Muslims Today - Part 11

Exhibition on calligraphy organised

LUCKNOW. INTACH (Indian National Trust for Arts & Cultural Heritage) Lucknow chapter, in association with Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi, Lucknow, is organising an exhibition “Lucknow ki Sarzameen”.

Painting by Azeem Haider — Calligraphy by Azeem Haider

The seven day exhibition on calligraphy is being organised at Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi. Calligraphy thrived as an art during the Nawabi period. Today it’s finding difficult to survie and very few are practising the art in the digital age. There is a tremendous need to create awareness and to save this art for future generations.

The exhibition is open to public from the 8th till the 14th of July.

Artists whose is being displayed at the exhibition include Pankaj Gupta, Syed Azeem Haider Jafri, and Vishnu Narain Agrwal.

A pioneering educational initiative for the Muslim minority

GUWAHATI. The American Federation of Muslims of Indian Origin (AFMI) will hold its 22nd International Convention on Education and Gala Award Program on Dec 28-29, 2013 in Guwahati in association with Markazul Ma’arif (a voluntary social-welfare NGO) and Ajmal Foundation.

Muslim toppers from each state will be honored at the convention.

In addition, the convention will also feature sessions on various aspects of education and these will be addressed by experts in the field. A special session will be dedicated on the challenges and prospects facing Muslim education in the North East. Another session will focus on educating the girl child.

AFMI is a philanthropic, service based and issue-orientated organisation formed by Muslim Americans of Indian origin in 1989. It strives to work towards the educational and economic upliftment of Indian Muslims by seeking cooperation among American and Indian relief and educational organisations.

The organisation which strives to achieve 100 per cent literacy among Indian Muslims has already built and adopted schools in many villages, and also provides prizes and scholarship to needy and deserving students.

Other than education AFMI has also built hospitals, conducted medical camps, provided relief and rehabilitation during epidemics and calamities.

“Madrasas have to take right decisions to keep up with the current times.”

PROFESSOR Waseem Akhtar is the Vice Chancellor of Integral University in Lucknow, UP. In an exclusive interview with Muslims Today, Prof. Akhtar speaks at length on how education can transform minorities.

MT: Please tell us about your journey so far.

WA: I remember as a child often diving into my world of dreams. Sometime I swam, sometime I drowned and at times even flew. In real life too wherever I worked, be it in India or the Middle East, I always strived for innovation. By the grace of God my efforts were appreciated.

Years back while working as a Principal in a school I wanted to bring about some major changes, but couldn’t, because of certain limitations. The thought stayed with me and I bought a 25000 sq mt of land to build a school of my own vision. We started in a hut with four students and two teachers, including me. Dreams started shaping up fast, first came the high school, and then followed a polytechnic, an engineering college, a pharmacy college, a management college and other professional offerings. Continue reading ““Madrasas have to take right decisions to keep up with the current times.””

A new book explores Lucknow

NEW DELHI. The Vice President of India Hamid Ansari recently released a book entitled “Fida-e-Lucknow – Tales of the city and its people” authored by Parveen Talha, former Member UPSC. Addressing on the occasion, he also said that many renowned authors and poets have written about Lucknow and its culture earlier. There is something special in the roots of Lucknow that a cultural civilization grew there.

The book, a collection of 22 short stories, is peeped in the flavours and textures of life in Lucknow. Woven through these stories is the history of its Ganga-Jamuni culture and the changes which came over the city and its people in the post-Independence period. It is also the story of Lucknow’s women.

Life of a Painter

[youtube=http://youtu.be/S1CTUDpC-s8]DOCUMENTARY ‘Road Map of Yasin‘, produced by Aseem Asha Foundation, is based on 85 years old veteran artist Mohammed Yasin.

Yasin’s most important contribution goes to the art of calligraphy. He chose to work in an abstract symbolic manner. Geometrical elements – the circle within the square, concentric circles, comprise the basic structure emphasising a symmetrical arrangement and abstract formal values, calm and quiet they are nevertheless active fields. They seem to be deeply influenced by Buddhist art. They generate impulses of colour and focus attention on the images- the symbolic images- they contain.

His early works have explored all available mediums from lithography, etching, aquatint, engraving, dry point, serigraphy, mezzotint water colors, oils, gouache and egg tempora. His works are very poetic and also dramatic.

Tantric symbolism, Sufi mysticism, echoes of the miniature schools, shades of thankas and pictorialised Arabic calligraphy – all these inspirations could be identified in Yasin’s work.

Books on Sir Syed released

ALIGARH. Two books, “Afkar-i-Sir Syed Ki Asri Maanwiyat” and “Ihya-e-Islam Ki Aalami Jidd-o-Jehd Aur Maujooda Challenges”, authored by Dr. Tauqueer Alam Falahi of Department of Theology were released by the Vice Chancellor, Aligarh Muslim University, Lt. General (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah and former Pro-Chancellor, Nawab Ibne Saeed Khan of Chhatari earlier this month.

Appreciating the work of Dr. Falahi, the VC said that his books have covered a large spectrum of issues and challenges faced by the Muslim community in the world. He said that the biggest problems before the community are lack of proper education and ignorance of women to their rights. He said that Dr. Falahi has categorically analysed these issues and provided solutions in the light of historical and cultural development of the community. Continue reading “Books on Sir Syed released”

Dr. S. Y. Quraishi appointed Honorary Chair of Sightsavers

MUMBAI. Dr S. Y. Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, has been appointed as the Honorary Chair of the Board of Trustees for Sightsavers (India).

Picture Dr S Y Quraishi — Dr S. Y. Quraishi

Sightsavers is an international development organization based out of U.K with presence in more than 30 countries and works to eliminate avoidable blindness and for providing equal opportunity to persons with visual impairments.

Expressing delight at the new honour, Dr. Quraishi said, “I feel deeply honoured on being appointed the Chair of Sightsavers in India. It also bestows immense responsibilities on me by way of the commitment to the cause of eye healthcare and mitigation of visual impairment. I do look forward to working with the members of the Board and its team in India.”

Dr. Quraishi is known for his special contributions in social sector including health, education, population, drug abuse, and civil society action. He is also credited for his stellar work in the field of gender, women & child development, HIV/AIDS, youth and adolescent issues.

Commenting on Dr. Quraishi associating with Sightsavers, Mr. RN Mohanty, CEO of Sightsavers (India), said, “It is a great privilege for us to have Dr. Quraishi as our Chair. I am sure, his expertise and experience will immensely help Sightsavers in progressing towards the goal of eliminating avoidable blindness and providing equal opportunities for people with disabilities, across India.”

AMU felicitate GATE qualifiers

AMU VC addressing the felicitation programme

ALIGARH. The Department of Electronics Engineering, Aligarh Muslim University, felicitated the final year students on their excellent performance in the recently announced results of GATE-2013 exams. Among the top 50 positions countrywide in all disciplines of Engineering and Technology, Amit Chawla ranked second and Hameedah Sultan ranked 48. Both of them are from the department of Electronics Engineering.

In his presidential remarks, AMU Vice Chancellor, Lt. Gen (Retd.) Zameer Uddin Shah stressed the importance of sustained hard work and urged the students to appear in GATE as well as other national level exams and tests in greater number in the coming years.

Prof. Ekram Husain, Principal, Zakir Husain College of Engineering and Technology also addressed the gathering and highlighted the good performance by the students of Electronics Engineering.

Prof. M. Salim Beg, Chairman, Department of Electronics Engineering encouraged the students to come out with better performance in next year’s GATE examination.

Amit Chawla and Hameedah Sultan also spoke on the occasion and gave tips to crack the GATE exam.

Muslim conference on the 12th Plan

Lucknow. A national conference, “Unpacking the 12th Plan”, was held on the 17th of March. The conference was an effort to understand as to why goverment initiated welfare schemes do not reach out to the masses, and to find a way out so that the objectives of the schemes are truly realised. It was presided over by Dr Maulana Saeed-ur-Rehman Azmi Nadvi. Also present on the occassion were Salman Khurshid, External Affairs Minister, Pallam Raju, Minister for HRD, and Mrs Sayeda Hameed, Member of Planning Commission. Continue reading “Muslim conference on the 12th Plan”

Commemorative postage stamp on Sahir Ludhianvi

The President and other dignitaries at the release function.

“PATLAA hai haal apnaa, lekin lahuu hai gaaRaa
Phaulaad se banaa hai, har naujavaaN hamaaraa
Mil-jul ke is vatan ko, aisaa sajaayeiNge ham
Hairat se muNh takegaa, saaraa jahaaN hamaaraa”

THE President of India, Pranab Mukherjee, released a commemorative postage stamp on late Sahir Ludhianvi on March 8th. The occasion was his birth anniversary.

Born as Abdul Hayee, Ludhianvi was a popular Urdu poet and lyricist of the Hindi film industry. He passed away on October 25, 1980, at the age of 60.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Ludhianvi was widely acclaimed as a people’s poet who wrote on the trials and tribulations of the everyday life of the common man with great intensity and deep empathy. He was recognised as the poet of the young because of his writings on love and beauty. He wrote with great sensitivity on the values and social concerns of the contemporary period.

The President added, “One of Sahir’s greatest contributions was to converge Urdu poetry into film songs.” He also fought for recognition for lyric writers through the Film Writers Association.

In recognition of his services, The legendary poet was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971.