People Track

Urdu writer and critic, and retired professor of English in Patna University, Prof. Abdul Moghni, passed away here on September 5, after a paralytic attack. Moghni was also vice- chancellor of L. N. Mithila University, Darbhanga for some years. A noted literary critic, he authored nearly 18 books. He also wrote a book on Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. He even translated the Quran in English. However, Moghni’s major contribution was getting Urdu recognised as the second official language of Bihar in the early 80s which opened vast avenues for Urdu educated graduates in Bihar.

Noted Pakistani diplomat, Agha Shahi died after protracted illness here on September 6. Shahi was born in Bangalore and was a descendant of the family of the former Dewan of Mysore, Mirza Ismail. Having migrated to Pakistan in 1947, he held several posts and rose to become Pakistan’s foreign secretary. A typical pro-establishment man, his services were availed by governments of various political parties.

Democrat and Black Muslim, Keith Allison, has emerged as the hot favourite to win the election to the US Congress from Minneapolis-area set in November this year. If elected, he will be the first Muslim in the US Congress. Allison has fielded questions in his campaign about parking fee, overdue taxes and his ties to Nation of Islam, the organisation founded by Malik Shahbaz Mohammad, fondly called as Malcom X.

Muhammad Kifayatullah, teacher at the Quwwaatul Islam High School in Bangalore has been conferred ‘Best Teachers Award’ for the year 2006 among several others, by the Department of Public Instructions.

Anousheh Ansari has become the first woman to buy a space tour aboard a Russian rocket into space on September 18 in lieu of $ 20 million. A successful businesswoman, Ansari is an Iranian-American who runs a signal switching software for phone networks in Texas. 40 year old Ansari had migrated to America as a teenager after the Islamic revolution in Iran as she did not find much opportunities to study science in Iran. She shares the rocket with two Russian astronauts, Mikhail Tyurin and US astronaut Michael Lopez Alegrin.

Iqbal Ahmad has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Karnataka Hajj Committee. He is a Member of Parliament from Gulbarga.

Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, Army chief and coup leader of Thailand is said to be the first Muslim army chief in the country. He had been appointed to tackle the insurgency in the southern parts of the country for some years. The insurgency has caused nearly 2,500 deaths in 18 months. Gen. Sonthi had proposed talks with the insurgent groups. He is considered to be very close to Thailand King Bhumiboj Adulyaduj. 69-year old Gen. Sonthi has held several positions in the Thai army and is a well-decorated army officer. He was also part of the Elite Special Warfare Command.

The Students Islamic Organisation of India-Karnataka Zone organised a week-long Dawah Campaign under the theme- “Verily Man is in Great Loss” (Surah Asr) from September 11-17, 2006. The objective of the campaign was to present the real concept of Tawheed, Risalath and Aakhirat to the student community. The Campaign intended to diagnose the problems the humanity is suffering from, and educate the students about the drawbacks of modern materialistic thought and convince the students that the world is transitory. For more details, contact Ashfaq Ahmed Sharief, Campaign Organiser. SIO, No 7, Krishnappa Garden, Behind Masjid-e-Husna, Jayanagar, Bangalore - 41. Ph: 26646861.

“The privileges assured by the Constitution of India to the minorities are similar to those that exist in all other civilised societies and which are in accordance with universal human rights. Nothing more is either promised or practised in India also. But the fallacy is that Muslims are not in any position of reckoning compared to their fellow citizens,” said Justice K. A Abdul Gafoor of Kerala High Court. He was inaugurating the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Trivandrum Muslim Association at its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. The function was presided over by M. A Mohammed (President). Dr. N. A Karim( former Pro-Vice Chancellor) K. K. Aboobaker (President, MES and Member National Minority Monitoring Council), Kunnil Basheer, A. Abdul Salam, Rev. Fr. Samuel Kattukallil ( Principal, Mar Ivanios College),Adv. Nalakath Soopy ( former Minister), Prof. Meeran Malik Mohammed, Dr. M. I. Sahadullah ( Chairman, KIMS Hospital) Adv. Syed Khan, Kilimanoor Chandrababu (Assistant Secretary, S. N. Trust), and Kayamkulam Yoonus who also spoke on the occasion. The Trivandrum Muslim Association is running several institutions including an Engineering college, hostels for working men and women, mosque and many other charitable institutions.

Maulana Azad National Urdu University has gone international.It has set up an education-cum-examination centre at Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and over 100 students have already joined for distance education programmes. The university is offering B.A, B.Com, and post graduate courses, including M.A Urdu, M.A English and M.A History, to students in Gulf countries for the current academic year. Other courses will be introduced later. The Indian Education Council, a body identified by the Indian Consulate, will facilitate and coordinate with the university in the admission and conduct of exams. According to Vice-Chancellor, Prof A.M. Pathan the centre at Jeddah was established following numerous petitions from the Indian expatriate population for access to courses in Urdu medium. These memorandas were submitted to Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, when he visited Jeddah in July 2006.


Subsequently, the Indian Consulate officials got in touch with the university, following which a three-member team, led by the vice-chancellor, visited Jeddah last month to set up the centre.

(Siasat)