Syeda Mirza pens the legacy of Aly Asker, the man who put the city on India’s horse racing map and built iconic colonial bungalows
Bengaluru :
Once a quaint lane that housed colonial bungalows, Ali Asker Road (situated between Cunningham Road and Infantry Road) may now be a bustling street with commercial outlets, only retaining some of the old-world charm. But the street comes with a rich history, which Syeda Mirza (Aly Asker was her husband’s great-grandfather) is trying to re-tell through the story of Aly Asker in her first book, Agha Aly Asker.
Having heard of stories – Aly Asker leaving his homeland, Shiraz, as a 16-year-old to come to India in 1824 to trade Persian and Arab horses, building 100 bungalows around High Grounds, Cantonment, and Richmond Town, at the behest of Sir Mark Cubbon – Mirza felt the need to highlight his contribution to Bengaluru and Mysuru, which she had heard from elders. “A great-uncle of my husband had compiled some history and anecdotes which also came handy,” says Mirza, who is in her 80s. She adds that his legacy lingers in the family to this day among her grandchildren, with her grandson, equestrian Fouaad Mirza, getting prepared for the Tokyo Olympics.
Her book also mentions the key role that Aly Asker played in saving the then Mysuru state from being annexed by the British, with their policy at that time stating that if there was no direct heir, the state would be annexed.
“Here, Aly Asker played a crucial role in convincing Sir Cubbon and Krishna Raja Wadiyar-III about an adoption, but sadly it’s not remembered. Everyone in the family knows about it though,” says Mirza, who started work on the book 18 years ago, and completed it within 2-3 years. The manuscript, though, was in hibernation ever since.
While information was aplenty, the challenge lay in authenticating it. “It was like a thread, one thing led to another. But then again, everything was a family legend,” she says.
With Aly Asker being a historical figure, making a mark in the history of the city, they were particular that the information was verified. This meant going through several archives and hours of research, which was done by historians. “We kept getting bits and pieces and had to keep changing it. My three children did a lot of leg work to look up the records,” says Mirza, who got some information from unexpected sources, including the Ooty Library.
pix: ink-and-feathers.blogspot.com
Mirza, now keen to bring out a cookery book, decided to self- publish the book (printing 500 copies), to ensure that the story was told the way she wanted to. “I didn’t want anything changed. I’ve written it for my grandchildren,” says Mirza, who is currently working on translating the book into Urdu, and getting it translated into Kannada.
With several books having been written on Sir Mirza Ismail, the grandson of Aly Asker, and Diwan of Mysore, Mirza hopes this book on Aly Asker will highlight his history as well.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Bengaluru / by Vidya Iyengar / pix added: as above / January 14th, 2020
Syed Kirmani, an ODI World Cup winner with India in 1983, speaks during the launch of his autobiography, in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: PTI
The cricket universe was represented by Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Anil Kumble, Brijesh Patel, E.A.S. Prasanna, B.S. Chandrasekhar and many of Kirmani’s State teammates.
A galaxy of stars descended at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday for the launch of ‘Stumped: Life Behind And Beyond The Twenty-Two Yards’ by Syed Kirmani, the autobiography of one of India’s finest wicketkeepers.
The cricket universe was represented by Kapil Dev, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman, Anil Kumble, Brijesh Patel, E.A.S. Prasanna, B.S. Chandrasekhar and many of Kirmani’s State teammates.
Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar were also in attendance.
Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar during the launch of ‘Stumped, Life Behind And Beyond The Twenty-Two Yards ‘ with Krimani (right). | Photo Credit: The Hindu
Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, badminton stalwart Prakash Padukone and actor Jackie Shroff sent their well wishes through video messages. The book is co-authored by Debashish Sengupta and Dakshesh Pathak.
Kirmani’s famous partnership with Kapil Dev against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup, where the duo rescued India from a precarious 17 for five, was a favourite memory among speakers on the stage.
Kapil spoke about the first time he met Kirmani, who incidentally celebrated his 75th birthday on Sunday.
Kirmani’s famous partnership with Kapil Dev (right) against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup, where the duo rescued India from a precarious 17 for five, was a favourite memory among speakers on the stage. | Photo Credit: PTI
“I was in an under-19 camp when Syed Kirmani, Bishan Singh Bedi and others returned to India after being bloodied and bruised on a tour to the West Indies. I worked up the courage to approach Kirmani. The first autograph I ever received in my life was from the great ‘Kiri bhai’ and G.R. Viswanath,” Kapil said.
“I remember what Kirmani wrote when signing the autograph. He wrote ‘Hope to see tons of runs and tons of wickets from you’. That was most kind of him. I also spent a few hours with him, where he taught me so much about the sport and beyond,” Kapil said.
source: http://www.sportstar.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Cricket / by Ashwin Achal / December 29th, 2024
Insha Jalil Waziri has been awarded the prestigious 2024 Jawad Memorial Prize for her English translation of Ali Sardar Jafri’s Urdu poem Mera Safar, reports The Print.
Waziri, a journalist working with The Print, selected Jafri’s iconic work as it resonated deeply with this year’s theme of “resurgence”. The poem, which revolves around the recurring theme of “main phir aaunga, main phir bolunga” (I’ll come back, I’ll speak again), captures a spirit of eternal hope and renewal even in the face of death and endings.
“This poem is profoundly relevant in the dystopian times we live in. Its message of optimism and revival reminded me of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass,” Waziri shared.
Ali Sardar Jafri, celebrated as a poet, lyricist, and critic, crafted Mera Safar with themes of resilience and transformation, offering an enduring message of hope that continues to inspire. Waziri’s translation skilfully preserves the essence of his words, bringing their timeless relevance to a broader audience.
The Jawad Memorial Prize recognises outstanding contributions in Urdu-to-English translation, honouring works that bridge cultures and languages.
source: http://www.radiancenews.com / Radiance News / Home> Awards> Latest News / by Radiance News Bureau / December 24th, 2024
Mujibur Rehman overlooks pivotal reasons jeopardising the political future of Muslims
At a protest against mob lynching, in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena
Mujibur Rehman’s Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims takes its title from the poem Shikwa (The Complaint) composed in 1909 by the great philosopher-poet Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938).
If Shikwa was an aggrieved remonstrance by faithful Muslims (shikwa-e-arbaab-e-wafa) against god for having forsaken them despite their fervent loyalty, Shikwa-e-Hind is a complaint against majoritarian India for plotting “to de-Islamise” the country through its “multipronged attack on everything associated with Muslims.”
But the book is marred by the huge amassment of superfluous information on the historical “why and how” of Muslim political exclusion. Had the author realised that the Muslim past — especially what they went through before, during, and immediately after Partition — is a fait accompli, his book would not have suffered from a lack of focus on what Muslims must do to ameliorate their present situation.
Simplistic approach
Members of Muslim organisations in Bengaluru call for government action against attack on Muslims in BJP-ruled States across India. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar
Muslims have been demonised, abused, suspected of various kinds of jihad, and even lynched in some parts of north India prompting the Supreme Court, in 2018, to suggest that Parliament must enact an anti-lynching law against cow vigilantism and lynch mobs.
The Hindu Right has hinted that it doesn’t want the political empowerment of Muslims as it would lead to the establishment of the shariah. In April 2022, priest Yati Narsinghanand reportedly asked Hindus to have more children to prevent India from becoming an Islamic country. He warned that in 20 years 50% of Hindus “will convert” if a Muslim became India’s prime minister.
A gathering of Muslims at Thennur, Tiruchi district, wear masks of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Periyar and other freedom fighters, to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy
Shikwa-e-Hind says very little about how Muslims must respond to such unfounded accusations. The few remedies it prescribes are simplistic, platitudinous, and one-sided.
If, for instance, the future of South Indian Muslims “hinges on the ability of a new political class to preserve the rich legacy of Periyar”, for all other Muslims it depends on their ability to “explore a possibility with fellow secular citizens of other faiths” to establish “a secular polity with rights for minorities.”
The book ends with the banal peroration that India must restore its democratic habits because the political future of Muslims “directly depends on the future of Indian democracy.”
Besides, Shikwa-e-Hind contains this astonishing statement in the concluding chapter:
“For Indian Muslims, the options are very limited. As a religious minority, it no longer has a choice to ask for a separate nation — an option it has exhausted with catastrophic consequences with the creation of Pakistan and later Bangladesh.” (p.348)
Is the author suggesting that if the option had not been exhausted, Muslims would have had the choice to demand a separate nation?
Religion over politics
Although Shikwa-e-Hind blames Muslims’ excessive interest in religion (deen) on “Maulanas and various Jammats” it has no shikwa against clerics or religious bodies whose consuming passion for sectarian legalism unwittingly justifies the fears of the Hindu Right and thus, jeopardises the political future of Muslims.
Thousands of Muslim women on the premises of Lucknow’s Teele Wali Masjid to protest against the triple talaq bill, in 2018. | Photo Credit: Rajeev Bhatt
For instance, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) declared that the recent Supreme Court ruling on the maintenance of divorced Muslim women (under Section 125 of the CrPC) was “against the Islamic law (Shariah)”, and vowed to overturn it legally.
Yet, Shikwa-e-Hind would have us believe that “the Board has been committed to the role and rights of women.” The book laments that despite the AIMPLB “becoming more and more sensitive towards the role of women”, it is “still seen as a patriarchal body.”
In a video that negates this assessment, AIMPLB member Maulana Sajjad Nomani told the new Bangladeshi regime that Afghanistan (ruled by the anti-women Taliban) is “the latest example” of a “successful welfare state”, therefore, “please don’t hesitate to take the benefit of the experience of Afghanistan.”
In July this year, West Bengal Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said that those not born in Islam were “unfortunate”, and therefore, “we have to bring them under the fold of Islam. Allah will be happy if we do so.”
In Muttahida Qawmiyyat aur Islam (1938), Hussain Ahmad Madani, who promoted “composite nationalism” against Jinnah’s two-nation theory, had already expressed the hope that the need for liberation from the miseries of the British would no longer remain if all Indians (tamaam baashindagaan-e-mulk) entered the sphere of Islam (halqa-e-Islam mein daakhil hojaayen).
Amid all this, several Muslim schools in India (mostly run by the financial elite) have been indirectly keeping out non-Muslims by making skullcaps and hijab a mandatory part of the uniform. Even Muslim students who come without wearing these identity markers are not allowed to enter their classrooms.
In the context of the hijab controversy, Shikwa-e-Hind cites several experts to rightly argue that if the choice for Muslim girls to wear hijab was curtailed then it would stand in the way of their education. However, the book does not hurl this argument against Muslim schools that deny students the choice to discard the hijab or skullcaps. It would appear that Muslims go to court only when hijab bans affect their education, not when the imposition of hijab affects it.
Children at a Muslim school. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/istock
Maulana Azad’s advice
Some of the foregoing events may have happened after the publication of Shikwa-e-Hind. But the religious supremacism that defines them is not new. Yet it merits no discussion in the book which, however, complains about Muslims’ lack of interest in politics without pointing out that most Muslim leaders including Maulana Azad advised the community against having its own political identity.
Maulana Azad (right) with Mahatma Gandhi | Photo Credit: The Hindu archives
In 1948 Azad said: “If in the Indian Union there is a single Muslim or group of Muslims who think that Muslims should have a separate political organisation it would be better for them to go to Pakistan.” Azad had earlier warned that after Partition Indian Muslims “will be left to the mercies to what would become an unadulterated Hindu raj.”
This shows that the political isolation of Indian Muslims is to a large extent self-imposed, and a result of their inability to challenge their politico-religious leadership. They appear to be more interested in their religious rights than secular politics.
Their future, therefore, depends not only on the democratic defeat of Islamophobic forces, but also on the intellectual vanquishment of Muslim religious leaders who play politics, and Muslim politicians who dabble in religion, to maintain control over the community.
Shikwa-e-Hind blissfully disregards this simple truth as if to justify Iqbal’s response to his own Shikwa: “Even an unjust complainant must be conscious of his argumentative shortcomings (Shikwa bejaa bhi kare koi toh laazim hai shu’oor).”
Shikwa-e-Hind: The Political Future of Indian Muslims; Mujibur Rehman, Simon & Schuster, ₹999.
The reviewer is the Secretary General of the Islamic Forum for the Promotion of Moderate Thought.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books> Review / by A Faizur Rahman / September 20th, 2024
Author: Dr. Nazir Ahmad Zargar, Title: Islamic Da‘wah Discourse and Method, Publication Details: Chahattisgarh: Evincepub Publishing, 2024., Edition: Third Revised Edition , Pages: 297+ i-xx. ISBN: 978-93-5673-906-2. Price: ₹500
Islam is a missionary religion, and Da‘wah (the call to Islam) is a divine commandment. In common terms, Da‘wah invites people to Islam. A person who invites people to Islam through a dialogue process is called Dā‘ī. In a broader sense, it connotes an invitation to the Imān (Islamic faith) to the prayer or Islamic way of life. The book under review attempts to elucidate the methodological aspect of Da‘wah in the contemporary era.
The author maintains an academic tone throughout the book and presents Islamic Da‘wah as a means to eliminate misrepresentation, misinformation, and misconceptions regarding Islam and its worldview. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to make its readers understand that Da‘wah is an attitude that presents the actual teachings of Islam and the real image of Islam, free from division and prejudice. The methodological aspect of this work highlights the role of a Dā‘ī in contemporary times. In this context, the book offers a comprehensive approach to Da‘wah. The author deals with the communication part of Da‘wah methodology, including using social media and modern technologies to propagate the message of Islam.
The revised third edition has been improved to a greater extent than early editions; some sections have been edited with great detail. A few portions have been added afresh. The foreword of the revised third edition is written by Prof. S. M. Yunus Gilani, Malaysia. He says, “This work is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand the essence of Islam, its profound teachings, and the wisdom behind its principles. It provides a roadmap for those who are called to the noble task of conveying the message of Islam with wisdom, compassion, and integrity (pp. vi-vii).” This book is spread over five chapters, excluding a vast introduction, conclusion, appendix, and an epilogue to the protocols. In his detailed introduction, the author draws an outline of the fundamental concepts and basic principles of Da‘wah. He introduces Islam as a peaceful religion and argues that it provides a solution to the problems of mankind.
Furthermore, it discusses the relation of Da‘wah with communal harmony and mutual co-existence. Similarly, it also analyzes conceptions such as the essences of Wahy (revelation) and Risālah (prophethood), the dichotomy between rational and revealed knowledge, and characteristics of a Dā‘ī. This section also highlights the historical perspectives of Da‘wah during the al-Khilafah al-Rashidah (Caliphate period) and Da‘wah in contemporary times from a global context.
Chapter first, Da‘wah and its significance, delves into the meaning and definition of Da‘wah. The author here focuses on the different dimensions of Da‘wah, such as ways and means, objectives, importance, causes of decadence, language and media of Da‘wah, and role of Da‘wah organization. Dr. Zargar is of the view that “the primary aim of a Da‘wah organization is to unite the disarranged Ummah into a unified whole once again (pp. 25-26). The author emphasizes Da‘wah, both individual and collective Da‘wah programmes, keeping a view of a particular place’s circumstances and social order. He argues that the prophet Muḥammad (SAW) preached the message of Islam both individually and in public. However, he asserts that there must be an organized group of individuals who can understand their responsibilities and perform Da‘wah, and he substantiates his argument with the āyat (verses) of the Qur’ān and ahadith. Dr. Zargar points out that the role of an organized group is not merely to perform the activities of Da‘wah but to play his role in “construction and deconstruction simultaneously” (p. 125).
Chapter second, a brief historical survey of the development of Da‘wah methodology, is through examination and analysis of Da‘wah from historical perspectives and early methods. The author divides Islamic Da‘wah into three major historical phases; the initial phase discusses the early Islamic Da‘wah that started from the mount of Ṣafa and was carried out during the whole time of the prophet Muḥammad (SAW). Dr Zargar believes that Da’wah’s scope, significance, and relevance grew gradually and substantiates his claim from the different āyat of the Qur’ān (p. 132-34). The second phase discusses Da‘wah in the period of al-Khilāfah al-Rāshidah as a state responsibility. This phase emphasizes the status of Da‘wah as an obligatory duty for the rulers and examines scholarly opinions. The third phase elucidates the decline of activities of Da‘wah at the governmental level and becomes more concerned at individual and collective or group level. However, Da‘wah continues to remain the duty of a Muslim. The author notes that the most crucial part of this phase is that throughout the first century of Muslims, the activities of Da‘wah remained peaceful, and no force was used to convert people to Islam (p. 140). The author has quoted many historical events that support the fact that Da’wah activities were peaceful. For instance, he evidently discusses how Berke Khan and other Mongols accepted Islam despite terrorizing Muslim lands. Therefore, the events in which Tartars became Muslim have been explicitly considered turning points in Muslim history. The concluding part of this chapter discusses the spread of Islam in India and the major factors responsible for the emergence of Islam. However, this section has been discussed briefly and needs further elaborations to substantiate the claims pertaining to major factors responsible for the spread of Islam in India.
Chapter third, ‘the contemporary Da‘wah movements’, discusses four major Da‘wah organizations in the contemporary era, such as al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn, Tablīghī Jamā‘at, Jamā‘at-i-Islāmī and Ahl-i-Ḥadīth movement of India. The chapter’s main subject remains in discussing historical settings in which Da‘wah movements emerged, their ideologies, objectives, approaches, basic principles, contributions, activities, methodologies, and achievements and weaknesses to Da‘wah activities. For instance, the author states that the founders of al-Ikhwān al-Muslimūn have realized that Westernisation is a threat to Islam, which can be countered by returning to the basics of Islam (p. 153). Similarly, the author argues that the purpose of Jamā‘at-i-Islāmī was to establish a “theo-democratic state” yet to be found (p. 166). Regarding Tablīghī Jamā‘at the author has made a comprehensive analysis and focused on its major activities and hallmarks, purpose, and methods of Da‘wah. Dr. Zargar is of the opinion that while other Da‘wah movements focused on producing literature alongside their activities in the field Da‘wah, the TablīghīJamā‘at did not consider writing books any of the means of Da‘wah. However, they are very concerned about working in practical fields. Subsequently, a lucid analysis of the Ahl-i-Ḥadīth movement of India and other movements has been conducted. Dr. Zargar made mention of Ahl-i-Ḥadīth movement in Kashmir and highlighted its role in the reformation as well.
Chapter four is dedicated to the communicational perspectives of Da‘wah and highlights the basic qualities of a Dā‘ī and Mud‘ī, such as language, attitude, knowledge, organizational qualities, discipline, and righteousness. Similarly, the fifth chapter of the book focuses on Da‘wah in the contemporary global society. The author discusses here globalization from the Islamic perspective, post-modern materialistic society, concepts such as the definition of man in Islam, problems of materialism, individualism, and the decline of the West. Dr. Zargar has also highlighted the problems, concerned with Dā‘ī’s, the importance of Ijtihād in Da‘wah and education system, Da‘wah and women, following the law of land, nationalism, and Muslim politics as well. It is pertinent to mention that this work presents a thorough analysis of the contemporary position, aims, and objectives of the Zionist movement, formation of UNO, the establishment of the Kingdom of Israel, and economic institutions and multinational companies to support the causes of Israel are debatable issues discussed in Da‘wah and the Contemporary Global Society.
In sum, Dr Zargar argues that Islam is indeed the religion of Da‘wah. He asserts that Da‘wah is the real force behind the success of Islam and Muslims. Therefore, he offers some ways to continue Da‘wah in the contemporary era, such as inter-religious dialogue, debates, freedom of choice, and essay competitions. The book’s appendix is another valuable contribution because it discusses the Jewish protocols, which consist of 24 documents containing the most comprehensive programmes for world subjugation published in 1905. The author’s lucid explanations and examination of the protocols expose the aims, purposes, and approaches of Jews to the rest of the people of the world whom they called Gentiles. An epilogue to the protocols traces the need and significance of Islamic Da‘wah and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. In sum, the book is a comprehensive guide and a valuable edition in the related field for students and researchers.
The author is a Doctoral Candidate, Comparative Religion, Department of Religious Studies, Central University of Kashmir
source: http://www.kashmirobserver.com / Kashmir Observer / Home> In-Depth Review / by Guest Author / April 20th, 2024
Abrakadabra, a collection of stories by writer Mirja Basheer. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Karnataka Muslim Lekhakara Sangha, Mangaluru, has chosen Abrakadabra, a collection of stories by writer Mirja Basheer, for the Muslim Sahitya Prashasthi for 2023.
The award presented in memory of the late U.T. Fareed, former MLA of the erstwhile Ullal Assembly constituency, comprises ₹10,000 purse and a citation. It will be presented to the author at a function in Tumakuru in December, according to president of the sangha U.H. Umar.
In all, 32 applications had been received for the award. A three-member committee chose ‘Abrakadabra’, he said in a release.
Dr. Basheer, retired veterinary doctor, hails from Challakere in Chitradurga district.
Presently, he lives in Tumakuru. He worked in the Veterinary Department for 34 years.
Some of the other literary works of Dr. Basheer are Batteyellada Oorinalli, Jinni and Haruva Hakki mattu Iruve and Gange Baare Gowri Baare. His stories were included as lessons in some college text books in Karnataka and in the class IX Kannada textbook in Kerala. Some of the stories have been translated into Telugu
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home / by The Hindu Bureau, Mangaluru / November 29th, 2024
The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) alumnus Zeyad Masroor Khan has won the prestigious Crossword Book Award-2024 in the nonfiction category for his gripping and coming of age memoir City on Fire: A Boyhood in Aligarh.
The awards ceremony took place at Mumbai on Sunday. The Crossword Book Award, established in 1998, honours and promotes Indian writing in English. Honours were bestowed in six diverse categories – fiction, non-fiction, children’s books, business and management, mind, body and spirit, and translations.
The winning authors received a cash prize of Rs 50,000 each.
The short list in non-fiction category included some of the best writings such as Sudha Bharadwaj’s From Phansi Yard, Sohini Chattopadhyay’s The Day I Became a Runner, Zeyad Masroor Khan’s City on Fire: A Boyhood in Aligarh, Yamini Narayanan’s Mother Cow Mother India, and Arati Kumar-Rao’s Marginlands.
In his review of the book, Prof Mohammad Asim Siddiqui, wrote: “Though Aligarh has found a worthy mention in many recent memoirs penned by writers having some association with Aligarh, like Naseeruddin Shah, an alumnus of AMU, wrote a chapter on ‘Aligarh University Absurdists’ in his excellently-written memoir And Then One Day (2014), his brother Zameer Uddin Shah, vice chancellor of AMU from 2012 to 2017, talked about his efforts to make AMU a top-ranked university and his spats with some political leaders during his tenure in his memoir The Sarkari Mussalman (2018), and Muzaffar Ali credits AMU’s poetic culture and its celebrated Urdu poets for influencing his visualisation of subjects in his films in his autobiography Zikr: In the Light and Shade of Time (2023), Aligarh city is missing in these memoirs.”
Prof Sidddiqui noted that “Zeyad Masroor Khan’s City on Fire fills this gap. It vividly describes life in Aligarh city, particularly Muslim localities such as Uper Coat, Bhujipura, Nuner Gate, Babri Mandi, Mian Ki Sarai, Thakurwali Gali, Haddi Godam, Sarai Sultani and Shah Jamal inside out to debunk many myths about them”.
Sahitya Akademi award winning author Professor Shafey Kidwai congratulated Mr. Zeyad Masroor Khan on winning this prestigious award. “Zeyad Masroor Khan’s spectacular success should inspire other young writers, particularly those coming from Aligarh Muslim University,” he added.
Prof Shaheena Tarannum, Chairperson, Department of English, congratulated Mr. Khan on winning the prestigious award.
Notably, Zeyad Masroor Khan studied BA English at AMU, and now works as a journalist, writer and documentary film-maker.
Each category of the award was judged by a separate jury, and the non-fiction jury consisted of TCA Raghavan, Anuradha Sengupta, and Kaveree Bamzai.
source: http://www.radiancenews.com / Radiance News / Home> Pride of the Nation> Awards> Latest News / by Radiance News Bureau / December 10th, 2024
In 45 essays, three editors gather multiple travel accounts by Muslim women who, alone or chaperoned, veiled or unveiled, travelling for work or pleasure, bust every stereotype. Apart from records of the new and the unexpected, there are also observations about all aspects of life, including religious and social practices.
For representative purposes. | Photo Credit: AFP
I began reading Three Centuries of Travel Writing by Muslim Women (Zubaan Books) chronologically, hoping rather ambitiously to read it from cover to cover, one essay at a time. That was a mistake, I think. The book is better served, and savoured, if the reader were to dip into it in no particular order. Each essay is so precisely contextualised by the immaculate ‘Introduction’ prefacing each entry and followed by ‘Further Reading and ‘Notes’ that even a casual reader can dip into this richly documented, beautifully translated volume of disparate writings and partake of the spirit behind it.
For the more serious reader/researcher, there is of course the scholarly introduction by Siobhan Lambert-Hurley and Daniel Majchrowicz who edited the book (along with Sunil Sharma). They write: “On the face of it, the premise of this volume is simple: a comparative study of travel narratives by Muslim women who travelled the world before the ‘jet age’ transformed modern mobility. Yet in our contemporary moment, the very juxtaposition of these terms — Muslim, women, travel mobility — instantly raises a number of questions.”
Colonialism, gender, travel, religion, money come together in unexpected ways throughout this book. What is more, these accounts by educated and “privileged” Muslim women also contain descriptions — sometimes empathetic, occasionally derisive — of other Muslim women they meet during their travels who are poor and disadvantaged and, being illiterate, could not have recorded their experiences or left written records of their lives. So, apart from records of the new and the unexpected, there are also observations about the different practices of child-rearing, food, cooking habits, dress, religious and social practices.
Multiple voices
These first-hand accounts, originally written in Urdu, Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Chaghtaai Turki, Punjabi, Bengali, Indonesian, German and English, span the 17th to 20th centuries thus presenting an array of experiences and impressions. Written variously as conventional travelogues (Halide Edib, Zainab Cobbold), excerpts from autobiographies (Salamah Bint Said/Emily Ruete, Huda Shaarawi), diary entries (Muhammadi Begum, Begum Hasrat Mohani), written for limited circulation as magazine articles (Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Shams Pahlavi), recorded for family and friends (Begum Sarbuland Jung, Ummat al-Ghani Nur al-Nisa), or with a pronounced political overtone (Suharti Suwarto, Melek Hanim) quite naturally, therefore, present different voices and concerns. Chatty, informal, informed when the writing is for herself or her family members; or formal, structured, detailed, sometimes even didactic when she knows what she is writing is meant for public consumption.
Travel as life
There are 45 accounts in all, grouped under four headings: Travel as Pilgrimage, Travel as Emancipation and Politics, Travel as Education, and Travel as Obligation and Pleasure. While large numbers of Indian women have written haj accounts, there is only one Indian in the second section, Shareefah Hamid Ali, who represented India at the United Nations and travelled by air. Several Indian Muslim women chose to travel for education, sometimes their own, or their husband’s or sons’. There is Mehr-al-Nisa from Hyderabad who joined her doctor husband in Ohio to train as an x-ray nurse, and Zaib-un-Nisa from Karachi writing an account of her 60 days in America as a member of the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Foreign Leader Exchange Programme where she crosses the breadth of the United States in a hired car with her husband.
Safia Jabir Ali, daughter of the esteemed Tyabji clan, married Jabir Ali who travelled extensively for business from their home in Burma to Europe.
Her memoir, written in Urdu, is brimful with an easy confidence: “I had to travel by myself from Bombay to Marseilles, and that was the first time I had occasion to depend entirely on myself and spend more than three weeks among entire strangers. However, as probably some of you know by experience, on board the steamer, one gets to know people very soon. I was lucky in being able to travel on the Loyalty, the steamer of an Indian company where there were a good many Indian passengers, and some of us soon became great friends.”
Connecting the dots
The last part, ‘Travel as Obligation and Pleasure’, has by far the most interesting experiences: Mughal Princess Jahanara’s mystical meeting in Kashmir; Salamah Bint Said, a princess of Zanzibar, who flees her home to unite with her German lover in Hamburg, converts to Christianity and takes the name Emily Ruete; and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s pleasure trip to the Himalayas, among others.
While most women travelled with a male (husband, father, son, brother), some travelled alone: “Safia Jabir Ali travelled alone from Bombay to meet her husband in post-First World War Britain, Sediqeh Dowlatabadi from Tehran in 1923 to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, Selma Ekram from ‘Stamboul’ to New York in 1924 on the promise of work, Muhammadi Begum with her infant child from Bonn to Oxford in the mid-1930s, and Herawati Diah en route to study at Barnard College in New York in 1937.”
Alone or chaperoned, veiled or unveiled, travelling for work or pleasure, these accounts by Muslim women bust every stereotype. In one voice, these women seem to be saying: “only connect”.
Rakhshanda Jalil is a translator and literary historian.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books / by Rakshanda Jalil / December 12th, 2024
I first met Asad Rahmani in the late 1990s, when he was the director of the prestigious BNHS (Bombay Natural History Society), and did a few conservation-linked stories after talking to him. But I had been hearing a lot about him before that from my friend Rajat Bhargava, who had been mentored by Rahmani at AMU (Aligarh Muslim University), and would sing his praises day in and out. Rahmani encouraged Rajat to do research on the Finn’s Baya and later on the Green Munia.
It was Rajat who alerted me about Dr Rahmani’s memoirs Living with Birds. I owe him thanks because it is a captivating read – not only is it a fascinating personal history of an unusual man and the milieu he grew up in, but also packs in so much about conservation, the importance of science, birds, their habitat and the challenges they faced. Through Rahmani’s birding trips, the reader also gets to armchair travel to a great many places from Kashmir to Lakshadweep.
In wildlife circles, Rahmani is synonymous with the endangered Great Indian Bustard, a bird for which he undertook a padayatra. His love for bustards even took him abroad to Morocco and later to Saudi Arabia, where as an expert he was called to see if he could be part of a team to find the Arabian bustard, which had been declared extinct in 1977.
Idyllic childhood
The early part of the book is devoted to his childhood, which sounds idyllic, growing up as he did in large homes in several UP towns ranging from Meerut, Rampur, Badaun, and Saharanpur as his father was a district judge.
His early days reminds you of Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals, what with six siblings, two German Shepherds, a mountain goat (the Himalayan goral), parakeet, fish, poultry, toads, larvae that turn into dragonflies, and many more. Rahmani had his nose buried in books or spent time observing the natural world and doing accidental experiments. For instance, he rescued a peahen’s eggs and placed them under a domestic hen and the confusion that ensued when the pea-chicks hatched and mama hen had a hard time is really funny.
From a young age Rahmani could stand up to authority, and make his own decisions — evident when he refused to accompany his family when they were invited to dinner at the Nawab of Rampur’s palace (his Left-leaning sensibility was offended), or when he stood his ground against his father who wanted him to study engineering and even wasted a year, before being allowed to take up biology, or the way he took on a warden at AMU for shooting a peacock. An atheist, he also went through a hippie phase (minus the drugs) when the movement was at its peak in India.
The conservation work
If the childhood chapters are fascinating the meat of the book – Rahmani’s conservation work on birds and their habitats – is pure gold. You get a ringside view of the discussions and exchanges between him and stalwarts like JC Daniels, Dr Salim Ali and many others. Rahmani is generous in the way he highlights the works of several conservationists, and also affectionately his students. Yes, Rajat figures and I chuckled to see Rahmani did not spare some of his exasperating habits. His admiration for Indira Gandhi also shines through as he highlights how no other PM was as concerned about wildlife as her.
You get a whole bunch of fascinating information on the Floricans (the Lesser and the Bengal), the swiftlet, the hornbill, etc. The chapter on the vulture crisis especially resonated with me as I remember the huge discussions when the raptors declined in Delhi and surrounding areas.
Parallely, you get a picture of the big events in India. The way Rahmani links the events, the fear of Skylab falling, the solar eclipse of 1980 when everyone fearfully stayed indoors while he himself went into the field to see how birds responded to the eclipse is compelling. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated, Rahmani and Salim Ali were in Nannaj, chasing the Great Indian Bustard where news reached them, and he describes the anguish that Salim Ali felt very movingly.
A word about the publishers is in order. This book is published jointly by Juggernaut and Indian Pitta, India’s first dedicated book imprint for bird and nature lovers and conservationists. The deft touch of Anita Mani, the founder of Indian Pitta is evident. While this book will enthral bird lovers, there is much in it to fascinate the general reader too.
Title: Living with Birds: The memoir of One of India’s Greatest Ornithologists / Author: Asad Rahmani / Publisher: Juggernaut/ Indian Pitta / Price: ₹599
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line, The Hindu / HOme> Books> Book Review / by Chitra Narayanan / December 01st, 2024
Syed Ubaidur Rahman, a Delhi based historian and author, has been single-handedly trying to resurrect Indian Muslim history over the past decade. He is a man with a mission, and that mission is to preserve the Indian Muslim history.
Over the past ten years, he has authored at least six books on medieval Indian history dealing with different aspects of the history. His books include, ‘Biographical Encyclopedia of Indian Muslim Freedom Fighters’, ‘Forgotten Muslim Empires of South India’, ‘Ulema’s Role in India’s Freedom Movement’ and his recently published book ‘Peaceful Expansion of Islam in India’. The latest book has become a talking point across India and beyond, as it debunks the fallacious notion of forced conversion of the local population to Islam. He proves, through meticulous research, that Islam came to South India, much before its arrival in the North and spread thanks to the efforts of Arab and Persian merchants besides Sufis who came in large number and settled throughout India.
Moin Qazi, while discussing the work of Syed Ubaidur Rahman, in his detailed essay in Transcend says, “A Muslim historian Syed Ubaidur Rhahman has brought a new secular perspective that presents the Muslim view boldly…He is the right person with the zeal and appetite to resurrect the vast culture of the South. His research will undoubtedly help in redefining the landscape of Muslim history. It is a tenacious task, but Ubaidur Rahman is a scholar of deep commitment to the cause”.
In order to create awareness about the Muslim history of India, Syed now offers at least three courses on different aspects of medieval and late medieval history of India, particularly the period dealing with the Muslim rule in Delhi and different parts of the country. His ‘3-month course on Indian Muslim History’ begins with the arrival of Islam and the conquest of Sind by Muhammad bin Qasim, followed by Mahmud of Ghazni and his conquests, Muhammad of Ghur and the establishment of Delhi Sultanate. It deals with different dynasties of the Delhi Sultanate and the spread of Islamic rule to South India during Alauddin Khalji and Muhammad bin Tughluq.
This course also covers Mughal rule as well as different Muslim ruling dynasties in Kashmir, Bengal, Malwa, Khandesh, Gujarat, Sharqis of Jaunpur, Bahmanis of Gulbarga/Bidar, the successor Deccani Sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur and Golconda as well as Nizam of Hyderabad and Mysore Sultanate of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. This course, that is covered in 24 sessions and conducted on Zoom, attracts participants from around the world.
He also runs another month long (8 session) course focusing on South Indian Muslim History. The history of South Indian Muslims has been completely ignored by both the historians and the Muslim community, notwithstanding the fact that in much of the Deccan and South India, Bahmani Sultanate ruled for close to two hundred years. The successor Deccani Muslim states ruled for another 200 years and Muslim dynasties, including Nizams, Nawabs of Carnatic, Mysore Sultans, continued to rule the region for a very long time.
Syed has just introduced another course that deals with India’s freedom movement and Muslim role. This course covers Muslims’ extremely important role in India’s first war of independence of 1857 against the British colonial rule. Muslims played leadership role in it. It will also cover Moplah Revolt, Reshmi Rumal Tehrik, Naval Mutiny of 1946 and also discuss thousands of Muslim prisoners who were imprisoned in the feared Cellular Jail of Andaman and Nicobar, remembered by most people as Kala Pani.
When asked as to why he has launched such courses, 48-year old Delhi based Syed says, “as history is being re-written in the country, and medieval history dealing with the Muslim period is being slowly erased from course books, it was imperative to teach our young generation about our history and heritage and our great past.
Thankfully, as opposed to people’s disheartening views, the courses have gone on to become a huge hit with people from around the country and beyond trying to enroll for the three courses, alhamdulillah. I am surprised as reputed scholars, professors, experts of Persian and even Chagatai languages enroll in our course from around the world. I am sure these courses and related efforts will prove help bring about long-term change”.
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(Syed Ubaidur Rahman can be reached at 91-9818327757. Email: syedurahman@gmail.com. He tweets at https://x.com/syedurahman)
source: http://www.muslimmirror.com / Muslim Mirror / Home> Indian Muslims> Interviews / by Special Correspondent / August 07th, 2024
