The Uttar Pradesh police on Friday said it had recovered a treasure trove of 698 “rare” Mughal-era silver coins dating back to the 16th and 17th century. A few of the coins are said to be from the eras of emperors Akbar and Aurangzeb.
The coins were found buried in a garden in Shimla, said a police officer from Moradabad district.
A DSP-rank officer from Moradabad Lallan Singh, the circle office of Highway area, said the coins were found by a Moradabad-based contractor named Ghulam Nabi while he was digging at a location in Shimla with three-four labourers.
The police came to know of the coins after Mr. Nabi and the labourers quarrelled among themselves over sharing the coins after they returned to the Mundhapandey area of Moradabad district, Mr. Singh said.
The coins weighed 7.9 kg, the officer said, adding that they had been sent to the Archaeological Survey of India.
“We struck silver!” U.P. police tweeted late on Friday as it released pictures of the recovery.
According to ASI, these are “rare 16th/17th century Mughal-era coins with legends in Persian and kalima in Arabic”, the police said.
The ASI is yet to issue a statement on the recovery or independently acknowledge their historical significance.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by Omar Rashid / Lucknow – July 27th, 2019
The mosque was built as part of a vision by Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, to include the main religions (Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism), but he passed away before he could fulfill his commitments. (Everyday Muslim/Tharik Hussain)
Everyday Muslim announced the discovery of a forgotten Arab/British princess directly descended from the Prophet Muhammad
Buried in a Muslim plot at the Brookwood Cemetery near Britain’s first Muslim Cemetery
London :
The grave of a British Muslim, believed to be a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), has been discovered in a suburban town about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of London.
Nestled in the woodlands of Woking, Surrey, Princess Sharifa Musbah Haidar El-Hasimi (also known as Musbah Khanum and Musbah Haidar El-Ghalib) lies in one of Europe’s oldest Muslim cemeteries, surrounded by the graves of other notable Muslim Britons from the late Victorian period and beyond.
The burial ground, the first Muslim cemetery established in Britain, was unearthed as part of a trail led by Everyday Muslim, a non-profit organization dedicated to documenting Muslim heritage in the UK.
“Fascinating revelations on the history of this particular princess and her final resting place have been unearthed during a self-guided trail that takes visitors to three of Britain’s most important Islamic sites, offering an overview of each one,” said Tharik Hussain, the project’s manager.
It was Hussain who first discovered the story of the Princess when he stumbled across one of her books in a small bookshop in Brighton about six years ago. Captivated by this discovery, he began researching her background.
Princess Musbah Haidar, according to Everyday Muslim, was the second daughter of the Grand Sharif of Makkah, Amir Ali Haidar of the family of Devi Zeids, who claim to be direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
Princess Musbah Haidar was the second daughter of the Grand Sharif of Makkah, Amir Ali Haidar of the family of Devi Zeids, who claim to be direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. (Supplied, no known copyright)
Princess Musbah’s mother was an Englishwoman of Irish descent called Isabel Dunn, who converted to Islam and became Amira Fatima, the second wife of Haidar. She was employed as an English teacher for the children from his first marriage.
Everyday Muslim reported that Princess Musbah was born at the family retreat, known as Chamlujah, in Istanbul on Nov. 25 1918, and had an older sister called Sfyne and a brother named Faisal.
She was initially brought up in the city, but following the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, her family was forced to leave.
Later she moved to England, and married Maj. Francis Stewart Fripp, who later converted to Islam, taking the name Ghalib.
The princess’s ancestry is not well known as, at the time, the Ottomans had installed the other side of her family on the throne in Makkah. In 1916, with the encouragement and support of Britain, the then Sharif of Makkah, Hussein bin Ali, led a revolt against the Ottomans to create a united Arab state.
Everyday Muslim states: “Her great grandfather was the late Emir Abdul Muttalib, who was the grandson of Emir Musaad, who was directly descended from the patriarch of the House of Devi Zeid, Muhsin, whose brother Abdullah was the patriarch of the House of Devi-Aoun, which is the family tree of the current monarchs of Jordan and the historic monarchs of Iraq.
“Both houses stem from Emir Hassan, whose lineage is traced directly back eleven generations to Emir Katada of Makkah in 1174 AD. Emir Katada’s lineage traces back a further eight generations to Abdullah, the son of Mohammed Al-Alaoui, who is the grandson of Abdullah, the son of Hassan Al-Mussema.”
Al-Mussema was the son of Hassan, the brother of Hussein, whose father was the fourth caliph of Islam, Ali, the husband of Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
In her lifetime, the princess authored two books; “Arabesque: an account of Harem Life,” detailing her life as a Makkan princess, and “Dawn Beyond the Tamarisks.” Her death was announced in The Times in January 1977.
According to Hussain, the two other Muslim sites in Woking the organization promotes have also been in the media recently: The Woking Muslim War Cemetery, which was renovated a few years ago and featured in the centenary celebrations of the Great War, and the Shah Jahan Mosque, which became the first in the country to be listed as a grade I historic monument as the first purpose-built mosque in northwest Europe.
The latter of these, named after Sultan Shah Jahan Begum, ruler of the British Raj tributary state of Bhopal, has a significant history.
The 130 year-old Shah Jahan mosque, in suburban Surrey, bears the name of its key donor, the Sultan Shah Jahan Begum, ruler of the British-Indian princely state of Bhopal. (Everyday Muslim/Tharik Hussain)
It was the vision of Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner, an orientalist born of Jewish parents from Hungary. A remarkable individual, according to the mosque’s website, aged 17 he “took a degree at King’s College, London, by which time it is said he could speak 15 languages.” He later went on to found the forerunner to the School of Oriental and African Studies.
The mosque itself was designed by Anglo-Irish architect William Isaac Chambers in a style that mirrored Indian Mughal architecture from the 16th century.
FUNFACT
In popular culture, the Shah Jahan Mosque was destroyed in H.G. Wells’ novel “War of the Worlds,” which was set in the author’s hometown of Woking.
Why Woking of all places?
Lietner, a religious scholar who lived and worked for many years in India and abroad, wanted to set up a college that would allow people to study the religions of the East.
“He came up with a site just outside London, in Woking, where this beautiful gothic building, known at the time as the Royal Dramatic College, had fallen on hard times and was up for sale. So it was really about convenience. It came with lots of land and it meant he didn’t have to pay the high prices that he would have paid had he found somewhere in London,” Hussain told Arab News.
Lietner wanted to build free places of worship there as well, including a Hindu temple, an Eastern Christian church, a synagogue and a mosque. Because he anticipated people from all over the world would come, including Muslims, one of the first things he did in 1884 was secure a plot at the nearby cemetery (Brookwood) exclusively for the use of Muslim burials.
The mosque (interior pictured above with the direction of the qibla) was built initially, along with a Muslim cemetery, as Dr. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner understood that burial rites in Islam were a very important rite. (Everyday Muslim/Tharik Hussain)
A stone still stands to this day inscribed with specific instructions on how to bury Muslims, as very few people in Victorian Britain understood the specific procedures.
His institute flourished and after five years he began building the mosque, but passed away before he could fulfill his vision.
The Shah Jahan Mosque was completed in 1889, but according to its website: “Abdullah Quilliam’s Liverpool mosque, opened in 1889, pre-dates Woking by a few months, but the Shah Jahan has the honor of being the first purpose-built mosque in Europe outside of Muslim Spain.”
FASTFACT
The Shah Jahan Mosque in Woking is the oldest purpose-built mosque in northwestern Europe and was known as the “Makkah of Europe” during the early 20th century, when it became the center of Islam in the UK.
Hussain adds: “So this is why Woking, because it had Britain’s first purpose-built mosque and Britain’s first Muslim cemetery, so naturally Muslims were drawn to it.”
Unfortunately, the mosque was neglected after Leitner’s passing for over a decade, but was then restored by an Indian lawyer, Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din, who had befriended influential Victorians curious about Islam, including a Lord who later became a convert.
His name was Lord Headley, also known as Sheikh Rahmatullah Al-Farooq, an Irish peer, and one of the leading members of the Woking Muslim Mission who helped the center flourish, with the aim of bringing it back to life as a platform for promoting islam in Europe, even becoming home to one of the first Muslim publications in Europe, The Islamic Review.
That is why Woking has been dubbed the “Makkah of Europe” by the organizers of the trail.
The Muslim cemetries
The Woking Muslim War Cemetery, now known as the Peace Gardens, played a prominent part in the remembrance of the centenary of the First World War, between 1914-18. It was the final resting place of 27 Muslim soldiers who fought for the British Empire and Free French Forces during the two great wars..
But it is the other cemetery that Everyday Muslim is keen to highlight, which you could say was the Westminster Abbey of Muslim cemeteries.
“This site is probably the least known and ironically is actually the oldest Muslim space we know of in Britain. It is a plot of land originally known as the ‘Muhammadan Cemetery,’ founded in 1884, within the nearby Brookwood cemetery, by Dr. Leitner,” Hussain told Arab News.
Princess Musbah resides here alongside Abdullah Quilliam (1856‑1932), founder of Britain’s first mosque and Muslim publication, Muhammad Marmaduke William Pickthall (1875‑1936), author of the first ‘native’ English translation of the Holy Qur’an, Naji Al‑Ali (1936‑1987), Palestinian political cartoonist and creator of “Handalah,” Sepoy Ahmad Khan (died 1914), the first British Muslim soldier buried on British soil, and many other famous Muslims, such as Victorians, princes and princesses, sultans and so on.
he cemetery in Woking is home to several important Muslim dignitaries. (Everyday Muslim/Tharik Hussain)
What is the aim?
Everyday Muslim wants to reach a point where sites such as these are not labelled as “British Muslim” heritage, but just “British” heritage.
Hussain, who also develops self-guided trails across the world for Lonely Planet guidebooks, said it should be recognized as a significant part of the island’s history
Sir Laurie Magnus, chairman of Historic England, which is responsible for protecting and championing the country’s heritage, said “Muslim heritage is very much a part of Britain’s heritage and I am delighted to launch this trail,” to celebrate these beautiful sites.
The initiative was aided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, as part of a bigger project concerning the heritage and history of the mosque and the surrounding area.
Hussain said: “We wanted to put these trails out there so that Muslims and non-Muslims up and down the country could see the potential.”
He said they see this as a start, and hope to receive more funding to highlight Muslim heritage trails across the UK to make Muslim heritage in Britain more visible and a normalized part of the wider narrative.
“I think it’s really cool that in the process of trying to unearth British Muslim heritage, we are not only unearthing all these amazing stories of British people who were doing amazing things as Muslims and converts, but we find someone who has British blood and the Prophet’s blood. I think that’s just pretty fabulous, and something we should celebrate and embrace,” Hussain concluded.
source: http://www.arabnews.com / Arab News / Home> Latest News> Middle-East> Home / by Sarah Glubb / July 29th, 2019
Indian Music Experience (IME), a city-based museum that explores the evolution of Indian music with interactive, multi-sensory exhibits, is organising its grand launch on July 27.
Ustad Zakkir Hussain and Louiz Banks
Bengaluru :
Indian Music Experience (IME), a city-based museum that explores the evolution of Indian music with interactive, multi-sensory exhibits, is organising its grand launch on July 27. Announcing this at a press conference, M R Jaishankar, chairman and managing director of Brigade Group and founder of IME, said, “The grand launch of the IME is a culmination of nearly a decade of effort to set up a truly world-class museum and arts centre in India. We are hopeful that the IME will grow to become a pre-eminent arts hub of the country and preserve and propagate India’s rich cultural heritage to the next generation.”
Many dignitaries, including Tejasvi Surya, member of Parliament, Bengaluru South and S M Krishna, former union minister for External Affairs, were present. On the occasion, there will be musical confluence by Ustad Zakkir Hussain and Louiz Banks at 7pm. Talking about IME, museum director and classical vocalist Manasi Prasad, shared, “The performing arts teach us to create, communicate and collaborate. India has the most diverse musical culture in the entire world and the museum celebrates this. Going forward, the IME aims to be a centre of music education and research, providing a platform for artistes and art lovers.”
The exhibit area of IME consists of eight thematic galleries showcasing various facets of Indian music, an instruments gallery with over 100 musical instruments, three mini theatres, and several computer-based interactive installations that allow visitors to experience the process of music-making. The exhibits feature memorabilia belonging to the Bharat Ratna musicians of the country— Bismillah Khan, Bhimsen Joshi and M S Subbulakshmi.
In addition, it will also feature a rare phonograph and gramophone, a selection of microphones, gramophone records and other artifacts.
The launch will be held at IME grounds in JP Nagar at 4.30pm.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Express News Service / July 27th, 2019
Yunus Dehlvi ran the world’s biggest chain of the Urdu magazines from 1943 till 1994 after the family fragmented and the historic era of these publications ended
We have all grown through the fragrant flairs of our childhood, one of them being our childhood mother-tongue historic magazines like, “Thakurmar Jhuli” (Bengali), “Khilauna” (Urdu), “Hans” (Marathi), “Parag” (Hindi), “Chitralekha” (Gujarati), “Chandamama” (Telugu), etc.
So have I grown reading the world famed Urdu chain of magazines including, “Khilauna”, “Shama”, Bano”, “Shama”, “Mujrim”. The doyen of these magazines, Yunus Dehlvi, father of eminent author, Sadia Dehlvi, is no more. He was the Ghalib of publications and Azad of the content.
Dehlvi’s efforts need to be hailed and made known to the world through the most widely circulated edition of yours as a true homage to a warrior for his mother-tongue. Started by his father, Haji Yusuf Dehlvi, Yunus ran the world’s biggest chain of these Urdu magazines from 1943 till 1994 after the family fragmented and the historic era of these publications got sacrificed at the altar of children and grandchildren’s egos.
I “drank” my Urdu and learnt the language not from any madrasa, school or college but from these publications only — my treasure trove!
Having known the “Shama”, “Sushma”, “Khilauna”, “Bano”, “Shabistan”, “Mujrim”, and “Doshi” publisher and the owner of once the biggest chain of Urdu magazine anywhere in the world, Yunus Dehlvi since childhood, it is the saddest blow for me that the third surviving brother after Idrees Dehlvi and Ilyas Dehlvi is no more. It is a huge loss of Urdu and the connoisseurs of the above-mentioned magazines mentioned above.
On February 7, 2019, he breathed his last in the lap of his daughter Sadia Dehlvi and grandson, Ali Dehlivi, besides almost a hundred other relatives around him. He was buried at the Qaum Punjabian cemetery at Sheedipura, Karol Bagh, Delhi, in the presence of hundreds of his lovers with eyes welled in tears. He was 89 and about two years ago, he suffered from stroke.
Dehlvi was member, Governing Council of the Audit Bureau of Circulations Ltd (ABC), besides being the President (1969-70) of Indian and Eastern Newspaper Society (IENS).
A winner of umpteen Urdu awards round the globe, he had it, including Urdu Delhi Award, Edinburgh Urdu Circle, the John Gilchrist gold medal, Sahir Award besides a list of inexhaustible felicitations.
Magazines like “Shama” and “Khilauna” used not only to sell like hot cakes but these were also sold in “black”, the moment these were sent to the vendors. Another reason for the popularity of “Shama” was its “Muamma” (literary puzzle) where words had to be filled from Urdu novels and lakhs of rupees were at stake.
I remember the times when the issue of “Shama” Urdu monthly, the most sought after, had its circulation into lakhs, in fact more than a newspaper, like, “The Times of India” or the weekly, like, “The Illustrated Weekly”, as told to me by Yunus, when I had interviewed him some two years ago just before he was struck by a stroke.
In fact, special flights were booked for transporting “Shama” and “Khilauna” to London, Karachi and New York and the three brothers — Yunus, Ilyas and Idrees — used to accompany. The duty of Yunus was on the Air India or PIA Karachi sector.
Top film actors like Dileep Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Asha Parekh, Nutan, Nargis, Raj Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Malika Pukhraj and many more used to frequent Yunus’ mansion at Sardar Patel Marg, now bought by politician, Mayawati.
Started by his father, Haji Yusuf Dehlvi, Yunus ran the world’s biggest chain of these Urdu magazines from 1943 till 1994 after the family fragmented and the historic era of these publications got sacrificed at the altar of children and grandchildren’s egos.
To be frank, I have learnt my Urdu from the magazines mentioned above and especially, “Khilauna”. Several old fans of “Khilauna”, today in their middle or old age, rummage “raddi” (scrap) shops or old bookshops from Karachi to Delhi and Lahore to Mumbai in search of it but in vain. Even in the libraries, these are not available. Fortunately, I have some 100 copies of the magazine from 1946 till 1987.
Several old fans of “Khilauna”, today in their middle or old age, rummage “raddi” (scrap) shops or old bookshops from Karachi to Delhi and Lahore to Mumbai in search of it.
Syed Faisal Ali, the editor of the Urdu daily “Sach ki Awaz” manages from his resources to get the old issues of “Khilauna” and reads these to relieve stress, “You escape back into your childhood, when you didn’t have a care in the world.” What was once a household name in the comity of children’s Urdu monthlies has become a collector’s item post its shut down.
“The craze for ‘Khilauna’ is keener among the older bunch,” Prof Akhtarul Wasey said, adding smugly that the old magazines always sold ‘at a premium’. However, these are just extinct now.
“Khilauna”, a collection of Urdu culture and heritage, had carved its niche through stories, poems, cartoons, comic strips like — “Nanhi Munni Kahaniyan” (a column for young writers), “Hamara Akhbar” (newspaper clippings), “Suraj Ka Bahadur Beta Shamsi” (serial pictorial story), “Muskurahatein” (jokes), “Hamarey Naam” (letters from readers), “Batao To Bhala” (Readers’ Questions and Answers), and much more.
Renowned Urdu poets and writers of the time — like Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, Hafeez Jalandhari, Hasrat Jaipuri, Qateel Shifai, Ismat Chughtai, Salam Machhli Shehri, Razia Sajjad Zaheer, Krishan Chander, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, Balwant Singh, Kanhaiya Lal Kapoor, Ram Pal, Sahir Ludhianavi, Ram Lal, Siraj Anwar, Basheshar Pradeep, Shafiuddin Naiyar, Kaif Ahmed Siddiqui, Dr Kewal Dhir, KP Saxena, Azhar Afsar, Prakash Pandit, Aadil Rasheed, MM Rajinder, Jilani Bano, Naresh Kumar Shad, Abrar Mohsin, Masooda Hayat, Ishrat Rehmani, Abrar Mohsin, Khaliq Anjum Ashrafi — besides many others used to be household names from 1940 to 1990s.
The “Shama” and its sister publications will never be forgotten as the connoisseurs of best Urdu literature won’t forget Yunus Dehlvi.
source: http://www.nationalheraldindia.com / National Herald / Home> Cafe> Counter View / February 11th, 2019
Sheikh Mohammad Munir Ansari conferred with the Star of Jerusalem medal.
Jerusalem (PTI) :
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has conferred Indian-origin Sheikh Mohammad Munir Ansari with the Star of Jerusalem medal – one of the highest honours given to foreign nationals by the Palestinian Authority – for strengthening Indo-Palestine ties. At an event organised to honour 91-year-old Ansari Thursday evening, Abbas thanked him for serving Palestine and Jerusalem with distinction. Ansari, 91, is the Director of Indian Hospice, a unique and historic monument in the heart of Jerusalem, which has become a symbol of India’s heritage and presence in the third holiest city for Muslims going back to over 800 years.
Abbas said the Ansari family’s presence in the old city of Jerusalem reflects the strong traditional ties between Indian and Palestinian people. He called upon for strengthening people-to-people contact between the two sides.
Abbas plans to send Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh to India soon to boost tourist inflows from there which can contribute to strong bonding between the two people.
A representative of India, Sunil Kumar, who was present at the event, also appreciated the role played by the Ansari family in strengthening Indo-Palestine ties.
The Indian hospice has been under the direct supervision of a representative from India since 1924. Ansari’s father, Sheikh Nazir Hassan Ansari, was appointed the first Sheikh of the Hospice from whom the mantle passed on to the incumbent who was born in Jerusalem in 1928 and has spent his whole life here.
In 2011, India honoured Ansari with the Pravasi Divas Samman, the highest honour conferred on overseas Indians.
The history of the hospice goes back to about 12th century, when famous Sufi saint from Punjab Baba Fariduddin Ganj-i-Shakar (or Baba Farid, as he is better known) visited Jerusalem on pilgrimage and prayed in seclusion for 40 days at the site.
It later became a pilgrimage site for Indian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem and was dedicated as a charitable Waqf property in trust for a pious purpose.
The place where Baba Farid is said to have prayed has become a major attraction for Indian tourists visiting Jerusalem.
Almost every prominent Indian leader who has visited the region has paid a visit to the site and the hospice continues to host Indians visiting the Holy Land. The hospice also received a grant from the Ministry of External Affairs for its renovation.
source: http://www.caravandaily.com / Caravan / Home> Indian Muslims / by June 15th, 2019
Five students, who won the TATA Trusts Students’ Biennale National award, now serve a month-long residency in the city and showcase a Kashmir that is so different from the stereotype.
From left: Anis Rasheed, Arona Riyaz, Tabeena Nissar Wani, Muzamil Ahmad and Numair Qadri
Kochi :
What is home? For many of us, it is solid and concrete, but to belong to a place of unrelenting turmoil is to hold the idea only in memory. The struggle is to capture an image that is in constant flux. For the students of the Institute of Music and Fine Art, University of Kashmir, who were granted the TATA Trusts Students’ Biennale National award at the closing ceremony of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, art is rooted in conflict and trauma they have witnessed all their life.
Tabeena Wani’s work at Students Biennale 2018 Kochi Biennale Foundation
Anis Rasheed, Arona Riyaz, Muzamil Ahmad, Numair Qadri and Tabeena Nissar Wani are the first batch of 11 recipients of the award who are in Kochi for a month-long residency programme at Pepper House.
Taking off from his video installation for the Students Biennale, Anis is exploring the polar opposite perceptions of his homeland. Kashmir, as the site of breathtaking beauty, is undercut by the news of regular ferment.
The work is called Jannat-e-Benazeer (unparalleled paradise). The audience upon seeing the setting of a movie theatre (absent in Kashmir) struggles to reconcile the heaven of popular imagination with the starkly different ground reality.
Muzamil, whose work was also exhibited at the Students Biennale communicated the idea of a vanishing house by showing ashes from his ancestral home which was burned down in 1990. For the residency, he is authoring a narrative of loss by depicting 200 graves, in memory of the people who were killed during the insurgency.
Numair’s has used familiar objects like pellets, stones and bricks, which have been turned into tokens of violence and killed thousands of young Kashmiris. Their unidentified graves populate the state even as families try to find closure. The idea of building numerous nameless graves will accompany Muzamil’s art in forging a fierce metaphor.
Tabeena, who had used X-rays of her own body to embroider disquieting patterns considered the practice as a temporary refuge from chaos and confusion. She will now detail recollection as an intensely private experience by exhibiting motion-blurred pictures of people declared missing. The distortion will act as a trope for hazy memory as well as an indicator of falsification of news that is propagated to the rest of the country.
Arona draws a parallel between a deeply personal struggle to the collective travails of her people. Having been in a coma for over two months following an accident, Arona is seeking to reinvestigate self-healing in correlation with the political scenario of her state.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Swetha Kadiyala / Express News Service / July 17th, 2019
The actor added he chose to enter the film field as he was interested in theatre and dramatics right from a young age.
Kozhikode :
While a majority of Mollywood actors are pushing their children to enter the glamorous world of cinema and are passing down film opportunities to them, actor Mamukkoya stands apart from his peers.The senior film star says that his children have never shown interest in stepping into the film field and he has never forced them for the same.“There is no hard and fast rule that an actor’s child should also be an actor.” said Mamukkoya
“My children never insisted that they wanted to try their hand in movies and so I let them choose their own career,” he said. While the actor’s sons Muhammed Nizar and Abdul Rasheed are engaged in business in Wayanad and Kozhikode, his daughters Shahitha and Nadiya are homemakers.
The actor added he chose to enter the film field as he was interested in theatre and dramatics right from a young age. “On the other hand my sons have always shown more interest in politics,business and related activities rather than films.”
When asked why they chose to stay away from the film industry, his eldest son Muhammed Nizar replied, “Neither have we made any effort to enter the film field nor have we received any calls for acting in movies. We are satisfied with our present careers.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Ambika Raja / Express News Service / February 25th, 2018
Staying forever: Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan watering a Mangosteen sapling at an event organised by the Basheer Smaraka Samiti at Thalayolaparambu on the writer’s 25th death anniversary.
Adoor lauds the writer for etching extraordinary life with ordinary characters
On the 25th death anniversary of ‘Beypore Sultan’, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, auteur Adoor Gopalakrishnan remembered the inimitable writer as a genius who created an extraordinary world using the daily lingo and ordinary life of the common man.
“The characters he created steered clear of the western stereotypes and became a part of our conversations,” he said at a remembrance meet organised by the Basheer Smaraka Samiti at the writer’s birthplace Thalayolaparambu, some 36 km east of Ernakulam, on Friday.
Mr. Gopalakrishnan was honoured with the Balyakalasakhi Puraskaram at the event.
While several works of Basheer’s had caught the attention of critics who conducted in-depth studies on them, the umbilical connection between Basheer the man and his works had not been put to a comprehensive study by anyone. Basheer had not written an autobiography, but there were autobiographical sketches in several of his writings, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.
A total of 25 cultural activists were honoured at the event with saplings of Mangosteen, a tree species that graced his courtyard and grew popular among readers for its association with the writer.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Thalayolaparumbu (Ernakulam), July 06th, 2019
The Buro Saheber dargah has been drawing people of all faiths for centuries
The mazaar of Pir Hazrat Shah Malek Gaus in Matiari / (Prasun Chaudhuri)
Matiari is a village beside the Indo-Bangladesh border, 110 kilometres northeast of Calcutta in Nadia district. It is believed to be the capital of the 16th century zamindar, Bhabananda Majumder, an ancestor of the legendary king of central Bengal, Krishnachandra Roy. A walk across the village today reveals remains of the regal past — a centuries old Shiv temple, a huge water body excavated by the king, relics of the palace and so on.
In the heart of the village stands Buro Saheber Dargah, a shrine built over the grave of Pir Hazrat Shah Malek Gaus, a Sufi ascetic from erstwhile Persia. Legend has it that in the 16th century this village was hit by a severe drought followed by famine. Apparently the pir’s spiritual power brought rain and saved villagers from starvation and death. Since then, starting from the anniversary of his arrival, a month-long fair is held every year at this dargah.
The date usually falls towards the end of June and coincides with the first day of Ambubachi, a three-day-long Hindu festival of fertility. During this period, around two to three lakh people visit the shrine to pay homage. Not just Muslims, people from all faiths visit the pir’s mazaar to pay homage to his soul and pray to have their wishes (mannat) granted.
I visit the dargah on the eighth day of the annual fair on a sultry afternoon. The entry to the mazaar is blocked with lines of makeshift shops of toys, snacks, utensils and sundry items — typical of any fair in the Bengal countryside. As I weave through the crowd, the sound box plays a song — Ke jabi ay choley ei Fakir Maular dorbarey/Niya premer mala re… O come to the shrine of the holy man/ With your garland of love…
The marble frame of the mazaar is adorned with chadars. Two women light candlesticks at the altar mumbling prayers and another is found pouring a bottle of milk on the grave. At the back of the shrine, a couple ties a stone with coloured threads on to a banyan tree.
“Our dargah has been a melting pot for hundreds of thousands of people, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, for centuries. We have visitors from across the border,” says Nitaipada Roychowdhury, president of the Dargah Committee and a resident of Matiari. The committee has 21 members — 11 Hindus and 10 Muslims. Roychowdhury is a retired teacher of the Matiari Banpur High School. He consults a diary and gives me the count: 90,000 people have already visited the shrine in the first week of the annual fair.
According to Roychowdhury, the pir was born Abdullah. He belonged to an aristocratic family. Looking for spiritual enlightenment, he turned fakir, left his home and embarked on a journey all the way to Hindustan. When he reached an ashram by the banks of the Narmada river, the saints initially refused to offer him lessons in Hindu philosophy because he was a Muslim. But his sincerity and perseverance eventually made the seers change their mind and accept him as a disciple. After deep study at the ashram and subsequent enlightenment, Abdullah started his journey eastwards to spread his newfound knowledge of a syncretic God.
The nongorkhana at the dargah / (Prasun Chaudhuri)
“Buro Saheb reached our village on the first day of Ambubachi,” says Raihan Mondal, a member of the committee. “Since there had been a drought, he asked the local zamindar to organise an annasatra or community kitchen for the starving villagers. Soon after this there was heavy rain and a bumper harvest.” The impressed zamindar bestowed on him the title of Pir Hazrat Shah Malek Gaus and requested him to settle down in Matiari. Today, to commemorate the community kitchen, youths organise a nongorkhana or langarkhana where food is cooked and distributed free.
That day Noor Amin Sheikh, who has come from Ranaghat, offers a fowl at the dargah. “We had prayed for our uncle who had been suffering from a strange illness. Now that he’s cured I have come with the offering,” he says.
Sandhya Das has come from Barrackpore in North 24-Parganas to make a donation of Rs 1,001. Her sister has done well in the board exams. She says after lighting a candle at the mazaar, “If you pray sincerely, Buro Saheb always fulfils your wish.” The walls at the entrance to the dargah display a number of marble plaques commemorating past donations. There are two plaques with the name of one Abdul Hai of Jhinaidaha in Bangladesh. There is one bearing the name of Pappu Sarkar, who donated an entire month’s salary after he got a government job.
Fakir Mobarak Shah of Titagarh / (Prasun Chaudhuri)
Goats, fowls, shirni, payesh, sacks of rice, batasha and cash are donated to the pir. The dargah committee organises auctions of the goats and fowls. The fund raised is deposited in a bank account along with the cash donated. Says Roychowdhury, “We spend the money for the upkeep of the dargah.” Some visitors offer food and money to the sadhus and fakirs who throng the portals of the dargah. Fakir Mobarak Shah comes from Titagarh in North 24-Parganas every year. The foodgrains and alms he collects at the fair sees him through for half a year. Amal Giri also begs for alms with dozens of other sanyasins and fakirs.
The young people who organise the nongorkhana take me to the kitchen. This is run by a separate committee constituted of Hindu and Muslim youths in equal numbers. Ajay Biswas and Abbas Mondal proudly show me how they have been cooking chicken curry and rice for hundreds of people. They invite me to lunch. Says Ajay enthusiastically, “Yesterday we had cooked khichuri and payesh.”
Roychowdhury reminds me that the dargah attracts visitors all year round. “There’s been efforts by political parties to interfere in the management of the dargah committee, but we have been able to stave them off. We are also confident of fighting all fundamentalist forces should they want to disrupt the harmony created by Buro Saheb 400 years ago.”
Instances of dargahs looked after by more than one community abound across Bengal. Amit Dey, a senior historian and professor at Calcutta University sums up the tradition. He says, “This syncretistic tradition has deep roots in the society and culture of rural Bengal.” According to him, the daily grind of an agrarian society encourages people to co-operate with neighbours and people around them. He adds, “In their struggles for existence there is little demarcation of religion, caste or creed. The dargah is a space shared by members of two communities.”
I sit down for a meal of fowl curry and rice with Abbas, Ajay and others at the nongorkhana. The sound boxes at the dargah start to play the classic song composed by the Sufi minstrel, Lalan Fakir. It goes — Sab lokey koy Lalan ki jaat songsare/Lalan bole jaater ki roop/ Dekhlam na ei nojore… People ask, “What’s Lalan’s religion/Lalan replies, For the life of me I cannot tell.”
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, online edition / Home> Heritage / by Prasun Chaudhuri / July 07th, 2019
Police museum houses rare collection of arms and artefacts from Nizam era
Home to rare and little known police relics from the Nizam era, the Dr. Hankins Police Museum and Discovery Centre at RBVRR Telangana State Police Academy (TSPA) here is a treasure trove for history enthusiasts.
From long-out-of-use police guns to breaking-and-entering tools that burglars depended on many decades ago, the museum is filled with intriguing artefacts that one would hardly find outside its walls. “It is a one-of-its-kind museum in the country with a rich collection of arms, bronze sculptures, artefacts related to communication, forensic science and policing supported by photographs and paintings,” said TSPA director Santosh Mehra.
The museum, which is named after Dr. A.C. Hankin, a European who served as the first Inspector General of Police in Hyderabad Dominions, has an antique collection of arms from the 16th to 20th century, manufactured in Iran, Turkey, England, France, Egypt and China.
One of the major attractions at the museum includes a .2 mm repeating flint pistol with five rounds of storage capacity from the 19th century, also known as ‘Lilliput pistol’. The firearm, which is barely four inches long, was popular in the UK and other European countries.
The collection also includes Shamsheer, Patta, Yataghan, Sosun Patta, Saif, Talwar, Fencing, Adi, Dhup, Dao, Ramdao, Tegha, and Zulfiqar swords, apart from arrows, spears, daggers, tabar, axe and cannons.
A copy of FIR of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi issued by Tughlak Road police in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, is also on display at the museum, which houses a rare photograph of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi.
The police gallery also houses counterfeit coins and currency notes of East India Company, Nizam Government, the British empire and Indian union. In addition, one can have a glimpse of hand-held trans-receiver, transmitters, ECIL receiver, TCS Collins receiver remote control, Webel base repeater set and desk microphone.
Set up in 2007, Dr. Hankin police museum is not open to the public. However, Mr. Mehra said school children can visit the museum to see the impressive collections of arms and communication systems to know the history of policing.
Sources in the police department said the museum is likely to be shifted to the Command Control Centre of Hyderabad police coming up on Road No.12 of Banjara Hills. It is also to be made open to the public once shifted there.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Abhinay Deshpande / Hyderabad – July 07th, 2019
