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The demise of Dr Zohra Begum
2007-11-10 13:26:00
Dr Zohra Begum Kazi, amongst the pioneering women to have got a degree in medicines, passed away in Dhaka.She had got the degree of MBBS from Lady Harding Medical College in 1935. She was the first woman Muslim doctor of the sub-continent, say newspaper reports. Begum Kazi had served as head of Gynaecology department of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.At the time of her death she was 97. An activist, she had played an important role in the 1971 struggle. Her husband, Raziuddin, a lawmaker, had died in 1963. She was issue-less. She died on the night of November 8 at her Gulshan residence and was buried at Banani graveyard.+++Just when I came across the news, I recalled the letter published in Rashtriya Sahara Urdu daily about the huge money spent on advertisements by the warring factions of Qureshi biradari.The letter writer had expressed surprise over the manner the office-bearers were flaunting their money and numerical strength, and questioned whether they had opened any school...

Diwali in an alien land
2007-11-08 19:45:00
I am not in my City and that has made such a big difference!It's Diwali and here I am sitting far away from my friends. Will not visit any home tomorrow. Have no friend to greet here and can't enjoy the holiday either.Though a few SMS I have received, haven't sent many. No Gujhias. No sweets. A friend called me to tell that my 'mithai ka dabba' is lying in office, and he is going to take it home.Diwali is the biggest festival in India. Though Dussehra fascinated me more in the childhood because of the huge effigies burnt, Diwali was no less exciting. I always had more Hindu friends than Muslims and never felt left out during any of the festivals.The neighbours would come and place 'diyas' at our door and in the verandahs. The mithais would come from every flat. The young ladies of the nearby flats who wre younger would come and touch my mother's feet also. We were the only Muslim family there.That was an intriguing sight to the new neighbours who would find it strange why re...
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Diwali in an alien land
2007-11-08 19:45:00
I am not in my City and that has made such a big difference!It's Diwali and here I am sitting far away from my friends. Will not visit any home tomorrow. Have no friend to greet here and can't enjoy the holiday either.Though a few SMS I have received, haven't sent many. No Gujhias. No sweets. A friend called me to tell that my 'mithai ka dabba' is lying in office, and he is going to take it home.Diwali is the biggest festival in India. Though Dussehra fascinated me more in the childhood because of the huge effigies burnt, Diwali was no less exciting. I always had more Hindu friends than Muslims and never felt left out during any of the festivals.The neighbours would come and place 'diyas' at our door and in the verandahs. The mithais would come from every flat. The young ladies of the nearby flats who wre younger would come and touch my mother's feet also. We were the only Muslim family there.That was an intriguing sight to the new neighbours who would find it strange why re...
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Sher Ali: The revolutionary who had killed the Viceroy
2007-11-04 13:36:00
Only one Viceroy was killed on Indian soil during the freedom movement and though many other revolutionary freedom fighters are remembered, the name of Sher Ali has been completely forgotten.It was in February 1872, when this revolutionary who had been sent to Andaman Islands (Kala Pani), assassinated Lord Mayo, the viceroy who was on a visit to the Andamans where the freedom fighters were kept incarcerated.Richard Bourke, the 6th Earl of Mayo and Viceroy of India, was visiting the Andaman along with high ranking officials and security personnel, when Sher Ali stabbed him to death. When asked why he murdered the viceroy, the man from Tirah valley of Khyber said that 'Khuda ne hukm diya, is waste kiyaa'. He was charged with murder and hanged on Viper islands the next year.One may nor may not agree to the revolutionary ways but that was surely one of the few ways in sight to the ordinary Indians to take on the might of the foreign imperialstic power.Here is the link to the wikimapia...
More About: Revolutionary , Killed , The Revolution

AIMPLB's strange stand & HC's welcome decision on Triple Talaq
2007-10-29 17:12:00
One of the most representative of Muslim organisations in the country, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) that has 201 members in the board and represents almost every Muslim sect, seems stuck in a time warp.On issues where the Board needs to take a stand and speak up, it disappoints the community. And whenever it issues a statement it is retrogressive and irrational. Just see their reaction to the Supreme Court's verdict asking for compulsory registration of marriages. SR Ilyasi says it should be optional and that Qazis already register marriages. So what's the problem. Can't there be a mechanism through which the same registration form is forwarded to the authorities?--MEANWHILEThe Hight Court judgment that the divorce is invalid if the husband pronounces talaq in anger or fails to communicate it to his wife, is certainly laudable. Justice BD Ahmed's verdict says that the 'harsh abruptness of triple talaq has brought extreme misery to women."It (triple talaq) is an ...
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Tehelka's landmark sting 'Operation Kalank' on Mass Murders in Modi-land: G
2007-10-25 19:16:00
A shocked nation watched in disbelief the revelations about Gujarat riots on Television, it is time Modi is charged with conspiracy and murders.Leaders, and if not leaders, then individuals and NGOs must get case registered against him, if not through police, then through private complaint in the courts, in form of PILs and must get these bloodthirsty killers pay for their sins against humanity. So that never again any group of politicians could dare to plot such killings.1. Narendra Modi had given free hand for three days to VHP, Bajrang Dal activists to kill Muslims across Gujarat.2. Babu Bajrangi, Madan Dhanraj Chawal killing tens of Muslims in cold blood in Ahmedabad including a pregnant woman. Such hate just because she was a Muslim!3. After cutting MP Ehsan Jafri's hands and feet they then phoned Home Minister Govardhan Zadaphia, We have done it, now manage the rest and save us'.4. Arvind Pandya says Modi is hero of Hindutva and talks of bombing Muslim residentialities. Dyn...
More About: Land , Sting , Communalism , Mass

Boy holds gun at RSS function: What he is aiming at?
2007-10-21 20:37:00
The photograph shows a child, a member of the RSS, holding a rifle.What he is aiming at, I have no idea. Is this the age for a boy to be handed the weapon? All fundamentalist organisations irrespective of the region and religion, indoctrinate early. I just hope that the boy doesn't believe that all Muslims are his enemies!Urdu Muslim India Islam Poetry Religion Hindu Shairi Ghalib Literature Ada Lucknow Meer Faiz Indian Muslim Blog Cricket Ghazal Blogger Islamic Hindi Kavita Shayar Sahitya
More About: Communalism , Function , Holds

Second language status to Urdu in Jharkhand
2007-10-17 23:48:00
At last Urdu has got the status of second official language in Jharkhand . It was the demand of the people of the state as Urdu had the status in undivided Bihar since late 80s.But after the new state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar, the demand to give the language its rightful place was ignored. Chief Minister Madhu Koda needs to be congratulated.He had promised that he would present the Urdu speakers with a gift on Eid-ul-Fitr and on the third day of Eid, he delivered on his promise with the announcement. Though the role of Lalu Prasad Yadav who gave the go-ahead for the decision, needs to be appreciated as well.The states where Urdu is an official language for administrative use (additional or second language) include Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh (HP).In Himachal it remains just on papers and was made the official state language when as part to popularise Southern languages in North, Telugu was made an offici...
More About: Languages , Language , Status

Nepal government ignores "Eid'
2007-10-15 23:28:00
Sunday is a working day in Nepal and though Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated by Nepali Muslims on the day, there was no public holiday and all offices, banks, schools and colleges remained open.Muslims in Nepal have always been deprived of their rights, according to a report in Hindustan Times. It further says that the government failed to pass the Secular Test on Eid, after it became a Secular nation early this year. And also that there are no signs still that Nepal would transform as a secular nation that has 10% Muslims.Personally I feel it is not that big an issue. Of course, the adherents of a particular religion feel good if there is a holiday on their festival. They do feel a sense of belongingness. But many parties and groups have raised the issue and with time, may be there will be, at least, an optional holiday or even a public holiday.Recently there were riots and the violence in which former AMU student and Madhesi leader Moid Khan was killed. Right now, what everybody needs...
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Attack on Ajmer: Terror reaches Sufi Shrine
2007-10-11 20:28:00
The bloodthirsty terrorists have struck again. For long they are trying to trigger communal riots.They attacked temples and mosques and gatherings in Delhi, Benares, Hyderabad, Malegaon and the list gets longer as you start recalling the incidents in the past.Now one of the most revered Sufi shrines in South Asia (and the world) Dargah Ajmer Sharif has been targeted.That too in the holy month of Ramzan when the devout were having 'iftar', just on the eve of Alwida course a day or two before Eid.Terror ists will fail in their aim to instigate ordinary Muslims and Hindus to attack each other. Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti's shrine is visted more by Hindu pilgrims (and devotees) than Muslims. [Two persons have died and over a dozen injured in the blast] It always feels good to say that our secularism and communal harmony can't be disrupted by such attacks, but that's no solution.The terrorist attacks are not ending. Intelligence agencies are unable to stop or anticipate them. The terror...
More About: Photos , Shrine , Attack

Aurangzeb graned 300 bighas land for temple at Chitrakut in Ramzan
2007-10-10 22:12:00
It was the month of Ramzan, 334 years ago, when Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had granted 330 bighas of land for the Balaji Temp le at Chitrakut in present day Uttar Pradesh.In this holy month, the official decree was issued and the document is in possession of the present pujari Ram Naresh. On the 19th of Islamic month of Ramzan, this firman was written in order to ensure that the idol gets the 'bhog' with the earning of the land.In the firman, which is available with Ram Naresh, Aurangzeb writes, 'Sant Balak Das gets 330 bigha lagaani zameen of eight villages viz. Hinauta, Chitrakot, Devkhari, Raudra, Siria, Madri, Jarwa and Doharia. The firman written in Persian says that apart from this land, the lagaan of Re 1 should be given per day from Kini Paroshtha pargana. Balakdas of Kalinjar Pargana in Allahabad Suba gets this land.' Chitrakoot is the famous temple town in Uttar Pradesh. Lord Rama spent 11-1/2 years here. It has great religious significance for Hindus.Urdu Muslim India Is...
More About: Land

Muslim girls in an ancient mosque: Photos of Ramadan and Eid preparation
2007-10-09 21:25:00
Here Palestinian Muslim girls are seen reading Holy Quran at the ancient Sheikh Nasrallah Mosque on the West Bank village of Salem near Nablus.The other is the scene from Damascus Gate on Lailatul Qadr. People in a mood of celebration in Jerusalem.The photo below is also from the same region. Here the Muslims are seen praying at an Israeli checkpost while trying to reach Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for Lailatul Qadr. A unique photo is from Malaysia where women are seen buying flowers ahead of Eid to decorate their houses. That's new for me. Really cool, isn't it!Urdu Muslim India Islam Poetry Religion Hindu Shairi Ghalib Literature Ada Lucknow Meer Faiz Indian Muslim Blog Cricket Ghazal Blogger Islamic Hindi Kavita Shayar Sahitya
More About: Girls , Photos , Ramadan

Ramzan photos: From India to Indonesia
2007-10-07 20:46:00
The first photograph is from Kashmir: A young man offering Namaz under the tree on the roadside in the outskirts of Sri Nagar. I really liked this Yasin Dar photo. Just seeing the photo one can feel the peace he must be experiencing in the ibaadat.Mannequins in the second photo have their heads covered, in accordance with the local culture. The photograph is from a shop in Jakarta (Indonesia ).Jameel Ahmed reads the Holy Quran in his shop in Hyderabad. He sells Islamic texts and other religious literature. That's a familiar scene in any walled City.The last is the photo from America. Iftaar in a Muslim house where families of expatriate Muslims from Asia and other parts, break their fast.The Holy month Ramzan, as we say in Urdu, (many prefer saying Ramadan) is now coming to an end. And Id is round the corner.I am not sure still about what am I going to do--going home or just being here and taking a day's off on Id!Urdu Muslim India Islam Poetry Religio...
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Defiled by Dalit's touch, Muslims perform Hindu man's last rites
2007-10-03 21:46:00
'Defiled' by a Dalit 's touch, the relatives of Rameshwar refused to cremate him. For three days the body kept lying in wait for the funeral.At last, Muslims in the town (Khandwa) that is yet to recover from the recent riot, came forward to perform the last rites of the elderly man. Rameshwar's kin said that they could not perform his last rites because Dalits ('sweepers') had touched it.And if somebody touches a 'polluted' body, he also gets polluted, said the community leader. For getting cleansed the person then has to embark on a pilgrimage.Also, the community fines such people who touch a 'defiled' body. Rameshwar, a Gond, had died in a road accident on September 29.On Gandhi Jayanti, the body was still waiting for funeral. Despite administration trying hard to convince his family members to perform the funeral, nobody was willing to do it. Muslims decided to come forward. The local Muslim society leader Ahmad Patel offered to cremate as per the Sanatan traditions.Howe...
More About: Touch , Hindu , Perform

The Iftaar season & Kashmiri Pundits host after 19 yrs
2007-10-02 19:57:00
After a period of 19 years, an iftaar was hosted by a Kashmiri Pundit at Kralkhud in Habba Kadal (Sri Nagar).The State president of Lok Janashakti Party Sanjay Saraf had organised the iftaar. Lok Janshakti's national chief Ram Vilas Paswan also attended it.It's a healthy sign, surely for the Valley. Meanwhile, outside the Valley, iftars are being organised all over the country. The BJP leaders are also hosting iftaars. Though these are often political , there is a social imortance of these iftaars also.The gesture goes down well with the other community. Many Hindus and people belonging to other religions organise the iftars just as a sort of goodwill gensture for fellow Muslim traders, workers et al.On the left is photograph of Lalu Prasad Yadav, at an Iftaar in Patna. Meanwhile, after several years the Rashtrapati Bhawan organised an Iftaar. All these years when APJ Abdul Kalam was in President's House, no iftaar was held. The new Prez Pratibha Patil has hosted one recently.Urd...
More About: Season , Ramadan , Host

Rizwanur's death: A tragic Hindu-Muslim love story
2007-09-28 21:38:00
Priyanka, a millionaire's daughter, and Rizwanur Rahman fell in love and got married. From her palatial house in Salt Lake, she came to the humble two-room house in a lower middle class to live with his family but their happiness barely lasted a month. The police started harassing him. Rizwan was warned to let his wife go back to her house. He was rounded up, kept in detention and later his mutilated body was found on the railway tracks. And this hasn't happened in Ahmedabad or Meerut, but in the City of Tagore. Two adults who love each other and want to live together can't be separated but here they were not only in love but also married. Still, the police not only played 'moral guardians' to separate the mismatch marriage: Rich-Poor & Hindu-Muslim wedlock. Several top officials of Kolkata police allegedly colluded to try to separate them and put pressure on Rizwan even as he was seeking legal support and the help of human rights groups. West Bengal, especially Calcutta, ...
More About: Love , Story , Tragic , Death

American Arrogance Vs Ahmedinejad: Insulting Iran prez at Columbia Universi
2007-09-25 23:07:00
The discourteous reception given to the Iran president at the Columbia University where he was invited and the reaction of mainstream newspapers, has showed sections of America n intelligentsia and their press in poor light.Firstly, if they didn't like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they shouldn't have invited him for lecture at the University. And when he arrived there, the University president Lee Bollinger introduced the Iranian leader as 'a petty and cruel dictator' to the audience.Bollinger's reportedly aggressive tone and the words he chose to describe Ahmadinejad were distasteful and beyond all civilised norms. If that was not enough, the newspaper reports reflected the feeling of concern that Bollinger's unwarranted aggression may help Ahmadinejad, who remained composed and reacted in a dignified way, earn brownie points.Bollinger didn't stop at this and further said, When you come to a place like this it makes you simply ridiculous' and 'You are either brazenly provocative or...
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Former BJP MP's diktat: Behead Karunanidhi, get Gold
2007-09-22 17:44:00
Former BJP MP Ram Vilas Vedanti has done a Haji Yaqub act, with the statement that anybody who cut DMK leader Karunanidhi's head and tongue would get gold as much as his own weight.The immediate provocation is Karunanidhi's remark on Lord Rama. The Dravidian leader's statements are unfortunate and not in a good taste. Such statements are bound to cause hurt to millions of Indians irrespective of their religion and caste.But this not unexpected from DMK, as the Dravidian leaders especially the pioneering ones were staunchly anti-religion, anti-temple and anti-Brahmin. Karunanidhi said that Ramayana was a fiction and termed the existence of Rama as a Himalayan lie apart from saying that Lord Rama also used to drink.Karunanidhi is also playing to the gallery just as the BJP is trying to woo electorate by rousing sentiments on Sethusamudram project (Rama Setu). Everyone is out to fool the common man and divert the attention from the real issues to emotive ones.Does anybody remember ...
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Abdul Moeed Khan's killing & anti-Muslim violence in Nepal
2007-09-19 22:14:00
The anti-Muslim violence is Nepal hasn't stopped and tension prevails in the entire region following the killing of Madhesi leader Abdul Moeed Khan by a Maoist in Nepal and the attack on life and property of Muslims in several towns in the country.Business establishments, shops, eateries (dhabas) and houses of Madhesis, especially Muslims, were targeted, looted and set ablaze by the Pahadis. Scores of vehicles including 48 buses and many other cars and two-wheelers were earlier set afire. Around 300 houses were torched by mob in Chandrauta alone, officials confirmed. Mosques have also been attacked.Factories and saw mills have also been burnt. Nearly 28 persons have been killed in the violence so far and there is tension on this side of border as well. Indian security forces, particularly, SSB are keeping an eye on the situation in Siddharth Nagar district in UP.Reports indicate that hundreds of people fled their homes due to violence. Curfew continues in several Nepal towns and mo...
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The Bohra divide in Udaipur & the recent clash
2007-09-16 11:10:00
The clash between two groups of the minuscule Bohr a community in Udaipur made headlines in national media on Saturday but it's an age-old schism (nearly a century old) and the dispute over claim on mosques also dates back to several decades.It was in the 70s in this Rajasthan city when a section of local Bohras had revolted against the religious establishent and formed the Progressive Bohra community. The Dawoodi Bohras are a sub-sect of the Ismaili Shia community (there are some Sunni Bohras as well) and have the reputation of a hardwork businessmen.number around a million (10 lakh) in India and have main concentration in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Malwa (Western MP). Udaipur has a population of 15,000 Bohras. The Bohras here got divided first in the early 20th century over alleged misappropriation of Jamaat funds.The rebel 'aamil' could be buried on his death only after the intervention of the ruling family of the princely state. In the 70s, the local religious leaders...
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It's Allahabad High Court again!
2007-09-14 22:01:00
Justice SN Srivastava's judgment that Bhagwad Gita should be the dharma shastra surprised many. Though more surprising were his other observations in the lengthy judgment. (And latest is cancellation of appointment of 10,000 Urdu teachers, the decision* which came on September 14 as I was writing this post)The observations about the threat to Hindus in this country, the safety of temples and similar other concerns of the learned judge were absolutely unwarranted in the context of the case. He better write a voluminous book on his thoughts after his retirement which is due in the next couple of days.The case was regarding dispute over shifting of a temple between two brothers. Even before we have seen similar sentiments and the display of erudition, often unwarranted, in decisions of Alla habad High Court . The same judge had earlier this year given the judgment that Muslims were not a minority in Uttar Pradesh which was stayed by a division bench later on.The judge says that, "??It i...
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A Hindu-Muslim love story: Kanchana and Moideen
2007-09-13 20:39:00
Kanchana, 67, couldn't marry Moideen, her childhood friend because of their different religions, and didn't meet him for years due to family restrictions. After his death in an accident, she decided to remain single all her life and lived his dreams in the form of his social work which she has taken ahead."I went through hell living on hope for the first 25 years after they found out about us, because of him. I will still go through anything for him, again", says Kanchana. This amazing love story is reported by Rajeev Pi from Kerala.Moideen and Kanchana studied in same school in their town in Kozhikode and fell in love in their youth. But their well-to-do yet ultra-conservative families couldn't allow them to marry. Kanchana couldn't marry for sake of her younger sister as her own marriage with a Muslim would have sealed marriage prospects of her younger sister.She was confined to her house. Moiuddin turned to writing stories apart from social work. They exchanged just a few not...
More About: India , Love , Story , Hindu

Akhtar Shirani: Poet of Romance
2007-09-11 22:29:00
Great Urdu poet Akhtar Shirani passed away this month nearly 60 years ago but his unrequited love affair, letters purportedly written by him and the mystery of 'Salma', still evoke tremendous interest among readers.Shirani was the most popular poet of his generation. His famous romantic Nazms include 'Aye Ishq kahiiN le chal', 'Jahaan Rehana rahti thi' and Salma. Along with Majaz, he is also referred to as Keats of Urdu poetry.tum afsaana-e-Qais kyaa puuchhte hoidhar aao, ham tumko lailaa banaa deN(Akhtar Shirani)He is referred to as 'Shahzada-e-Ruman' (Prince of Romance ) and Shaaer-e-Husn-o-Javaani (Poet of youth and beauty). After failing to his lady love, Akhtar had drowned himself into liquor and died at an early age (43).He was the son of the renowned scholar Mahmood Sheerani who taught at Oriental College but unlike his father, Akhtar lived a bohemian life. Even sixty years after his death, publishers in India and Pakistan continue to cash in on his 'colourful life'....
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Why terrorists target Hyderabad?
2007-08-26 20:47:00
If terrorists are targeting Hyderabad repeatedly, there is a clear reason for them. No big city in India has such a multi-ethnic population with Muslims constituting nearly half of the populace apart from a large Christian population.Hyderabad embodies the composite culture of India and proves that peaceful coexistence of Hindus and Muslims is no myth. Also, it is a reflection of the new emerging India, where technology melts into culture.Hyderabad is often described as a metropolis simmering with Hindu-Muslim tension, which is nothing but false propaganda. Unlike Cities in North India (Moradabad, Meerut, Aligarh), West (Ahmedabad, Surat) and Eastern India (Kolkata, Bhagalpur), Hyderabad has seen communal flash points and clashes but figures of deaths were never in hundreds or thousands. And trouble never lasted for long.It is also one Indian City where Hindus still give houses on rent to Muslims and vice-versa. The culture is a blend of Hindu-Muslim and the speakers of Telugu and U...
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Hyderabad blasts & column on Rediff
2007-08-26 13:05:00
Again a tragedy in Hyderabad but a column on popular website Rediff demonstrates the insensitivity of the writer and the site.It was heart-rending to see elderly parents, both Hindus and Muslims, searching for their sons and daughters among the dead. It was a human tragedy and even ordinary people on the street said that nothing could divide them on religious lines, as it was an attack on humanity.But this morning as I read the column, I felt utterly frustrated. I am reproducing the piece here. B Raman writes...'...during a visit to Hyderabad..I was told that the influence of LeT and HuJI was so pervasive in local Muslim community that many kept in their houses pictures of Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf......what an ambigous word 'many' (it can 10, 10 thousand or a lakh, nice way to dub the Muslim community as traiters).I felt sick. The writer hasn't seen. He just heard it. Ok. From whom? His sources! For sixty years Indian Muslims have been targeted by the extreme right...
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Qurratul Ain Hyder: A Legend passes away
2007-08-21 10:15:00
One of the greatest litterateurs of the 20th century, Qurratulain Hyder, who is best known for her novel Aag ka Darya (River of Fire), died at the age of 80.She was ill for sometime and was admitted at the Kailash Hospital in Noida (Delhi). Ainee's demise has come as a big loss to the world of literature. She was the most towering figure in Urdu fiction and was awarded Padma Bhushan apart from the prestigious Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi awards.She was born in Aligarh in 1926 though her hometown was Nehtaur in Bijnor district. Her father Sajjad Hyder Yaldaram and Nazar Zahra, both of them werewell-known writers and influential personalities of their time.She lived briefly in Pakistan after partition, then moved to England returned to India to settle here. A firm believer in composite culture, Hyder had admitted that partition had come as a jolt to her and she was terribly unsettled as a result. It took her years to come to terms with the reality of two nations. The result was the ...
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'Who are the killers, Who are getting killed?
2007-08-19 21:28:00
maiN yah kiske naam likhuuN jo alam guzar rahe haiNmere shahar jal rahe haiN, mere log mar rahe haiNkoi aur to nahiiN hai pas-e-Khanjar-aazmaaiihamiiN qatl ho rahe haiN, hamiiN qatl kar rahe haiNThese are couplets of renowned Urdu poet Obaidullah Aleem's ghazal, which I've posted in Urdu, Hindi and Roman scripts here.On the left is the photograph from Qahtaniya village west of Mosul in Iraq where a series of suicide bombings killed 400 persons this week. The US military helicopter blasts dust as it lands at the site of bombing.The micro-minuscule Yazidi sect, the followers of whom speak Kurdish, was targeted. This semi-pagan sect has mysterious beliefs. They pay obeisance to Sheikh Adi, the supreme creator, and Malek Taus. Also, they show an unusual reverence for Shaitan.Country, region, religion, sect, followers of different spiritual leaders, they are all baying for each other's blood. Is it not Iraqi blood? It is in this context that I have quoted the couplets here. The famil...
More About: Pakistan , Muslims , Killers , The Killers

On Kolkata rally and Imam's threat to Taslima Nasreen
2007-08-18 17:45:00
At the rally in Kolkata the Imam of Tipu Sultan mosque reportedly fixed a reward on Taslima Nasreen 's head.An Imam asked her to leave the country within a month while another gave her just a fortnight. But the statement of Noor-ur-Rahman Barkati, the Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque, deserves to be condemned.We surely don't need such Imams. Indian democracy gives us ample freedom to stage demonstrations and protests, submit memorandums to the officials and politicians, approach courts and other forums if you feel that somebody has insulted you.The promise of cash reward to a person for executing the death threat is absolutely intolerable. And when it comes from an Imam, it is really unfortunate.Haji Yaqub sought publicity through a similar announcement sometime back. But he was a politician unlike Barkati, who is a religious person. Also, such statements tarnish the image of the community, which is under intense media scrutiny.A section of Muslims appear baffled by the criticism of such...
More About: Islam , Rally , Indian Muslims

Can't Muslims visit Israel, talk to Jews!
2007-08-15 20:20:00
The news of the visit of a delegation of Indian Muslims comprising the president of All India Imam Organisation, Maulana Jamil Ilyasi, has kicked up a row.Almost every Muslim organisation in the country has criticised the visit. The Raza Academy, Muslim Convention UP, Majlis-e-Ulama, Jamiat-e-Ulama, Qazi Council, All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawrat and Muslim Personal Board have condemned the tour.There are allegations of these people having sided with the 'fascist forces' from the very beginning, charges of them selling Muslim interests in lieu of Jewish money and supporting the Zionist cause. There is clamour for their social boycott as well.As far as I am concerned, I feel it is an over-reaction. All over the world groups with diametrically opposite views are meeting so why can't some Indian Muslims hold dialogue with the Jew leaders. For decades Indian Muslims and their newspapers have spent gallons of ink, for the Palestinian cause.But when countries of Middle East who fough...
More About: Israel , Jews , Talk , Visit

Five immortals couplets of a forgotten Urdu poet
2007-08-13 23:05:00
These are amongst the most oft-quoted Urdu couplets:muddaii laakh buraa chaahe to kyaa hotaa haivahii hotaa hai jo manzuur-e-Khudaa hotaa haisurkhruu hotaa hai insaaN ThokareN khaane ke baadrang laatii hai hinaa patthar pe pis jaane ke baadvoh phuul sar chaRhaa jo chaman se nikal gayaaizzat use milii jo vatan se nikal gayaahaqiiqat chhup nahiiN saktii banaavaT ke usuuloN seki Khushbuu aa nahiiN saktii kabhii kaaGhaz ke phuuloN semiTaa de apnii hastii ko gar kuchh martabaa chaaheki daana Khaak meN mil kar gul-o-gulzaar hotaa haiThese are all couplets of Mast Kalkattvi. This poet from Calcutta (Kolkata) was a contemporary of Josh Malihabadi and Firaq Gorakhpuri. His popularity knew no bounds in those days. True to his pen name Mast Kalkattavi, lived a bohemian life.He was born Syed Ghulam Mohammad and had adopted the takhallus 'Mast'. He was born in 1896 and passed away in 1942. Considering that he was such a popular poet, it is surprising that hardly any serious work done on his li...
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