Tag Archives: Shakir Ali

Exhibition in Bhopal on life & work of freedom fighter Khan Shakir Ali Khan

Freedom Fighters (under research project), , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bhopal, MADHYA PRADESH :

Bhopal: 

On the occasion of International Day an exhibition on the life and works of Khan Shakir Ali Khan, the great freedom fighter of Bhopal popularly known as Sher-e-Bhopal, was inaugurated in the premises of the regional office of the National Archives of India here on Wednesday.

R. K. Shrivastava, the Administrative Officer Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangarahalaya, inaugurated the exhibition by cutting the traditional red-ribbon.

Shahnawaz Khan, nephew of late Shakir Ali, senior journalist Shailendra Shelly along with NAI’s Archivists V. K. Juneja, who is office in-charge NAI regional office, and Muzaffar-e-Islam were present on the occasion. The exhibition is divided into five phases with documents, letters, photographs etc.

Shrivastava speaking on the occasion said that late Shakir Sahab demanded respect from one and all alike for his selfless service towards society. He said Shakir Sahab was symbol of communal harmony as both Hindus and Muslims respected and loved him for his untiring efforts towards poor people especially the labour class.

Shahnawaz Khan revealed that the title of Sher-e-Bhopal was not granted to his uncle Shakir Ali by any government or Nawab of Bhopal but by the common man for his selfless efforts to better their lot.

He was a big hurdle for the communal forces who wanted to engineer Muslim-Hindu riots for their vested interests. When some people wanted to demolish a Jain Mandir in Chowk area of Bhopal he stood at the door of the temple saying demolition could only take place before his dead body and those who had converged for the job had to retreat.

He complimented National Archives for organising such an exhibition to honour the mass leader of his time. He said he was happy to hand over the documents and photographs of his uncle which has been put to very good use.

Shailendra Shelly while paying glowing tributes to the personality of Shakir Ali lamented that Bhopal Municipal Corporation which had announced an award in the name of the great leader about a decade back never implemented it. He said BMC could still honour implement its own announcement. The veteran leader was the voice of the labour class

Juneja conducted the proceedings while Muzaffar-e-Islam proposed vote of thanks. The week long exhibition will close down on May 24. It will remain daily open for public from 10.30 am to 5.30 am in NAI regional office near Polytechnic square.

Khan Shakir Ali Khan (1904-1978) is a person who was more famous by his title Sher-e-Bhopal than his name. He was really a leader of the masses. Throughout in his life he rendered his services to the people, the down-trodden and the poor. He was a true servant of the society. He served both the society and polity of Bhopal. During the time of Nawab, he organized the Labourers of mills and factories under different organizations and Unions and fought for their rights.

To raise their voice many organs and newspapers were published. The most famous was Subh-i-Watan. Unfortunately all such papers were banned. It was not possible for the Government of the day to tolerate such a selfless leader and leave him free to criticize the Government or to fight with the Government on petty issues of rights and liberty of the labourers or to represent such a section of society which has been kept deprived by the destiny himself. The Government thought it right to keep such a mass leader behind the bars most of the time. He was publicly humiliated and even handcuffed like an ordinary man or a thief. He was such a strong man that he did not stop his mission and day by day became stronger and stronger .

Khan Shakir Ali Khan was also a man behind the formation of Praja Mandal besides other at least 15 Unions of Mill and factory labourers. Shakir Ali Khan considered these Unions the real source of strength and inspiration. At one times he was alone on the question of merger of Bhopal with the Union Territory. It was his movement which compelled Nawab Hamidullah Khan, the last ruler of Bhopal state, to hold meetings with the Central Leaders and conclude terms for the merger of Bhopal with the Union Territory. First it was an interim arrangement under which the erstwhile Bhopal state was considered as Part C State for five years and finally it became part of Madhya Pradesh. He is also remembered for his leading role in making Bhopal, the capital of M.P. State. How was he popular that can be judged as he remained a member of Legislative Assembly for consecutive four terms.

On the occasion of International Museum Day, the National Archives of India remembered this great leader by exhibiting his photographs, letters and his own writings.

(pervezbari@eth.net)

source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> Life & Style / by Pervez Bari /May 20th, 2011

Kolkata Mosque serves humanity, offers free dinners to the hungry

Community Involvement / Social Issues, COVID 19 - Community of Soldiers, FREE : Food, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Kobi Bagan Mosque with the support of Roti Bank has been offering free meals and ration kits to the poor for seven years in a row.

Volunteers of Roti Bank distribute dinners to the needy (file pictures) | Pictures: Arranged

Kolkata:

At a time when mosques across India are being targeted, a mosque in Central Kolkata has chosen to open its door to the hungry, irrespective of one’s faith. Like the langars of Gurudwaras, Kobi Bagan Masjid, Park Circus not has been providing free dinner to the poor but also ration kits for the last seven years.

What began as an experimental Roti Bank way back in 2016 went on to become a centre, which helps the poor and destitute in several ways. It also provided meals and rations during the pandemic and Amphan cyclone in West Bengal.

The initiative is the collaboration between Kobi Bagan Masjid and Living Humanity, a non-government organization (NGO). The mosque located near Aliah University, Beniapukur has offered Living Humanity its premise to provide dinner for the destitute. They now have more than fifty people including non-Muslims among regular beneficiaries.

The idea, a brain-child of Faiz Anwar, a Chartered Accountant and Rashid Jameel, a Software Engineer began running a roti bank, in the hope of ensuring that none in the area go to sleep with an empty stomach.

“Inspired by someone in Aurangabad running a roti bank, I along with a few like-minded friends thought of starting it in Kolkata, So, we began it outside my residence, after taking permission from the police,” Faiz Anwar of Living Humanity told eNewsroom,

However, this was just the beginning of something big. “As numbers grow, we need a bigger space. So we talked to the masjid management, who happily agreed. And, when we interacted with the beneficiaries, it made us realise that providing roti won’t solve the problem. So, we thought of providing free meals and then even went on to provide free rations. Just like, during Ramazan we provide ration kits. We also give monthly ration kits to those who have a family,” recounts Anwar, a chartered accountant by profession and a philanthropist by passion.

CA Faiz Anwar (blue t-shirt) with his team distribute clothes to the beneficiaries | Pictures: Facebook/Roti Bank

On being asked about the poster put up on the walls of Kobi Bagan Mosque that talks about free meals being provided from the premises of the mosque and how they got into a working collaboration with the mosque, he elaborated, “I believe that places like mosques need to be more socially active. It has a role to play in society. We, with this belief, approached the working committee of the mosque with a proposal of using a portion of the mosque premise to distribute meals and ration to those in need.”

Confirming the same was Shakir Ali, a member of the working committee of the mosque, “Yes, we are in an association with Living Humanity, provide the meal and ration which get distributed from our premises.”

However, during the pandemic, when we were confined to our homes, mosques were shut, and then Living Humanity reached out to the areas outside Kolkata that needed help during the lockdown. “Working in close association with Helping Hand we reached out to the pandemic as well as Amphan cyclone-affected people. We worked in Nandigram, Canning Ghutari and Mazdurpara during the pandemic, reaching out to around 5000 families during this time.”

Living Humanity and Helping Hand, founded by Miran Ahmed have done several projects jointly.

“A major work that we did during the pandemic was distribution of free oxygen cylinders. It still runs today from the premises of another mosque Tanti Bagh Ahle-Hadith masjid. There were at least 1000 patients who benefited from the cylinders we had distributed,” said the CA.

After the restrictions were over, they began functioning like earlier, from the Kobi Bagan Mosque.

To avail the free meal or ration, one need not be a Muslim by faith, the food or items are distributed to those in need irrespective of their religious beliefs.

“Some of our beneficiaries are non-Muslims. The idea is to help those in need,” said Anwar.

So, how does it work?

Can anyone take the benefit or do they have a roster?

“Initially, it was a first-come, first-serve policy that we followed. However, we began to notice that we were having follow-up visits by many. So, we began interacting with them and now we have a roster. We hand out coupons to regular visitors. The ration is provided to those, who have more than two family members queuing up for meals. Dinner is available for any single person coming to the mosque in search of food around 9 pm,” said Jameel, the co-founder of Living Humanity.

Talking about the future plans, Anwar added, “We plan to do a lot more social upliftment work through Kolkata Masajid Association. We will try to reach out to a larger section of the society, who are sleeping empty stomach.”

source: http://www.enewsroom.in / eNewsRoomIndia / Home> Bengal> Inclusive India / by Staff Reporter / April 16th, 2023