretaker of the managing committee of the shrine.
Political commentator Maidul Islam said the politics of polarisation has yielded dividends in the urban middle class but suburban and rural Bengal was a different ballgame.
“The urban middle class is divided into the conservative and the liberal sections. The conservatives have already sided with the saffron brigade. There is a deep churning in a large section of the liberals. Many of them are still undecided among the Left and Trinamul. But the syncretic culture of rural and suburban Bengal is so deep-rooted that it will not be erased in the course of one election,” he said.
The resting place of Pir Ghazi Mubarak Ali. / pix: Gautam Bose
Ghutiari Sharif is not far for the Sunderbans, the land of another syncretic legend, Bon Bibi, the protector of humans and the forest, worshipped by Hindus and Muslims alike.
“All across the Sunderbans, rituals to Bon Bibi are performed by Hindus as well as Muslims. I think it is a wonderful kind of syncretism that you see there. In popular culture, in Bengal, it is incredibly mixed. These traditions, they are impossible to pick apart and say this is Hindu and this is Muslim. I think that’s what makes the popular culture of Bengal so vibrant and so interesting,” author Amitav Ghosh, who had introduced Bon Bibi to the world, said of the legend while speaking on the occasion of a literary meet in Calcutta in February.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph Online / Home> West Bengal> Calcutta / by Debraj Mitra, Calcutta / March 31st, 2021
Mohammad Mirza is a travel writer and a social media executive from Hyderabad. He is currently based in the Middle East. His Instagram page “Mosques of India” is stocked with images of abandoned mosques with striking architecture that has remained elusive to the imaginations of present-day craftsmen.
Ten years ago, walking through the bustling street of Shaikpet in Hyderabad, thirty-year-old Mohammad Mirza was distraught to see the sight of a tumbledown Shaikpet mosque. Once, the Shaikpet mosque would echo with prayers, stirring the hearts of many. Seeing the plight of the mosque, Mirza started on a journey to research and write about the abandoned “Mosques of India.”
His aim is for the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Muslim Waqf Boards to recognize these mosques as state-protected monuments.
Picture Courtesy: Muslim Mirror
“I started writing about the abandoned mosques of India in lockdown. I am a history junkie and I read vastly on architecture,” Mirza told TwoCircles.net.
“I didn’t want to post the images of the mosques alone. I wanted to create awareness about their poor and dilapidated condition. I also try to extensively research and write about the historical significance and the cultural heritages of these mosques,” he said.
His page features an assortment of solitary mosques, which include the Palaiya Jumma Palli, one of the oldest mosques in India located at Keelakari in Tamil Nadu, which has a semblance of Dravidian Islamic Architecture and was constructed around 628 – 630 AD, the Akbari mosque in the sleepy town of Kalanaur, Punjab. The Akbari mosque is speculated to be the coronation place of Akbar the Great. Each mosque featured on the page has a unique ‘unknown’ history but are in ruins at present.
Picture Courtesy: Gurmeet Singh
“The Arabic calligraphy and inscriptions are still intact in some mosques, but most of the mosques are in a very bad condition. The minarets and domes are broken. The walls of the mosques have plants and trees growing out of their fissures, and sometimes they are just cloaked in algae,” says Mirza.
Mirza archives the heritage of these mosques by doing ‘short series’ items on these old and abandoned mosques. “The short series helps people to focus on a particular place filled with heritage,” he says.
In his first series, he wrote about eight different “Abandoned Mosques of Haryana” (as he calls it). It featured mosques from the villages of Gondar, Fatehabad, Kahni, Turkiawas, Meham, Dujana, Urlana Kalan and Jalmana.
“Sadly today these mosques are encroached and used as residences and cowsheds. Mosques used to be a house of prayer for Muslims. There are no Muslims in these small villages to worship in these mosques as they have migrated during the partition,” he says.
In one of his series, Mirza writes that Haryana is blessed with so many historical monuments, and “there is perhaps no other state in India where historic monuments are left to vagaries of nature like they are in Haryana.” He is talking about a forsaken mosque of Fatehabad, Haryana.
Mirza says that these mosques are the symbol of India’s pluralism and they must be preserved. “Not only mosques, I see many historical monuments in ruins too. Conserving the architectural heritage of a place depends upon the state’s recognition of its value,” he said.
Mirza says that “we must rebuild all these mosques so that our future generation can see all of this great history of their predecessors.”
“Hopefully, Muslims can visit and transfer these mosques hopefully,” says one of the followers on his page.
Mirza’s work is in line with Adopt a Heritage (2018) scheme, which was jointly established by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India. The project faced repercussion for its public-private partnership to sustain the monuments of cultural heritage and for selecting the sites based on tourist footfall. Activists had then sought to take into consideration the need to preserve and manage such cultural heritage before the adoption policy.
“These mosques are not just cultural heritage, they have religious significance too. The respective estates must give recognition to them and bring them under their protection,” says Mirza and adds, “I always wanted to be an armchair historian.”
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Shalini S, TwoCirlces.net / March 31st, 2021
Bengaluru-based collector Sunil Baboo has acquired maps that show the battle plan of the Third Anglo-Mysore war, which Tipu Sultan lost.
A painting of Tipu Sultan used for representational purpose only
Bengaluru :
Sunil Baboo, a Bengaluru-based collector, has a penchant for procuring items of historical significance. The latest additions to his private collection? Maps detailing the British battle plan to corner Tipu Sultan.One of the maps, engraved by J Cooke, a man who worked under the British, shows the battleground of the Third Anglo-Mysore war that lasted between February 5-24, 1792, and saw Tipu’s defeat.
Sunil Baboo | Ashishkrishna HP
He acquired the map during a trip abroad. He met a French woman named Christine Champlaine, whose great-grandfather served in the French army and came into the possession of the maps of the 1792 battle. “I bought them from her in early 2020,” Baboo says.The map details the seige of Seringapatam (now called Srirangapatna), and the position of the various troops on the side of the British, and the positions of British generals.
It shows the locations of Nizam’s forces, the Nawabs of Arcot, and the Marathas, vis-a-viz Loll Baug, Shair Ganjaum, Dowlet Baug (Daulat Bagh), Tippoo’s Tent, Powder Works, Hyder’s Mausoleum, Palace, Pavilion, River Cauvery, and Carigaut Pagoda.
“They cornered Tipu even before he realised it. Cornwallis went on to conquer all of Tipu’s forts – Nandidurg, Savandurg, Uttaradurg, Manjarabad fort, Ballari fort, Krishnagiri fort and others. Also, Tipu had a sense that his own people were turning hostile. There were instances of his own people falling for the lure of money from the British,” says Baboo.
In 2018, he acquired a lithograph titled ‘Taking of the City of and Fort of Seringapatam’ from a dealer of antiquities in Canada. Created by French painter Jean Duplessi Bertauz, the piece illustrates Tipu’s final battle. “It shows the slyness with which the British laid siege to Seringapatam, cornering Tipu from every side. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte, who was busy fighting wars in Europe, had offered to help Tipu, but it was too late,” says the 60-year-old.
Also engraved is the following text: “Tippoo perished with a great number of this followers and all his treasure fell into the hands of the conquerors. Colonel Wellesley commanded the reserve at the assault, and was afterwards nominated Governor of the City.”Baboo, who used to run an export business, is drawn to history. “I have a passion for documenting antiquarian documents, and maps that represent the past and which shaped our present,” he says.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sanath Prasad, Express News Service / April 06th, 2021
Syed Isaaq in front of a portion of the library (Photo | EPS)
Syed Issaq, a daily wage worker, had collected more than 11,000 books for his library, 85% of books were in Kannada.
Mysuru :
In a tragic incident, miscreants have allegedly set ablaze a public library run by a 62-year-old daily wage labourer that had a collection of 11,000 books including three thousand copies of Bhagavad Gita, in Mysuru on Friday.
Syed Isaaq had become a popular face among the residents of Rajiv Nagar and Shanti Nagar in the city as he took up a bold step of setting up a library giving free access to all the residents in the region for the last 10 years.
Deprived of education, Isaaq worked as a bonded labourer before turning into an Under Ground Drainage (UGD) cleaner and did odd jobs to earn a livelihood.
“At 4 am, a man residing next to the library informed me that there was a fire inside. When I rushed to the library which is just a stone’s throw away distance, I could only see them being reduced to ashes,” said Isaaq in teary eyes.
With an intent to help inculcate reading habits among the people and also encourage them to learn Kannada, Isaaq had set up this public library in a shed-like structure inside a corporation park in Rajiv Nagar second stage near Ammar Masjid. Every day, over 100-150 people would visit his library. Issaq would purchase over 17 newspapers including the ones in Kannada, English, Urdu and Tamil.
Nearly 85% of the books in his library collection were Kannada while several were English and Urdu. “The library had over 3,000 exquisite collections of Bhagavad Gita, over a 1,000 copies of Quran and Bible besides thousands of books of various genres which I sourced from donors,” he says.
Though he did not spend money from his pocket, he used to spend nearly Rs 6,000 for the maintenance of the library and on the purchase of newspapers.
Following this incident, Issaq approached the Udayagiri police station and lodged a complaint against the miscreants. Police have filed an FIR under the IPC section 436 and have launched an operation to nab the culprits.
However, the incident has not deterred Issaq. “I will not cow down. I will rebuild the library from the scratch”.
“I was deprived of education and I want to ensure that others should not face my plight. I want people to learn, read and speak Kannada and will rebuild it again,” he said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Karthik KK , Express News Service / Myuru – April 09th, 2021
Fatima Rafiq Zakaria was awarded the Padma Shri in recognition of her work in education in 2006
Aurangabad, Maharashtra:
Fatima Rafiq Zakaria, a Padma Shri awardee, renowned journalist, academician and chairman of Maulana Azad Educational Trust and Khairul Islam Trust Mumbai, passed away at the Bajaj Hospital in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad due to age-related illness on Tuesday noon. She was 85.
Besides being affiliated to the Maulana Azad Educational Trust and Maulana Azad Education Society, Ms Zakaria was also the executive vice-chairman of the Board of Governors of the Trust’s Institute of Hotel Management which is run in collaboration with the Taj Group of Hotels.
Ms Zakaria, who had played an eminent role in the field of education, was also honoured with the Sarojini Naidu Integration Award for Journalism in 1983.
She was awarded the Padma Shri in recognition of her work in education in 2006.
source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> All India / by ANI / April 06th, 2021
Prominent Islamic scholar and former Vice President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Professor KA Sidheeq Hassan passed away today at the age of 75. He was the chief architect of Vision 2026, a flagship project of the Human Welfare Foundation, a public charitable trust working for the development of Muslims.
Prof Sidheeq Hassan worked as an educator in various educational institutions including University College, Thiruvananthapuram and Maharaja College, Ernakulum.
He served as the President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Kerala from 1990 to 2005. Earlier he had held the positions of Chairman of Alternative Investment and Credit Limited (AICL), founding chairman of Baithuzzakath and sub-editor of Probodhanam Weekly.
Sidheeq Hassan was born in Koottil in Eriyad in the Thrissur district of Kerala and was one of the contributing founding members of Madhyamam Daily, a prominent newspaper in Kerala.
He was conferred with many prestigious awards including the Imam Haddad Excellence award, Islamic Online Star of 2010 by Islam Online and Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait Foundation Award.
He is survived by wife VK Zubaida, sons Faslurrahman, Sharafuddeen and daughter Sabira.
source: http://www.thecognate.com / The Cognate / Home> News / by Ghazala Ahmad / April 06th, 2021
Maulana Wali Rahmani | Photo Courtesy: Clarion India
What set Maulana Wali Rahmani, an Indian Sunni Islamic Scholar, academician and founder of Rahmani30, apart was his efforts towards the promotion of education among Muslim youth. Although Rahmani was a multi-lingual man, he had evident love for the Urdu language. In February this year, he launched a campaign for education among the Muslim community and promotion of the Urdu language.
The well-known torchbearer of India’s Muslim community, who strove to work for the promotion of education, Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani would have turned 78-years-old on June 5 this year. On April 3, Maulana Wali Rahmani breathed his last at a Patna hospital after a brief illness and other complications.
Such was his repute and respect among the community that he had 8.5 lakh followers who took the oath of allegiance to him as “Sajjada Nashin” of Khanqah Rahmani in Munger in the Indian state of Bihar. Rahmani became “Sajjada Nashin” of Khanqah Rahmani, Munger in 1991 after the death of his father Sayyid Minatullah Rahmani. At present, Rahmani was the Secretary-General of All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). He was Ameer-e-Shariat, or the head, of the renowned religious organization Imarat-e-Shariah of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha. However, what set him apart was his endeavour in the field of education. His organization, Rahmani30, founded in 2008, was his gift to the Muslim community of Bihar, and the country.
Had there been no Rahmani30, hundreds of students might not have heard about him and many poor Muslim students could not have realized the dream of making it to India’s top engineering institutes; the IITs or the Indian Institute of Technology.
The Rahmani30 has since then expanded to NEET or the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical education. Top accountancy and Law entrance tests have also been included now.
Rahmani30 is modelled on Super30 founded by famous mathematics teacher Anand Kumar of Bihar who started selecting 30 poor students and grooms them for IITs. Super30 was a big success. So is Rahmani30. Since its inception, Rahmani30 had the services of Bihar senior police officer Abhayanand, who retired as DGP Bihar. Every year test exams are held for the selection of Rahmani30 and the selected candidates are provided with free residential coaching with food.
Maulana Wali Rahmani was a political personality. His proximity with political leaders got him brickbats too. He was elected to the Bihar Legislative Council on April 7, 1974, and continued till 1996. In 1984 and 1990 he was elected as deputy chairman of Bihar Legislative Council. He was criticized after his (in)famous Deen Bachao Desh Bachao (Save Islam, Save Country) rally at Patna in 2018. Just after the rally, one of its organizers were declared as the candidate from Nitish Kumar’s party for the Bihar Legislative Council. Maulana Rahmani was accused of compromising with Nitish for ‘a seat in Bihar council.’
He, however, was also praised for his bold statements before the top political leaders when the issues related to the Muslim community were discussed.
His birthplace Khanqah Rahmani is a well-known religious place that was founded in 1909 by his grandfather Maulana Mohammad Ali Mungeri, who was a co-founder of Nadwatul Ulema, Lucknow. Maulana Wali Rahmani’s father Maulana Minatullah Rahmani was also a renowned religious scholar who also held the post of General Secretary in All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Maulana Rahmani got his initial education at Rahmania Urdu School, Jamia Rahmani in Munger, Bihar and then proceeded to Nadwatul Ulema and Darul Uloom Deoband. He also studied at Bhagalpur University which is now known as Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University in Bihar.
At the age of 22, Maulana Rahmani joined ‘Naqeeb’, a weekly published by Imarat-e-Shariah. He also served at Jamia Rahmani.
In 1991, following the demise of his father, he was made Sajjada Nashin of Khanqah Rahmani.
He was made Ameer-e-Shariat at Imarat-e-Shariah in November 2015 and held the post till his last breath. Here too, Maulana Rahmani’s focus was on education. He also worked for the better medical facility at Sajjad Memorial Hospital being run by Imarat-e-Shariah.
Although Maulana Rahmani was a multi-lingual man, he had evident love for the Urdu language. In February this year, he launched a campaign for education among the Muslim community and promotion of the Urdu language.
He also campaigned for the upliftment of the Madrasas.
His biography Hayat-e-Wali penned by Shah Imran Hasan states, “Maulana’s untiring efforts and timely steps to save the country’s Madrasas are worth mentioning. He met several dignitaries, including the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and presented before him the case of Madrasas in the context of their roles in the country’s freedom struggle and nation-building.”
Maulana Rahmani was a man who loved to make friends in other Muslim organizations too. He kept Maulana Rizwan Ahmad Islahi, the young Ameer-e-Halqa (Bihar chief) very close to him. Maulana Rizwan recalls that when representatives of Muslim organizations went to meet Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, everybody wanted Maulana Rahmani to talk to him but he proposed his name (Maulana Rizwan’s). “Such was his generosity,” he said.
Maulana Rahmani will be missed at many places, including at AIMPLB and Imarat-e-Shariah. However, his absence would be felt most at Rahmani30. The passing away of Rahmani poses a challenge for both Imarat-e-Shariah and Rahmani30 to take his dream further.
source: http://www.twocircles.net / TwoCircles.net / Home> Lead Story / by Sami Ahmad, TwoCircles.net / April 05th, 2021
Well known educationist, intellectual, thinker and author of several books, Professor Anees Chishti has passed away in Pune at the age of 79. He was unsung hero of the community who made tremendous contributions in the progress of the community in the country. He will be also remembered for his dawha works as he translated Islamic literature into local Marathi language. He was a close confidant of late Maulana Abul al Hasan Nadvi who launched All India Tahreek e payam e insaaniyat with an aim to dispel misunderstandings about Islam. Chisty was one the pillars of this movement.
According to Anees Chishti’s family, he first suffered a heart attack and then later normal infected by COVID-19. During his treatment at Azam campus Unani hospital Pune He took his last breath and was buried on Monday, April 5, after Isha prayers at Muhammad Jamia Hussaini Masjid in the city.
As news of his demise spread, condolence messages flooded on social media. Many important personalities expressed their grief and sorrow who acknowledged the scholarly and social services of Anees Chishti.
Chisti was born on February 6, 1943 in Pune. His father Shakeel Ahmad was a freedom fighter. He was educated in Pune and Sholapur. Pune is considered the brain of Brahminical forces.
Expressing condolences on the demise of Anish Chishti, PA Inamdar administrator of Azam Campus Pune, said his demise is a great loss to the nation. He said that Anees Chishti was recognized as an authority in Islamic studies and science and literature.
Munawar Pir Bhai from Pune termed the demise of Anis Chishti as a great loss of the society and said that he was a very capable and intelligent person. Traveled to many countries, he had a keen eye on Islam and Allama iqbal. And he described the death of Anis Chishti as his personal loss.
Talha, nephew of Anees Chishti, said that after the death of Maulana Wali Rahmani, he had gone to Lucknow to meet Maulana Rabi Hasni Nadvi.
After returning from the trip, his health deteriorated and on April 5, at around 5.30 pm, he passed away. The personality of Anees Chishti was a person with various attributes. He was a member of the Majlis-e-Shura of Darul Uloom Nadwa tul Ulema, Lucknow and member of the, All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
He was very close to Maulana Syed Abul Hassan Ali Nadvi, a thinker of Islam, and he was the General Secretary of the All India Tahreek e payam e insaaniyat. The movement was launched in the backdrop of Babri masjid dispute which had been used by the communal forces to spread lies about Muslims and Islam in the country.
He was the author of many Urdu, Marathi and English books. His books have been translated into various languages. He was a connoisseur of calligraphy, a teacher of calligraphy, an Islamic scholar, and an educator. Apart from Urdu, many of his books have been published in Marathi.
Mirza Abdul Qayyum Nadvi, a bookseller and activist from Aurangabad, said that he had spoken to Anis Chishti two days before his death. More than 53 of his books have been published. Anis Chishti was fluent in many languages. These included Urdu, Marathi, Hindi, English, Arabic, Persian and other languages. He was a very good man, a man of knowledge, a good teacher, a good writer, a credible writer, an eloquent speaker, a guest lecturer on the panel of high-ranking training institutes. He has received numerous accolades for his books on education, and books on Muslim freedom fighters .and other books. In many countries, his Urdu and English language books are included in the Syllabus.
He trained soldiers at the Indian Institute of Education, College of Military Engineering Pune. He has delivered sermons and lectures on Islamic and scientific and literary topics in different parts of the country. He is survived by a daughter and four brothers. Arguably, his demise made the community further poorer as it was in the shocked after Muslim Personal Law Board General Secretary Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani in Patna just two days before.
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslim / by Abdul Bari Masoud / April 07th, 2021
During Sultan Husain Shah’s reign, Mir Ali Haft Qalam came to Kashmir from Iran. He was a noted calligrapher. Bestowed with the title of Haft Qalam, Mulla Bakir Kashmiri was another famous court calligrapher of emperor Shah Jahan. Numerous Kashmiri calligraphers carried the legacy of calligraphy and passed it on to generations. Sobia Mushtaq is one such passionate lover of calligraphy.
Kashmir, which is often referred to as the land of Sufi saints, has always been famous for its rich culture and heritage. The values brought in by the scholars and saints hold great importance in the lives of the Kashmiri people. According to the Archeological Survey of India, one such art method i.e. calligraphy was introduced to Kashmir by the scholar saint Sharaf-ud-Din Bulbul in the fourteenth century A.D.
Despite the ongoing conflict and its severe impact on the mental health of the people, Kashmiri people continue to flourish with their centuries-old craft.
“The roots of Arabic calligraphy are strongly embedded in Kashmir. They connect us to our spiritual being,” says Sobia Mushtaq, a 23-year-old young calligrapher from the Bandipora district of North Kashmir. “Arabic Calligraphy is a way of connecting to God,” she adds.
Sobia started doing calligraphy when she was in 7th standard but had to leave it as studies took most of her time. Sobia says she was always passionate about the art of calligraphy. She completed her post-graduation in English last year and is currently preparing for competitive exams. After completing her PG, she decided to take up the art and started posting her calligraphy works on social media.
Soon people began to like her calligraphy and she started getting orders. She happily says, “People like my work and my family has always encouraged me to carry on with this artwork”. Whatever little money Sobia makes from her work, she buys pens, paint, ink and papers.
“Sobia has a thirst to learn everything about calligraphy. We are proud of her work,” says her sister. “She is passionate about her work. That is what brings sharpness in her writing,” her sister adds.
Sobia mainly does Arabic calligraphy. She used to make sketches but calligraphy is her main passion.
“Calligraphy enriches faith, connects me to the Quran. It helps me to strengthen my faith and draws me closer to Allah,” she says.
Sobia does name calligraphy, she likes to do calligraphy of resistance poetry, but her passion is in Arabic calligraphy.
With the emergence of technology, every design is a click away but, “what makes one a good calligrapher is practice and willpower.” Sobia opines, “The calligraphed artwork has its charm.” For Sobia, the smell of ink brings the hidden essence to the art.
Sobia, being a self-taught calligrapher says that she learns by practice and by seeing videos online but she is against plagiarism of artwork. “One should come up with something new. I have imitated and used the traditional techniques to convert them into modern calligraphy,” she said.
In one of the statements issued by the Archeological Survey of India, during Sultan Husain Shah’s reign, Mir Ali Haft Qalam came to Kashmir from Iran. He was a noted calligrapher. Bestowed with the title of Haft Qalam, Mulla Bakir Kashmiri was another famous court calligrapher of emperor Shah Jahan. Numerous Kashmiri calligraphers carried the legacy of calligraphy and passed it on to generations.
Arabic script and Kashmiri script are similar. “I write Arabic and with a slight change I write Kashmiri,” Sobia says while sharing her aspiration to do wall calligraphy in future. She wants to do calligraphy on the walls, tombs and shrines in Kashmir.
For Sobia, Arabic calligraphy is the best example of learning by doing.
Among many cultural artefacts that Mughal’s introduced in Kashmir, calligraphy is one of them. “These things are a part of our culture. Calligraphy is flourishing now and the young generation is inclined towards this art,” says Sobia.
The famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said, “If I had known there was such a thing as Islamic Calligraphy, I would never have started to paint. I have strived to reach the highest levels of artistic mastery, but I found that Islamic Calligraphy was there ages before I was.”
Sobia says she does dual calligraphy combining modern backgrounds with Islamic calligraphy.
Frequent internet shutdowns in Kashmir have impacted every aspect of Kashmiri people’s lives.
“Under lockdown, we were not able to get our material and we were not able to deliver orders on the proper time, ran from ink and other items,” Sobia says.
Talking about the other side of the internet shutdowns, Sobia says that it helped her to focus more on her work. “This seclusion, without the internet, helped me to devote myself to this art,” she says.
Sobia wants the younger generation of Kashmiris to learn this art. “It tells us about our faith. Whenever I write down any verse, I search for the meaning and try to understand it before writing. This is how it enhances my faith,” she says.
The pens like kamish, bamboo, celi, java handam are expensive and none of them are available in her district. She usually orders her pens from a store in Srinagar, the summer capital of Kashmir. Elkhatt Store in Srinagar is the store that provides pens and ink for calligrapher lovers. Sobia proudly says that she started with a set of Rupees 200 basic pens and she still uses them.
“Tools don’t make an artist but the artist makes the tools,” Sobia says. Sobia lives in Bandipora and she hardly gets the paper there. Either she orders online or goes to Srinagar to get her calligraphy equipment.
“If one has the will they can do good calligraphy with the basic available resources. When people DM me asking about my art and the technique used, I happily share with them,” she says.
“The artists don’t reveal their secrets, but I think they should reveal the secrets so that this art could flourish and more people may come forward. If they share their art and secrets their art will propagate otherwise that will be confined to themselves. All it takes the practice and technique to handle the brush and tools,” she adds.
Sobia wants to open a calligraphy store one day. “It is important to get orders. This enhances confidence and also helps to get resources,” she says.
source: http://www.tcnpositive.net / TwoCircles.net / Home>TCN Positive / by Musheera Ashraf, TCNpositive.net / March 05th, 2021
