The World of Urdu

Nazli Raffiya Begum's fight for her title

2013-03-03T18:35:00.001Z

Many interesting personalities emerge from the subcontinent’s colonial history and several of them happen to be women. One such was Nazli Raffiya Begum (1874-1968), princess and sister of celebrated litterateur Atiya Fyzee. Here was a woman who hobnobbed with the crème da le crème of society, threw magnificent parties and lived in an exquisite house identified as a cultural hotspot in the Bombay of yore. Yet she had one unfulfilled desire. More than two decades of her life were spent in petitioning the authorities to be allowed the use of the honorific “ex-Begum of Janjira”.

This event has not been covered much perhaps due to the fact that the Fyzee sisters migrated to Pakistan and Atiya has garnered more attention due to her literary skills and outspokenness. Nazli’s story is symbolic of the difficult path women face against wealthy and well-connected in-laws in matters of marital dispute.

From the 1920s to late 40s Nazli Begum fought to correct the 'injustice' meted out to her. She was married to the Nawab of Janjira, a small princely state near Mumbai while she was only 15 years old in 1887. Nazli marshalled arguments, letters and support from people as varied as Mohammad Iqbal to Cornelia Sorabjee to Sir Sultan Ahmed but to no avail.

One of the points on which Nazli Begum advocated that she be allowed to use the honorific was her claim that the deed of divorce (by her husband Nawab of Janjira) should have been done as per the Shia laws (which she followed) and not Sunni laws which was adhered to by the Nawab of Janjira. Supporting her was Mohammad Iqbal who wrote a letter to the British authorities explaining the injustice done to her.

The Nawab had passed away in 1922 and even during his lifetime questions arose regarding the entitlements and allowances to Nazli Begum as she was staying in Bombay. The argument put forward by the State of Janjira was that the Nawab had divorced her and hence the state had no obligation or responsibility towards her maintenance.

However, it was precisely the issue of divorce that lay at the heart of the dispute. Nazli Begum maintained that she was only told about the divorce after the Nawab had died and when she raised the question of the guards deployed at her place being not paid their due salaries. According to her, the divorce deed was never served to her.

Besides, her argument was that the divorce should have happened following the rules and laws of the sect she belonged to (Shia) and not Sunni sect followed by the Nawab. After almost 25 years of marriage they had no children. The Nawab of Janjira married another lady in 1913 with the consent of Nazli Begum and a son was born on March 6, 1914. She then moved to Bombay 'with the approval and indeed at the request' of Nawab of Janjira.

However, it seems after she left Janjira problems arose regarding the state jewellery and her allowance. On May 23, 1914 a meeting was held at Government House, Mahabaleshwar in the presence of Lady and Lord Willingdon, the Governor of Bombay. It was agreed that guards 'suitable to her rank' will be provided at the state expense and Nazli Begum will take permanent residence in Bombay even though she desired to live in the palace at Janjira.

On April 1, 1915 another agreement was drawn whereby Nazli Begum would relinquish the monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 and return the state jewellery. She would continue to keep the guards at state expense. In July 1926, she wrote to the British authorities complaining about the stoppage of payment for the guards deployed at her residence. The British government informed her that she will have to first take the matter to the courts.

Nazli Begum approached the court of Sar Nyayadish at Murud Janjira which was when she came to know that the Nawab had divorced her and hence there was no question of providing her with any maintenance. On Dec 17, 1930 her suit was dismissed and the court upheld the divorce and agreed that the validity of divorce must be determined by the law followed by the husband.

Nazli Begum appealed against the decision at the Sadar court in Janjira which was normally presided by the Regent assisted by the Dewan. As the state of Janjira was a party to the case, a judge from the provincial state service of Bombay Presidency heard the case. On June 30, 1931, the Sadar court gave a judgment favourable to the Janjira state.

Matters relating to the princely states were directly looked by the Crown. It was expected that by April 1933 the Bombay Presidency States would come under the Viceroy.

Accordingly, Mohammad Iqbal wrote a letter dated 17 April, 1933 to Eric Mieville, private secretary to Lord Willingdon who was the Viceroy. Iqbal’s letter which also summarised the case shows that he was aware of the minutest detail. This was perhaps due to the fact that he was a close friend of Nazli Begum’s sister Atiya.

Iqbal wrote: “A Muslim woman belonging to a particular sect of Islam does not, by the mere fact of marriage, become subject to the law of her husband’s sect if he happens to belong to another sect.” Iqbal raised the point that the deed of divorce was ‘invalid according to the Shia School of Mohammadan Law which must apply to the present case’.

Iqbal did not restrict himself to the religious points. He also dwelt upon the role of the Janjira state to make a strong case for Nazli Begum. “They (Janjira state) cleverly managed to get possession of the jewellery in the possession of the Begum, and further got her to relinquish her right to the maintenance allowance, leaving her only the guard of honour. It seems a part of their premeditated plan to hurl at her face an illegal document in case she insisted on her claim to the guard of honour… The pitiless injustice of the whole plan is quite clear, and since the question now to be settled is practically one of dignity only and not one of inheritance-dignity of an innocent lady of a respectable family whose only fault was that she did not become the mother of an heir to the state…” The poet-philosopher also offered to personally meet the Viceroy in case he needed more details.

While Iqbal’s detailed letter would do a lot of good in current intolerant times for its catholicity, some experts have pointed to the absence of any support from members of the Tyabji and Fyzee clan, some of whom were learned and well versed in religious laws. Did they think Nazli’s case lacked merit? For example, it is not clear under which law or school of thought was the Nikah solemnised. It must be also noted that the eldest sister Zehra, who died in 1940, was married to a cousin which ended in a divorce. Did this affect their relationship with the extended family members?

Iqbal’s letter shows that till that time Nazli Begum was fighting to get the Janjira state pay for the guards at her residence. Subsequent records reveal that she wanted to be at least allowed to use ‘ex-Begum of Janjira’ to her name.

Both the sisters continued to write to exert pressure on the Janjira state. One such letter made the authorities write to the Kolhapur British Resident who also had Janjira under his jurisdiction. Janjira was adamant on not allowing Nazli to have any connection with the deceased Nawab or the state. According to them she had used indecent language for the Nawab and had heavily drained the state’s resources. They also wrote that she was free to remarry and any consideration of her request would result in severe opposition from the people of Janjira.

Critics say that the sisters were ambitious and spendthrift needing the state of Janjira to finance their high lifestyle. This is a point of contention and only a deep and perceptive study would help establish the reasons. One letter written by the artist and Atiya’s husband Samuel Rahman Fyzee gives some clue behind Nazli’s persistence. While in England he wrote to the Secretary of State making a case for Nazli to be allowed to use the title as a moral relief to her so that she gets some satisfaction.

In between her foreign journeys and fight with the Janjira state Nazli Begum had also interested herself for the collection of money under the Tilak Swaraj Fund. Though it is not clear, some reports suggest that she had given up foreign cloth opting for the Indian khaddar on Gandhi’s request.

Aiwan-i-Riffat which the sisters had so lovingly built was a landmark. Khwaja Ahmed Abbas has recorded that he attended a party at Aiwan-i-Riffat where George Bernard Shaw had also come. In the mid 40s they sold it and shifted to a rented accommodation in Malabar Hill.

After Partition they went to Karachi where they were allotted land and named their house Aiwan-i-Riffat. Unfortunately, they had to vacate the bungalow after some years due to problems regarding the ownership of the land.

It is said that Jinnah personally invited Atiya and her husband to Pakistan and hence they went to Karchi. However, Naved Masood the current corporate affairs secretary, in an earlier conversation with this writer mentioned his meeting with senior Supreme Court advocate late Danial Latifi. Latifi told Naved saab, that the Fyzee sisters were advised against going to Pakistan by the extended Tyabji family including Badruddin Tyabji, ICS who remained in India.

Latifi who died in June 2000 did not indicate that the migration had anything to do with Jinnah. The Latifis are related to Tyabjis and also knew Jinnah fairly well and hence Danial Latifi’s observation has some weightage.

Even as late as 1945, Nazli Begum sought an appointment with the Viceroy, to discuss her matter. She was not granted an audience. Could the denial of the use of ‘ex-Begum of Janjira’ to Nazli a factor behind their migration to Pakistan?

WFS - An edited version was published in The Statesman and Free Press Journal

Yusuf Meherally, for whom Bombay stood still

2012-12-22T22:53:00.000Z

On 3 July, 1950 bus and tram services in what was then Bombay stopped for few minutes as the clock struck noon. The city was in a state of shock. The city that never stopped, stood still. Several educational institutes, factories and mills remained shut. One of the most potent symbols of the city's financial strength, Bombay Stock Exchange, though officially opened, witnessed no trading. It was a collective mourning and significantly bereft of any fear or force.

A day earlier, Yusuf Meherally, a selfless leader of the masses had passed away. The man who had coined two of the most popular slogans associated with the freedom struggle 'Simon Go Back' and 'Quit India' had roused the same passion in his death as his slogans. Years of struggle had taken its toll and a heart ailment that had struck him while in prison for the 1942 Quit India agitation had rendered him weak, though only physically and not in spirit. Just few days after his death, he was supposed to chair a meeting in Madras. Meherally was only 47 when he died.

Born in a prosperous family in Bombay on 3 September, 1903, his father Jaffer Meherally and his family were pro-British and the young Yusuf was looked upon as a renegade. He studied at Bharda High School and took interest in extra-curriculum activities. A firm believer in the power of youth, he was the main architect of the Bombay Youth League formed in 1928. In February 1928, the Youth League put up an admirably strong opposition in the wake of unprecedented lathi charge while opposing the Simon Commission. Meherally's slogan 'Simon Go Back' was on the lips of every nationalist in the city and country.

Meherally believed in universal brotherhood cutting across race and nationalities. He belonged to that rare breed of leaders for whom personal gratification meant the well-being of fellow countrymen.

At 4 pm on July 3, his coffin draped in the Tiranga started the last journey from Congress House to the Dongri Kabrastan. The four-mile journey was a spectacle but without the key ingredients that have now come to be associated and identified as a barometer of love, popularity, respect and reverence. No live coverage, studio discussions, or array of platitudes thrown across by anybody who was somebody.

It only had mourners in dignified silence and utmost respect, united in grief and a collective sense of irreplaceable loss. Beedi workers in faraway Thallessery in Kerala sported black badges and observed a hartal for their beloved leader.

Active in the Congress, Meherally was among the key individuals who established and strengthened the Congress Socialist Party along with Jayaprakash Narayan, Achyut Patwardhan and Minoo Masani. This satiated his appetite for putting a forceful opposition to the British rule and at the same time working to address the needs and concerns of the working class.

He was a legendary figure for the hawkers, small-time traders, and clerical staff who toiled in commercial firms. He founded the Gumastha Mandal which fought for the rights of the working class. But this was not what his family wanted.

Meherally did a BA in History and Economics from Elphinstone College. With the legal luminary H M Seervai and several other friends, Meherally did a penetrating study on the issue of university reforms. Speaking to students they covered a vast array of issues and came up with recommendations. Active in drama and debates, Meherally made the most of the extra-curriculum activities that Elphinstone College offered and was famous for. It was perhaps at Elphinstone College that he mastered the art of writing witty slogans and attractive posters – a quality he deployed to the maximum opposing the British rule. He then studied for a law degree at Government Law College.

According to Madhu Dandavate, his biographer, the days when Meherally received his Bachelor degrees turned out to be of national significance. He received his BA in History and Economics on 8^th Aug, 1925 – the same day in 1942 when the Quit India resolution was passed - and Bachelors in Law on 26^th January 1929 – the day that is now marked as Republic Day.

Armed with two degrees, Meherally plunged into the freedom movement to the much consternation of his family members. His father had spoken to Mohammed Ali Jinnah to ensure his son’s law career treaded the right path. Meherally had different plans and perhaps the heavens too willed his way. Despite being a qualified lawyer, the High Court, just months after he received his law degree, refused to allow him to practise. This again was a rarity as several leaders were qualified lawyers but none was barred from appearing in courts.

Meherally was a magnet for the city’s and country’s youth. He was a hero for a whole generation of educated, and well-meaning men and women. Much of the people he inspired, nurtured and worked with would graduate to become professors, scholars and social workers. They looked up to him in awe and reverence due to his organisational abilities and clarity of ideas. As Aloo Dastur, former head of the department of Civics and Politics, Bombay University described him '24 carat gold and the likes of him are very difficult to meet these days'.

In 1938 he led the Indian delegation to the World Youth Congress in New York and also attended the World Cultural Conference in Mexico. Inspired by the vast literature on contemporary issues available in the West he decided to to plug the gap in India. Taking the lead, he authored 'Leaders of India' which ran into several editions. It was translated in Gujarati, Urdu and Hindi. It would be illustrative to share some excerpts from the Foreword he wrote:

“The rise of the pamphlet and the booklet as a powerful weapon for the spread of ideas has been truly remarkable. During my visits to these continents (US and Europe) I was greatly impressed by the part that such brochures play in moulding public opinion. In Europe and America there exists a wealth of topical literature that is in striking contrast to its scantiness in India. The Current Topics Series of Padma Publications is an attempt to meet this need. The idea is to publish every few months a booklet on a subject of topical or special interest having regard to present-day controversies and their bearing on the future. The series will not be restricted to political questions only. Every title will be published in a pleasing format, at a price within the reach of all.”

In 1942 when his name was nominated for the election to Bombay Mayoralty, he was lodged in Lahore jail. Vallabhbhai Patel was keen that Meherally stands for the election though a section of the Congress leadership was not in his favour. He was released from prison to take part in the elections and won comfortably becoming the youngest Mayor in the corporation’s history.

Meherally had a fine taste for art and culture reflecting his aristocratic upbringing and genuine love for India's diversity and rich heritage. In October 1949, he organised an exhibition of pictures and paintings tracing India’s freedom struggle beginning from 1857 in Bangalore. It had more than 200 pictures and was a much talked about event. It is said that he planned and designed a catalogue of another exhibition from his hospital bed. At Chetana, situated at Mumbai’s famed Kala Ghoda, Meherally organised an art and cultural event inviting personalities like Ustad Allauddin Khan and others.

Meherally’s motto was ‘Live Dangerously’ which he normally shared with friends and colleagues. On the morning of 17 December 1940 when the Britishers arrested him, the cotton markets, bullion exchange, stock market did ‘not transact any business’. It might be inferred that they must have remained close, but they were not. They were open for business, but chose not to do any!

For Meherally ‘Live Dangerously’ meant working to ensure a safe, secure, prosperous and healthy life for fellow citizens putting his own life at risk.

Mushaira in the countryside with IPS as chief guest

2012-11-01T17:33:00.001Z

Just when you would think that a Mushaira would not attract a lot of viewers I found out that thousands of people thronged to attend one in village Usia in UP's Ghazipur district. The gathering had around 20 poets who kept the audience awake and busy till early morning the next day.

An October evening when it's not that chilly makes for an ideal function like a Mushaira. Grandly titled 'All India Mushaira' the chief guest was M W Ansari, IPS who is ADG in Chhattisgarh police. The Zamania Circle Officer Kamal Kishore was also among the reciters.

According to a local report, chief guest Ansari said: "Both Hindi and Urdu are my language, but justice has not been done with Urdu. Both the languages must be supported and encouraged."

The Mushaira was dedicated to late Haroon Rashid, who was the editor of Urdu daily Inquilab and was born in Usia. The posters proclaimed - 'Ek Shaam Haroon Rashid Ke Naam'.

Some memorable lines

"Insaniyat ka jazba dikhane lage hai log, bhookh se gash khakar girne waalo ko mirgi batakar joota soonghaane lage hai log"

"Yeh mat samajhna ki tumse woh pyaar karte hain, haseen log hain aksar shikaar karte hain"

Babur Ki Aulad in London

2012-10-20T18:22:00.000+01:00

I had always wanted to watch Babur Ki Aulad. So, when a mail arrived from The Nehru Centre, London informing that Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan will play host (Oct 10, 2012) I marked it on my calendar. As the name suggests it provides a glimpse into the lives of Mughal emperors.

The narrative revolves around the imprisoned last Mughal king Bahadur Shah Zafar and his interaction with a history scholar from the current time who gets transported back to Zafar's cell in Rangoon. The sad, lonely and forlorn emperor gets candid talking about his ancestors, correcting the youngster's Urdu in between.

In a moment of heat, Zafar reminds his 'friend' that while a father's blood can be disputed there can be no ambiguity regarding the mother's identity. This was in response to questions about the Indianness of the Mughals. Bahadur Shah Zafar's mother was a Hindu. Without doubt, Tom Alter excelled in his role as the weak and ailing Zafar. His voice had the depth and pain of an exiled king who was only too eager to share slice of Mughal history.

It starts from Babur and reflects upon the emotional struggle he faced between choosing to live in India or returning to Afghanistan. The king who loved a good glass, established the Mughal kingdom, but longed for Kabul. Babur's dialogues reminded me of Baburnama that I read couple of years ago. The frailties and courage of a king really strikes you. Sayeed Alam the director of the play played the role of Babur with finesse. "It was after defeating Ibrahim Lodhi and not Rana Sanga that the Mughal found their foot in India," informs Zafar to his wide eyed friend.

The play brings out the power struggle for the Mughal throne between heirs down the generation. Most of the emperors witnessed ugly power struggles with the accompanying palace intrigue and battles between brothers. Akbar's confrontation with Bairam Khan, Nur Jahan's wish to see Prince Shahryar on the throne instead of Prince Khurram (Shahjahan) who himself saw enough misery in his last days were well captured.

When Aurangzeb appeared on stage the youngster remarked that he doesn't look like even Aurangzeb's servant. The king who imposed jaziya and expanded Mughal rule lived on earnings made by copying the Quran and stitching caps. Right from Babur, Humayun to the 'benovelent' Akbar, the 'womaniser' Jehangir, the 'magnificent' Shah Jahan, the 'mighty' Aurangzeb to Bahadur Shah Zafar - none of them went for Haj - despite their wealth and power and capability.

The last Nizam, touted as the richest man of his time, did not go to Haj even though he made arrangements for pilgrims in Mecca at his expense Faith aside, being in constant command was perhaps a prerequisite to safeguard the kingdom and maintain ones hold. A trip to Mecca meant being away from the throne for few months, at a time when a few days would turn the tide. However, they never shied away from sending unwanted and troublesome relatives, generals to Haj to have their paths clear.

The title Babur Ki Aulad is apt as the play is indeed about the sons of Babur. It does touch upon the attempt to use Babur Ki Aulad to label a community as alien to India. As the narrative flows it reveals why the Mughals acted the way they did. Some of the more popular Mughals were born of Hindu mother - Akbar, Jehangir, Shah Jahan Bahadur Shah Zafar.

It is an irony that the principal language used in Babur's time disappeared from the Mughal court quite soon. Chaghatay, the language in which Babur wrote his Baburnama, which was his first language gave way to Persian. While Akbar could converse in it, his son Jehangir could only understand it. Babur's alienation had started much earlier.

The play originally written by Salman Khurshid in English was translated in Urdu by Ather Farouqui. "We thought it fit that the play be in Urdu in London and for the English version you have to come down to India," Khurshid said. Also present was the Indian High Commissioner to UK Dr Jaimini Bhagwati with his wife.

When the play ended it was a relief to see Tom Alter stand erect. During the whole play all he had was a bed, one-fourth his size, which made me sitting in the audience constantly uncomfortable. Tom was not very happy with the cameras flashing all along during the performance and spelled out his displeasure.

"Hindustan mein inse zyaada gora aur inse achhi Urdu bolne waala koi nahin hain," said Sayeed Alam at the end.

Fathema Ismail: Mumbai's millionaire polio activist

2012-10-09T15:34:00.000+01:00

In 2011, India declared itself polio-free. It had taken decades of government and civil society intervention to achieve this result in a country where an attack of polio, and the physical disability it caused, was traditionally regarded as punishment for past sins.

One of the early pioneers of polio activism in India was Fathema Ismail, who was born in 1903. Ismail was the sister of the flamboyant mill owner, Umar Sobhani, an ardent Congress party activist who was very close to M.K. Gandhi and who, in fact, supported the party financially in a major way. Given her brother’s proximity to nationalist leaders, Ismail was naturally also drawn to issues of social emancipation.

In 1936, she had served as the Secretary of the Simla branch of the All India Women’s Conference. Her Nepean Sea Road residence in Bombay (now Mumbai), where she lived after marriage, was a meeting ground for members of the party. She was known to have hidden Jayaprakash Narayan, then a young freedom fighter, under her bed to escape getting arrested by the police! She was also actively involved in women’s education and was a founder member of All India Village Industries Association.

Her life, however, took a different turn when in the 1940s her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter was diagnosed with poliomyelitis. The shocked mother realised there was very little that could be done, but driven by her personal anguish, she travelled the length and breath of the country to ensure that her daughter got the best medical attention available at that time. More than her daughter’s condition, it was the attitude of the medical community and lack of proper treatment for polio patients that disturbed her.

Finally, Ismail was referred to Dr M.G. Kini, a renowned orthopaedic surgeon based in Madras (now Chennai). For around eight months, her daughter underwent treatment at Stanley Medical Hospital under the supervision of Dr Kini and all the while she herself made sure to imbibe the basic principles that underlay the rehabilitation of the polio stricken.

From Madras, she went to Pune next, since it offered her daughter more salubrious weather conditions than those that prevailed in Bombay. Here Ismail regularly visited the Army Rehabilitation Centre, which took care of injured soldiers and officers, to observe for herself the methods employed there.

After around three years of such work, she decided to put her experience to good use by assisting parents struggling to get their disabled children treated. She single-handedly networked with the medical community to achieve this and her first step was to collaborate with Bombay’s leading doctors to start a rehabilitation centre.

By May 1947, even as the country was on the threshold of independence, the Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Centre for Infantile Paralysis had taken shape. But it did not have premises from which to operate. The space crunch was eventually resolved after Dr A.V. Baliga, a surgeon and educationist, offered his clinic to Ismail since he himself was going to the US on a six-month tour. Thanks to Dr Baliga's generosity the Centre could start functioning and patients began to trickle in as word spread. By July 1948, the Centre had a waiting list of more than a hundred patients with around 80 children under treatment.

Once the Centre was up and running, Ismail began to work towards the creation of supportive organisations like the Society for the Education of the Crippled (SEC), the Fellowship of the Physically Handicapped, and the Children's Orthopaedic Hospital, all of which continue to be around today.

Ismail was a true visionary who understood how difficult it was for differently-abled children to get access to educational and recreational facilities and she worked hard to address this concern.

Veteran journalist, M.V. Kamath, who was then a reporter with ‘The Free Press Journal’, did a story on her, naming her India’s Sister Elizabeth Kenny. Kenny, incidentally, was a remarkable Australian nurse who had evolved rehabilitation techniques for polio patients. Such media coverage made Ismail’s work better known among those who really needed such support and with this the number of patients who sought medical assistance increased dramatically. People began to realise that children with disabilities had as much right to a future as any other child.

With the phenomenal increase in the number of patients, Ismail decided to expand the movement. Since the rich and educated could seek assistance from economically prosperous countries, she decided to focus on the less privileged. They clearly needed help and information.

In September 1947, just after the country had gained independence, Ismail - ably supported and guided by the socially conscious doctors and surgeons – established the ‘Society for the Rehabilitation of Disabled and Crippled Children’. As Ismail put it herself, it was to “organise diagnostic and treatment facilities and to educate the public on the problem as well as to collect statistics”. The government could now no longer overlook her pioneering efforts in the area, and released a grant to ensure that the good work being done could continue.

In 1951, she represented India at the Second International Polio Poliomyelitis Congress. She also visited several countries to gain first-hand experience on the different ways to support and help polio survivors. She was awarded the Padma Shri in 1958 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1978. The pioneering activist passed away on February 4, 1987.

Piecing together the shards of Fathema Ismail’s remarkable life is not easy given the sparse information available. For instance, the question arises as to what happened to her daughter whose treatment had led to the determined mother emerging as a disability activist. Again Kamath provides some clues. In the 1970s, he was introduced to a certain Miss Ismail at a party in New York. As he notes in his book, ‘Reporter at Large’, she turned out to be the daughter of Fathema Ismail and bore no visible trace of any disability. She was married and had children.

But it was not just her own daughter to whom Ismail had reached out - she had helped innumerable children stand on their own feet and enjoy lives on their own terms. Today, she continues to do this through the institutions she built and nurtured.

—(Women's Feature Service, Published in Kashmir Times)

Kamila Tyabji: Passion WIT charisma

2012-09-02T18:34:00.000+01:00

In the late 1940s, an Indian woman was making her mark in the courtrooms of London. Kamila Tyabji's Oxford education and crisp saris sought to break the stereotype of Indian women. She was also the first woman to practice in the Privy Council Chamber. However, years of staying in England did not make her lose her affinity to India, where she returned to start the Women's India Trust (WIT) in 1968, leaving behind a successful career in law.

Born on February 14, 1918, Tyabji studied at St Xavier's College, Mumbai, after which she joined St Hugh's College at Oxford to study law. She was granddaughter of Congressman Badruddin Tyabji, who had famously granted bail to Lokmanya Tilak in 1897. Her father, Faiz Tyabji, was a distinguished lawyer and social reformer and made available for his children the best education possible.

Tyabji took forward her family's tradition of strong and independent women when she did not yield to her parents' wish of having her come back to Mumbai after finishing her studies. Instead, she built a successful practice in London, excelling in insurance cases. Her sojourns to court became the talk of the town and she was credited with having introduced 'brilliant silken saris to the somber monotony of London's law courts'.

What finally prompted her to quit her charmed social circle of London and come back to India was the famine that hit Bihar in the early 1960s. She decided to join Jayaprakash Narayan and work for grassroots women.

After studying the law, politics could definitely have been her calling. After all, Tyabji had sailed on the same ship as Indira Gandhi for Oxford, and she had a family background in politics – even her mother, Salima was a member of the Bombay Legislative Assembly in 1937. Yet, she consciously chose to stay away from that arena.

Social activism is how she chose to make a difference. And it is as the founder of the Women's India Trust (WIT) that she is best remembered. With a capital of Rs 10,000 she started WIT, an organisation that did pioneering work from Panvel, a few kilometers away from Mumbai. It began by training marginalised and unskilled women to stitch sari petticoats. The idea was to make them economically independent.

Today it also runs a nursing home, kindergarten teachers' training classes and other vocational skill enhancing programmes.

Tyabji's formal training in law meant she also kept up with the burning social issues of her times. The Shah Bano case and the Uniform Civil Code also kept her busy and she did not feel shy about voicing her opinion and concerns.

So close was she to the subject of women's empowerment that she was chosen to represent India at the United Nations on the status of women. But, for her, these foreign trips were also about scouting for potential markets and consumers for WIT products. In fact, it was her dedication and enthusiasm that propelled WIT products towards foreign markets.

Today, WIT continues to grow and in its quest to help as many less privileged and unskilled women as possible, it has broadened its activities. Apart from the food processing units, there are departments dedicated to tailoring, screen printing, toy making, and block printing. Keeping in mind the lack of formal education, many girls and women are given professional training so that they can become financially independent in time.

A whole range of products, from chutneys, jams, marmalades and fresh fruit squashes to greeting cards, gift envelopes, home linen, paper products, toys, mobile covers and wallets are made by these women and exported to countries such as Spain, Germany, the UK and Australia. WIT's cloth and slipper bags are also used by top hotels across India.

Tyabji passed away on May 17, 2004, but just as her saris had made heads turn in London, WIT products, in their own way, have also carved a niche in today's competitive market.

(This article was originally done for Women's Feature Service and published in The Hindu)

Nazir Hussain: From INA to Bollywood

2012-05-14T13:19:00.000+01:00

Nazir Hussain, the famous character artist was born on May 15, 1922 in the village of Usia in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district. Hussain, now long forgotten, acted in more than 400 movies and is considered as the Pitamah of Bhojpuri cinema. Much before it became fashionable and productive, Hussain was instrumental in the making of first Bhojpuri film 'Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo' produced by B P Shahabadi. The success of Bhojpuri films in the last few years led to talks of his contribution to Bhojpuri cinema. However, not many know that he was in Subash Chandra Bose's Indian National Army (INA), which became the reason for his entry into Bollywood.

Nazir Hussain's father Shahabzad Khan was a guard in the Railways and Hussain grew up in Lucknow. He worked in the British army for a short time but came under the influence of Subhas Chandra Bose and joined the Indian National Army (INA). I asked scholar Sugata Bose about Nazir Hussain and he replied: "Yes, Nazir Hussain was in the INA. He joined with Bimal Roy to make the film 'Pahela Aadmi' based on the INA experience." I have not been able to find out his exact role but he seems to have faced imprisonment and was released after Independence. He was accorded the status of freedom fighter and was given free railway pass for life.

In those days Bimal Roy was planning a film on Bose and the INA. To give it an authentic touch he was scouting for INA members to help him. Nazir Hussain's personality and impressive voice perhaps helped Bimal Roy to notice him. However, Hussain was reluctant to work in films as he had no such background. After much persuasion and cajoling from friends and colleagues he relented. 'Pehla Aadmi' released in 1950 launched him to stardom and he became a permanent fixture in Bimal Roy's movies.

He excelled as a character artist and starred in several blockbuster movies. He became famous for his emotional scenes and is best remembered for his roles in Amar Akbar Anthony, Charas, Jewel Thief, Parakh, Devdas, Leader, Ram Aur Shyam, Kashmir Ki Kali and many others. While Hussain was busy in the Bombay film industry a meeting with President Rajendra Prasad changed the course of his life. At an awards function, Hussain was introduced to Prasad and after knowing that he hailed from Ghazipur started speaking in Bhojpuri.

Prasad told Hussain to consider making Bhojpuri films which resulted in the super hit 'Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo'. Hussain wrote the script for the movie that became a raging hit. The songs were super hit and Hussain himself went on to produce and direct several Bhojpuri films in the 60s and 70s. One of his films Balam Pardesia is considered a landmark in the Bhojpuri film industry. Unlike the Bhojpuri films of today, the films made by Nazir Hussain (and others) revolved around social issues. They tackled the problems of dowry and landless farmers, highlighting the wickedness of cruel zamindars and capitalists.

My personal favourite is his role as a rickshaw puller who trains Balraj Sahni in Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zameen. Despite his broad shoulders and good physique, he excelled in roles as heroine's father or poor, helpless farmer/worker. Any film he starred had to have a crying scene. No doubt he was dubbed 'Aansuon Ka Kanastar' in the film industry. In real life too he was an emotional person. He used to don silky suits and Indian clothes with equal elan in movies. However, whenever he used to visit his native village he prefered dhoti-kurta. People would come from far-off places in huge numbers to see and meet him at his small village in Ghazipur.

Hussain shot several of his films at his ancestral village and put Ghazipur on the film industry map. After Nazir Hussain, Ghazipur gave several film personalities like Rahi Masoom Raza, Anjan Shrivastava and Yunus Parvez. The veteran actress Leela Mishra too was from Ghazipur and starred along with Nazir Hussain in 'Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo'.

"I have met Nazir cha in Bombay and he told me that he had been in the INA and became very emotional thinking of my parents," activist Subhashini Ali, daughter of Colonel Prem Kumar and Captain Lakshmi Sehgal told me few months back. I remember meeting actor Raj Babbar in Mumbai for a report and when I told him I am from Ghazipur his immediate remark was: "Nazir Hussain too was from Ghazipur."

The humility of Hasan Gafoor

2012-03-17T01:07:00.003Z

For the last few months, very infrequently though, I was requesting Hasan Gafoor to provide me a picture of his late father Khwaja Gafoor. The senior Gafoor had retired as the additional chief secretary in Maharashtra and was instrumental in the establishment of the state Urdu Academy along with some other Urdu afficionados. "Yes, he was part of that group," he told me. However, when pressed for a photograph and some more details, he would not venture much. "Look for it. You will definitely get it from somewhere. Try the central library in London for his book where you will get what you want."

That was so typical of Hasan Gafoor. I remember asking him about a case as a journalist covering the crime beat and he told me: "Speak to the senior inspector. He will have the details." A thorough professional, his personality belied the fact that he was an ace shooter who hardly missed the target. Simplicity marked his personal and professional life.

Not much is known about the sandwiches he used to carry for lunch in his younger days. His staff used to wonder how their 'sahab' could manage to survive the whole day on 'few slices of bread'. Some felt he was more suited for a posting in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the National Police Academy (NPA). But it was perhaps for these few slices of bread from home, that he did not go on central deputation except to Air India much later in his career. His family including his aged mother (who died few months ago) were well settled in Mumbai.

One of the decisions he took after becoming Mumbai police commissioner in 2008 was scaling down his own personal security. During the 26/11 attack, he chose not to wear a bulletproof vest just like the several other ordinary cops. He himself escaped being a target of the Pakistani terrorists while outside Trident. But Gafoor was not the one to blow his own trumpet. Nor was he the one to malign anybody. Which is why the interview he gave to a magazine (in which he named four IPS officers for not responding well to the 26/11 situation) came as a surprise.

Despite being ill-equipped the Mumbai police had its share of heroes. While Tukaram Ombale, Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar among others lost their lives giving the ultimate sacrifice there were also some who bravely took on the terrorists. Vishwas Nagre Patil, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) of South Mumbai was right inside the Taj hotel. The area was under his jurisdiction and he took the challenge head on.

I was among the earliest reporters to reach the Taj site thanks to photographer colleague Raju Shinde who got a tip that 'a group of drunken youth had opened fire'. Later, I noticed the official car belonging to Rajvardhan, a DCP who was not really obliged to be there but had ventured inside Taj. I spoke to his anxious driver who said 'sahab andar gaye'. I immediately called him and left messages. He responded after few hours. Rajvardhan went inside because he felt he could not be anywhere else. And no words can do justice to Sadanand Date's heroic exploits at Cama Hospital.

Hemant Karkare's funeral was the next big event for the media where some senior news channel journalists had also come. Gafoor did not give any interviews there, while the then state DGP A N Roy obliged them with bytes just next to the pyre of Hemant Karkare. The enormity of the 26/11 attacks meant that those in the hot seats had to show they had done their best or at least cut a good figure through the media. Hasan Gafoor was the last officer to indulge in such exhibitionism.

What made matters worse for him was that he also became an easy prey for some who got the media to focus on him. And not being a 'ring back with confirmation' police officer, it was much easier for the media to go after him. Interestingly, a news report indicates the possible role of Nira Radia in the vilification campaign against Gafoor.

Unlike most of the officers, Hasan Gafoor never texted reporters. He would never 'confirm' or 'deny' anything through a text message. He would only speak on the phone or meet journalists in the office. Occasionally, he would return calls. Barring important cases like the 26/11 terror attacks and the earlier arrests of Indian Mujahideen terrorists (where in both the crime branch and ATS chiefs shared a platform), Gafoor kept his press conferences to a minimum. A senior inspector of police excited about his 'marvelous detection' requested Gafoor to take the press conference. Gafoor told him: "I have seen your interviews in the media. You speak very well. Go ahead why do you need me."

One police commissioner was so concerned about his image that he used to send an officer to meet journalists who portrayed him in a 'bad light'. One such officer came to meet me with his master's grievance - the commissioner was unhappy with his picture being used with a story pertaining to the Mumbai police! A senior journalist told me about a supercop who took an influential editor for a drink after his publication carried a negative report about him. Gafoor used no such tactics or tricks.

Any other officer in place of Gafoor, with even a slightly better penchant to deal with media, would have become a hero for heading the Mumbai police in the wake of an unprecedented terror attack. Sadly in the media, humility and heroism don't go together.

An Alig Remembers Shahryar

2012-02-16T17:08:00.000Z

By Guest Blogger: Mohammad Sajjad

To pen down in memory of somebody who kept me so dear to himself is too difficult a task. I am choked with emotions too deeply, even though we knew it for the last so many months that the cruel hands of the greatest truth called DEATH is going to snatch him away from us.

Munhasar marney pe ho jis ki ummeed
Naa ummeedi us ki dekha chahiye (Ghalib)

My friend, Syed Ekram Rizwi, devastated with the news of Shahryar’s death, called me saying, ‘only dust is left in Aligarh now’

hadd-e-nigaah tak yahan ghubaar hi ghubaar hai

While joining the namaaz-e-janazah at the AMU Graveyard [Minto E], I could recall what he had said few years back, when he was about to retire from the services as professor of AMU. He was living in the type ‘A’ quarters of AMU which is located just across the graveyard separated by the ‘Gulistan-Syed’ which was then a desert like field. Somebody reminded him, ‘Sir, you will now have to quit the university quarters and you are yet to have a house of your own’. To this, pointing his fingers towards Gulistan-e-Syed, in his characteristic way, Shahryar sb told very casually, ‘ab makaan wakaan kya banana, ab to sirf yeh maidan paar karna hai.

He had also composed a poem,

Ghar ki Taameer tasawwur hi mein ho sakti hai
apnay naqshay ke mutabiq yeh zamin kuchh kam hai

When I had come to Aligarh as a student, I was already some sort of a fan of Shahryar, the poet who composed beautiful songs for a marvellous film of Muzaffar Ali, Umrao Jaan. I was dying to see him, and when I saw him on a 50 cc moped Hero Majestic, the naive, innocent student in me was stuck with his simplicity that in contrast with the ‘professors’ I was familiar with [before coming to Aligarh] were riding Bajaj scooters or Rajdoot motorcycles of 150 cc, if not cars. The ‘film’ of Shahryar, moving on that moped, remains preserved in my memory, quite indelibly.

In the last 12-13 years, he had made me become much closer to him, sharing too many things about the culture and politics of AMU, about some interesting persons of the campus and also about so many other things. By late 1990s, we had started feeling much agitated about certain aspects of AMU. In order to comprehend these, we started looking into history of AMU; in order to share our feelings we resorted to pamphleteering which was also a kind of catharsis. In this way we came across one of his poems, ‘Muslim University ki Fariyaad’

Mujawiron ki bheerh ney
Mujhey phir ek qabr mein badal diya
Main keh raha der sey
Main zinda hoon
Meri sada mein baaz gasht kyon nahi
Merey khuda
Mujhey sazaein jitni de
Pe yun nahin

This particular poem further increased our appetite to get closer to him in order to have more frequent longer sessions of conversations with him; he used to offer us too much of cold drinks, which was an added incentive. He however remained reluctant about sharing his feelings/ observations which moved him to the extent of making him compose this kind of poem, which is his angst against the deeply entrenched vested interests of his alma mater.

When we shared that his poem has been used in one of our pamphlets, he seemed glad about it but simultaneously expressed his mild disapproval, then he went on to say with a lovely smile, ‘aap log to hamari nazm ka siyasi istemaal kar key mujhey merey apnon se door karna chahtey hain, aap ke liye apney idaray mein khushgawaar tabdiliyan aham hain, hamarey liye to merey zaati taaluqaat aham hain, khwah woh ‘un mujawiron ki bheerh’ hi mein kyon na hon.[you people are making political use of my poem and thereby you intend to create gulf between me and my acquaintances, for you more important is to bring about pleasant changes on the campus, for me more important is continuing good relations with the people, howsoever they might be the vested interests spoiling AMU].

We recalled his lines,

Tujh ko ruswa na kiya khud bhi pashemaan na huey
Ishq ki rasm ko is taraha nibhaya ham ney

He would then ask us to be a bit pragmatic, by exercising certain degree of restraint in our pamphlets. Simultaneously he would also add, betey inhin kaawishon se likhna parhna aur duniya ko samajhna bhi seekh paogey, halaan ki aisi targheeb de kar main tum baaghi naujawanon ki tez dhaar ko kund karney ka gunaah bhi kar raha hoon [My son, with such efforts you would grow intellectually and also become worldly wise, however by asking you to be moderate I am also committing the crime of blunting the edge of the productive rebellion in youth]. He would further say, ‘I am no pessimist, yet I must say that you and your friends were engaged in letting flowers blossom in the desert of AMU, it was an exercise in futility, yet, this was undoubtedly an exercise worth doing at least for sometime in the prime of youth’.

He would often share, ‘in AMU, those who are today expressing their grievances against infirmities of Indian secularism, are/ were the worst kind of communalists’, while saying so he was also equally critical of the ‘progressives’ and Leftists of the campus. According to him, quite a lot of such ‘progressives’, have also degenerated into ‘vested interests’, i.e. ‘mujawiron ki bheerh’, who have turned AMU into a qabr, deadplace.

Having heard such remarks from him more than once, I once mustered the courage of submitting a request to him: ‘kindly write down your memoir’. For sometime he prevaricated on the issue and maintained silence or gently pushed it aside by bringing in other subjects. As I persisted with this demand for too long then he passed a highly pertinent remark, ‘betey, khudnawisht to bahadur log likhtey hain jin ke andar apney gunahon ka aitraaf karney aur sach likhney ki jasaarat ho, aur main to nihayat buz dil insaan hoon’ [my son, autobiographies can be written only by the brave people; those who have the guts of confessing their follies and have the courage of speaking truth; I am too timid a person]. Later on he elaborated upon it and said that if he had to write his autobiography he will end up antagonizing too many people close to him, and that was, by his own admission, quite unaffordable for him. He however later on composed a poem with this line:

Buz dil honey ka khamiyazah sapney mein bhi bhugta hai

He then gifted me Wahab Ashrafi’s autobiography, Qissa Be-samt Zindagi Ka, and said, ‘you should appreciate one good thing about this autobiography that the author has made frank confession of the indignities he inflicted upon himself just in greed of a position [jaah-o-martaba ki lalach], Chairman, Universities Service Commission’.

Once I wanted to know his views/observations about anti-Bihari prejudices among some sections of AMU-ites. I thought this particular query of mine would be quite provocative. But that was not the case. He narrated, ‘you see, the Muslims of UP, particularly the decadent feudal elites, take pride in their chaste Urdu, which they are abandoning or unlearning for whatever reasons, as against it, the Muslim students, coming from Bihar as well as from eastern UP, are generally well versed in Urdu, with appreciable degree of interests in creative literature, regardless of their preferred disciplines of studies’. He would then add with a smile, bordering on laughter, meri beti ney to shaadi ke liye ek Bihari ko hi pasand kiya, aur Patna ke hukkaaam aur siyasatdanon se lekar Bihar ke adab dost log to mujh se itni zyada mohabbat kartey hain ki agar sachai kuchh aur bhi hoti to main Bihariyon ki himayat mein hi kharha rehta, itni dayanatdaari ki tawaqqo to mujh se rakh hi saktey ho.

In 2009, in the Wisconsin (USA) journal, Annual of Urdu Studies, I published a long essay on a novel dealing with naxalism in Bihar. This was an outcome mainly of his persuasion. As said earlier, most often, he disliked the idea of talking about his own poetry, and in order to push it aside he used to bring in other issues. This is how he enquired about my opinion on the origin, development and trajectory of the naxalite movement in Bihar. After listening to me, he asked whether I had read Dhamak, an Urdu novel by Abdus Samad, as my answer was in affirmative he immediately sort of issued a command to write something on this. I gladly abided by it and having taken help of few more well-wishers, when finally I showed him the published version of the print, he was very happy to see it. As he saw his name acknowledged by me in the essay, he became dismissive about his role in prompting me to do the job. Then he went through my essay on (under)depiction of 1857 in the fiction of Qurratulain Hyder which I had presented in a seminar in BHU (now published in a volume edited by Rakhshanda Jalil); he asked me to render it in Urdu and sent it to Humayun Zafar Zaidi to publish it in a volume edited by him, and published by the Maktaba Jamia.

The academic-literary world of Urdu in India is said to be bitterly divided between two groups, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and Gopi Chand Narang. Shahryar sb was dear to both. Only a lovely person like him could manage such things so beautifully.

In one such sessions of conversation, I took the liberty of knowing his assessment of the better known ‘communists’ of AMU. Having said few good things about them, he shared few confidential anecdotes, taking my strong assurance that I won’t be writing it till he is alive. He said, ‘I am making a confession that I have partly contributed in getting a recruitment of an ineligible candidate as Reader, approved by an Executive Council (EC) member, who was a Dean as well [the member, a renowned academic, is no more now]. I was persuaded by my teacher, the renowned scholar, to persuade an EC member close to me, to do the favour in the EC meeting, I requested the EC member; with lot of reluctance, he finally agreed to oblige me only by remaining silent on, rather than opposing, the recruitment’.

That Reader became Professor and then Chairman, but he never made even a courtesy call [to Shahryar sb]. He became too belligerent against the renowned scholar as well who had curried all these favours for him from these people sullying his own image. Then Shahryar sb became fairly explicit about the moral of the story. He said, ‘my son! Here is a lesson for you. Never ever extend such outrageous favours to incompetent people in academia, such people turn very badly unfaithful to their benefactors’. While narrating this painful anecdote, Shahryar sb was visibly uncomfortable with the discourtesy/perfidy of the Reader who also became Professor and then Chairman of a very prestigious Department.

We had heard a lot [and read] about the angst of Rahi Masoom Raza against few people of AMU. We therefore remained curious about knowing the version of Shahryar sb. He was generous enough, and had enough love for me to have granted this much liberty to me and have shared such things. He said that Rahi had some grievances against him also. The reason was: in one of the selection committees for the position of lecturer (temporary), Rahi did not turn up for interview, whereas Shahryar was called at eleventh hour by the Dean and was selected. Rahi did not turn up, as he was told that Shahryar has been called specially by the Dean; that the ‘match’ was already ‘fixed’, and therefore there was no point in appearing before the Selection Committee.

Fact of the matter, as shared with me by Shahryar was that one more vacancy had emerged, and therefore there was absolutely no question of substituting Rahi with Shahryar. But given the temperament of Rahi, he never believed this version and nursed the grievances against the ‘system’ (Dean) as well as against the ‘rival candidate’ (Shahryar); in fact Rahi never even allowed anybody to explain the matter. Shahryar was sad about this, but he could not do anything; he was particularly angry with one of the ‘friends’ common to both Shahryar and Rahi, who rather than helping reduce the tension, he kept working towards widening the gulf between the two. Shahryar valued personal relations to great extent, yet he suffered the pain of losing relationship.

Probably because of having undergone these experiences, he composed this:

Kabhi kisi ko mukammal jahan nahin milta
Kahin zameen to kahin aasmaan nahin milta

He often used to call me at his flat in the Safeena Apartment to have long casual chats. Not long ago, he asked me to provide him with biographical accounts of Nur Jahan, the Mughal Empress, but the condition put by him was that it should have some illustrative photographs. The purpose was: his good friend Muzaffar Ali was contemplating the idea of making a film on the subject, and Shahryar was supposed to compose lyrics for the film. I told him that he had got so many good friends who are big and highly accomplished historians of Medieval Indian History, and it was therefore strange to turn towards me, a semi-literate student of the history of Medieval India. He said, ‘I don’t have to read serious details of the history of Nur Jahan, I only have to scan through some anecdotes, some photographs which should help me create lyrics for the film’. It was, in fact, merely his tremendous love and affection for me that he indulged me too much. Very affectionately, he would always instruct me to keep producing researches, staying away from the ‘bitter factionalism’ within my Department.

His passing away is a terrible personal loss for me.

---------------

Mohammed Sajjad is an Assistant Professor at the Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, India

Nothing could slow down Dev Anand

2011-12-11T15:09:00.000Z

One of the most evocative picture of Dev Anand that comes to my mind is the song with Hema Malini 'pal bhar ke liye...'. As a child I remember counting the number of windows shown in the song. On Saturday, when Dev Anand was laid to rest at London's Putney Vale crematorium he left behind his countless films and autobiography, to give us a peek into his life's window. And just like in the song, the one quality that will always stay with everybody was his enthusiasm and zest for life. There were few committed fans and true admirers who braved the harsh winter to pay their last respects to the stylish and evergreen actor.

Born in undivided India, Dev Anand had become a pale shadow of himself in later years. While many people and critics opined he should stop making films he did what he felt was good. Unlike many of the current actors and very much like the earlier ones (Balraj Sahni, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor...) Dev Anand's diction and dialogues were flawless. And by flawless I mean not good but perfect Urdu and Hindi.

Dev Anand's first major film was directed by Shahid Lateef whose wife was celebrated Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai. It was also his upbringing that developed his language skills. Dev Anand's father knew Arabic and Persian and it is said that he used to explain Islamic scriptures to the less educated Muslims!

At his funeral service some songs from his films were played apart from the customary remembrances. One of the priest (who seemed to be a close acquantaince) recalled the Urdu couplets that the actor had told him in Mumbai! Lord Meghnad Desai who was at the funeral told me that Dev Anand's autobiography was very well written. "His English was very good and his autobiography was brutally frank and lively."

Bollywood has no time to say goodbye to Dev Anand

Mohammed Wilayatullah's elephantine memory

2011-10-17T00:26:00.010+01:00

Justice Mohammed Hidayatullah's literary flair is well known in legal circles. He also had an abiding interest in poetry, which he had got through his father Khan Bahadur Hafiz Mohammed Wilayatullah. While Mohammed Hidayatullah is known for having occupied the offices of vice president, president and chief justice of India, this post seeks to throw some light on the life of Hafiz Wilayatullah whose elephantine memory resulted in a big plot of land being awarded to the Anjuman School, Nagpur. But more of that later.

Mohammed Wilayatullah's family originally hailed from Benares and his forefathers served in the Bhopal court for several years. He memorised the complete Quran when he was just nine years old. He was a meritorious student and stood first in the 1895 BA examination of the Allahabad University at Mohammaden Anglo Oriental (MAO) college. His industriousness got him almost all the possible awards of the year except one. The Queen Empress Jubilee Medal was given to Ziauddin Ahmed and it was believed that it was done at the behest of Sir Syed Ahmed.

Ziauddin Ahmed was the favourite student of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan who was not very happy with Mohammed Wilayatullah getting all the awards. However, the threat of legal action ultimately got the Queen Empress Jubilee Medal to the deserving student. For readers wondering the source, this has been narrated by Justice Hidayatullah in his autobiography.

Mohammed Wilayatullah got a scholarship of £600 to study abroad for two years. However, domestic compulsions meant he could not take the scholarship. While Wilayatullah's family was not poor, they were not prosperous enough to let Wilayatullah go abroad. Syed Mahmood, son of Sir Syed Ahmed, took a liking for the young Wilayatullah and nurtured him to make a career in law. However, a quick job with a monthly salary took precedence over a slow paced career in law.

In the Indian sub-continent, postponing marriage and curtailing studies are some of the most common measures undertaken by youth to ensure the unity and financial stability of the family. This is especially true of joint families where the eldest son takes care of his younger siblings just like his own kids. Mohammed Wilayatullah had topped the BA examination and his father was anxious that his son takes up a job with the begum of Bhopal.

A more detailed study of the life of Khan Bahadur Hafiz Mohammed Wilayatullah will go a long way in explaining the dynamics of the society of those days. The reaons given for his not taking the scholarship was that it would be difficult for him to adjust to the food available in foreign shores. Thus the family chose not to talk about the urgency of Wilayatullah taking a job but instead made his diet a reason!

This reminds me of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. One of the reasons for his not undertaking foreign travel was the crossing of sea and his orthodox food habits. A Time magazine report talking about Malaviya's rare ship journey detailed his accompaniments which incuded a personal cook and gallons of Ganga water!

Mohammed Wilayatullah got a job as the headmaster of a school in Bhopal. However, he did not stay there for long and joined Central provinces and Berar as tahsildar. He went on to become Dewan and administrator of Bastar state. He retired in 1928 from Bhandara as deputy commissioner and district magistrate. After retirement he chose to settle down in Nagpur and struck friendship with Rajaram Dixit.

Mohammd Wilayatullah received the Kaiser-i-Hind and also became a member of the Central Legislative Assembly. When he was a student Maulana Altaf Hussain Hali used to correct his poems. He was called Akbar-i-Sani and wrote two books. He used to write in Persian and later continued in Urdu. However, most of his writings went unpublished.

While Mohammed Wilayatullah could not go abroad for studies, he ensured that his three sons attend Trinity College, Cambridge. A proud father he kept the annual register of Trinity college under his pillow. The register had the names of his three sons: Mohammed Ikramullah, ICS who became Pakistan's foreign secretary; Mohammed Ahmadullah, secretary, Indian Tariff Board and Mohammed Hidayatullah.

Mohammed Ikramullah married Shaista who belonged to the famous and rich Suhrawardy family. Shaista Ikramullah was the first Indian woman to do her PhD from London University. It is believed that it was under her influence that Mohammed Ikramullah went to Pakistan. In his last days Mohammed Wilayatullah longed for all his three sons to be together. When he died in November 1949, Mohammed Ikramullah came down to India and before that kept on visiting his father despite the hostilities between both the new sovereigns.

Mohammed Wilayatullah had plunged into social activities after his retirement and became quite famous in central India. His political opponents attacked him for having accepted the Kaiser-i-Hind and the title of Khan Bahadur. However, he continued with his social work. He was secretary of the All India Muslim Educational Society and was associated with Anjuman School, Nagpur. His friend Rajaram Dixit donated generously for the Anjuman School.

The school authorities once called the chief commissioner to the annual day celebrations. They requested him to give a nearby plot for the school. The chief commissioner promised it in his speech. However, later when a delegation did a follow-up they realised there was no copy of the speech to make the commissioner's promise operational. The chief commissioner too pleaded helplessness as the speech was made extempore.

Khan Bahadur Hafiz Mohammed Wilayatullah offered to reproduce the speech. He gave a copy to the chief commissioner who happily signed after making just a single change. This must have definitely speeden up the administrative process. The plot was released which was used to make a hostel and a school for girls.

How son of Pak journo got assets in India

2011-08-11T02:00:00.006+01:00

Around 15 years ago the death of a retired professor of agriculture in Allahabad led to a bitter legal battle that finally culminated in his property being awarded to a Pakistani citizen. The case assumed importance as the judge pronounced that a Pakistani national can inherit property in India. The Allahabad high court however did say that the inheritance would be subject to permission of the Reserve Bank of India.

The case relates to the family of famous Arabic scholar Dr Abdul Sattar Siddiqui who was also head of Arabic department at Allahabad University. Dr Siddiqui had two sons Muslim Siddiqui and Zuhair Siddiqui both of whom studied in Allahabad. After finishing his high school Muslim Siddiqui enrolled in the Agricultural Institute for further studies while his younger brother Zuhair did Masters in Political Science. This was before Partition and Zuhair Siddiqui got a job with Dawn newspaper in Delhi.

Zuhair Siddiqui was a sub-editor and after Partition was apparently 'temporarily posted' in Karachi. As his father and brother remained in India he visited them regularly and remained an Indian citizen. It would be interesting to know if there was any provision for a man working in Pakistan to be an Indian citizen. And that too working for a prominent Pakistani English newspaper!

Muslim Siddiqui remained a bachelor all his life and continued to live with his father Dr Siddiqui in Allahabad. With one son in Pakistan, Dr Siddiqui gave away all his property to his eldest son Muslim Siddiqui. In the 1970s within a gap of few years, both Dr Siddiqui and Zuhair Siddiqui died. The former due to old age and the latter in a road accident in Pakistan. Thus Muslim Siddiqui became the absolute owner of the ancestral property in Allahabad which included the bungalow on Muir Road build by Dr Abdul Sattar Siddiqui.

When Muslim Siddiqui died in August 1996, one Bhai Lal Shukla along with the Administrator General of Uttar Pradesh staked claim to the property of the deceased. Bhai Lal Shukla and his wife were employed by Muslim Siddiqui to take care of the bungalow and serve him. However, Bhai Lal Shukla claimed that Muslim Siddiqui had through a will given him all his property and hence he had the sole right over the estate of the deceased.

The Administrator General contended that Bhai Lal Shukla was not related to Muslim Siddiqui and as Zuhair Siddiqui after migrating to Pakistan did not take any steps to stake his claim in his father's property it should be allowed to administrate the estate. The case was adjourned several times covering few years as Suhail, the son of Zuhair Siddiqui was having problems in getting a visa to India from Pakistan. He had visited India on an earlier occasion and as he had overstayed he was facing problem in getting entry to India.

Several witnesses appeared before the court which included friends of the Siddiqui household. One such witness was M Sayeedullah whose testimony perhaps went a long way in establishing that the will brandished by Bhai Lal Shukla could not be relied upon. Sayeedullah was a childhood friend of Muslim Siddiqui and both had studied in the same school. Sayeedullah became a deputy collector in 1945 and ultimately entered the Indian Administrative Service. He was also the son-in-law of M A Rauf, who was independent India's first ambassador to Burma.

Sayeedullah told the court that Bhai Lal Shukla was appointed as a gardener only few years before the death of Muslim Siddiqui. He told the court that during some of his visits he had seen Bhai Lal's wife pressing the feet of Muslim Siddiqui or giving him some medicines. On another occasion when he visited his friend's bungalow unannounced he saw the couple putting him in a car. He told the court that his friend was looking lost and was informed that he was taken to be admitted to the Medical College. However, when he went to the Medical College he found out that his friend was never admitted there.

Some other witnesses informed the court about their suspicion that Muslim Siddiqui was being kept in a state of intoxication by Bhai Lal Shukla and his wife. The court was convinced about the unrealibility of the will shown by Bhai Lal Shukla. However, as Suhail Siddiqui was a Pakistani national there were question marks over his eligibility to own a property in Allahabad in which his father had a share. But as his father died way back in 1979 and did not stake any claim when he was alive, could Suhail Siddiqui become the owner of his uncle's property?

Under The Enemy Property Act, 1968 all immovable property belonging to or held by or managed on behalf of Pakistani nationals after the 1965 Indo-Pak war were put under management of custodian. However, the court in the judgement delivered in 2006 held that this provision does not hold for Pakistani national inheriting property in India. A RBI notification coming as late as 2003 further made it easier for the court to decide the case in favour of Suhail Siddiqui.

According to the notification, a person who is a resident outside India can hold immovable property acquired by way of inheritance from a person resident in India. Thus the son of a Dawn journalist became owner of a property in Allahabad more than fifty years after his father migrated to Pakistan.

I will really appreciate if someone can give me a picture of any of the main players in this case or an update about the Bungalow no 50/184 Muir Road, Allahabad.

He fought to be British MP while in Indian jail

2011-06-21T00:21:00.005+01:00

Decades after Dadabhai Naoroji was elected as the first Asian MP to the House of Commons, another Indian stood for elections while lodged in a jail in India. Naoroji was assisted by, among others, Jinnah in his successful campaign while Shaukat Usmani had the support of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Usmani, one of the founding members of the Communist Party of India, was arrested in the Kanpur conspiracy case and the Meerut Conspiracy case. While the masses were with Gandhi and the Congress party to overthrow the Britishers, the Kanpur and the Meerut conspiracy cases brought the communist agenda and their ideas in the public domain. People discovered the communist ideology and their revolutionary plans.In March 1929, Usmani was arrested along with some other Communists in the Meerut Conspiracy case. It was just a way for the British goverment to lay their hands on the Communists who were giving severe headaches to the administration. During the trial the Communist Party of Great Britain decided to field Usmani as their candidate for the general election held that year. He stood against Sir John Simon from the constituency of Spen Valley.

This was a clever move on the part of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It got the much needed publicity to the British misrule in India and the Meerut conspiracy case in particular. Sir John Simon was the same person who later came to India in 1930 as head of the Simon Commission.
The British government was in no mood to let the off the comrades easily. The Meerut conspiracy case dragged on and during the 1931 British general election, Usmani's name was again put forward. He was still in jail when communists from all over Britiain converged in London to campaign for him. This time he was the candidate for the St Pancras South East constituency (now abolished). His main opponent was Sir Alfred Beit, who was a millionaire. Usmani lost again.

It was purely on ideological grounds that the Communist Party of Great Britain decided to field Usmani for elections to the House of Commons while he himself was miles away in a nondescript cell in India. Interestingly, V K Krishna Menon fought elections and became the Labour councillor from the borough of St Pancras a year later.

On the directions of M N Roy, Usmani became active in Kanpur and Benares where he had to work to make a base for the communists. He had widely travelled and had taken part in the Russian civil war in 1920. He also wrote few books. One of them is attractively titled Peshawar to Moscow: Leaves from an Indian Muhajireen's diary and was published as early as 1927. Most of his books are now out of circulation.

I do not know Usmani's date of birth but it is widely believed that he was born in 1901 in Bikaner where his father Bahauddin was a stonecutter. His real name was Maula Baksh but being an ardent admirer of Maulana Shaukat Ali he changed his name to Shaukat Usmani. He had left India during the Hijrat movement and came under the influence of M N Roy.

Shaukat Usmani died in 1978 unsung and unnoticed like many of his ilk.

Samachar mein Hindi by Johnny Walker

2011-03-25T21:54:00.013Z

"They should not announce ‘Ab Hindi mein samachar suniye’ they should say, ‘Ab Samachar mein Hindi suniye.’" Balraj Sahni, the great actor, quoted his friend and colleague Johnny Walker while speaking at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1972. Sahni was talking about the Urdu-Hindi divide and also lambasted the Pakistan radio 'for ruining the beauty of this language by thrusting into it as many Persian and Arabic words as possible'.

I couldn't stop laughing at Johnny Walker's witty remark. 'Ab Samachar mein Hindi suniye'. It was Balraj Sahni who got Johnny Walker into Hindi films. And that in itself is an interesting tale. Johnny Walker worked as a conductor on Mumbai's BEST buses and it is widely believed that Sahni first saw him in action regaling the commuters.

Before he made it big, Johnny Walker had worked in a couple of films as an extra. For his antics he used to get paid Rs 5 out of which one rupee went to the pocket of the supplier. According to Sahni's autobiography, Badruddin (Johnny Walker's real name) used to entertain film artistes during lunch breaks.

Once Sahni asked him if he was paid for his acts during the breaks which the stars relished. "No? Then aren't you ashamed of behaving like an ass in front of those fellows," he admonished Johnny Walker when he said he took home only the Rs 4 for the shoot and nothing extra. "You are right, sahab! But I am helpless, I can't possibly displease the big bosses!", replied Badruddin.

These 'big bosses' included Dilip Kumar, Yaqub and other stars in the film Hulchul. Balraj Sahni, who also acted in Hulchul then promised Badruddin to get him the kind of roles he deserved. While he promised Badruddin a role he soon discovered it was not an easy task. He used to bump into Badruddin at Mahim while passing in his motor cycle who would remind him of his promise. Sahni had not forgotten Badruddin. He had written the script for Baazi and had woven the character of a drunkard keeping Badruddin in mind.

However, Sahni's problem was how to get Badruddin the drunkard's role. He was just an extra, like dozens of others, and getting everybody agree to take him was a challenge. He however had an interesting idea which he told Badruddin.

The very next day, when he along with Guru Dutt, Dev and Chetan Anand was discussing the script, Badruddin had to make a dramatic entry. As per the plan, Badruddin had entered the office acting as a drunkard and managed to enter Guru Dutt's cabin. Sahni writes in his autobiography: "All of us there found the way the man was making a fool of himself excruciatingly funny and we burst out laughing. For well over half an hour he entertained us and the rest of the office staff with his pranks."

Finally, the stars had enough of his antics and asked the staff to throw him out. Sahni gestured and Badruddin became a sober man. He got the role in Baazi and became famous as Johnny Walker. This also led to a steady friendship with Guru Dutt and the two became very close. They used to go together for fishing and hunting and Johnny Walker became a regular in Guru Dutt's films.

He played memorable roles in Pyaasa, CID, Mr and Mrs 55, Madhumati and countless others. Not many people would know that he had a solitary scene in Mughal-e-Azam. He was perhaps the only comedian who had several hit songs specially composed for him. Such was his presence that many leading stars were wary of sharing screen space with him.
His popularity can be gauged from the fact that there was a movie named after his own screen name - Johnny Walker. Everybody in the film industry knew that while his screen name was Johnny Walker he himself never drank in real life. However, the passing away of his dear friend Guru Dutt did shake him.

Johnny Walker went on to act in over 300 films and had the entire nation laughing at the mere sight of him. Dilip Kumar once told in an interview that on Independence Day celebrations or Republic Day functions Jawaharlal Nehru would ask him to get Johnny Walker and Mukri for some light moments.

My own favourite is the one from the B R Chopra's Naya Daur which had Dilip Kumar in the lead. Johnny Walker plays a reporter and while taking a picture of Dilip Kumar asks him to 'Ismail' (smile), to which Dilip Kumar replies "Woh to aaj kaam par nahin aaya"!
The veteran comedian who never resorted to slapstick comedy or vulgar dialogues led a simple life. He was modest, reserved and led a quiet life. Years later he took a break from retirement and essayed a role in the Kamal Hasan-Tabu starrer Chachi 420 on the insistence of Gulzar, who wrote the dialogue for the movie.

Johnny Walker later moved to his bungalow in Andheri (W), a Mumbai suburb. Unlike today, his bungalow was in a quiet surrounding with hardly any public transport around. It turned out that his bungalow was just opposite the building in which my father had booked a flat on the fourth floor.

A visit to the Andheri flat was very occassional as reaching there was quite a task from our city home. It was nothing short of a weekend getaway with the added attraction of getting a glimpse of Johnny Walker.

My father later gave out the flat to the family of his friend from Aligarh Muslim University days. He needed a kidney transplant and was not keeping well. I later found out that Abba took the initiative of collecting funds to facilitate the transplant.

This was in late 1980s and it required a fair amount of money. Friends and well-wishers pitched in as much as they could. The kidney transplant did take place. And one of the contributors was Badruddin Kazi!

Ilyas Burney, a man lost in translation

2011-02-07T20:32:00.013Z

Abdur Rahman Khan, who was the principal of 'Osmania College University' in 20s, wrote an interesting book 'My Life and Experiences'. The book details the struggle and the passion of the people behind the Osmania University. It gives an amazing account of the functioning of the institute and how the management dealt with getting the right faculty. However, as the medium of instruction was supposed to be Urdu, a Translation Bureau was established. This Bureau had the mammoth task of translating all books in Economics, Medicince, History, Philosophy and other subjects in Urdu.

Principal Khan's book is gripping for anybody interested to draw a picture of the working of an educational institute in those days. However, I was a bit disappointed as he did not write much about Ilyas Burney, who was heading the department of Economics at Osmania University. A graduate from Aligarh University, Burney was born in Bulandshahr. He had a brilliant record as a student and at Aligarh University won the Strachey Gold Medal.

He had studied LLB and was offered the position of a judge in the Nizam administered Hyderabad around 1915. However, as he was academically inclined he decided to get himself involved with the Translation Bureau. According to another version he was offered to join the Translation Bureau that got Burney to Hyderabad. Whatever be the reason Burney made Hyderabad his home for good and spent his working life enriching the social and intellectual circles of the city.

Burney's services were later utilised by the Osmania University where he joined the Economics department and also worked as the Registrar of the University. His book on Economics in the Urdu language was praised by none other than Allama Iqbal. A multi-faceted personality, Burney did not restrict himself only to Economics. He wrote dozens of books on several subjects and a travelogue that established his identity as a towering intellectual. He was well versed in English, Persian, Arabic and Urdu.

He worked closely with Baba-e-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq at the Translation Bureau. In 1934, he was appointed curator of the Translation Bureau. He had replaced the competent and versatile Maulvi Inayatullah. He wrote a book comparing the Urdu and Hindi scripts that earned him praise from several quarters. His book on the Ahmaddiya sect got a huge response. Titled 'Qadiani Mazhab' it was also translated in Arabic and is considered a masterpiece on the subject.

His immense knowledge and ability to get along with youngsters made him very popular. The Nizam appointed him to tutor the young princes. He was also President of the Football Club at Osmania University. He once spoke for two hours to the students at Osmania advising them ‘how to live a wholesome happy life’.

Burney's brilliance got the attention of Jinnah who wanted him, along with scholars from other fields, to work for the planning commission in Pakistan. I do not know the reasons, but he did not go to Pakistan and remained in India. The street where he had his house in Hyderabad is now named Ilyas Burney Avenue. S M H Burney, a civil servant in Independent India, who went on to become the Governor of Haryana and Manipur is related to him. Ilyas Burney died in 1959.

Jinnah: The arrogant achiever

2010-12-25T23:30:00.011Z

In November 1938, Hassan Ispahani wrote to M A Jinnah about Anwar Hassan, great-grandson of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. "Sir Syed rendered a service to the Musalmans of India that will remain unequalled so long as civilization remains. You will therefore agree with me that a young man and worthy descendant of his who is willing to work for his living should not be allowed to knock from pillar to post searching desperately for employment." Jinnah replied:"I think I did drop you a line from Bombay with regard to Anwar Masood saying that I could not help in the matter."

Ispahani's letter to Jinnah was not out of place. He had turned to a leading lawyer and towering leader of Muslims to help out the great grandson of Muslim visionary Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.

But what he got was a cold reply seeped in characteristic Jinnah style. For all his fame and brilliance as a lawyer and politician, Jinnah was not the one to mince words. Which is why I am baffled when some historians say that Jinnah never wanted a separate nation but was only creating a bogey to have more bargaining power for the Muslims.

Well, it doesn't make any difference for the reality is that India got partitioned. Thousands of families were uprooted, friends and relatives had to part ways and the bloodbath that followed was unprecedented.

And unfortunately it did not stop there. The two countries continue to be at loggerheads. Those Muslims who went to Pakistan got the label of Mohajir and the ones remaining in India found themselves numerically and intellectually diminished.

Urdu: Jinnah and Gandhi

It was the same attitude of mincing no words that made Jinnah declare on his maiden visit to Dhaka after Partition that Urdu was to be the state language of Pakistan (which included East Pakistan). Jinnah himself was well conversant only in Gujarati and English and his knowledge of Urdu was scant.

I do not know if Jinnah made any efforts to learn Urdu or not, but expecting Bengali speakers to grapple with kaaf and gaaf proved costly. Once again it were the Muslims (Bihari Muslims) who bore the brunt when Bangladesh fought for its 'independence'. Caught between the two Pakistans, it was only recently after a court's decision that they got voting rights in Bangladesh.

In his letters Gandhi chided any Urdu-knowing person who wrote to him in English instead of Urdu. Gandhi's dream of Hindustani was a mix of Hindi and Urdu and he always advocated the use of simple Hindi and Urdu in both the scripts. He himself was trying to learn Urdu.

Jinnah moved in elite circles in Bombay in Saville Row suits and was one of the highest paid lawyers. He married Ruttie the daughter of his Parsi friend Sir Dinshaw Petit and gave the best to his sister Fatima. His English education and prominence as a lawyer made him arrogant bordering on the rude.

Once while he was in Shimla, Nawab Hamidullah Khan of Bhopal came to meet him. As he came out of his car, Jinnah told him not to come as he was busy."Try your luck tomorrow."

Gandhi's arrival in India changed the Congress's approach towards the British rule. Before that Jinnah was basking in the attention and praise he got from his mentors Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Dadabhai Nowroji. He famously defended Tilak in the Bombay high court and worked for Hindu-Muslim unity.

After Gandhi arrived most of the leaders rallied behind him. Nowroji, Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta and Tilak died. Motilal's son Jawaharlal came under the spell of Gandhi and even though he had differences with Gandhi he accepted his moral and superior authority.

Jinnah the popular leader

Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru remained a moderate all his life and continued to practise law. A liberal to the core and a renowned Urdu and Persian scholar, Sapru never played politics like Jinnah or Gandhi. He opposed the non-cooperation movement and the salt satyagraha. However, he commanded respect among the intellectual class and acted several times as a mediator between the British government and Gandhi.

I often wonder that Jinnah would have made a lasting positive effect if he had played a role identical to Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru. He was more suited for it and would have done an excellent job. However, the problem with Jinnah was while his past conduct and vision came close to that of wealthy, erudite and liberal individuals like Motilal, Sapru and Pherozeshah he wanted his popularity, reach and acceptance to match that of Gandhi and Nehru.

Ambedkar was another prominent figure who kept his distance from Congress. He had differences with Gandhi but unlike Jinnah he could identify himself more intensely with his people. Besides, there was no frontline Dalit leader in the Congress. Jinnah and Ambedkar held few rallies together bound by their mistrust of Congress and Gandhi. Unlike Jinnah, who came to London to practise law, Ambedkar never left his people and their cause.

Ambedkar chose to work with the Congress and took active part in deliberations of the Constitution and ensured whatever he could to safeguard the interest of Dalits. The Muslim League on the other hand refused to join the Interim Government of 1946 demanding that only they should be allowed to nominate Muslims in the cabinet. For them Maulana Azad, R A Kidwai, Asaf Ali and other Muslim leaders in the Congress did not exist!

Pakistan at all cost

For any politician it is their goals that matter. Everything else takes a backseat. The economy of the new country was definitely not on the mind of the Muslim League. TIME magazine reports that in September 1947, Pakistan paid a cheque to the British Overseas Airways Corporation which bounced.The company had transported 30,000 officials and their families from Delhi to Karachi. While they were fortunate to get their dues, the list of creditors was fairly huge.

However, as a shrewd politician Jinnah knew that religion and politics should not be mixed. He did not approve of the Khilafat agitation and was against using religion in politics. He should get full marks for his clarity of thought on this aspect. He kept this in mind when he declared that the minorities would get all the security and equality in Pakistan.

But while Jinnah asked for Pakistan, the Congress is also to be blamed for giving in to his demand. The conduct of Congress leaders left a lot to be desired. Their experience with the Muslim League ministers (they joined the Interim government later) made it clear that running a government with them would be a path full of thorns. Agreeing to Pakistan and getting rid of the Muslim League looked better and easier and convenient.

In 1925, Jinnah wrote a letter to The Tiimes of India lamenting that he was wrongly quoted describing Congress as Hindu institution. Yet when Gandhi died he described him as leader of the Hindu community. This in short was Jinnah's reason for Pakistan.

I have referred to books written on Jinnah by Rafiq Zakaria and Akbar S Ahmed

Bapu's effort to get allowance for Prof Mujeeb

2010-12-05T22:51:00.014Z

Nation building. Going by the current trend it has now acquired altogether different meaning. But here I would like to shed some light on an instance which shows that leaders of a different era did everything in letter and spirit for the progress and well-being of their motherland.

This post is about Prof Mohammad Mujeeb and his association with Jamia Millia Islamia. Prof Mujeeb had joined the Jamia in 1926 and devoted himself to it even as the institution battled a severe financial crisis. To ensure that Prof Mujeeb's stay at Jamia Millia Islamia could be as smooth as possible it was none other than Gandhiji who took the lead.

Prof Mujeeb had studied at Oxford and went to Germany to study printing. There he met Dr Zakir Hussain and Dr Abid Hussain after which he decided to commit himself to Jamia Millia Islamia. Prof Mujeeb, just like Dr Zakir Hussain and Dr Abid Hussain, could have chosen greener pastures instead of confining himself to an institution, still in its infancy and miles away from financial stability so vital for the functioning of any educational institution. The death of Hakim Ajmal Khan came as a severe blow to the institution devoiding it of an active worker and committed funder.

For the staff members the desire to work for the national cause meant financial remuneration took a backseat. For many it would have been difficult to manage their affairs and Prof Mujeeb was no different. The staff had voluntarily taken a pay cut in their love for the institution.
Prof Mujeeb's father Mohammad Nasim was a wealthy man and a well known lawyer of Lucknow. For some reason, Mohammad Nasim had stopped supporting his son which must have made life difficult for the young professor. It was then that Gandhiji himself decided to come to the aid of Prof Mujeeb.

Gandhiji had gone to the Aligarh Muslim University in November 1929. There he met Professor Mohammed Habib (father of historian Irfan Habib) who was the elder brother of Prof Mujeeb. Gandhiji took up Mujeeb's cause with him and raised the issue of his allowance.

In a letter (dated November 7, 1929) to Prof Mujeeb, Gandhiji writes about this meeting. "To my agreeable surprise I found your brother to be most receptive and reasonable. I did not need to argue to with him at all. As soon as I mentioned the matter he said he would do so as I asked him to and he agreed that you should be supported by your father and brothers."

Mohammad Habib was married to Sohaila, who was the daughter of Abbas Tyabji, his close friend. It was only during this meeting that Gandhiji discovered about this relationship. And this helped him to be more open with Mohammad Habib. As he himself mentioned in the letter: "It was there that I discovered that he was Sohaila's husband. And Sohaila to me is like my own daughter...I had therefore much less hesitation to speak to your brother than I would have had without a knowledge of this relationship."

Mohammed Habib also asked Gandhiji to write to their father about the matter. Gandhiji went on to write a long and passionate letter to Mohammad Nasim. "You may know that I dote on Mujeeb. He is one of the purest minded young men whom I have the pleasure of knowing. Mujeeb is an acquisition to the Jamia. The Jamia is passing through a financial crisis. Hitherto you have been good enough not only to give Mujeeb to Jamia but to support him. Mujeeb told me that you had now refused to give him your support. Will you not reconsider your decision and not only bless Mujeeb in his work at the Jamia but also give him all the financial assistance he may need which I was glad to be informed you were able to do?"

I wished I could know what were the reasons that led Mohammad Nasim to stop his son's allowance. Gandhiji made it clear that it was definitely not a case of 'supporting a pampered boy'.

"If Mujeeb was not working in a poor national institution I would fully appreciate your refusal to support him for I do believe in parents not pampering their children. But here it is not a question of supporting a pampered boy but supporting an institution to which he has the spirit of sacrifice enough to dedicate himself without reserve."

Can we even think of any leader/politician going anywhere close to Gandhiji's effort to ensure that the services of a young scientist/academician are utilised for national cause. In recent times it would translate into creating the best possible infrastructure or matching the pay with the best in the industry. Well, let's go back.

An 'anxious' Gandhiji also asked Mohammad Nasim to 'reply as early as you can send it to me'. I do not know what reply Gandhiji got but Prof Mujeeb who had joined Jamia Millia Islamia in 1926 went on to serve it till his retirement in 1973. By that time perhaps both Prof Mujeeb and Jamia Millia Islamia had come out of the financial blues. Hopefully, Mohammad Nasim must have agreed to Gandhiji's request.

Interestingly, Gandhiji who met the elder brother to plead the case of the younger brother came away impressed with the elder one too. In the same letter to Prof Mujeeb, he wrote about Mohammad Habib: "I must confess that by his humility and yet dignified bearing he captured me entirely."

The Nawab who could not settle in Pakistan!

2010-09-22T20:35:00.009+01:00

When India was partitioned, hundreds and thousands of families were uprooted. People left their homes and belongings to save their lives. The wealthy, educated and well connected people too changed their addresses to where they thought they would be safe, secure and able to prosper.

However, there were some exceptions who were in Pakistan but chose to come back to India. And this post is about one such person. His name was Ahmad Hussain who left his job as an Information Officer with the Associated Press of Pakistan in Lahore and returned to India in 1950.

Born in 1921 in Allahabad in a Nawab family, Hussain did his MA in English and Urdu from Allahabad University. He was a descendant of Nawab Tajjuddin Hussain Khan who was a Vazir in the Awadh court. The family later settled in Allahabad. At Allahabad University he was in close contact with his teachers such as Profs Ajaz, Ehtesham Hussain of Urdu Department and Firaq Gorakhpuri of English Department.

Hussain’s father-in-law, Mohammed Hussain, was a close associate of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya. He joined the freedom struggle, along with his brother-in-law Mubarak Mazdoor (in pic below, standing behind the girl) who was an active Congressman in his student life and a freedom fighter too from his school days.

He was very close to Firaq Gorakhpuri who had taken him as his foster son. Very soon he found himself surrounded by famous poets and writers who used to frequent Firaq’s residence. After completing his studies he joined the Press Information Bureau as a class I officer and moved to Delhi.

While first in Allahabad and later in Delhi, Hussain’s love for literature and his association with Firaq got him in close contact with Majaz, Josh, Sajjad Zaheer, Shaukat Thanvi, Shamsher Bahadur Singh (Hindi poet), Saghar Nizami, Inder Pratap Tewari, Dr Suresh Awasthi, Ram Pratap, Munish Narain Saxena, Rahi Masoom Raza, Dharam Vir Bharti, Kamleshwar, Dr Namwar Singh and other prominent writers and poets.

Hussain was deeply influenced with the leftist movement after the Russian revolution. He had a leftist leaning and was always concerned about the poor, labour class and weaker section of society.

According to his son Dr Ahmad Cameron: "As the Communist Party had been banned in Pakistan after the country came into existence, my father realized there cannot be democracy in that country as the labour, poor & weaker sections of Pakistan being ruled by landlords, zamindars etc will never be able to have a voice of their own because the party which was genuinely for them had been banned."

Thus he came back to India in 1950 and joined Hindustan Times. His other cousins and maternal uncles had also migrated to Pakistan but that did not come in front of his decision to come back to India. Interestingly, his two younger brothers, one sister and mother went to Pakistan after he returned to India. His father and elder sister though never migrated to Pakistan.

I am sure a man like Ahmad Hussain would have been a rarity. And he was very soon noticed by the political and the intellectual class. Being the only Muslim journalist in an English language newspaper in Delhi till late 1950s, the letters written by his father Mehdi Hussain, would reach him with just the following address:

Barkhurdar Ahmad Hussain Sallemahu
Akhbar Angrezi
Delhi

Feroz Gandhi who was the General Manager of Indian Express employed him for his newspaper after learning about him that though a Muslim, who consciously decided to return to India, was also instrumental in saving many Hindu families in Lahore and ensuring their safe passage to India. He also worked for the National Herald and Patriot.

For Hussain religion was a private matter and he disliked organizations exclusively using religion as a tool to reach out to people.

“I remember I had started attending RSS Shakha with other school boys of the colony when we were living at Mall Road in Delhi. He discovered it one day. He gave me a good thrashing pointing out the kind of poison RSS spreads and they were the killers of Gandhiji. But by then I had attended Shakha for about 10 days! So I have a first hand knowledge about the things that go on in Shakhas. I was in 7th grade at that time so I was not that young either! Similarly he was dead against the Jamat-i-Islami and found the two organizations as two sides of the same coin,” remembers Cameron.

Though a leftist at heart, Hussain never missed any namaz. But he would also never go to offer namaz in a masjid either, except on Eid. He taught as a faculty member at AMU’s department of journalism in early 1980s.

It was only after his death his family came to know that he used to give monthly donations to the charities of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Christians which worked among the orphans. None in his family or he ever regretted returning to India.

Like him, his wife, Sardar Fatima Ahmad, was also unique in many ways. She was the first female Post Graduate of Urdu employed by Delhi Administration for teaching of Urdu language to school children, after 1947 in Delhi, who finally retired as the Principal of Govt Intermediate School.

I have always believed history is all about knowing the present better by learning about events and people of the past. If India continues to be a plural and democratic country, it is only because of people like Ahmad Hussain who was an English language journalist, Urdu language critic and Hindi poet.

He and his wife are both buried in Jamia’s grave yard in Delhi.

Urdu press and India's freedom struggle

2010-08-14T00:10:00.036+01:00

The history of India's Independence will be incomplete without the mention of the role played by Urdu poets/journalists. Unfortunately, not much attention has been given to the subject except reasearch and discussions in academic and scholarly circles.Urdu's identity , at least in India, revolves around romance and poetry. With the passing away of a number of luminaries in the last few decades the glorious chapter of Urdu poetry/journalism and its role in the freedom struggle has disappeared without even being written anywhere.

While interest in personalities like Ghalib, Zauq, Meer and other Urdu poets has always been there (some believe it has even increased) the valour and sacrifices of people like Maulvi Mohammed Baqar, Muneer Shikohabadi, Munshi Sajjad Hussain and Brij Narayan Chakbast are hardly heard and remembered.

Some personalities like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Hasrat Mohani, Mohammed Ali and others are remembered more for their political activities that overshadows the work they did with the pen. Their prominence and fame had a lot to do with the fact that their publications were loved by the masses that catapulted them in the public domain.

Another name that comes to mind is that of Abdul Qaiyum Ansari in Bihar. He was editor of Urdu weekly “Al-Islah” (The Reform) and an Urdu monthly “Musawat” (Equality) in the pre-independence days. He also started the Momin movement to work for the betterment of backward Muslims and vehemently opposed Partition.

Maulvi Mohammed Baqar the editor of Urdu Akhbar was a contemporary of Ghalib. Baqar had taken upon himself to keep up the morale of the Delhi citizens and keep people informed.

Candid and fortright in his comments and reports, the British very soon realised the harm he was doing to their interest. William Dalrymple's The Last Mughal gives a vivid picture of the man and his mission. Maulvi Baqar's Urdu Akhbar was not a mouthpiece for the rebels, but like any nationalist of the time he opposed the Britishers. Under the most trying circumstances, Baqar continued to bring out his paper and earned the ire of the Britishers.

Baqar was shot dead after the Britishers took over Delhi for helping the rebels. A young Mohammed Hussain Azad who also used to help his father in bringing out the Urdu Akhbar managed to escape. Jamaluddin the editor of Sadiqul Akhbar was sentenced to three year's imprisonment for aiding the rebels.

Muneer Shikohabadi, a poet based in Farrukhabad was arrested, tortured and sent to the Andamans for his nationalist views and fanning anti-British opinion. Not much is known about Shikohabadi and he has been reduced to a footnote in the annals of history. However, his poems give an account of the situation in North India. Heavy penalty was imposed on Gulshan-i-Naubahar and every step was taken by the British to suppress the growing menace of such Urdu publications.

As the government of the day responded quickly and forcefully against the unyielding Urdu press some revolutionaries started printing newspapers outside India. The Committee for Promotion of Urdu appointed by the Government of India in 1972 pointed out some of those newspapers: Aina-i-Saudagari, London (1887); Tarjuman-e-Shauq, Constantinople, (1878); Sultan-ul-Akhbar, Turkey (1880); Hindustan, London (1884); ; Hurriyat, Tashkent (1914); Talwar, Berlin (1910); Hindustani, San Francisco (1914); Yad-e-Watan, New York, (1923).

The committee also mentioned Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh and Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi who 'used Urdu for the propagataion of their ideas and produced a rich volume of political literature'.

The Awadh Punch, started under the editorship of Munshi Sajjad Hussain in 1877, took Urdu satire to new levels. It poked fun at the British administration and joined cause with the Congress. Using humour it also worked to forge Hindu-Muslim unity.

Chakbast (pic left), a Kashmiri Brahmin died when he was only in his 40s. A lawyer by profession he was a gifted poet and writer. His hilarious poem 'Lord Curzon Se Ek Jhapat' describes a fictitious conversation between Chakbast and Lord Curzon. A daring and fearless piece of work, 'Lord Curzon Se Ek Jahpat' was well ahead of its time.

The Mumbai-based popular Urdu daily Inquilab was founded by Abdul Hamid Ansari in 1938. A staunch Congressman, Ansari's newspaper espoused nationalist causes. After Partition, Jinnah invited him to Pakistan. However, Ansari refused and continued with his work in Mumbai.

This is just a short list and dozens of such names can be drawn up. The current Urdu newspapers, fighting against all odds, can learn a lesson or two from them.

Gulshan-i-Hind and the Musi flood

2010-07-17T00:01:00.006+01:00

In the era of internet and e-books, losing a precious book forever does not even crosses the mind. We take it for granted that whatever be the book we are sure to get a copy from somewhere. Even if it is lying in someone's private collection, there is still a possibility that a book aficionado can reach him through the net.

I would like to share the fate of a book written by one of the scholars employed at the Fort William College. The book in question contained short biographies of poets. Before I write about the book let me first introduce you to its author and the circumstances under which it was written.

Mirza Ali Lutf was one of the scholars employed by the Britishers at Fort William College to write and compile books in Urdu. Fort William College, established in Calcutta in 1800, aimed at producing materials in the native languages. The other important objective of Fort William was to acquaint the newly-appointed British officers with the local languages of India.

Since most of the Urdu scholars did not have a good grip on English, they were asked to translate books in Urdu from Persian. The college produced a remarkable body of work and gave a new meaning to Urdu prose writing.

Scholars and writers like Mir Amman Dehlvi, Syed Haider Baksh Haideri, Hafizuddin Ahmad and many others were taken on board to produce a body of work in Urdu that would help the future civil servants understand the law and custom of the country in its own language.

The Urdu prose as such had no real identity of its own and the translation in Urdu had to include elements of English prose writing. I believe Fort William set the trend for the future Urdu prose before Sir Sayyed Ahmad arrived on the scene. Anyway, coming back to Mirza Ali Lutf. Lutf was not a great poet himself but he undertook the translation of the Persian book Gulzar-i-Hind. Gulzar-i-Hind was written by Ali Ibrahim Khan and had names of the famous and not-so-famous Persian/Urdu poets.

Mirza Ali Lutf translated Gulzar-i-Hind as Gulshan-i-Hind in Urdu and very well captured the persona of poets in short biographical sketches. Gulzar-i-Hind came out in 1801 and in the preface Lutf admits he wrote the book on the suggestion of John Gilchrist, the head of Fort Williams College. The book was written when Lutf was in Hyderabad and many scholars believed the book had Dakhni influence.

The book was published much before Muhammad Husain Azad's Ab-e-Hayat. I am sure Lutf's work would pale in comparison to Azad's, but was nevertheless an important piece of work. However, with the passage of time there were not many copies left. In one of the Musi floods of Hyderabad (it was very frequent) a copy was found washed away.

Fortunately, it was found its way to the Asifia State Library, now known as the State Central Library. The library was formed to collect and conserve Arabic and Persian books and manuscripts. Allama Shibli Nomani revised the book and it was brought back to life. Baba-i-Urdu Maulvi Abdul Haq wrote an introduction to the book which was published from Lahore in 1906.

Abdul Haq wrote in his introduction that the book would have been lost forever had it not been recovered from the floods. Gulshan-i-Hind is now available to buy through the internet and fortunately it won't be lost or rediscovered in any flood now!

How MacDonnell led to the decline of Urdu

2010-07-03T10:49:00.020+01:00

For years now the decline of Urdu in India has been a subject of discussion and debates. While there are several instances that caused severe blow to the interest of Urdu, I believe it was Sir Antony MacDonnell's (pic above) stint as the Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh that caused major irreparable damage.

Soon after he gained charge of the provinces, several deputations met him pressing for the use of Hindi as the official language of courts. Finally in April 1900, MacDonnell issued orders that allowed the optional use of Devanagari script in courts. While the orders did not completely displace Urdu from the position it had enjoyed for decades, it infuriated the votaries of Urdu as the decision took them by surprise.

In his earlier posting in Bihar, MacDonnell had lent his support to Nagari script, and this time Urdu intelligentsia lost no time in coming together to oppose him. As a response, Urdu Defence Association was formed and protest meetings were held in Aligarh, Allahabad and Lucknow.

Mohsin-ul-Mulk who was the secretary of the Aligarh College Committee took the lead. He had filled the void created after the death of Sir Syed Ahmad and he took command of the Urdu Defence Association. A huge support base to the Association came from Urdu-knowing lawyers based in Allahabad.

MacDonnell started feeling the heat and made his disapproval clear to the members of the Association. As he openly criticised the organisation and spoke against it on several occasions, many Muslim notables fearing a backlash from the government backed out from it. As a result, a large number of landlords and Nawabs stayed away from the Association thus robbing it of valuable intellectual and monetary benefits. Prominent among them being Nawab Lutf Ali of Chhatari.

Mohsin-ul-Mulk's involvement meant that the entire might of the Mohammedan Anglo Institute was behind the Urdu Defence Association. The British government was giving financial aid to the Aligarh Institute and MacDonnell decided to use it for his advantage. He made it clear that if Mohsin-ul-Mulk continued to stand behind the Urdu Defence Association the aids and grants would be in jeopardy and he would have to resign as secretary of the College Committee.

Mohsin-ul-Mulk had a tough decision to make. He decided to resign from the honorary secretaryship of the College. However, he had to change his decision under mounting public pressure including letters from prominent Urdu writers and personalities. The Urdu movement thus lost a towering leader and guide.

Till the period MacDonnell was in the province, Mohsin-ul-Mulk could not do much for the cause of Urdu. Losing financial and administrative support would have spelled doom for the Aligarh Institute, and it was only after MacDonell's exit from the province that Mohsin-ul-Mulk organised the Anjumman-i-Taraqqi-i-Urdu.

However, much steam had been lost and Urdu had lost ground. What were the reasons that made some people think that Hindi should replace Urdu? A question of language acquired religious dimension. Much of it stemmed from the fact that exponents of both the languages did their best to create as wide a gulf as possible. The charge from both the sides was that the respective scripts were not in sync with the thinking and aspirations of the common man.

As a result words drawn heavily from Sanskrit and Arabic/Persian found their way in what was earlier seen as identical languages with different scripts. I am reminded of the great Altaf Hussain Hali who is known for his Musaddas. Hali wrote the Musaddas - on the rise and fall of Muslims - at the insistence of Sir Syed Ahmad.

However, his masterpiece which was appreciated by the common readers had to face a barrage of criticisms from several quarters. He was widely criticised for the use of Hindi words in his writings. He used to write in simple Urdu and was a staunch believer in bridging the Hindi-Urdu divide.

Hali criticised Muslims for not making efforts to learn Hindi and Sanskrit and using difficult Arabic and Persian words. At the same time he advised that Hindus should use and learn Urdu. If there were more people like Hali on the scene I am sure the situation would have been much different.

But it was not to be. In 1891, around 24 Hindi newspapers had an estimated circulation of about 8,000 while 68 Urdu newspapers had a combined circulation of over 16000. In 1911, 116 Urdu newspapers had a circulation of about 76000 whereas 86 Hindi newspapers had circulation close to 78,000.

Patna man who introduced shampoo to UK

2010-06-02T21:01:00.001+01:00

A two-hour drive from London towards the picturesque hilly north east took me to the beach-fringed city of Brighton & Hove. Aside from a quaint weekend, I was here to re-discover the fascinating legacy of an Indian, unknown to most in his home country, and nearly forgotten in his adopted nation as well.

Born in Patna, Sake Dean Mahomed represents a quirky, historic accident in Asian immigrant history — this man is said to have introduced the shampoo to England, a product most believe came to us from the West.

Mahomed's passion for enterprise made him open Mahomed’s Baths in 1821, which featured the first 'shampooing vapour masseur bath' in England. In other words, the seeds of the ayurvedic spa industry were sown not in Kerela but in Brighton. Located just off the sea on its pristine beach, the bath house became a regular jaunt for England's glitterati then.

Word of mouth helped Mahomed’s Baths, and it even caught the attention of George IV who often visited Brighton, to escape London’s hectic energy. Mahomed's peak was when he was appointed the 'shampooing surgeon' to George IV and William IV, a distinction that attracted even more political and diplomatic glamour to this pioneering concept.

Newspapers of the day began reviewing Mahomed’s Baths and the reviews predictably were glowing. Also, the bath held an Orientalist fascination in the popular consciousness of the times because of its therapeutic reputation: Sake Dean Mohamed advertised the bath as a panacea for those suffering from stiff joints and aching bones, something that earned him the moniker of 'Dr Brighton' as a result.

The site where the bath house stood has now given way to the Queen's Hotel, and its receptionist has no idea of who Sake Mahomed Bath is. "We do not keep records for more than five years, but the museum might have some information," he said, making up for lost history with a touristy enthusiasm. The chances of an immigrant success dating back to 150 being preserved at Brighton Museum seemed slim. But the receptionist's touristy energy did turn out to be contagious; after a quick round of fish and chips, I headed straight to the museum.

Mahomed's portrait occupies a prominent space on the ground floor of the Brighton museum. And accompanying his portrait is a silver cup that he received from the Princess Poniatowsky of Poland for the services rendered. Museum records confirm the heyday of this bath house and that its proprietor was a royal insider; Mahomed knew of royal visits to Brighton before anyone else did. To mark royal occasions, the establishment would be illuminated.

But nothing evidently lasts forever. Mahomed eventually fell on bad times and in 1841, Mahomed’s Baths went to public auction. Mahomed died ten years after this and while he may not exactly be anchored in every citizen's memory cache in Brighton currently, there are random traces of his rapport with the city. Some street plates feature him if you look carefully.

For evidence of a less microscopic tribute, you could ever engage the public transport system here. Because bus number 855 carries the name of Sake Dean Mahomed as part of a public campaign to salute Brighton’s eminent citizens.

More about Deen Mahomed

Born in May 1759, Mahomed started out as a camp follower to Godfrey Evan Baker of Bengal Army's 3rd European regiment. In 1782, Baker resigned from the East India Company and Mahomed accompanied him to Cork, Baker's hometown. In 1786, he eloped with Jane Daly, an Anglo-Irish lady. In 1794, he published The Travels of Dean Mahomet, the first book by an Indian to be written and published in English.

In 1810, he opened London's first Indian restaurant called Hindostanee Coffee House. The restaurant though shut shop in 1813 and he moved to Brighton where he established Mahomed’s Baths in 1821.After his death, his family was largely forgotten until his grandson, Frederick Mahomed, made substantial contributions in the field of high blood pressure.

This piece was first published in Mumbai Mirror

Kulsum Sayani: A 'Rahber' of Hindustani

2010-05-15T10:49:00.013+01:00

We all have heard of Ameen Sayani, the golden voice of radio, recognised and loved by lakhs of listeners. Sayani's voice has touched the lives of many which makes people nostalgic of the good old days of the radio. History buffs might know that his grandfather Rahimtulla Sayani was elected the president of Congress in 1896 and was a well known lawyer in Bombay.

However, not many people know of the pioneering educational work his mother Kulsum Sayani did for the purdah-clad women in Muslim localities. Kulsum Sayani's interest in social work and adult literacy began as a result of her close interaction with Gandhiji. Her father Dr Rajabally Patel was Gandhiji's friend and also personal physician when he arrived in Bombay from South Africa. She started taking active interest in the field of education.

She was part of several committees and organisations that were formed to help increase literacy among adults in Bombay. She was part of the first National Planning Committee which was set up by the Congress government in Bombay in 1938. She devised a home education scheme and started working among the Muslim women. With two teachers at the helm, she herself started doing the rounds of Muslim areas to gather the required quota of 25 students per teacher.

It must have taken a huge effort on Kulsum Sayani's part to convince the females about the necessity and importance of education to get them into classes. Her efforts bore fruits and her reputation grew with the Bombay City Social Education Committee, formed in 1939, asking her to take over their centres catering to Muslim women.

Slowly and steadily the classes grew and reached 600 in numbers. Her efforts were not limited to the Muslim community only. Due to her passion and sincerity she was appointed the general secretary of the All India Women's Conference in 1944.

Sayani's enthusiasm and zeal knew no bounds. To sustain the interest of people and keep them engaged she started Rahber (Leader), a fortnightly journal. Aimed at the new learners Rahber was remarkable at its time as it was published in three scripts of Nagari, Urdu and Gujarati.

The language was Hindustani, a mixture of Hindi and Urdu. Those were the times when the Hindi supporters were using heavy Sanskrit words and the proponents of Urdu were lacing the language with Persian and Arabic in their efforts to distinguish the two languages and establish their superiority.

Gandhiji was in favour of Hindustani written in the Nagari or the Urdu script. Kulsum Sayani's 'Rahber' sought to take forward Gandhiji's idea of Hindustani.

In a letter dated June 16, 1945, Gandhiji addressed Sayani as Beti Kulsum and wrote: "I like the mission of Rahber to unite Hindi and Urdu. May it succeed." Rahber was now being read by hundreds of political prisoners lodged in jails across the country. Anyone interested in learning Gandhiji's Hindustani picked up Rahber. Along with her work of administrating women literacy classes in Mumbai, Sayani immersed herself in bringing out Rahber.

When the Constituent Assembly deliberations started in the months leading to India's independence the language controversy again erupted. A letter dated July 22, 1947 from Gandhiji to Kulsum Sayani shows his resolve to stick with Hindustani. He wrote: "Heaven knows what is in store for us. The old order changeth giving place to new. Nothing is settled. Whatever is decided by the C. A., Hindustani with the two scripts remains for you and me."

Kulsum Sayani represented India at several international forums on education across the world. She attended the UNESCO conference in 1953 in Paris and shared ideas and gained new perspectives with representatives from several countries. Her other interest was to promote peace and increase understanding between India and Pakistan. Her sincerity and fame as an activist helped her get audiences from top leaders of both the countries. In her endeavour, she directly met Pakistani Presidents Ghulam Mohammad and Ayub Khan among other seasoned Pakistani politicians.

In India, her reputation as Rahber's editor helped her get appointments with Nehru, B G Kher, V K Krishna Menon, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and Indira Gandhi. She got hearty welcome wherever she went after people came to know that she was the woman behind Rahber. She got encouragement and support from politicians of all hues in India for her efforts to forge friendship with Pakistan. However, with the passing away of Nehru and Rafi Kidwai who shared her concern to improve relations with Pakistan she devoted her energies to propagate Hindustani.

Old age and bureaucratic red tape forced her to stop Rahber in 1960 after single-handedly bringing it out for 20 years since 1940. She continued to be associated with Hindustani Prachar Sabha and organised several lectures and seminars. However, she never lost focus from her lifelong passion to eradicate illiteracy.

She received the Padma Shri in 1960 and was also awarded the Nehru Literacy Award in 1969. Kulsum Sayani's life can be a study of a holistic woman. She managed her family and pursued her social interests with equal elan. Her sons Hamid and Ameen, both radio broadcasters, created their own identity.

Ameen Sayani attributes his 'basic grounding in clear and credible communications in Hindustani' due to his involvement in assisting his mother in bringing out Rahber. Like his mother, Ameen too got a Padma Shri in 2009 for his contribution to broadcasting.

Kulsum Sayani, who died in 1987, belonged to an era where people believed in giving their best to the nation without expecting anything back. Though less remembered than most women of her time, Sayani's contribution to the nation and society cannot be ignored.

The princess who was a spy

2010-04-29T20:41:00.014+01:00

The arrest of Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta on spying charges has once again brought the focus on the network of intelligence agencies. During the days of war, spies played a crucial role in relaying information about the enemy camp. Gupta's case made me think of Noor Inayat Khan, the British spy who was captured and killed by the German army.

Noor Khan was the great-great-great granddaughter of Tipu Sultan and was the first woman radio operator who was sent into the German-occupied France by the British. She was born in 1914 to Hazrat Inayat Khan and Ora Ray Baker, who was later known as Pirani Ameena Begum.

Inayat Khan (in pic below with an infant Noor) was a Sufi mystic and an expert in Indian classical music. The Nizam of Hyderabad had given him the titile of Tansen and he was sought after by several kings and princes. Inayat Khan had travelled the length and breadth of India and had come under the influence of Shaikh Mohammed Hashim Madani. His grandfather Maula Baksh was a legendary musician who had sent his younger son Alauddin (Inayat Khan's uncle) to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music.

Armed with his interest in music and to propagate Sufi thought, Inayat left India and travelled to several countries across the world. While he was in Russia, Noor his eldest child was born. The whole family moved to London from where they eventually settled in France. In 1927, Inayat Khan died while he was on a visit to India.

Noor went on to study music and took a degree in child psychology. She also started contributing to children's magazines and French radio. However, with the outbreak of World War II the family had to leave Paris and went back to London. Noor had undertaken a course in nursing from the Red Cross and nursed the ambition to fight against the rampaging Germans. It was not an easy decision for the daughter of a Sufi pacifist to literally enter the battlefield, but she was determined to fight the fascist forces.

She joined the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) and was trained as a wireless operator. During the interview she told the panel that after the war she might fight the British occupation in India! In February 1943, she was posted to the Directorate of Air Intelligence and after training she was sent to France in June the same year.

She managed to constantly dodge the German intelligence and continued to transmit messages under trying circumstances to London. The London Gazette notes: "She refused to abandon what had become the most important and dangerous post in France and did excellent work." She was captured by the Germans on a tip-off.

Driven by her passion to fight and with indomitable courage, she tried to escape but was unsuccessful. She did not give out any details to the Germans. On 25 November 1943, she managed to escape along with two other prisoners. Before they could get away far, an air raid alert got the Germans in action who then undertook a count of prisoners.

The feisty lady was again captured and this time she was taken to Germany and was kept under solitary confinement. She was classified as highly dangerous and all efforts to make her speak did not yield much. However, the Germans had found her notebook that had a record of all the messages she had sent to London.

On September 13, 1944 Noor was asked to kneel down and was shot from behind. When she died she was just 30. Noor's bravery and her heroic contribution to fight the Germans has all the ingredients of an ideal spy. Her courage and determination is the stuff legends are made of.

In September 2006, when Pranab Mukherjee was in France he visited Noor's house 'Fazal Manzil' where she grew up in Surenes near Paris. The British government honoured her with the George Cross and every year on July 14 a military band plays in her honour outside 'Fazal Manzil'.

The book 'Spy princess: the story of Noor Inayat Khan' by journalist Shrabani Basu brought her back in public memory. While Madhuri Gupta cools her heels behind bars the book should perhaps be made a compulsory read for her!

Premchand: A true son of the soil

2010-04-25T22:02:00.017+01:00

Last week I had gone to my native village and landed at Varanasi's Lal Bahadur Shastri airport which is in Babatpur. As the car went past the dusty road and small villages I was reminded of Premchand. I had read in a Hindi textbook in school that Premchand was born in Lamhi, a village near Varanasi. With every little village that my car passed by the thought that 'Premchand must have been born in one such village' went past me.

Premchand, born as Dhanpat Rai, is credited with turning kings, princess and religion based stories towards farmers and ordinary people. Like his personality, Premchand's stories too were simple and straightforward. While he pursued a day job to keep his house running, he continued to write with passion and pour his heart out.

Premchand's life was full of struggle and he faced financial difficulties throughout his lifetime. While continuing to teach he started contributing to Urdu magazine Zamana and the weekly Awaz-e-Khalq. He also wrote on national and international issues and his fame as a writer grew.

However, it was his collection of short stories 'Soze Watan' in 1908 that caught the attention of the British authorities. The five stories in the collection were on patriotism and did not find favour with the government. The Britishers discovered that Nawab Rai (his pseudonym) was none other than Dhanpat Rai who was employed by them as a school inspector.

The British administration decided to destroy all the copies of Soze Watan as it was labelled seditious. More than 500 copies of the stories were destroyed. He had to also face an inquiry but somehow managed to come out of it. However, he was instructed to show his writings to the district collector before he got them published. Dhanpat Rai then decided to write under the pseudonym 'Premchand' to escape censorship.

Premchand used to regularly contribute to the magazine 'Kahkashan' that was published by Imtiaz Ali Taj. Taj was the son of renowned reformer Maulvi Mumtaz Ali and was based in Lahore. Premchand had written a novel titled Bazar-e-Husn in Urdu. He asked for Rs 250 from Taj for the story. While Taj was still to make a decision, he had got Rs 100 for the Gujarati edition of the novel and Rs 500 for Hindi.

The novel became popular in Hindi (in which it went on to be first published as Sewa Sadan) and made Premchand very famous. He took to writing in Hindi and never looked back. Some of his stories were on caste-based discrimination and the sufferings of farmers and common man. This ruffled many feathers and a section of wealthy landowners and upper caste people started a campaign to defame Premchand and bring him down. However, Premchand who had his ground to the ear had struck a chord with the comman man and his fame and popularity grew each day.

Premchand's greatest virtue was his simplicity and humbleness. Once he submitted a story to Imtiaz Ali Taj for publication in 'Kahkashan'. Incidentally, Taj himself was planning to write a story on the same theme. However, he dropped the idea when he saw Premchand's story. Later when Premchand came to know about the incident he wrote to Taj and asked him to complete his story and get it published. He also expressed his pleasure that they both had the same theme in mind as they were on the same wavelength.

My Hindi teacher once told me that many times people would ask about Premchand from the author himself. The reason was that people did not expect a writer of Premchand's calibre to be so simple and down to earth. It was perhaps this reason that Premchand could not be associated with Bollywood for long. He became a script writer for Hindi films but eventually came back to his village. He also chaired the first meet of the Progressive Writers' Conference in Lucknow in 1936.

When Premchand was posted in Gorakhpur, Firaq Gorakhpuri who hailed from the same district was a constant visitor to his house. While Premchand was in service he continued to study and managed to complete his BA. Premchand's last novel 'Godaan' is one of most popular and finest Hindi novels. His other stories Kafan and Shatranj ke Khiladi are considered as classics.

As my journey continued and I caught glimpses of poor farmers toiling in the scorching heat, I realised that it was Premchand's simplicity and his interest in the common man that made me think about him. A true son of the soil.